Dear mrsD,

In my area of the US, it appears that lab testing in the absence of very specific symptoms indicating an otherwise need, the only labs routinely ordered are for a basic metabolic panel, or a comprehensive one, by some doctors and maybe a CBC once every two years without a symptomatic need.

Unless one has symptoms of anemia or CBC labs indicating it, docs do not test Vitamin B12 levels.

Vitamin D levels are rarely tested.

I realize that "money" is a factor and testing for vitamin levels without an expressed warrant for the test may be determined to be a waste of money and be prohibited.

When cholesterol was a "HOT" topic, doctors would order lab tests for those levels routinely. Now, they have backed off on that and seldom test those levels.

Maybe if Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 became "HOT" topics, patients may be tested every few years at an annual exam without being symptomatic.

How do we (as patients) get our docs to order labs for vitamin levels every few years BEFORE we become symptomatic from low levels?

When I was tested recently for Vitamin D, I was in the single digits. This was only the second time in my life that my level was ever tested. The first time was about a year earlier when I was also in the single digits.

Any suggestions on how to get docs to test us before we have problems from the deficiencies?

Thanks for any input.