Get Your Damn Blood Tests!

KNB · February 22, 2008, 4:10pm

[quote]andersons wrote:
Kuz wrote:

Maybe this is a good springboard into the concern I outlined above: How many of you have gone to your doctor and just got a runaround on either approving the test (always nice when insurance can cover things) or after getting the test, having your low positive T-level results be poo-pooed as “something to accept as part of aging”? I think that’s what I’m most curious about. Do you end up finding a whole new physician? If not, then what?

Scheduled an appointment for a physical. Asked the doctor to test, well, not everything on the list above, but a lot of them. He didn’t blink an eye and wrote up the order for the lab. Went down to the lab and they pulled the blood. Went back for followup to go over the results, and filed them away in the cabinet. (Not a fireproof one.) Whole thing cost $20 (2 office visit copays).

This is with an HMO - Kaiser.

[/quote]

So I’m guessing the results were good, otherwise you’d have posted the bad news right? Glad to hear you stood up to your doctor, I wish more guys would. I’m glad I did.

andersons · February 22, 2008, 5:08pm

[quote]Kuz wrote:

So I’m guessing the results were good, otherwise you’d have posted the bad news right? Glad to hear you stood up to your doctor, I wish more guys would. I’m glad I did.
[/quote]
No need to stand up to him at all; I just asked for the tests and he ordered them, no questions. And no bad news.

I agree with the original poster about having those records from a (relatively) young and healthy time to compare as you get older; that’s why I requested the blood work.

I have found that if I don’t like a particular doctor’s biases, keep looking. My current doctor seems very knowledgeable about optimal hormone levels, versus just inside the reference ranges. If I were to ask for HRT, I am not sure what would happen. On the one hand, most Kaiser doctors seem to operate on a patient-driven-care model where they tend to give you specific drugs if you ask for them. (Though I have gotten resistance when I needed more vicodin after tearing my piriformis.) However, they have a formulary of approved drugs and treatments that keeps costs and lawsuits down. If a treatment isn’t on the approved list, I need a doctor who is willing to request an exception. I don’t know at this time if Kaiser would offer HRT as described by others on this board.

Iron_Dwarf · February 22, 2008, 5:38pm

Not sure what my levels are. I’m 45 years old now, and so far, so good. But here’s a weird one: Over a year ago, I switched to drinking soy milk (yeah, I read a book that prescribed it for prostate health… oh the horror). I mean I drank a LOT of soy milk. Within a few months I noticed 2 things: sore nipples, and my sex drive was over the top! I’m a horny dude anyway, but this was ridiculous. My poor wife…

I recently dropped all soy products after reading a better article on the soy conspiracy. The nipples are back to normal, but the sex drive is not backing down slowly enough. Now I’m wondering if the soy fucked me up permanently!
I guess I better get that bloodtest.

sen_say · March 5, 2008, 9:02pm

I’m looking to get my bloodwork done. Any tips/advice on talking with a new doctor before you visit the office to make sure you’re on the same page?

Thanks.

entheogens · March 5, 2008, 9:37pm

[quote]Love2Lift wrote:
I recently dropped all soy products after reading a better article on the soy conspiracy. The nipples are back to normal, but the sex drive is not backing down slowly enough. Now I’m wondering if the soy fucked me up permanently!
I guess I better get that bloodtest.[/quote]

My guess is that it’s the estrogen. Definitely have that tested along with Testosterone and Free Testosterone. If you are in an HMO, demand that the doctor get Free T and Estrogen labwork, because the usual doc will only check the Total T. Also report back to us what your labs look like. E levels can be within the “normal” range according to their charts but still be too high. I have it figured that “normal” on blood work is akin to the Recommended Daily Allowance in vitamins…In other words, “normal” means, in their view, enough to prevent death.

entheogens · March 5, 2008, 9:40pm

[quote]sen say wrote:
I’m looking to get my bloodwork done. Any tips/advice on talking with a new doctor before you visit the office to make sure you’re on the same page?
[/quote]

No, but if they refuse, get a new doc. If you are in an HMO and none of the Docs are willing to do this, bit the bullet and get the bloodwork done by Life Extension at www.lef.org. To get the full male panel will cost you 230 bucks. To get Total T, Free T and estradiol checked, it will cost around 130 bucks.

KNB · March 6, 2008, 1:21am

[quote]sen say wrote:
I’m looking to get my bloodwork done. Any tips/advice on talking with a new doctor before you visit the office to make sure you’re on the same page?

Thanks.[/quote]

Yes take the “ADAM questionnaire” and see how many of the questions you answer “yes” to. Tell the doctor your symptoms and request blood work. You might also want to call different docs offices and ask if they do HRT, if they have many patients on HRT, and how long they have been doing HRT, to name a few. That will tell you pretty much what kind of practice the doctor is running and see if want to go there or not.

removed123 · May 12, 2008, 5:38pm

[quote]KNB wrote:
To all who read this and haven’t;
What are you waiting for? Do you want to be another statistic of the health care system? What if in five years, Mr. happy doesn’t visit every morning like does now? What if the wife/girlfriend stops “waking” you up every morning too? Do you not care if your prostrate swells up the size of an orange and takes away from you your ability to be spontaneous? Do you want to get fat, and slothy, and grow “moobs” too? Have I gotten your attention yet?
Good.

Here’s my point if it isn’t already obvious: get your damn blood work done. Schedule the test as soon as you finish reading this. Yes, it’s that important.
There are so many men on this forum due to the fact they waited until something had been wrong for a long time, they then got their tests done. Sad but true. If you get your b/w done before you have symptoms of male menopause, guess what? You are one of the men that can tell their doctor," when my Testosterone were such and such, was when I still was a happy man. Now that they are (insert number)I feel like crap all the time. Your doctor now having a baseline for you should be (mostly) able to return your blood levels back to where you were happy, instead of half of where you should be to be happy due to the “statistics” of average blood levels for “a man your age”.
Please don’t wait if possible my man friends, take control of your health care before somebody else does it for you.

KNB[/quote]

Excellent Advice. Thanks. (I know original post is five months old, but newbi to board, older bb).

brentf13 · May 12, 2008, 8:01pm

Also if it comes to TRT avoid the hell and go see Dr John Crisler or another Dr well known for TRT. I went through the “hell” part for a long time. Endo wouldn’t treat, family Dr would treat but was clueless, even the anti aging clinic that I went to didn’t know what they were doing. They were happy to help but WAY behind with treatment options. They preferred implanted T pellets or just HCG! I say spend the $300 to see Crisler.

Also I think the 24 hour urine labs he runs are the most accurate picture of your hormonal status. It’s going to be the way to go once everyone catches on. He looked at all of the labs I brought in that were done over the last few years and doesn’t feel they’re accurate. They are all over the map so I have to agree with him. I think blood work is nothing more than a snap shot of your hormonal status that changes minute to minute.

Toshiero · May 12, 2008, 4:04pm

The ONLY downside to TRT therapy, is forget about competing in any sports that drug test. Track and field, Olympic lifting, Highland games etc. For some of us thats a hard thing to give up.

KSman · May 12, 2008, 10:19pm

[quote]brentf13 wrote:

Also I think the 24 hour urine labs he runs are the most accurate picture of your hormonal status. It’s going to be the way to go once everyone catches on. [/quote]

That sounds costly.

Once one is on TRT, what does a 24 sample tell you when someone is on the hormone roller coaster of a weekly injection cycle? OK, simple, now we need a 7 day urine sample!

When on TRT, your HPTA is shut down and there is no daily TT, FT, E fluctuations to capture with a 24 hour sample.

So you start with a 24 hour sample and then TRT/HRT is based on that. Now what? If you change to serum tests, which work very well in that situation, there will be no comparison of the serum lab numbers to urine levels. So that does not make any sense at all. If you have 24 hour LH or FST samples [do no know if that is done], then after TRT starts and the HPTA is shutdown, there is no need for a these numbers any longer.

DHEAs and IGF-1 levels are substantially self leveling.

Dr. C has some very odd notions. You need to get labs that he specifies and any other lab is not good enough for him. And you can only use “his” compound pharmacy as the others [that he does not work with] have unspecified quality problems.

Doctors and clinics often have large markups on lab work. So what drives their preference? A test that generates less profit?

This is not an attack, but is a reality loaded with questions.

Can one provide effective care with less costly tests? Yes. Will at special test cause a doctor to change your test ester dose from 107mg/wk to 115mg/wk? Nope. So pragmatically, is anything gained?

[My engineering background makes me do cost/benefit evaluations in many things.]

If urine based labs are less costly, I am all for that. Anyone have the numbers? My serum lab costs are based on LEF.org’s annual blood work sale [Ends June 2nd]. Dr. C does not take any med insurance, so these things have a direct link to your wallet.

InTheZone · May 13, 2008, 4:24pm

[quote]KSman wrote:
brentf13 wrote:

Also I think the 24 hour urine labs he runs are the most accurate picture of your hormonal status. It’s going to be the way to go once everyone catches on.