Blood tests: what to check and when
Care and safety · 3 min read
Before you start anything
A baseline shows what changed later. A common starting panel:
- CBC (blood count, including hematocrit)
- CMP (kidney and liver function, fasting glucose, electrolytes), plus GGT for the liver
- hs-CRP (inflammation)
- Lipid panel (cholesterol, triglycerides; ApoB if you can)
- HbA1c and fasting insulin
- Thyroid: TSH, free T4 and free T3
- Hormones: total and free testosterone, estradiol (sensitive test), LH, FSH
- IGF-1 if you'll use growth hormone or GH peptides
Draw in the morning, fasting, and before any dose that day, so tests compare fairly. For a long course, test again partway through and after it ends.
While you're on a protocol
Health → Labs shows the next test from what you take and when your dose last changed: which markers to ask for, when levels have settled enough to test, and whether that timing comes from a guideline, a drug label or common practice. A lab report you log there counts as done.
Normal ranges differ between labs, so the app uses the ranges printed on your own report, never a generic chart.
Go with this guide
Health → LabsGeneral how-to information, not medical advice. Follow your prescriber's instructions where they differ.