It is vital to perform basic blood tests before setting out to change any of your routines or buying anything. It may well turn out that you were misdiagnosed with depression. The test is also a great diagnostic tool to check for other diseases that reap many undiagnosed victims annually.
Worthwhile tests:
Basic liver and kidney-related test ( including urea, creatinine, ASPAT, ALAT, Bilirubin markers)
Complete blood count (helpful for diagnosing infection, hormonal imbalances or leukaemia).
Ferritin – low levels (in 9 cases out of 10) signifies a beginning of anaemia caused by an incorrect diet.
Supplementation with iron corrects this situation very efficiently. Other causes of low level of ferritin include bleeds in gastrointestinal tract (test for blood in faeces). very profuse menstrual bleeding, absorption issues or even certain cancers. In case of extremely high levels of ferritin we are facing hemochromatosis – easy to treat if diagnosed in time. Low iron levels are common causes for depression, so aim to raise ferritin above 50 ng/mL.
Homocysteine and cholesterol – dealt with separately in relevant subpages
Sodium, potassium, chlorides, calcium and magnesium – even if the test diagnoses their depletion it doesn’t have to necessarily mean this – it may alert us to issues with regulation of their levels in the blood (related to hormonal issues)
Thyroid test – at least TSH