Need blood tests help

(From XL > Medium) #1

Hello,

I need help deciding what blood tests to go and get.
Please note that I am not seeing a doctor as I cannot afford one and also, I do not have one in my area who is keto/fasting savvy or supportive, even if I could afford one. So I am on my own. I may not be able to afford the blood tests too, but I have no idea about costs.

I’ve not had a blood test in about 2 years. During that time I have engaged in fasting over different periods and had different reactions to them. I have also changed what I eat and how I eat. I have also lost about 65 lbs, most of which was in a 6 week period during Oct/Nov 2017.

I would like to know about the following and even though I know I cannot be given medical advice, perhaps someone who knows about blood tests can help guide me as to which tests I need.

I am interested to know;

  1. My current A1C
  2. My levels of all the vitamins.
  3. Insulin level
  4. Insulin-glucose tolerance
  5. All the mineral/trace elements
  6. anything else that might be useful to know

I am also interested in getting a FibroScan to see if I have a fatty liver or not. I am suspecting I might have a fatty liver because when I eat, my blood sugar does rise quite a bit (to over 200) and it then takes me around 7 days of fasting (drinking water/black coffee only) to get me to a BS reading of 100 or below. It appears therefore that my liver is still pushing out too much glucose when I am not eating and this might be because of a fatty liver (watched Jason Fung’s video about this topic).

I have visited my local Labcorp office (there is no number to call anyone) and they told me they have millions of blood tests and I would have to “do my own research as to what tests to order”. Clearly, it is not reasonable to expect a non-medical person to spend endless months researching what are all the possible blood tests they offer, but this is how corporate America these days - quite detached and operating in a world of their own.

Thank you to anyone who replies

(John) #2

You can use a web site like https://requestatest.com/tests or similar ones to browse through available tests and then schedule them. You can use search terms like “insulin” or “cholesterol”.

There is a standard CMP test (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel) that covers a number of minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium) but if you want specific vitamins and minerals (like Magnesium) those are usually separate tests. Insulin levels are also usually a separate test.

The basics would be the CMP, Lipid Panel, and A1C. Add more from there.

When you add them up, you can easily spend several hundred dollars on the tests. Unless you are uninsured and have no medical coverage, it might still be cheaper to go through a doctor.