Check https://www.health-tests-direct.com/ too for pricing. The sites will run specials too.
1 Like
Quest has been prime for me. Itās about 30 minutes away, but the process couldnāt be easier. I usually have a copay thatās like $15, which is negligible, so I get bloodwork all the damn time lol.
Labcorp was pretty easy. With insurance i never know what the hell Iām going to get. I ran labs with total, free t, tsh, free t4 and free t3 and was charged around $60. My doc sent in another vial of blood that they ran total and free t again and I got charged $90 even though labcorp charged the same.
I know my insurance coverage is more robust than most have ā I feel very fortunate about that, probably wouldnāt be doing HOT without it though now thereās no turning back ā but that still sounds kinda pricey to me. Have you looked into Quest?
Correction. Tesamorelin is not available from the compounding pharmacy. We are going to use Ipamorelin instead. Less excited about this ā Iāve heard Tesamorelin is better ā but still intrigued.
No, i believe they are pretty comparable though as those are the only 2 labs that my insurance has deals worked out with. The second set that i got charged more for may have been insurance punishing me because they were pulled the same day and my doc wasnt clear with labcorp that it was just incase they did not have enough from the first vial. So it was his screw up, especially when they had also sat too long and did not even match, but that is another bitch session. smfh
The problem I have though is, I can go and get an estimate for that particular lab from the insurance website, but never know what they will actually pay. For instance with the thyroid stuff on my panel should have been around $10 each different lab. They covered it all and I only paid for the total and e2 which also should have been around $30 according to the website but was $30 a piece instead.
Sounds very annoying brother, sorry to hear that! Imagine itās a big pain
For most labs I have just gone through either my doc (he has a discounted price with labcorp) or through discounted labs. The prices that way have been straight forward and a lot of the time cheaper. The only reason I went through insurance last was hoping it would be better coverage for my thyroid (it was on that). You are lucky with your insurance. I have a hard time understanding why I pay for it and end up paying more than if I had payed a cash price.
1 Like
Iām appreciating the coverage while I have it. My job situation is going to change in the next 2-3 years, and Iām sure my next coverage wonāt be as good. But Iām hoping by then my protocol will be dialed in with just the necessities, so it will be more affordable to pay out of pocket. Having the coverage during the āexperimentalā early 1-2 years is huge! If I can dial it back to just a couple appointments/blood draws per year + test and maybe hCG, it shouldnāt cost more than $100-200 a month or so.
1 Like
Yeah you should be able to do around $100-150 a month I would think once youāre stable and dialed in
1 Like
Test is about $50 for 10ml. I saw it on good rx for $40, but not where i buy it. Hcg is $70 for 10ml. I take .5 cc of hcg per week, so that last me 20 weeks. I hope this helps.
Youāre buying 10mL for $50? Damn. Empower is way more expensive
That same dose at the clinic i started at would cost my $550. And they constantly try to upsell you. This dr is $250 the first visit. Then $120 phone consult. Phone consult at 1 month and then each 6 months.
2 Likes
Thank you, brother ā much appreciated! I pay $90 for each consult with my PA at Defy, which occurs every 3ish months. Other than that, meds come out to about $300/month, but Iām on a bunch of different stuff in this trial period (wonāt stay that way forever) and itās all reimbursed by insurance. Imagine Defy will, all things considered, average out to about $100-150/month when Iām settled.
You should look at insulin and diet for shbg. A big cause of shbg issues is due to those two. I was told that shbg decrease when you do trt. How much has yours dropped? A doc I know told me this and said some as much as 30-40 points lower after a good several months.
Whatās wrong with libido?
1 Like
Yeah man, we changed up my diet about 9 months ago, raising carbohydrates. I agree that nutrition is related to SHBG, for sure, and high-fat diets are likely not good in this case.
My SHBG has dropped significantly since adding Danazol. First reading was 180, now 46. The issue now seems to be the disparity between SHBG and estrogen. Iām trying to get those two numbers to be closer together. I think thatās what is thwarting my libido. But I will say ā and this could be just placebo ā Iāve felt much more sex drive in the past week since lowering my dose from 200/week to 150/week.
1 Like
Since lowering my dose from 200-150 last week, Iāve been having terrible sleep problems again. Probably slept a total of 7.5 hours over the past 2 nights. Ugh. Hope my body adjusts soon. It seems altering my dose in any way (up or down) really throws off my sleep!
Maybe with such a lower shbg your dose needs to change to compensate. Sometimes when our dose is well beyond what we need we donāt feel as good. Bodyās shocked Iām sure sleep returns. Taking melatonin and Gaba?
Iāve been taking melatonin, yeah, but not GABA. Actually, the thing that has worked without fail is CBD + melatonin. Itās like a miracle pill! But itās more expensive and harder to acquire, and I donāt want my body to get accustomed to it. Fortunately, I have slept soundly three nights in a row ā hopefully it was just a one-week adjustment period.
I have definitely felt different since lowering my dose ā I still feel good overall, but sex drive and motivation to lift arenāt nearly as intense.