TrialNerd_Beth said:A defensible baseline is short: HbA1c and fasting glucose, a lipid panel with ApoB if you can get it, ALT and AST, creatinine with eGFR, TSH, ferritin…
I read this differently from TrialNerd_Beth, on substance rather than tone. I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does. Every extra test is another chance at a false positive, and incidental findings have their own cost in scans, biopsies and worry.
Ask again with the specifics and you will get a better answer than this one.
CryptoCarl said:I got a full panel before starting and a repeat at three months, and the second one is more useful than the first purely because I now have something…
PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy. You need a "before" picture to measure progress. My recommended pre-treatment panel:
- CMP + A1C + fasting insulin
- Complete lipid panel with particle count if possible
- hsCRP, ferritin, B12, vitamin D
- Thyroid panel (TSH + free T4)
- CBC with differential
- Liver panel (ALT, AST, GGT)
- DEXA scan or body composition
Total cost at Quest without insurance: ~$200. Worth every penny for the data.
VendorMark said:I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does.
Shot day Wednesday report relevant to baseline bloodwork:
Week 13. Currently on 0.5mg. Down 39 lbs from starting weight of 251 lbs.
This week's observations: Mild fatigue day 1-2 post-injection, then fine.
Labs due next week — looking forward to seeing the metabolic panel. I'll post results in the Lab Results section when they come in.
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View ResultsFollowing on from Dr.DermMIA — and this may be the naive question:
What actually belongs on a baseline panel, as opposed to the enormous list that gets pasted around here?
OP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.
Took the whole panel in rather than the one flagged line, and the conversation lasted two minutes instead of generating three more tests.