lab error maybe
#bloodwork 2026-05-21
Thursday54 messages10 participantstimes are UTC
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not a chat question
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a small egfr dip is often dehydration. rehydrate and retest before you panic
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my numbers: a1c and triglycerides both moved a lot, ldl barely moved at all
my potassium came back weird and the retest was normal, whats that about
get a baseline
my b12 is borderline, supplementing or eating differently
fridge-temps.csv
432 rows · not retained in the public archive
a1c is a ninety day average. retesting at week six tells you almost nothing
i pay privately for fasting insulin because nobody will order it for me otherwise
an isolated lipase a bit over range with no symptoms is usually nothing. lipase with severe pain is not, your mileage will differ
is there any point getting a1c if i am not diabetic
[edited]thats the 90 day thing
what does homa-ir actually tell you that fasting insulin does not
crp is worth adding if you can, it moves in a useful direction on this
thyroid moving slightly is common enough that i would repeat it before doing anything
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what would make you stop and go and see somebody rather than post here
if a result frightens you, that is a conversation with a clinician. we will help you read it, we will not tell you it is fine
see somebody
fasting insulin
ferritin and b12 fall quietly when you are barely eating. check them twice a year
apob is the better marker and it is harder to get. i track both because i can only get one reliably, take that with a pinch of salt
nice a1c
most of the lipid improvement in my panel tracked the weight, not the drug
| Test | Why now |
|---|---|
| Fasting insulin | impossible to get a true baseline afterwards |
| Full lipid panel with apoB | the comparison is the whole point |
| HbA1c | 90-day average, so it lags your start |
| CMP + CBC | cheap, and the reference for everything after |
| Ferritin, B12, TSH | these fall quietly on a low intake |
baseline, three months, then twice a year is what i settled on
for the archive do you get bloods every 5 months or only when something changes
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fast properly or do not bother. an eight hour fast and a twelve hour fast are different tests
the FLOW result is why my nephrologist changed her position on this entirely
update from 1 months ago: a1c down, apob unchanged, and i am genuinely annoyed about the apob
apob if you can
fridge-temps.csv
182 rows · not retained in the public archive
anyone had a result that turned out to be a lab error
right so nobody here is reading your bloods as a clinician. we are reading them as people who have had a lot of bloods
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if your glucose is in mg/dL the divisor is 405. if it is mmol/L it is 22.5
slightly off topic but the most useful thing i did was get a full panel before i started. everything since has been comparable
probably dehydration
i had a potassium that came back high and the repeat was normal. the tube had been knocked about
mine did the same
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is a fasting insulin worth paying for privately if my gp will not do it
homa-ir is fasting glucose times fasting insulin over a constant. the constant differs by unit system, n of 1 obviously
my alt has come down a lot since i started losing, is that expected
thats a big move
alt and ast coming down as you lose liver fat is common and is a good sign
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thats normal
retest it
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is crp worth adding to the panel
if your glucose is in mg/dL the divisor is 405. if it is mmol/L it is 22.5
do you fast for the full 12 hours or is 8 enough
get fasting insulin at baseline. you cannot go back and get it once you have started
| Test | Why now |
|---|---|
| Fasting insulin | impossible to get a true baseline afterwards |
| Full lipid panel with apoB | the comparison is the whole point |
| HbA1c | 90-day average, so it lags your start |
| CMP + CBC | cheap, and the reference for everything after |
| Ferritin, B12, TSH | these fall quietly on a low intake |
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if you only get one thing, get a fasting insulin. it is the one that becomes impossible later
*that should say weekly
apob or ldl, which one are you all actually tracking
update on the earlier thing good numbers
my numbers: a1c and triglycerides both moved a lot, ldl barely moved at all