marcus_mpls said:

A defensible baseline is short: HbA1c and fasting glucose, a lipid panel with ApoB if you can get it, ALT and AST, creatinine with eGFR, TSH, ferritin…

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.

Following on from SarahChen_PharmD — and this may be the naive question:

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

Dr.PulmRoch 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.

LipidDoc_ATL said:

baseline bloodwork + this community = winning.

LipidDoc_ATL has the substance of this right. The condition it depends on is worth stating. 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.