Since my doctor won’t test my hormones even in the interest of getting normal baseline levels for me , I’ve gone the LEF route but damn it’s taking a long time …
I did the blood draw a month ago. The literature I got with the draw request says turnaround time is “10-14 days”. I called customer service @ 21 days and they said sometimes it takes longer especially with the 4th of July holiday. Sounded like the usual CSBS to me and I think they have no idea where my sample is…It’s now been 30 days. I suspect something went wrong my test and want to ask them for another @ no charge. What do you think ?
Those of you who use LEF what’s been your experience ?
Those of you who know about blood testing: can I still be confident that results, assuming I get them, from this draw done one month + ago can be accurate ?
If they have somehow manged to lose your labs and make you retest, I would insist on a full refund from first test and complimentary second test. But you are just speculating.
Delays suck. I’ve waited over 3 weeks for my lab results from Quest.
I see no reason to be concerned about the “purity” of the blood test due to the delay though.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
If they have somehow manged to lose your labs and make you retest, I would insist on a full refund from first test and complimentary second test. But you are just speculating.
Delays suck. I’ve waited over 3 weeks for my lab results from Quest.
I see no reason to be concerned about the “purity” of the blood test due to the delay though.[/quote]
Thanks. Do they freeze the samples or something ?
I’ve only had blood labs done twice before, both routine labs w/ my doctor and the each time the labs came back within a DAY.
[quote]PureChance wrote:
I haven’t. I am lucky that my insurance hasn’t balked at the 16 tests over the last two and a half years.[/quote]
wow…is my doc just covering his ass or what ? he says “there’s absolutely no reason for me to test them @ your age”. I even offered to pay for them out of pocket but no go . I know everyone has their reasons…should I insist he check them ? Except for this issue I like him a lot; he’s always on time and has personally returned phone calls. I guess I’ll try explaining to him how important it is to me to have a baseline reference level based on what I’ve read on this board.
A doctor is not going to run a battery of tests just because you are curious to see what they are. That is just common sense. This just drives up health care costs for everyone. Hint: do you have actual SYMPTOMS that would warrant the tests u want to run? That would be a good start
Only comment I have is that when I went to have my second set of initial tests done, it was stated that the blood drawn was discarded within 5 calendar days of extraction.
This was using Quest, so it may be different and it also makes me question why it takes 2-3 weeks sometimes.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
A doctor is not going to run a battery of tests just because you are curious to see what they are. That is just common sense. This just drives up health care costs for everyone. Hint: do you have actual SYMPTOMS that would warrant the tests u want to run? That would be a good start[/quote]
Yeah I understand that nut I don’t have any symptoms for ANY of the shit he runs, it’s all been routine so far - cbc, lipids , thyroid, cortisol, crp, homocysteine etc . If all that stuff is important to check isn’t basic hormones stuff like free T and T:E just as important ?
I actually got the idea to get a baseline level now, when I’m realatively young and healthy from reading this board. I still think it’s weird he wouldn’t help me after I offered to pay for the tests.
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
Only comment I have is that when I went to have my second set of initial tests done, it was stated that the blood drawn was discarded within 5 calendar days of extraction.
This was using Quest, so it may be different and it also makes me question why it takes 2-3 weeks sometimes.[/quote]
That’s a good piece of info , thanks. Yeah I can’t understand how it could possibly take that long…blood can’t stay fresh forever.
Due to the demand of testing with surge in hormones quest has been on back log for awhile. Plus some labs have to be sent out to get completed. urine tests only set out on tuesday (one day a week) so if it did not make the first run then it will go the following week. Being proactive is a good thing so get the test ran if your insurance is covering them if not then, do what you need to get done for bare minimum.
[quote]Hardasnails wrote:
Due to the demand of testing with surge in hormones quest has been on back log for awhile. Plus some labs have to be sent out to get completed. urine tests only set out on tuesday (one day a week) so if it did not make the first run then it will go the following week. Being proactive is a good thing so get the test ran if your insurance is covering them if not then, do what you need to get done for bare minimum. [/quote]
Thanks, that’s good info. LEF uses Labcorp but I suppose everyone’s in the same boat…and yeah I’m trying to be pro-active here and paying for it myself. The part that troubles me most is that I’ve paid for these tests already/my credit card has been charged and the tests results have not come through yet…LEF literature says 10-14 days and yet now it’s @ 34 days and customer service is telling me to keep on waiting. I have a hard time waiting this long when the money is already spent. Now we’re talking about at least a 6 week turn around time to see results… I know it’s not that much skin off my nose because I’m not dealing with health issues like many here, but I was hoping to use LEF as a supplement to my once yearly routine blood tests and really what use is paying for these tests if the results come 6 weeks out ? I guess it’s still of some use but again, is this normal ? Do other LEF members find this normal ? Is it useful information ( and still worth paying for) if it takes this long ?
PrivateLabsMD-24 hour turn around time. Uses LabCorp. 50 bucks for CBC, comp. Metabolic, LH/FSH, TT, E2. Not plugging them but I got bloods done, woke up next morning and my blood work was in my e-mail. They attach it as a PDF.
Used LEF since 2004. Some lab items are quick, but if some of the items are not regionally supported, they will delay the reporting of all. I get an eight day turnaround, blood draw to results.
[quote]KSman wrote:
Used LEF since 2004. Some lab items are quick, but if some of the items are not regionally supported, they will delay the reporting of all. I get an eight day turnaround, blood draw to results.[/quote]
Thanks that’s good to know…I do live in the woods.
BTW good luck w/ your recovery and thanks for your killer posts !