To think it odd my doctor won't give me a blood test

[ImStillMe]

I did an e-comsult asking for a blood test for two things. Firstly I have been taking OTC vitamin D as I read this may be beneficial if you catch Covid (although I have also read this is debunked). I wanted my vitamin D level checked so I know whether or not to continue with this.

And secondly my hair has become very dry so I wondered if I am deficient in anything, or if it ok to try OTC biotin or zinc.

The surgery replied to say it's up to me if I want to continue with vitamin D supplements or not as they are OTC, and that I should talk to a pharmacist about my dry hair.

So no blood tests for me.

And we wonder why the NHS is on its knees....They didn't offer a blood test because you're not ill, OP. Hth.

Primary care will not check vitamin D levels. WHO guidence is supplementation in Winter months. Just keep buying the tablets.....as for zinc it is an expensive blood test if you are taking your RDA why do you need to check ?

There's a shortage of blood collection tubes. They're not going to waste them testing your blood when you could just use a different conditioner.

To the PP re the 8000 pound test...

How did you come up with that figure?

(I think that person has been watching Chicago Med as if anyone goes there they get every test from the alphabet, plus an mri and cat scan. I could understand that figure then, yes)

And for the OP, a hair mask and hair and nails vitamins will most likely help.

😩😩😂😂😂 I can't get my GP to do full bloods very often and I have malabsorption and a very poor dietary intake. I take multivitamins and that's that. They aren't going to give you one for dry hair..

£8k for bloods? Makes the £500 I paid for a private MRI seem like a bargain!!!
OP, get yourself off to a supermarket, buy some conditioner and salmon. Heck, you might even get the 10 micrograms a day you need just walking through the car park.

Here, have a Berocca on me

I disagree with the common view here, about the Vit D anyway. Most of us in the UK have low vitamin D levels, which can lead lots of problems and it'd be good to know where you are before winter kicks in so you can take steps accordingly. But you can overdose on vitamin D, hence the need for a test.

I’m glad that taxpayers money is not spent on pointless vitamin D tests, to reassure neurotics who would be back with a different demand the next week anyway.

A viitamin d tests costs £60 in the nhs. Nhs advises everyone takes vit d during autumn/ winter

Sorry, they are ridiculous reasons to ask for an NHS blood test.

How old are you? If you're 40+ your then peri-menopause will be starting to create problems.
A pharmacist won't be able to help, I've never had any luck with them about anything.

In France, you generally have to pay a fee to see a GP. Posts like this make me realise why.

There's nothing wrong with you. Wanting an NHS blood test because your hair's a bit frizzy! FFS.

Everyone in the uk should be taking vitamin d supplements in the winter months. Just buy the RDA tablets. Add calcium to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Vitamin E is good for your skin.
I find the nhs website quite informative. It has improved a lot recently.

£8000 for a full blood panel? Someone is raking it in!

My health insurance pays about £400-£500 a year for pretty comprehensive blood tests because I've had some symptoms in the past (low iron, borderline thyroid), because I have some ongoing issues (blood pressure, cholesterol) and because I'm on a medication that requires regular LFTs. This is in a generally expensive country. I see the bill and the £400-500 is the full cost.

Some vitamins/minerals are tested if there are potential heart issues, including potassium, sodium and calcium. @ImStillMe I'm not sure if this is why my panel includes vit D (and sone other seemingly random things) or whether they just to keep an eye on it. In spite of regular supplementation at 5000 iu (with k2) my levels are still only 'sufficient' rather than optimal (just above normal and low within the normal range). It's true I haven't got much sun his year as I haven't been feeling great, but normally your vit D should be highest at the end of the summer. So my conclusion, based on my sample of myself, is that you are safe to keep supplementing (and it's more important in winter). I can't remember how it's measured here - I think it's different to the U.K. - but I am at 89, normal is something like 70-150 and toxicity is above 375... so it would not be easy to get it that high!

I hope my mum (who also has a heart condition, is on loads of meds and has had a bypass) is not fobbed off by the NHS when she goes to get her annual blood test...

Mine refused to do a clinically indicated test requested by my consultant. They said it was because it was a specialist test and they're generalists so wouldn't be able to interpret the results (though I suspect there was at least a little of 'if the consultant wants it then it shouldn't have to come out of our budget').
The tests were requested to see if one of my medications needed changing. Despite being generalists they were happy to make that change without the test 🤔

No really? I was hospitalised last year and thought I must be properly ill as they gave me so many blood tests. Trying to figure what the problem was.

I had similar concerns and paid for a thriva test to test levels of vitamin d, b vitamins and iron. All were very low, but very low iron / ferritin was why my hair was not just dry, but falling out. I started taking supplements and have retested at 6-12 month intervals. Thriva showed the previous results and the trend which i found very helpful. Other tests are available, but this is the only one I've used. I would definitely recommend it if you can afford it (about £60 for them all, I think)

It is crazy money but they do throw tests at you if they can’t figure out what’s wrong. I was ill last year had a lumbar puncture, ct scan, mri and so, so many blood tests.

sadly my hair is still frizzy.

This is a bit misleading - it's only €25 and you can claim most of it back from CPAM, and the rest from your mutuel if you have one. You only pay in full if you're not in the system yet, in which case you should have PHI to cover it.

In France healthcare is funded through 'social contributions' as part of your taxes. I believe it's 8% of your salary. The state then pays approx 70% of your costs unless you see a super-expensive doctor who charges more than the government-agreed fees. The other 30% comes from your mutuel (top-up insurance), which is optional and costs around €100 a month (variable according to age and how much cover you want). So it can be more complicated in terms of getting reimbursed but is not dissimilar to the NHS, though a little more expensive overall.

YABU to ask for those blood tests for those reasons. If you showed ill health symptoms of deficiencies then yeah, but not for dry hair and wondering if you're supplementing enough (just keep supplementing, everyone should be taking vit D).

But it would be ideal if people could get regular (e.g. yearly or every few years) basic blood screens and health check ups done for preventative health reasons but there's no way the NHS can afford that when its been under-funded for so long. I'm glad I moved to a country where I get regular health check ups with my occupational healthcare (including vision and hearing tests, picked up my anaemia returning) and the unemployed are entitled to free check ups on the public system (I had one once, was good) but the public system is better funded and occupational healthcare is commonplace (I think required by law maybe).

Maybe if there was a national mentality that people should be encouraged to test regularly, just maybe, we could prevent some types of illness that are currently utilising NHS resources.

Test what, though? There are thousands of things that can be measured in blood samples. If you do all of them for every patient, apart from the massive cost, there is also an almost 100% probability of at least one false positive result, resulting in patients' potentially being treated for conditions they don't have. This is one of the biggest causes of medical error leading to patient harm in private insurance-based healthcare systems.

Have you actually read anything at all about the state of the NHS? People with actual things wrong with them can’t get treatment. Stop wasting their time and resources.

You don’t need one that’s why! They aren’t going to wait time and resources when you might need a better shampoo!
get a private one done if your so fussed….

I was really making the point that if you have to pay/claim back it reduces the number of time wasters and also reminds people that health care, even seeing a gp for 10mins, had to be paid for by someone.

Impressive you got an appointment.Gives me hope to try ringing again.