Bargain hunting

[Guest guest]

Dwan,

You wrote:

> ... If she's not testing

> anything, how can I get her to? Can you test for Hashi's if it's in a

> quiescent phase?

If you don't have health insurance to pay for it, I would suggest you

just assume you have Hashi's, forget the extra testing, and medicate

accordingly. The odds are strongly in your favor. It mainly means you

need to be ready for ups and downs instead of a straight progression to

no thyroid function. And, you should avoid kelp.

Unfortunately, that assumption can also mean more testing down the road

when the ups and downs happen. More doctor visits, too. The important

test to watch is FT3. If you are only on T4, TSH can still be helpful,

although it lags so far behind your condition, that it really is mainly

for initial screening or for long term monitoring of a stable condition.

It is so cheap, though, it is hard to get a thyroid test without it.

Most labs now sell a package deal, called a panel, in which they seem to

test for everything under the Sun for a bargain price. What they don't

tell you, is that half of the parameters they report are calculated from

the others and not really measured. As Sam and Gail can tell you, they

do the same panels for dogs for a much lower price.

If you don't have health insurance, it can also pay to shop around. Most

health insurance plans dictate which labs to use. The cheapest are the

ones the HMOs pick, mainly because they take so long to return results.

However, that is usually the trade off to get a bargain.

Chuck