If Whit and her fangirls were that confident that you can be fat and healthy, let's see Whit post a recent comprehensive metabolic panel...
Hi everyone! I had labs done this week, and I am so pleased with my results! August 2021: A1C: 7.0 Glucose (fasting): 155 December 2021: A1C: 6.0 Glucose (fasting): 108
This medicine has literally changed my life. I remember being in the endo office and feeling so hopeless. Now I am full of hope!
OCT 21: started ozempic weighing 231 DEC 21: current weight 208 Next shot will be week 12. I have been on .5 since early November. I see doc again next week and hopefully I'm up to 1.0!
Don't lose hope!
Hey everyone, I have been having all kinds of low T symptoms. I had two bloodworks done. The first was 192 ng/dl and the second being 309 ng/dl. Free test was at 60 pg/ml. I have consulted my endocrinologist and the results are definately low. Are they low enough to start treatment after ruling out other causes. The rest of my bloods came back normal.
Hi, I recently got on Medicaid. I had to get a TB blood test and went to an urgent care place to do it. They couldn’t find a vein and then sent me to the lab to get drawn there. When I went to check out, they told me I was good to go. At the lab, they charged me $237 as self pay and I paid it thinking Medicaid won’t cover it. Then, I decided afterwards to just ask anyway and showed them my card. They said the payment went through already so they can’t use my insurance. Does anybody have advice on whether I can get reimbursed if I call Medicaid? I’m worried I am going to also get a bill from the urgent care place ALSO charging me for the lab order. I know it was stupid to not even ask if they accepted Medicaid before I paying as self pay, but I haven’t had insurance for years so honestly was used to self paying for everything. I appreciate any help. Thank you.
i just started an internship position that requires me to do a decent amount of labwork... and i suck! i feel really out of my league in the lab and just generally quite scatterbrained, clumsy, overwhelmed and dejected, and with very limited lab experience as a first year student last year, i just need some advice/encouragement on how to not suck at labwork. ive been asking questions but the process has so many facets to think about that i dont have time to think of the questions that i need to ask (at least the ones that dont include asking my supervisor to repeat the entire thing again cuz i get so lost 😅), and ive never taken lab notes before so any help would be sooo greatly appreciated! i think im also scared of not really catching on as quickly as i should, or learning from my mistakes as well as i should.
i really want to do well and do the best work i can do for my supervisor, shes honestly an inspiration and i want to make her proud!
thank you :)
Wear gloves? get soggy.
Wear lotion and gloves? get super duper soggy.
I had my levels drawn at 7 weeks (they said to do it between 1 and 2 months) and my T came back as 170 (goal range 240-700 for "masculinizing").
I'm going low and slow on purpose, one pump gel daily (20.25mg T), and I was wondering if anyone else had a similar lab result on a similar dose.
I haven't really seen any changes, so I'm worried it's not absorbing right or something.
I'm from India and I have an undergraduate degree in Biotech.
Basically, I am not good at lab stuff. I am interested in the theoritical part and I think I have enough critical thinking skills too. But I am very clumsy at doing experiments and stuff. So, I do not want to puruse a career that would involve doing experiments.
What career path in Biotechnology that I can go into, that wouldn't involve labwork? Preferably, jobs that can pay well. I am very conscientious and can work well in teams. I can think and study well too. (It's just the doing experiments part that I am bad at). I have already had 3 gap years in my life, due to some personal reasons (and covid-19). So, I would like to know career prospects that would result in a faster growth (especially, financially), to make up for the lost time, in a sense. I am willing to work hard for it.
So, What would be a good career path to move forward on? In what ways can I increase my potential to land a good job? Or are there no better alternatives to lab work...? Should I just try to improve my lab skills?
I am going to start doing a PG degree in Biotech. So, I am willing to work on myself over the next two years and develop the skills required for employment, when I finish the degree.
Anyone have problems with this in their blood panel labwork prior to being diagnosed? I'm reviewing (playing with trends/AI) my own history from multiples of docs and one thing that sticks out is a steady uptick of this value over multiple years. I don't care about any blip that comes and goes on the next one. But has anyone else had a high MCHC and know what it means to your personal life and how they lowered it? Am I just drinking too much coffee? Not asking for medical advice, just your experience with elevated levels.
Accountability post.....today was a rough day. I went to work and the day flew by, but it was stressful. All of a sudden, about 3:00 pm, I was so tense, and I realized that I was craving a drink like crazy. I told myself that it will pass. It took a while, but it did indeed pass. I have been doing great until today, so this was unexpected. I know it will happen again, but I am determined not to give in. I am going through about six flavored seltzer waters a day, but as long as they do not contain alcohol, I will take that as a definite win.
I had bloodwork completed last Friday, because I was afraid of the damage that I may have done to my body, by drinking so much. I was able to log in yesterday and all was clear, except for my LDL and total cholesterol levels. Everything else was normal, thank goodness ( that was a relief). I guess I don't understand how my cholesterol could be that far off. LDL was 158 and total Cholesterol was 252. Notes said I need to cut out fat, but I do not eat much saturated fats. I eat very healthy with salads most days, steamed veggies, fish, chicken, and every now and then red meat. I cut out unhealthy carbs a while back (over a year ago), even when I was drinking. I do eat nuts and sunflower seeds, but nothing too drastic. Also, l limit my dairy intake. Has anyone else had this experience from drinking alcohol? I mean could drinking have caused my LDL and total cholesterol to be elevated? Just curious.....not overweight. I am 122 pounds @ 5'1".
Well, thank you to everyone for being there throughout this sobering-up process! The support is greatly appreciated!! IWNDWYT
Hey there, I have a question. I am relatively new at lab work at my clinic. Is there any where I can practice reading fecal/urinalysis/ear swabs online?
I feel like my training was barely a week or so and now I am on my own. I don't blame anyone it is crazy everywhere! But, I want to ensure I'm not letting anything get past me.
I searched the forum, and I did not see anything that matched my situation exactly, so my apologies if I missed it.
I have had an 800+ credit score my entire life. I have never missed a payment, and I pay my credit / bills as soon as I get them. I had lab work done in September of 2020, and the lab company sent the bill to my old address. My doctor has the correct address for me, and they have all along. I have had bills from Labcorp since I moved, and I have paid them. It has worked flawlessly. I moved from that address in 2017.
I got hit with a $60 collections bill, from the labwork I mentioned that occurred in 2020. When it hit my credit, I looked at who it was from, and I called them immediately. (same day I got the alert from CreditKarma)
The lady on the phone said the following things:
- They called me 3 times, and by their own admission, did not leave a voicemail.
- They sent bills to where I lived 2 addresses ago, claiming it is what my doctor sent them.
- I called my Doctor's office, and they said they have had my current address on file, since I moved here in 2019, and they sent over the labwork with that address on it.
I immediately paid her, because I assumed it was my bill, and I would have paid it, and she said within a week it would be removed from my credit report.
I wait a week, and the credit action shows as "closed." It still shows as LATE. They did not contact me. They did not leave a message. They sent mail to an address they were not given, I really do not think this should be on me. If I had a late payment, I would own it.
Am I screwed here? Is there an attorney I can call or something? I do not want this on my credit, I paid it as soon as I knew about it. I will gladly spend thousands of dollars to get this removed because this is wrong and they are taking advantage of the little guy.
Hi all,
I recently got lab work for my annual checks, since I recently changed employer I now have a different insurance. Previously I was covered with Anthem, now I have UHC, specifically UHC PPO 500.
Well, my labwork costed (between me and my wife) more than $1k.
I called UHC and they said (at least for my part of the exams) they wouldn't cover for Urine tests, Complete Bloodcount (CBC) or Thyroid Function (TSH), since "they don't see these as preventative lab tests". Cool, so after the deductible is over, we are supposed to pay 20% of the costs.
Now, my deductible is still not met for the year, but I am amazed at the costs of these procedures at a local hospital, Eden Medical Center.
For Urine, I got charger $79, for CBC, $146, for TSH, $222. If I try and use the "Get a Cost Estimate" from MyUhc, these are the estimates for these lab tests at Eden Medical Center: Urine: $2, TSH: $99, CBC: $19.
I am baffled about how all of this makes any sense whatsoever. If you cannot trust the numbers in that "get cost estimate", and do not get a cost estimate from the hospital itself before doing lab work, is it always supposed to be a surprise?
Is there anything I can do about these crazy bills for routine labwork?
A couple of months ago I got blood work done and the results weren't too surprising. My liver function was high. Got my results back a couple of days ago and they are back to normal. I still feel a bit nauseous from time to time and slight discomfort here and there below my ribs/lower ribs but I've never thrown up due to any of this.
I've known I needed to quit drinking for a while. I've tried a few times in the past but the furthest I'd get is 2 months. In college I'd get blackout here and there but typically I could just drink for hours.
I've certainly got better about drinking as I aged after college but I still consistently drank more than average. I'd never get blackout but would have any where from 1 to 3 drinks a day on average (when you account for actual units of alcohol it is actually probably higher since I'd get high abv beer).
I know some people on here don't advocate for it but I have been having Heineken 0.0. I've found that I do still have a craving but that beer addresses it. From what I've noticed so far is that I don't crave the alcohol or effects but the taste and what it signifies. It probably isn't healthy entirely but I'll take it.
Other than that my sleep has been a million times better. I've always gone through phases of exercise and eating healthy, even when drinking. I'm trying to be more consistent with my exercise and diet. I've still felt a bit out of it mentally but it hasn't effected work and it could be due to lack of exercise lately.
Tldr IWDWYT
I got Kaiser, they fucking blow. I heard I will need doctors orders for LabCorp and I heard they were expensive. They don't even list their prices online.
I wanted to get my free testosterone number which kaiser decided to no longer provide.
Thanks
I had some labwork done ordered by a doctor. The insurance company didn't cover a majority of it. Bill is over 2k. What can I do?
And guess what!? It was all normal.
EXCEPT. Except- my thyroid hormone was a little high. I got giddy. Maybe this means I'll have answer!
Whole talking with the nurse at my immunologist's office i asked: "do you think my thyroid hormones could be the key to my chronic hives and swelling? Or to my gastrointestinal problems?"
To which she said "eh, probably not. But either way we don't do thyroid so you'll need to talk to your GP"
I'd love to say back to square one, but the truth is we never left.
Hey everyone!
So about a month ago I posted about starting 50mcg of Levothyroxine and I got my first round of labwork done since starting it. I'm a bit confused and I can't make heads or tails of the results. I see my doctor next week so I know she'll go over it with me and all but I'm just so lost. I figure if anything she'll call me ahead of the appointment but could anyone possibly shed some light on the results? I'll include my previous blood work results as well that led me to being put on Levo.
Also, if there's a better way to format the labwork, please let me know!
Original blood work 4/30 done at Labcorp pre-Levo:
Thyroxine TS4 Free (Direct): 1.19
0.82 ng/dL - 1.77 ng/DL
TSH: 4.370
0.450 uIU/mL - 4.500 uIU/mL
Triiodothyronine (T3): 163
71 ng/dL - 180 ng/dL
Thyroglobulin Antibody: 1.8 (High)
0.0 IU/mL - 0.9 IU/mL
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab: 74 (High)
0 IU/mL - 34 IU/mL
Labwork done 6/11 also done at Labcorp:
Thyroxine T4 Free (Direct): 1.43
0.82 ng/dL - 1.77 ng/DL
TSH: 4.530 (high)
0.450 uIU/mL - 4.500 uIU/mL
Triiodothyronine (T3): 203 (High)
71 ng/dL - 180 ng/dL
Thyroglobulin Antibody: <1.0
0.0 IU/mL - 0.9 IU/mL
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab: 116 (High)
0 IU/mL - 34 IU/mL
Does this mean that the Levo isn't working or my dosage is too low? I've been taking it at the same time every day, by itself, waiting an hour before eating, and two hours before taking any of my other medications + vitamins. I've been trying to read up on how to read the bloodwork and understand hypothyroidism as a whole but this is all just so freaking frustrating.
Has anyone ever heard of initial labwork having spikes for Lupus markers leading to an eventual ALS diagnosis?
Hi everyone,
I'm currently studying Mechatronics and will be starting my Junior year very soon. In my Sophomore year I had joined a Lab in my college and was asssigned to a grad student, where my job was to assist him with his Master thesis. I found the work very enjoyable as I was given the chance to learn new knowledge but also in part because the grad student I've been working with is very chill and have given little oversight on my work.
But as we had finished with the thesis and ready to move on to other task. The professor who oversaw the lab told me to take up the mantle of the project and expand on the initial work. I was overwhelmed as I frankly speak, couldn't care less about the project as a whole but one small technical aspect of it. I've raised this point to him about my interest but he argued that as an undergrad, I must be well-versed in all engineering matters an not just one niche field, and declared that if I don't want to, then I must leave the lab.
I'm very against working on stuff that I've no interest in. But this professor is quite a big shot in my faculty and though I might not be his mentee for my undergrad dissertation. I'm afraid that he could be on the evaluting comittee and therefore don't want to be in his bad book. What do you think should be my course of action? Should I just bite the bullet and continue with the task or just leave the lab altogether?
Hi guys. I've been debating doing this but screw it.
Here is all the lab work I've ever gotten, neatly organized in Excel. Please, lab-work experts, do your thing.
Btw I'm hypo with adrenal fatigue and high RT3, probably RT3 pooling but not sure. Also possibly liver problems like hemochromatosis. You'll see the numbers.
Pics are attached.
Hi! I am a college student studying chemistry, and I have really enjoyed writing with my frugal fountain pen collection (have a al-star, a metropolitan, a Parker frontier, a twsbi eco, and a vegetal resin ahab and konrad from noodler's)
However, the problems with these pen is that they all more or less have some plastic parts on it and thus couldn't really be used in a chemistry lab for note taking, since any bit of solvent will pretty much destroy them.
I really hate losing a pen to these issues and I wonder if there are any pen within ~$80 that can withstand these issues (and perhaps even have a large piston-style etc. ink capacity?)
on a side note, any advice for what ink to use with lab notebooks (those with a carbon copy page)? I'm thinking about something from noodler's but I? haven't tested anything yet.
Thanks and have a great day!
Is there anyone else out there with insurance who doesn't cover labwork for thyroid testing? If so, where do you go and what's the lingo I should use to make sure it's as affordable as possible?
So I have my initial appointment tomorrow to get started on testosterone. As the day get closer and closer, I'm finding myself scouring the internet to read every "Here is my 1 year T timeline of changes" article I can find. Has anyone else experienced this?
I can't tell if I'm excited to see changes happen, or starting to obsess over it. (I have OCD, and have to keep an eye out regarding my transition, as OCD and gender dysphoria latch on to each other) If you've started hormones, did you spend time doing this? I'd love to know if this is a common experience.
Has anyone ever gotten labs done where their T3, T4, Free T3, Free T4 are all low, but TSH is normal? My TPO antibodies and Thyroglobulin antibodies are super high.
Normally, my TSH has been elevated...so wondering what this could mean.
(I do have a doctor's appt scheduled but not for another couple weeks so thought I would post here).
See previous post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cholesterol/comments/lh6hsi/ldl_goal_under_55_cardiologist_prescribed_lipitor/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
After asking this sub about a substitute for Benecol, a margarine spread which my cardiologist recommends to further lower LDLs, I found the active ingredient, Plant Sterols, in an over-the-counter dietary supplement, Cholestoff. My doctor wants my LDLs below 50, however, increasing the Lipitor from 10 to 20 to 40 only dropped LDL to 61.
I’m sharing results after using it twice a day for 30 days.
My LDLs: November: 67, dropped by 8.5% to 61 in February 2021, after doubling the dose of Atorvastin twice over 5 months. My Doctor’s goal of under 50 is because of my extensive family history of cardiac events and heart disease. Today, March 22, my LDL is 43, a drop of 30%!
My other numbers: Total cholesterol Nov 2020 153, Feb 2021 144. March 22 my total cholesterol is 124.
I did get my Lipoprotein (a) checked, it’s 48.7, within normal range is below 75.
I also pushed to get a CAC score baseline, the physicians assistant sent a note to the doctor. They’ll see if it’s covered, hopefully will get a Coronary CT in a few weeks.
Going to drop my Atorvastin to 3x/week before my next labwork to see if I can still keep my LDLs low enough using the plant sterols as a supplement, while continuing to avoid saturated fats.
To be continued...
