Medicheks offer on at the moment

[LittleGreyCat]

Just booked my Insulin Resistance test and I noted that there is a price reduction on at the moment, if anyone is interested.

I also have the option of a voucher for one person, but you would have to give me your email address which you may not want to do.

 

[Guzzler]

Good to know, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Bea56]

Just booked my Insulin Resistance test and I noted that there is a price reduction on at the moment, if anyone is interested.

I also have the option of a voucher for one person, but you would have to give me your email address which you may not want to do.

Thank you LittleGreyCat, I would like to take some of these tests and have been waiting for a price reduction. I am also interested in the offer of a voucher, if it is still available. I haven't posted before, so I don't really know how this works yet!

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Thank you LittleGreyCat, I would like to take some of these tests and have been waiting for a price reduction. I am also interested in the offer of a voucher, if it is still available. I haven't posted before, so I don't really know how this works yet!

I've sent you a Personal Message including an email address for me.

If you reply to it (or email me at the address) I will try for the £15 discount.

I get one as well, but I'm not sure that I'll need another test (at least not for a while).

 

[Bea56]

I've sent you a Personal Message including an email address for me.

If you reply to it (or email me at the address) I will try for the £15 discount.

I get one as well, but I'm not sure that I'll need another test (at least not for a while).

Thank you LittleGreyCat I've received your message. I will contact you and hopefully we'll be able to buy the tests at a reduced price, which would be great!

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Looks like I may be the gift that keeps on giving.
Mods - is it O.K. to post a link to an offer on blood testing?
Tagging @Jaylee as there doesn't seem to be a general moderator tag.

Edit: looks as though the discount vouchers aren't valid at the moment because there is a discount promotion on. Would have been nice if they had said.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Just an update to say that I have ordered a kit, it has arrived, and I am having the blood drawn on Friday.

I will update after the blood test and when I get the results.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi LGC,

People regularly post links to items, and discount codes (for test strips) and similar.
So a link to your blood testing offer seems reasonable.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

http://t.mention-me.email/lnk/AEAAS...24tbWUuY29tL20vb2wvdmIyd3AtZGF2aWQtcm9iZXJ0cw
Sorry about all the extra cruft, I assume it lets them confirm who gave the information.

One thing they didn't tell me, which was picked up by the phlebotomist.

Don't book a Friday appointment because the mail may get delayed over the weekend and the sample could be spoiled if it doesn't arrive until the next Tuesday.

"With all our tests we would recommend you do not submit a sample on a Friday, with first class postage it would not reach the lab until Tuesday. There is a greater possibility the sample will not be viable at this point. If you are going to have the sample taken on a Friday then we recommend you take it to the post office and request a Saturday delivery. The lab will receive it in the morning and store it appropriately over the weekend."

So you have do do something extra; I presume at extra cost.

Anyway, rescheduled my blood test. Later than I would have liked but I should have no problem fasting.

Oh, and

"

• Insulin Resistance Test: Fast 10 - 14 hrs prior to sample being taken. Have sample drawn in morning. Do Not consume alcohol 24 hrs before test. DO NOT cease prescribed medication without consulting your Doctor. MARK SAMPLE AS FASTING SAMPLE

"

I am being tested early afternoon. Will have to have a late snack the previous evening.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I am being tested early afternoon. Will have to have a late snack the previous evening.

Yes. The 10 to 14 hours is important, and also a morning test. I believe this is because, in the absence of food or too little glucose in our blood stream, our livers will dump and our hormones will trigger a release of insulin to attempt to combat this. If we are IR this insulin won't work so even more insulin will be produced. Also, with no food until early afternoon plus additional rushing about/stress/driving/getting to the clinic our livers are likely to keep on dumping and our pancreas will keep on producing ineffective insulin. More glucose and more insulin will be circulating. This can skew the test. The test is designed to measure the early morning fasting insulin and glucose levels, and both these are highly likely to increase as the day progresses. Those are my thoughts, anyway.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I read elsewhere that the time of day and even what you have eaten has little impact on an IR test for precisely the reasons you have just described. If BG goes up and insulin goes up in response it is the ratio between the two which is important.

The morning test is, I think, to measure your base insulin levels, much like a fasting BG reading in the morning.

I am more interested in the IR calculation.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I read elsewhere that the time of day and even what you have eaten has little impact on an IR test for precisely the reasons you have just described. If BG goes up and insulin goes up in response it is the ratio between the two which is important.

I'd be interested to see that.
My understanding is the insulin tests they do randomly involve clamping and several blood withdrawals and also blood being added back. I don't know the ins and outs but it is only used in research, not as a routine sort of test, and definitely not on the NHS. As far as fasting goes, the base insulin is what is needed to estimate IR along with the base glucose level all taken at the same time. The more insulin we have in the morning the more we are likely to be IR because that is circulating and should be very, very low when fasting.. If we are IR it won't be low.

@CherryAA and @bulkbiker are the experts on this and understand it better than I do. Bulkbiker has done 2 tests. The second one was later in the day and his results were higher. (Hope I got that right)

 

[bulkbiker]

I read elsewhere that the time of day and even what you have eaten has little impact on an IR test for precisely the reasons you have just described. If BG goes up and insulin goes up in response it is the ratio between the two which is important.

The morning test is, I think, to measure your base insulin levels, much like a fasting BG reading in the morning.

Hi
The first test I did I had the bloods drawn at 11.45 and got the 3.41 mIU/l fasting insulin number
The second one I had the blood drawn with my HbA1c at the surgery which was at 8.15 am and the results were 7.85 mIU/L both were fasting from about 8 pm the previous evening.. my finger prick blood glucose levels were pretty constant at around the mid fives. I wondered if the timing of both the blood draw and the length of fasting beforehand could have had an influence on the results but without more research (which I haven't as yet done) I'm not sure I know what is relevant. I'm guessing that like blood sugar and cholesterol all these levels move around during the day depending on what we are doing/eating/drinking.

 

[Brunneria]

My IR certainly varies a lot across the day, depending on time of day, exercise and carbs eaten. Mind you, I am basing that opinion on bg readings, aches in arms and legs, and general energy levels (high IR tends to make my limbs feel heavy and taking exercise feels like I am weighted down and walking through wet concrete),

I would LOVE to run a series of comparisons between your blood tests and my subjective guesstimates, to see if they actually correlate!

 

[LittleGreyCat]

O.K. - bitten the bullet and put the test back yet another week.
Hard to match my active social life (hah!) and the availability of a morning appointment with the phlebotomist.

Best to have both results - fasting insulin and insulin resistance - to hopefully deduce what might be going on.

My main aim is to see if I am still kicking out insulin but being held back by IR. This gives me a clear target to try and work on IR, by exercise and reduced waist measurement. If I'm not IR but just not kicking out insulin any more then I will be reasonably sure that I will eventually go onto the Gliclazide then Insulin. After a hard fight, of course.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Going for the test tomorrow morning.

I'm posting here tonight a comment on the irrationality of humans.

The instructions say 10-14 hours fasting before the test, and no alcohol for 24 hours.
Test is at 10:30 so nothing after 20:30 tonight.
Now I have taken a 3 week break from alcohol and am now on occasional drinks on weekends and special days. I also don't eat that much, especially after 18:00 in the evening.
However being TOLD that I can't drink alcohol and MUST NOT eat has made me want to eat, and to have a drink! Totally irrational.

I am also still completely at sea with my scheduling.
Having finally worked it out and got a morning appointment not on a Friday I completely missed that the 24 hour booze ban would mean no drinks after 10:30 in the morning on our Wedding Anniversary. I had a long hard day on London yesterday and so was just not up to an early champagne breakfast. Wimp that I am.

Roll on the weekend.

Oh, and I really, really hate needles.

 

[Brunneria]

Oh I hear you.
Nothing like being told that you can’t to make you WANT to.

Happy anniversary.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

not as a routine sort of test, and definitely not on the NHS.

Definitely correct on the NHS front. I've now had 2 insulin resistance tests and 2 c-peptide tests, which have all been a single sample taken first thing in the morning, basically because I have to travel from High Wycombe into London to have the test done and I like to beat the commuters so I'm there at 07:00 when they open.

It's proved interesting, my insulin production is in the normal range and hasn't changed in a year. My insulin resistance has been given to me as just a number, the ideal number being 1 and therefore anything above 1 is a measure of resistance. Last January it was 2.4, last month it was 1.7. That may not prove much but I'm going to have another go at ND and have another test immediately afterwards. I still may not be able to draw too many conclusions from the IR tests because I don't really have enough data.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Good luck @LittleGreyCat and Happy Anniversary.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Definitely correct on the NHS front. I've now had 2 insulin resistance tests and 2 c-peptide tests, which have all been a single sample taken first thing in the morning, basically because I have to travel from High Wycombe into London to have the test done and I like to beat the commuters so I'm there at 07:00 when they open.

It's proved interesting, my insulin production is in the normal range and hasn't changed in a year. My insulin resistance has been given to me as just a number, the ideal number being 1 and therefore anything above 1 is a measure of resistance. Last January it was 2.4, last month it was 1.7. That may not prove much but I'm going to have another go at ND and have another test immediately afterwards. I still may not be able to draw too many conclusions from the IR tests because I don't really have enough data.

This is the information I am chasing.
If there is still normal insulin production then the focus is on insulin resistance.
It is also a push for a scan of the liver and pancreas to check for fat.
Personally, there is a little more hope in normal insulin production and high insulin resistance than in low insulin production and low insulin resistance. I feel that reducing my insulin resistance may be more achievable than increasing my insulin production without drugs.