Blood tests for starting Reta

The panel you picked looks strong and should work well for establishing where things stand before much changes. Reta is unlikely to move most of those values, though A1C will probably drop once the medication kicks in. A current reading would simply record your starting level. Fasting glucose does not appear on the list, and that is a basic item worth adding. Most doctors and compounding services like to see at least fasting glucose, A1C, creatinine, AST and ALT before approving GLP-1 medications, sometimes eGFR too. Those markers normally come with a standard metabolic panel.

That is quite a list of markers. Hope the total is not too expensive. The panel covers parts of a metabolic check, yet a full version of that standard panel would still be useful. I also notice CBC is missing from the list, unless it is there and I overlooked it. Most of my doctors order a CBC regardless of whether it relates directly to GLP-1 use.

Thanks for the input from both of you. The kit is an at-home finger-stick version that you mail to the lab.

A1C plus a bunch of other requirements was what my insurance demanded for Zepbound approval. The extra items felt like they were mainly about billing.

I tried a couple of finger-stick home services recently and the data quality was disappointing. The numbers can show trends within that lab's own scale but do not line up well with results from other labs. Certain tests hold up better with capillary blood while others lose accuracy. Overall I have decided to order tests online and have venous draws done at a regular lab instead. Regular glucose checks are fine with capillary methods, but Reta can still drop levels enough to cause symptoms even when baseline sugar is normal.

Share only what you are comfortable having recorded and potentially passed to insurance. You could pay privately and ask that records not be shared. If you already have a prescription, request any labs that insurance would cover in connection with it.

My doctor first suggested GLP-1 medications but insurance turned me down because my glucose was just under the diabetic cutoff despite a BMI of 32. I switched to a telehealth prescriber and later to other sources. I kept my primary doctor informed throughout and she has been supportive, even asking for a source for her husband whose insurance is also restrictive. Whether to disclose everything is a personal call that depends on how long you have known the doctor and how much you trust them.

I am leaning toward mentioning the medication since I started with a telehealth service for several months. I would probably leave out how I obtain it now. I do not have major health problems besides back pain, so I am unsure how she will react. The forty-pound loss since the last visit will obviously come up, so it feels odd to stay silent. I might still change my mind in a couple of days though.