Ordering Your Own Bloodwork

[Dan W]

This is my shamelessly self-promotional post now that my "how to order your own bloodwork" site is slightly less baffling. Here's pages I think will be helpful to RPF peeps:

• How the ordering/blood-draw process works
• List of tests and companies providing them (I can add more tests or companies that people find)
• Special options and restrictions if you're in Arizona, Colorado (an excellent choice), Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma or Rhode Island

The site's entirely too US-focused, but I have tiny pages for Canada and the UK. I'd love to expand those (and add ones for other countries) if anyone's familiar with ordering bloodwork in their country. I can't even keep up with the intricacies of the US laws.

 

[Dan W]

And now is a particularly good time to order bloodwork because Life Extension is having their annual sale. It makes a lot of their tests cheaper than anywhere else I'm aware of. Some notably-low prices include chemistry & CBC for $26, DHT for $38, ferritin for $21, hsCRP for $32, prolactin for $41, serum magnesium for $17, vitamin D for $30, and whole blood serotonin for $50.

Their blood lab orders are good for 6 months (and I've not had any problem getting them re-issued even later than that), so I typically buy tests even if I don't plan to use them right away. Although I don't think you can "split up" the blood lab orders after the fact, so I'd suggest placing separate orders for each visit you plan to make.

 

[ecstatichamster]

@Dan Wich i am grateful for your fine contributions. You da Dan, man!

 

[tankasnowgod]

And now is a particularly good time to order bloodwork because Life Extension is having their annual sale. It makes a lot of their tests cheaper than anywhere else I'm aware of. Some notably-low prices include chemistry & CBC for $26, DHT for $38, ferritin for $21, hsCRP for $32, prolactin for $41, serum magnesium for $17, vitamin D for $30, and whole blood serotonin for $50.

Their blood lab orders are good for 6 months (and I've not had any problem getting them re-issued even later than that), so I typically buy tests even if I don't plan to use them right away. Although I don't think you can "split up" the blood lab orders after the fact, so I'd suggest placing separate orders for each visit you plan to make.

Sweet, and thanks for the heads up! Have you ever ordered two of the same test during this sale? Like, so you could test DHT in May and July, for example?

 

[Dan W]

Thanks for the kind words.

And it works to to order multiples of the same test as long as they're in separate orders. I got several vitamin D tests last year to fine-tune my light exposure.

If you're an overoptimizer like me, be aware that the "points" you earn if you sign up for their "Premier" program don't hit your account immediately, so you have to spread out the orders.

 

[Dan W]

Here's a useful price-comparison site that I will grudgingly admit does a better job than mine:
LabEspy

It's missing a few sites like Life Extension, so if you're price sensitive it can still be worth additional comparison-shopping.

There's also another new one that helps you find the cheapest prices for combinations of tests:
FindLabTest

So far it only supports companies that use Quest, not the larger (I think?) LabCorp.

 

[FindLabTest.com]

Thank you for mentioning us among helpful sites!

We are trying to resolve issues related to LabCorp-using stores and add them as soon as possible.

You are right; we tried to focus on combinations of tests since it is easier to save a higher amount of money exactly on test combinations and their combining into tests panels.

A good example is testosterone panel assembled by r/testosterone subreddit community.
Here is the list of all laboratory tests for testosterone testing.
The optimized price is about $600. However, when someone would order all the tests one by one separately, the price tag will hike up to $1,000 or even more.

So cost optimization is a pretty tough (but effective!) thing when it comes to 7-8 stores and lots of tests, and we have to work to improve our algorithm before adding more stores or user-friendly interface.

We are more than happy to hear that someone can get a profit from our raw site :)

 

[kyle]

So you draw the blood yourself?!

edit-Never mind, I didn't read the page.

Has anyone had success doing this? Seems easier than dealing with docs.

 

[Dan W]

I’ve done it a good ~20 times through several of the companies and have never had any issues other than a phlebotomist once misunderstanding the directions on a whole blood serotonin test.

It’s way easier than going through a doctor, for me at least.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Dan, I saw your Australian info page is a bit outdated. There's a service here called i-screen(Pathology health check & dashboard analytics | i-screen) where you can order your own tests. They're partnered with many of the big pathology labs so finding a collection centre is easy. I haven't personally used the service but I hear good things.

 

[Dan W]

Thank you! I've updated the page with that, and I found some other ones too for any Ozzies wanting to compare:

• iMedical (collection center finder)
• HeartSmart (collection center finder, only offers cholesterol, trlglyerides, and glucose testing)

And some alternate (still Australian) testing methods:

• Balanced Body Labs (only nutritional and cortisol/testosterone blood spot testing)
• Australian Biologics (hair analysis, urine organic acids, glyphosate, mycotoxin testing)