So...you want a blood test (like say, Vitamin D or RBC magnesium) and your PCP doesn't want to run it. You're willing to pay cash/credit and they still don't want to.
If you feel you are armed with enough knowledge to order your own test(s), go to www.DirectLabs.com and order what you want. Simple. Really. There are all sorts of tests to be had there, and I can tell you that the prices are really damn good. Bloodwork is done through LabCorp, not some small backwoods place.
Let's say you wanted to kick back some of the $$ to a fellow IGx'er...shoot me a PM and you can order them through me for the same prices as the website and I get a small piece of what you would have paid anyway.
I am a firm believer in people being able to know what is going on inside of them. Knowledge is power. You are welcome.
If you're a man nearly or over 50 and you find your sexual drive waning, you might indeed be a good candidate for testosterone supplementation. Before you go and get your testosterone levels tested, be sure you know the facts:
Laboratories vary in how they perform testosterone tests. To be sure of the result, have all your testosterone tests done at the same location at roughly the same time of day. (Hormones fluctuate throughout the day, so testing at about the same time is best.) Testosterone levels are most often measured with blood tests, but some centers utilize saliva tests as well.
According to Henry Ritter, MD, a urologist from Atherton, Calif., the most useful number to know is the "free testosterone" (or bioavailable testosterone). The "total testosterone" reflects free and bound testosterone. Bound testosterone is not available to boost libido because it is linked to proteins, such as albumin and sex hormone binding globulin, according to John E. Gould, MD, PhD, associate clinical professor of urology at the University of California at Davis. Gould also recommends getting the free testosterone number.
Different labs measure free testosterone differently. But ranges they consider "normal" generally fall between 260 nanograms/deciliter to 1,000 ng/dL (or 2.6 nanograms/milliliter to 10 ng/mL). Since physicians and laboratories have only recently begun to recognize the importance of testing free testosterone, you may have to lobby to get the test. If you are unable to get that reading and are forced to stick with total testosterone, learn the range of normal for your lab. Normal ranges for men usually are between 250 ng/dL to 1,200 ng/dL of blood (2.5 ng/mL to 12 ng/mL).
