8 replies to this topic

[mrtanaka]

I have arranged for an appointment with my doctor, where I will ask to have my blood tested.

At the moment, I am going to request testing for hyperthyroidism, fluoride levels, and vitamin and mineral adequacies. I was thinking about testing for adrenal fatigue, if that's possible, as well.

Is it feasible to have all these things tested simultaneously, or will I have to make arrangements for each test separately?

Also, is there anything else I should consider getting tested for? For background information, I am a 24 year old male, I am prescribed Ritalin, and I supplement various nootropics (I take bacopa daily, and infrequently use sulbutiamine and piracetam). Despite taking Ritalin, I do strive to be healthy and for longevity, so I think that should be taken into consideration.

Any other advice would be appreciated (e.g., asking for copies).

[aLurker]

Is this just a thorough check-up for future reference or do you have any specific problems?

(For instance if you are fatigued you might want to try a week or so without Bacopa or if you are nervous you might want to cut down on the Ritalin.)

Either way, 25-OH vitamin D test is always a good one to make sure you get among the vitamin tests.

Edited by aLurker, 16 August 2010 - 10:33 PM.

[mrtanaka]

Is this just a thorough check-up for future reference or do you have any specific problems?

(For instance if you are fatigued you might want to try a week or so without Bacopa or if you are nervous you might want to cut down on the Ritalin.)

Either way, 25-OH vitamin D test is always a good one to make sure you get among the vitamin tests.

It's just for future reference.

I have no issues with fatigue or nervousness. The reason why I'm testing for hyperthyroidism is because having it can mimic ADHD symptoms. As for testing my adrenals, I suspect that adrenal fatigue may arise from taking Ritalin.

And thanks for the suggestion. I had it in mind to test for vitamin D levels, but I assumed that if I asked for a test for mineral and vitamin levels, they would draw enough blood to cover most of the main ones. So will I have to individually specify which minerals/vitamins to test for?

[niner]

A lot of the tests you're thinking of (most of the possible vitamin/mineral tests) are probably not going to be covered by insurance, and may be expensive, inaccurate, or unavailable. Minerals, for example, are hard to get a good read on. Do you have any reason to believe that you are suffering from a fluoride toxicity? Aside from the usual things that doctors will check, I would ask for 25-OH-vitamin D3 and a hemoglobin A1c. You should probably be supplementing D3; I recommend 2000 IU of an oil-based (softgel) formulation. Dry forms are poorly absorbed. I shoot for 40-50 ng/ml. Hb A1c will tell you how good your glucose control has been over the past three months or so. Lower is better. If you can get it under 5% that's great. It might be good to get one of the more sophisticated lipid panels that will break out the different particle sizes of your cholesterol. This might be expensive and/or not covered, so at your age you might want to just get the usual lipid panel unless you have a family history of cardiovascular disease.

[mrtanaka]

A lot of the tests you're thinking of (most of the possible vitamin/mineral tests) are probably not going to be covered by insurance, and may be expensive, inaccurate, or unavailable. Minerals, for example, are hard to get a good read on. Do you have any reason to believe that you are suffering from a fluoride toxicity?

I don't know whether it's justified, but there is a lot of buzz about using fluoride-based toothpaste. Obviously I shouldn't really worry, given that it's a pretty much universal ingredient in toothpastes. But I do know that some mineral toxicities could underlie ADHD symptoms and there was a time in the past where I used to brush rather obsessively and would often eat shortly thereafter. This isn't anything that I've really done much research on.

I thought I should mention that I live in Canada, despite my 'location' information, so I hope that coverage isn't an issue.

Hb A1c will tell you how good your glucose control has been over the past three months or so. Lower is better. If you can get it under 5% that's great.

I actually had it in mind a few months ago to test my glucose metabolism. I am not sure if I am dysfunctional in that regard, but I tend to get migraines if I don't eat anything for about 2-3 hours (even if after a big meal), I am compelled to eat very frequently (though this might be because I tend to eat small meals, mostly of fruits), and that I would often feel very tired after big meals (though I suppose I forgot about this since it went away once I started taking ritalin). But I decided against the test, since I had read that such a test would require fasting for an extended period of time. And of course, given my inability to fast without getting a migraine, I decided against it.

I'm not sure if the test you suggested has the same requirement or has anything at all to do with the problems I listed, but I just thought I would throw that in there. I definitely will do some research on it and I really appreciate the suggestion.

You should probably be supplementing D3; I recommend 2000 IU of an oil-based (softgel) formulation. Dry forms are poorly absorbed. I shoot for 40-50 ng/ml.

I occasionally do supplement D3 (and used to regularly take cod liver oil), but no where near those doses. Is there any reason to supplement that much? IIRC, there's a thread floating around here (that I only skimmed, mind you) about some recent research that warns against D3 megadosing. But I might be thinking of something else.

[niner]

A lot of the tests you're thinking of (most of the possible vitamin/mineral tests) are probably not going to be covered by insurance, and may be expensive, inaccurate, or unavailable. Minerals, for example, are hard to get a good read on. Do you have any reason to believe that you are suffering from a fluoride toxicity?

I don't know whether it's justified, but there is a lot of buzz about using fluoride-based toothpaste. Obviously I shouldn't really worry, given that it's a pretty much universal ingredient in toothpastes. But I do know that some mineral toxicities could underlie ADHD symptoms and there was a time in the past where I used to brush rather obsessively and would often eat shortly thereafter. This isn't anything that I've really done much research on.

I thought I should mention that I live in Canada, despite my 'location' information, so I hope that coverage isn't an issue.

There's a lot of fluoride paranoia floating around. Most toothpastes are not terribly high in fluoride, and you rinse after using them, so the amount of fluoride you consume systemically is pretty low. Fluoride is pretty common in nature (most tea contains it) and it's not as toxic as some people will tell you it is. Just as a data point, a couple hours ago, I brushed my teeth with a prescription fluoride toothpaste that's 5000 ppm fluoride. When I finished brushing, I spit it out but I didn't rinse. I walked away with my mouth teeming with fluoride ions. I've got a couple bad spots on my teeth that I'm trying to remineralize (on my dentist's advice). It's working pretty well, in fact. Our water is not fluoridated, so my kids have taken a quarter milligram of fluoride daily for most of their lives, on the advice of their pediatrician. Too much is bad, but so it too little. In Canada, I imagine you'll be covered for basic tests. Some of the vitamin and mineral levels probably won't be covered, though I would expect D and HbA1c to both be covered. (I hope, anyway...)

Hb A1c will tell you how good your glucose control has been over the past three months or so. Lower is better. If you can get it under 5% that's great.

I actually had it in mind a few months ago to test my glucose metabolism. I am not sure if I am dysfunctional in that regard, but I tend to get migraines if I don't eat anything for about 2-3 hours (even if after a big meal), I am compelled to eat very frequently (though this might be because I tend to eat small meals, mostly of fruits), and that I would often feel very tired after big meals (though I suppose I forgot about this since it went away once I started taking ritalin). But I decided against the test, since I had read that such a test would require fasting for an extended period of time. And of course, given my inability to fast without getting a migraine, I decided against it.

I'm not sure if the test you suggested has the same requirement or has anything at all to do with the problems I listed, but I just thought I would throw that in there. I definitely will do some research on it and I really appreciate the suggestion.

It sounds like you tend toward hypoglycemia. This might be considered good from a longevity standpoint, in that low glucose means less glycation. However, hypoglycemia has a lot of negatives, as you're well aware. The fasting glucose test does require a fast, as its name implies, but it's not very useful, since it's only a snapshot. HbA1c is more useful, imho. I'm not positive, but I don't think you need to fast for HbA1c.

You should probably be supplementing D3; I recommend 2000 IU of an oil-based (softgel) formulation. Dry forms are poorly absorbed. I shoot for 40-50 ng/ml.

I occasionally do supplement D3 (and used to regularly take cod liver oil), but no where near those doses. Is there any reason to supplement that much? IIRC, there's a thread floating around here (that I only skimmed, mind you) about some recent research that warns against D3 megadosing. But I might be thinking of something else.

There are some vitamin D threads here that go on at length. Megadosing of D is bad, like overdoing anything. Vitamin D supplementation should be done with blood testing. For most people, 2000 IU puts them in a nice range, though there can be outliers. Ideally one would combine supplemental D with vitamin K2. I take 90 mcg K2-MK7 four times a week. When you are vitamin K replete, the danger of high doses of D is negligible. Around here, 2000 IU is considered pretty moderate. The RDA is 400 IU, and is widely regarded as inadequate. It will be raised "any year now"... These things move slowly.

[ajnast4r]

25-OH-D
CRP
VAP cholesterol panel

[FunkOdyssey]

In this month's LEF magazine they interview Holick (Vitamin D expert) and he keeps his personal 25OHD between 40-50ng/mL by taking 2400iu daily and some vitamin D fortified milk. Just FYI.

Edited by FunkOdyssey, 18 August 2010 - 05:25 PM.

[nameless]

If your doctor is the test-friendly sort, he/she may do the tests you want, but for some docs it's like pulling teeth getting them to write a script for blood tests.

I agree with what's been recommended so far: Vit D, VAP, hs-crp, HbA1c. You probably should get a CBC/BMP at least once, just to check liver function and general bloodwork stuff.

For thyroid, you can ask for TSH, Free T3, T4, and thyroid antibodies. Your doctor may only do the TSH, or no thyroid stuff at all, unless you mention symptoms that correlate to a thyroid disorder. You can get cortisol levels tested, but that may be getting into endo territory, and again, you may need to mention symptoms that are related to an adrenal problem.

If you ask for fluoride and all vits/minerals, you may just get a weird look from your doctor. You could ask for a Vit A/E, Magnesium RBC, Zinc RBC, etc. but only if your doctor is the sort who will basically write a blood test for whatever you ask for. And you'd need to also check if they'd even be covered or not -- expensive if you have to pay out of pocket.

And sometimes I've found it best to just narrow down the requests to the most important stuff, and then followup with the less common tests in future appointments or through different doctors.