Best value private blood tests?

[soupfiend]

There are a few companies around doing these, I have used medichecks around 6 months ago but they were supplied for me as part of a health package. I dont get any further blood tests under this package but now want to check again

The test I got with Medichecks 6 months ago is about £159 (its not exactly the same as the one provided by the health provider) and basically I want everything such as vits/minerals/thyroid/blood counts/sugars/cholesterol etc etc

But that is a lot of money, are there any others who are better value?

out of interest did your tests 6 month ago reveal any red flags?

Not really to be fair, I suppose some of this is a bit of health anxiety and the 'worried well' type inquiry. But I am on a very limited diet and on bariatric supplements so as time goes on, I want to check that all is still well and that Im taking enough

I had very high iron saturation but this is though to be perhaps the way the body is processing iron at the moment. My cholesterol is still higher than I would like, the ratio is 5 and I want that down to 4 so would like to know if that has occured

I need to check my b12 is still ok as well

I know my kidney functioning is ok because that was done at the doctors recently for something else.

and your GP not concerned enough to suggest being monitored and regular blood tests?

No, theres nothing wrong with me (apart from the things that are wrong with me but thats not blood test issues)

This is for me to be able to monitor that my health is going in the right direction, the right numbers, cholesterol coming down, sugars doing well that sort of thing. I need to check my nutrients are working

Although now that I think about it, the GP did repeat the saturation tests and I dont think I collected those to see for myself, apparently they were ok

following

op this is to feed for health anxiety

You were fine six months ago. Your GP doesn’t think blood tests are needed. And you say you have health anxiety.
Don’t test. Treat the anxiety.

Following also! I love medichecks but they are v pricey

I’ve always used Medichecks to monitor thyroid (have had three instances of Graves’ disease in the past). It’s expensive but significantly more convenient that attempting to get an appointment at my local practice for a blood test where they insist on only testing one bio marker (patronisingly telling me that they know better) and then have to call me back to repeat the test checking for the other markers (that I told them they needed to test in the first place but they wouldn’t cos ‘computer says no’.) and so end to end the process takes about 3-4 weeks and lots of phone calls to try and get multiple appointments when I can buy a medichecks kit and get a result within the week with approximately zero stress. It’s well worth the expense. My NHS endocrinologist is more than happy to review my medichecks results too.

I dont have 'anxiety'. Im not sitting here 'anxious'

I am anxious to know if the supplements Im on and have to be on for life are doing their job. That sort of 'anxious'. Curious, interested, I have to be on ant acids for life and they can compromise vitamin absorption so I need to be aware of any changes.

I do wonder whether things are happening that could be linked to me not absorbing the supplements, my hair is falling out, although not as much as before, this is likely linked to peri menopause but I just want to keep an eye on my levels of things to discount anything else going on. That is what I mean by health anxiety.

GPs not wanting to do bloods is neither here nor there, they dont work in a preventative manner and thats not a criticism of them.

And you might say, the GP should be concerned, my cholesterol overall is 5.6, which is on the high side, no mention was made of this, however I will get that down

However perhaps 6 months after the initial test might be too soon, perhaps I will wait another 6 months. Its a right faff to organise them anyway to be honest

However this query was about best value, not about people making judgements as to whether I need them or not.

Well so far Ive only compared medichecks and thriva and thriva is more expensive and doesnt have the number of markers that the medichecks one has.

I was a bit surprised.

But I dont know any others!

Medichecks have 20% off until midnight if that helps

Doctors do preventative checks. I have blood tests every three months because of a medication I’m on. Live a healthy lifestyle then you don’t need them. If you do then GP will do them. You say you’re not anxious. Then you say you’re anxious.

That is very helpful, I will look again.

I am anxious to know if the supplements Im on and have to be on for life are doing their job.

i will presume these “supplements” are something you have purchased ie not prescribed and you have decided you need to “be on them for life”

If you are going to spend your money, i’d suggest on therapy to treat your health anxiety

Oh dear. I seem to have triggered something in you, you keep posting and griping. My last comment to you

No, I have a bariatric team who inform me (and other patients) of what supplements I need, I purchase specially made bariatric supplements for this purpose (this is in the first answer to you by the way which would have aided your understanding if you read it properly). They wouldnt be 'prescribed' because my GP doesnt prescribe them but other patients up and down the country are luckier than me and their GP does prescribe them, its the luck of the draw unfortunately in terms of what area you live in and whether you have to purchase yourself

Im also on antacids for life, they are prescribed. Not sure why the NHS in my area makes the distinction

HTH

this bariatric team doesn’t administer blood tests on patients under its care?

Oh dear. I seem to have triggered something in you,

i don’t like to see people being taken advantage of 🤷‍♀️

I thought the rules here was that you should answer the post query. The post query was about best value testing so Im not sure on why there are posts that dont address that

Thank you to those who are helpful, I ordered a medichecks one with a huge discount! I have to stop b12 supplements for 2 weeks before the test which was not told to me on the last ones, so that is interesting, I wonder if my b12 will be different this time.

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@BuilderBetty sorry to jump on but you mentioned nhs endo being happy to accept the medichecks tests so they are happy that they are pretty accurate?
Only asking as I did the medichecks 9am cortisol and it's come back low 126 (ref range 166-506) I mentioned it to my gp but was sort of dismissed for being medichecks.

@Smurf123 yes so I share my results and endo reviews and adjusts prescription based on that but also requests NHS blood test to support (I’m assuming so they have the evidence to support their prescription)…by which time a month or so has gone passed before results come back in….which would technically be a wasted month. Means I can get going quickly

Have a look at Ivie - think part of Holland & Barrett, I’ve been looking at their tests as interested in monitoring my ferritin (am supplementing as low) and also Vit D which my gp will only do as a very last resort. I’ve not ordered yet but they have lots of packages and looked reasonable.
They did have a sale on but might have finished now.

@soupfiend yes definitely make sure you've had at least 2 weeks off b12 supplements, are they tablets? I'm surprised it doesn't take longer to come out of your system. I've had a nightmare with b12 issues. Not sure if omeprazole is solely to blame, but I ended up really unwell after it stopped proper absorption of b12 for a few years. I have 12 weekly injections now and was advised to leave it 8 weeks afterwards if I have any blood tests.

I'm also looking into Medichecks and other companies for private bloods atm. Something's causing me hair loss and my Gp was very dismissive, said it's probably hormones and I might be peri as early 40's. He said I can book in for bloods with a nurse if I'm really concerned. Well it's proving pretty hard to get the timing right and book in during the 4 weeks before my next injection is due. My surgery has no appointments free at the moment as they're short staffed. They said call back in 2 weeks, but then they don't usually have any nurse appts available for another 2-3 weeks, sometimes more, by which time I'm due my next b12 injection. A private test seems so much easier, plus I can get everything I want tested where they offer different packages and extra tests. Please let us know who you choose to go with and how you get on.

Thanks @BuilderBetty Ill try asking gp again. I'm happy to have them check it again but if it's low id just like to know