Randox thyroid tests - Info request

[TheMudRunner]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what volume of blood needs to be collected for the randox thyroid test (£29 one) please? It’s a finger prick draw, so imagine quite small, but via their chat function I was told 6ml! I can’t believe that’s correct, as the 0.6ml I have to draw from a finger prick test for the Blue Horizon tests takes ages. 6ml wouldn’t be possible (for me at least).

Thanks for any info 😀

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

It's just the standard small pot something like 10 drops of blood... 6ml would be more like a venous draw?

[TheMudRunner in reply to TiggerMe]

This was why I queried it. My gut feeling is that the person answering my question hadn’t a clue and wasn’t bothered to find out (her initial response was “everything you need to know is on the leaflet in the kit, which defeated the point of knowing before ordering…). I struggle to get 0.6ml out of my fingers so was rather hoping they’d need a smaller volume as it’s only 5 tests not 14.

[HealthStarDust]

They are the usual standard size for finger pricks whatever that volume is.

Seems like the person wrote to you suffered a typo.

[Apodemus]

Up to the line on the pot. It's just below the top.

[Star13]

It’s just one small vial. I find if you soak your hands in warm water first for a few minutes so your fingers get nice and warm, then do the test standing up so your hands are naturally lower than your heart, you get a better flow. Also don’t squeeze your fingers so tightly you cut off the blood just massage gently from the side. When one finger gives up the ghost use another.

[tattybogle]

for fingerpricks , i need to :

drink a lot of extra water , the previous day, and on morning of test

get the kit out ready. and put the collection tube on a surface that is low enough that my arm can hang straight down to fill it.

do something that gets my heart properly pumping for 10 minutes,eg cycle round the block and up a small hill /or run down the road and back /or run up and down the stairs~ several times

come home and put arm in hot water up to elbow, (hot enough to make skin go pink)

take out and do some windmills with that arm.

Then do fingerprick ( side of finger, not end) .... and also try to do a very slight twist of lancet as it goes in ( makes the hole a bit bigger)

This seems to work for me ... blood comes out very fast and easily , easily enough to over rill the tube .

when i have skimped on any of these measures , i have struggled to get more than 2 or 3 drops before it stops flowing.

[FoggyThinker in reply to tattybogle]

I concur, especially the water, lots of water, for me too. And I agree, day before as well as on the morning makes a big difference. The other thing that previously caused me problems was pushing a long sleeve up so it was tight above the elbow (I KNOW, applying a tourniquet slows down bleeding, who'd've thought eh?)

From Foggy aka "former reluctant bleeder"!

[TheMudRunner in reply to FoggyThinker]

Fab. Good tips!

They have come back and confirmed it’s 0.6ml, so the same as blue horizon. Phew 😅

The lady I was speaking to from Randox was very evasive though, but we got there in the end 😊

Thanks everyone!