JennaRN said:

The single most useful discipline is bringing the whole panel to a clinician rather than one flagged value.

PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy. You need a "before" picture to measure progress. My recommended pre-treatment panel:

1. CMP + A1C + fasting insulin
2. Complete lipid panel with particle count if possible
3. hsCRP, ferritin, B12, vitamin D
4. Thyroid panel (TSH + free T4)
5. CBC with differential
6. Liver panel (ALT, AST, GGT)
7. DEXA scan or body composition

Total cost at Quest without insurance: ~$200. Worth every penny for the data.

One thing that is still open after Dr.CardioMD’s answer:

How often to repeat it, because quarterly seems to be the convention and I cannot find the reasoning?

wendy_avl said:

PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy.

Blood work came back perfect. baseline bloodwork + this community = winning. 🏆

Closing the loop on my own question.

Took the whole panel in rather than the one flagged line, and the conversation lasted two minutes instead of generating three more tests.

JenPlateau said:

baseline bloodwork + this community = winning.

That is correct as far as it goes, and here is where it stops going. One addition: if the lab changes analytical platform between your draws, the comparison breaks and nobody tells you. It is worth asking when a value moves inexplicably.