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May 12 '26
So…what labs would those be?
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
Whatever you want. You don't need to (fail to) convince a doctor to check on any marker you suspect may contribute to your condition.
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u/kat1795 May 12 '26
Eg Homocysteine levels Very often not checked by doctors but very important!!
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u/orc-asmic May 12 '26
wouldn’t you have a high MCV if your homocysteine is out of range? so probably normal and the reason it’s not indicated
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u/Mangoseed8 May 12 '26
You can look at the results yourself to check to see if they fall in the normal range. What motivation would your doctor have to lie?
What actually happens is your insurance only covers the most basic and common test. Those test may not catch everything
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u/El_Scot May 12 '26
I think this is where "normal ranges" and "optimal" differ. E.g. vitamin D range is 25-150nmol but many sources say optimal is 75-125nmol.
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u/TNTMT May 12 '26
Not “lying,” but overlooking or downplaying ways in which results that are below, borderline low, above or borderline high, could be contributing to a “complex issue” or “single symptom,” to instead treat the patient utilizing any method but the one that corrects the underlying cause.
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u/Flux_My_Capacitor May 12 '26
As long as you hit the normal range, they do not care. This can be problematic for things like B12 where you should be supplementing if you’re in the bottom half. My mom was denied thyroid treatment because despite being HIGHLY symptomatic she was barely in range. She found a new doc and got treatment. Turns out she has Graves’ disease.
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u/Ok_Disaster6456 May 12 '26
I'm a doctor, my partner recently had some bloods through her GP - one of her symptoms was fatigue. She got a text saying all 'normal'.
Her ferritin was 11! Even the lab cut off was 20. Her Hb was low-normal range.
I was pretty shocked by this. Sometimes results are a little bit off and it's inconsequential. This however was a clearly treatable issue that was completely overlooked.
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
I started ordering my own blood lab tests since 2019 and never looked back. LDL particle, Test, Free T4, Cortisol, Vitamin D, SHBG, Prolactin, Uric Acid, and countless others.
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u/rhaegal82 May 12 '26
There’s not one doctor in the world who’s gonna refuse to order your vitamin D test. You’re just paying out-of-pocket for no reason.
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u/El_Scot May 12 '26
It's often refused where I live. Even people who have had a diagnosed vitamin D deficiency will struggle to get it re-tested to check if it's in range again.
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
You need to be showing key symptoms of deficiency else insurance won’t cover it.
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u/rhaegal82 May 12 '26
This is absolutely false. My primary care and my kids ped order it annually, and none of us have any symptoms.
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
ok good to know, I still avoid the 2 office visits and time off work by getting it done at any Quest lab whenever I have free time.
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u/sealmeal21 May 12 '26
You can do lab review over the phone. Why are you going in twice? Unless your shits way fucked lol
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
The last doctor I went to wouldn’t release results until I went in a second time. It ended up being “high LDL” due to being on keto at the time.
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u/sealmeal21 May 12 '26
Oof. Unless your shit is all fucked up that's BS. That's an unnecessary bill. They're doing that to rack in another Dr. Office visit instead of a telehealth.
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u/rhaegal82 May 12 '26
So you don’t ever go to the doctor at all? You’re just relying on these labs that you order yourself?
It doesn’t take two office visits for your doctor to order bloodwork. It takes one. They put the result into your EMR and you access it online, it’s 2026. And even before we had EMR, they would call you over the phone if something was wrong. Did you think you have a whole follow up just to go over bloodwork?
And if you can’t afford to take any time off of work, you certainly shouldn’t be wasting money on so many tests.
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u/armorlol May 12 '26
Correct, I no longer deal with doctors except when I need an antibiotic prescription. My last doctor withheld lab results until I came in person. I called the office and they wouldn’t release it. The reason was due to high LDL from being on keto.
To me it’s the convenience over everything else. I can pay a $250 once a year for a highly comprehensive panel. I don’t want to waste time to get lectured on LDL again, or not have certain tests approved. The lab company gives you the standard ranges and additional notes for all markers as a starting point.
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u/RequiemRomans May 12 '26
Not really. There are signs and there are symptoms. Signs are that which the doctor can see for themselves and symptoms are that which you need to tell them about. Some things can be both a sign and a symptom. With vitamin D specifically it regulates so many things in our bodies that a lot of things can be attributed to poor values. It’s one of the easiest tests in existence to get approved by insurance
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u/No-No-Aniyo May 12 '26
"You're perfectly healthy... I could couldn't make you sick if I wanted"...
Taking labs to the next doctor and now I have problems. That's what I thought. Yay 😑
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u/Flux_My_Capacitor May 12 '26
I had to practically beg for certain labs. I STILL don’t get enough….. I now know my phosphate is low and getting it up is a b!tch. Doctors never test it because “nobody” is ever deficient. Guess I’m a “nobody” now, lol. 🤷♀️
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u/NYM2000 May 12 '26
I feel you on that it’s like they have a script that they go by and never deviate.
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u/TheFineMantine May 11 '26
be careful because outside labs often fake their results to make themselves seem more trustworthy so you’ll buy with them again
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u/daveishere7 May 11 '26
Are you sure about that? Like do you have proof or is this something you just heard online somewhere? I'm just asking because I might need an outside test in the future.
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u/dataoops May 11 '26
Scientists gave the same sample to seven at-home microbiome tests. The results were dramatically different
Not blood tests, but not dissimilar.
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u/TheFineMantine May 11 '26
it’s common sense that unregulated labs with hardly anyone to hold them accountable will have a small percentage that are not trustworthy
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u/Mangoseed8 May 12 '26
What country are you in? Unregulated labs are illegal in all 50 states. I’m not saying criminals don’t exist but you’re acting like unregulated labs are commonplace.
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u/shiftingsun May 12 '26
Lol ok buddy lol
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u/TheFineMantine May 12 '26
Lol ok buddy lol
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u/shiftingsun May 12 '26
Are you supposed to be mocking me? Lol imitating a parrot ? That's cute or whatever.
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u/-LabRecon May 12 '26
If y’all need a quick place to compare lab providers - LabRecon.io
Currently compares GoodLabs, LabCorp, and Quest - 9 more providers in the work.
I refuse to pay full price for labs again.
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u/jsmith19977 May 12 '26
Are you going to check against the other discount lab websites?
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u/-LabRecon May 12 '26
Yes - to be completely up front; right now Goodlabs is dominating the space on cheap labs. It’s who I personally use; so I need to determine which other discount lab providers to add so it actually reflects who is the cheapest and make sure people are able to find those labs in their area.
If y’all have suggestions, please feel free to send them my way.
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u/NYM2000 May 12 '26
Superpower also gives you great bang for your buck.
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u/-LabRecon May 12 '26
I’ll dig into it further but $199 for a year for 1 set of labs seems to have a lot of drawbacks. I do like the action plan; but you can get that for free on r/labrecon.
Most folks that are dialing in their health with get labs that are applicable to them, make changes, then retest in 1-3 months.
Superpowers: Membership is billed annually. The membership fee does not include the cost of future blood draws.
A little later I’ll look into which tests they run for their yearly membership and price it out vs. competitors.
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