Finally in the normal range for everything - first time in 20 years — 6 month update

PeptideChemSF said:

The single most useful discipline is bringing the whole panel to a clinician rather than one flagged value.

This is where I part company with the consensus forming above. I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does. Every extra test is another chance at a false positive, and incidental findings have their own cost in scans, biopsies and worry.

Dr.LipidDallas said:

I got a full panel before starting and a repeat at three months, and the second one is more useful than the first purely because I now have something…

PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy. You need a "before" picture to measure progress. My recommended pre-treatment panel:

1. CMP + A1C + fasting insulin
2. Complete lipid panel with particle count if possible
3. hsCRP, ferritin, B12, vitamin D
4. Thyroid panel (TSH + free T4)
5. CBC with differential
6. Liver panel (ALT, AST, GGT)
7. DEXA scan or body composition

Total cost at Quest without insurance: ~$200. Worth every penny for the data.

BenResearch_OR said:

I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does.

Shot day Monday report relevant to baseline bloodwork:

Week 31. Currently on 10mg. Down 37 lbs from starting weight of 249 lbs.

This week's observations: Appetite very well controlled, no cravings.

Labs due next week — looking forward to seeing the metabolic panel. I'll post results in the Lab Results section when they come in.

Following on from GenomicsKate — and this may be the naive question:

What actually belongs on a baseline panel, as opposed to the enormous list that gets pasted around here?

Closing the loop on my own question.

Took the whole panel in rather than the one flagged line, and the conversation lasted two minutes instead of generating three more tests.