Getting labs done beforehand?

[Quatroskin]

A question for the Fam on here. How many of you had blood tests before touching any peptides, and how many of us just said screw it and jumped in regardless? As for me, I've only gone ahead with Reta so far. Want to see what everyone says.

 

[Minkster]

I happened to get blood work done prior to beginning Reta, but I'm thinking about having some done at 6 mos since I'm curious.

 

[sfkid]

I get labs done every 3 months. That said, if GLPs are the only thing you're taking, the meaningful changes will appear in your lipid panel and insulin levels. As the weight drops, those markers should improve on their own.

 

[woundcarping]

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.

 

[sfkid]

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

 

[woundcarping]

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

My setup is Fitomics plus Labcorp.

Without applying any discount code, the price for these labs came to $830.

 

[Minkster]

I've used Jason Health (quest labs)

 

[sfkid]

woundcarping said:

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

My setup is Fitomics plus Labcorp.

Without applying any discount code, the price for these labs came to $830.

View attachment 11845

View attachment 11846

That's wild . No judgment here, but is it actually necessary to get every single test the lab offers .

I've known bodybuilders using huge amounts of gear who don't even run 20 percent of that panel.

 

[myopicmystic]

Through Quest, Hers/Hims provides a few full lab panel subscription options, as I understand it. From what I recall, there's one that runs annually and another that runs every 6 months.

That said, whether you'd want to use it comes down to how you feel about Hers/Hims.

 

[woundcarping]

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

My setup is Fitomics plus Labcorp.

Without applying any discount code, the price for these labs came to $830.

View attachment 11845

View attachment 11846

That's wild . No judgment here, but is it actually necessary to get every single test the lab offers .

I've known bodybuilders using huge amounts of gear who don't even run 20 percent of that panel.

What's around you changes the picture.

 

[Quatroskin]

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

What's the process for that? Do you draw your own blood and then mail it off?

 

[Quatroskin]

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

Thanks for sharing that. Does this involve insurance or not?

 

[WholesomeApril]

When I was only on Reta, I skipped testing.

Once I made the choice to start HGH, though, I began getting bloodwork done on a regular basis.

 

[woundcarping]

Quatroskin said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

What's the process for that? Do you draw your own blood and then mail it off?

At-home capillary collection is an option, though the quality falls short of what you get from venous sampling.

The tubes I mentioned earlier came from standard venous draws.

 

[latviantower]

For tirz by itself I skipped them — I just went off the results from my yearly physical, and my PCP had already suggested a GLP. Once I added hgh and test, though, I get labs every 8 weeks. Goodlabs, drawn at Quest. $160 when using a discount code.

 

[Calm Logic]

Quatroskin said:

sfkid said:

woundcarping said:

I had a few done, though I went ahead and winged it too. I picked up additional capillary at-home draw kits, but in my view their precision and approach are junk. This week I went for further tests to refresh and broaden my baseline, along with the 8 week TRT panels.





View attachment 11844

If you're in the US, take a look at https://marekdiagnostics.com... It works like putting together an Amazon order, since you're free to pick whichever labs you want..

The whole panel I wanted came to roughly $125... Turnaround was 3-4 days...

For the actual blood draw they go through quest diagnostics, and those locations exist in every major city and state...

Thanks for sharing that. Does this involve insurance or not?

That price is what you'd pay without insurance. Even so, when you stack them against GoodLabs or Fitomics, they still come out a bit on the expensive side.

 

[Thee Oohwee]

Luckily for me, my primary care team runs fairly thorough labs roughly every 4 months. My next appointment is in 1.5 months, and I intend to discuss with my provider that I’m beginning Reta...

 

[Quatroskin]

Minkster said:

I've used Jason Health (quest labs)

WholesomeApril said:

When I was only on Reta, I skipped testing.

Once I made the choice to start HGH, though, I began getting bloodwork done on a regular basis.

I did the same thing — jumped straight into Reta without any labs. Now I'm eyeing Tesamorelin and BPC 157, and honestly I'm tempted to just pull the trigger on those too

 

[TxUt777]

A Rhythm mail-in blood test kit showed up today. Tomorrow morning I'll do the draw. On top of that, I picked up a Lingo CGM — mostly out of curiosity about how different things move my glucose levels, lol. Anyone here have experience with either one? What worked, what didn't?

 

[woundcarping]

TxUt777 said:

A Rhythm mail-in blood test kit showed up today. Tomorrow morning I'll do the draw. On top of that, I picked up a Lingo CGM — mostly out of curiosity about how different things move my glucose levels, lol. Anyone here have experience with either one? What worked, what didn't?

For my purposes, at-home finger-prick services such as Rythm and Siphox (both of which I've tried) don't deliver enough value... the reliability and consistency of their results leave something to be desired, so they ended up being useless for what I needed.