#bloodwork 2026-03-30

Monday48 messages11 participantstimes are UTC

Highlights from this day

fridge_thermo — my alt has come down a lot since i started losing, is that expected 22:07
fridge_thermo — i had a potassium that came back high and the repeat was normal. the tube had been knocked about 22:18
fridge_thermo — my potassium came back weird and the retest was normal, whats that about 22:26
first_and_last_four — the FLOW result is why my nephrologist changed her position on this entirely 22:36
stack_sceptic — fast properly or do not bother. an eight hour fast and a twelve hour fast are different tests 22:52

fridge_thermo 21:37

thats the 90 day thing

a1c is a ninety day average. retesting at week six tells you almost nothing

lyophile_liv 21:41

most of the lipid improvement in my panel tracked the weight, not the drug

c18_column 21:44

i pay privately for fasting insulin because nobody will order it for me otherwise

how much does the lipid panel move just from losing weight

get a baseline

fridge_thermo 21:51

fasting insulin came back higher than i expected, what does that actually mean

egfr_ed 21:52

see somebody

c18_column 21:53

is there any point getting a1c if i am not diabetic

apob is the better marker and it is harder to get. i track both because i can only get one reliably

🧊5

lean_mass_lex 21:59

if you only get one thing, get a fasting insulin. it is the one that becomes impossible later

thyroid moving slightly is common enough that i would repeat it before doing anything

bench_notes 22:05

an isolated lipase a bit over range with no symptoms is usually nothing. lipase with severe pain is not

baseline, three months, then twice a year is what i settled on

fridge_thermo 22:07

my alt has come down a lot since i started losing, is that expected

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

quick one nobody here is reading your bloods as a clinician. we are reading them as people who have had a lot of bloods
my numbers: a1c and triglycerides both moved a lot, ldl barely moved at all

egfr_ed 22:11

do you fast for the full 12 hours or is 8 enough

👍1

apob if you can

first_and_last_four 22:16

mine did the same

❤️10🙏6

c18_column is there any point getting a1c if i am not diabetic

fridge_thermo 22:18

i had a potassium that came back high and the repeat was normal. the tube had been knocked about

baseline  58
wk 2      61
wk 4      64
wk 6      67
wk 8      66
wk 10     65   (held dose from wk 7)

lyophile_liv 22:21

is crp worth adding to the panel

fridge_thermo 22:24

is it too early to retest a1c at week 13

💀1🙏10

my potassium came back weird and the retest was normal, whats that about

📈10🙏2

first_and_last_four 22:28

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
alt and ast coming down as you lose liver fat is common and is a good sign

VialBotbot22:31

Inter-lab diff for lot A-2418: 99% vs 98.1%. Within expected range.

Testing queue: 8 submissions open, 35 awaiting dispatch.

first_and_last_four 22:36

the FLOW result is why my nephrologist changed her position on this entirely

👀13

first_and_last_four if a result frightens you, that is a conversation with a clinician. we will help you…

sasha_stacks 22:39

ferritin and b12 fall quietly when you are barely eating. check them twice a year

if your glucose is in mg/dL the divisor is 405. if it is mmol/L it is 22.5

sorry to jump in update from 4 months ago: a1c down, apob unchanged, and i am genuinely annoyed about the apob

stack_sceptic 22:46