Understanding your CMP — July 2024

mike_nyc said:

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

This is where I part company with the consensus forming above. I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does. Every extra test is another chance at a false positive, and incidental findings have their own cost in scans, biopsies and worry.

marco_milano said:

My prescriber ordered three tests and this board recommends about twenty, and I would like to know which of those two lists is right.

Shot day Monday report relevant to baseline bloodwork:

Week 23. Currently on 1.0mg. Down 19 lbs from starting weight of 231 lbs.

This week's observations: Appetite very well controlled, no cravings.

Labs due next week — looking forward to seeing the metabolic panel. I'll post results in the Lab Results section when they come in.

LabKate said:

I would drop the "get everything" instinct further than this thread does.

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 Dr.MetabolicMD — 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?

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.