I’ve been searching for them for a few minutes and nothing is coming up. Were they banned in the last year or two?
I’d really like to double check and update some numbers on my own if it’s still possible - checking on something rare, but very plausible in my situation, and would like more data before dismissing or calling attention to it.
I was just wondering how you’re feeling these days.
Sorry I can’t answer your question. I did google a little back when I was looking into more detailed cholesterol testing but I think there were issues with the mail away kits. Can’t remember exactly. Sorry to be so unhelpful! 
How about this? https://www.healthlabs.com/how-it-works?pid=9007390&iid=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt6iO18n13AIVBFSGCh054wS_EAAYASADEgJDnfD_BwE
Unless we know what the “rare” you are looking for is, we can’t tell you if it is available as an FDA-cleared test or an RUO.
Won’t your doctor order it?
@surfcity Thanks!
In case anyone else is looking I also got this link from another source:
https://directlabs.com/AboutUs/FAQ/tabid/65/language/en-US/Default.aspx
I’ll be looking at them both in the next couple of weeks.
To answer the other questions… the test isn’t rare (immunoglobulins). What it could lead to/from is. I had a test for them 6 months post radiation (4 years ago), so I have a baseline. I want to update it. If anything is off I’d bring that up to a doctor. If not, it just gives me more peace of mind ignoring the low result of an anion gap test 4 days ago. Google would let me ignore that result by itself (90% of low readings are lab error), but I have far more readings with that one in the past since it’s on a set of workplace tests. Three tests ago it was just fine (11). Two tests ago it was on the bottom rung of normal (7). One test ago it was one number above the bottom rung (8). Four days ago it was flagged low being one number below normal (6) - thus giving me a couple of hours of new medical investigation/learning yesterday.
Considering Na, K, and Cl are all in the normal range (comfortably), those aren’t the culprits. Albumin is also normal. None of those have changed much over the years either.
Immunoglobulins are the only thing not regularly tested that are a piece of the puzzle. My immune system has been terrific - rarely coming down with anything and when I do I get over it quickly - so I’m not super concerned (7 is normal, 6 is pretty darn close to 7), but I like having all ends “closed” (since both numbers are far from 11 which used to be my normal) and having one more measurement in something that plausibly could get worse in the future (due to past radiation) only makes sense to me.
That said, I don’t particularly have any desire to run that all past a doctor who already thinks I’m stressed to get their approval.
For an aside update since some of you were on the other health thread of mine… yes, I ended up finding a (really terrific) cardiologist and he’s checking to see if there are cardiac (or hopefully vascular) issues based upon the other symptoms. Monday is a heart cath. If it’s all due to coronary arteries, that will be fixed then. If not, he’ll have more heart info and we’ll move on to other things he thinks could be causes. He wants to eliminate the potentially fatal cause telling me, “I’m less willing to gamble with your life than you have been.” (True that I have, but not due to lack of trying - just due to that “stress” I have and other doctors not seeing the need to have things checked out - even to get this referral it took me two weeks of asking.)
I hope you get good and helpful news, @Creekland.
Really glad you found a terrific cardiologist! Hoping for good news, but I admit that sometimes you want them to find something (not serious) so at least you have an answer.
Wonder if you could communicate with his office that you’d like to take this test, maybe saying that if insurance won’t pay, it’s not an issue (if you think that’s a problem). Thinking that the test you listed is one we get tested for every year at a physical, so it’s not an unusual request, but I could be wrong.
@busdriver11 Those aren’t on our regular blood test list. I wish they were. That would be extremely helpful. At this point I just want to know where things stand - esp as a gauge for future, but also to know how and if they’ve varied since the past four years.
Unfortunately, all the efforts I’ve put in to searching how to improve an anion gap via diet, etc, have come up without any suggestions whatsoever. There doesn’t seem to be any lifestyle change known to help with it. Not getting the radiation might have been helpful - except for the “minor” detail about the brain tumor continuing to grow… I was warned that there could be issues in the future, so I suppose it’s not really a surprise. What has been surprising is that some of the effects I was “guaranteed” would happen - like my thyroid dying - haven’t happened at all. I think that had given me the illusion that I was beyond that point in life.
And I still might be. This could be nothing. So far there’s only the one caution flag with everything else I can possibly link to this test (via google) seeming to be ok.
Just a quick update on this thread too - Hershey redid this test today along with a bunch of others relating to the cardiac cath and the anion test result was 10. Obviously, I’m no longer wondering if I should be concerned. An 11, 7, 8, 10 result is a heck of a lot better than an 11, 7, 8, 6 (since the former shows it getting a hit from radiation, but improving afterward). Chalk one up to google with it’s “likely lab error for a low result” suggestion.
Thanks Hershey. I didn’t even ask for that one, but it’s definitely appreciated that you did it!
I have ordered from Direct Labs before. They have monthly sales worth keeping an eye on.
I have also used Health One Labs.