What Bloodwork to Get Before a Cycle (Baseline Panel)
You can't know what a protocol did to you without a baseline. Here's the panel worth having on file before you start.
Why a baseline is non-negotiable
Every interpretation later depends on knowing where you started. A marker sitting mid-range means something completely different if it was at the bottom of the range three months ago.
A pre-cycle baseline turns every future panel into a comparison instead of a guess.
The core baseline markers
Hormones: total and free testosterone, estradiol (sensitive assay), SHBG, LH, FSH, prolactin.
Cardiovascular: a full lipid panel plus ApoB. These take the biggest hit on many compounds, so the 'before' number is valuable.
Organ function: AST, ALT, GGT, ALP, bilirubin (liver); creatinine, eGFR, and ideally cystatin C (kidney).
Blood and metabolic: a complete blood count (hematocrit, hemoglobin), fasting glucose, HbA1c, and hs-CRP.
FAQ
Close enough to reflect your true starting point — commonly within a few weeks before starting — and drawn when you're rested and not fighting an illness, so the baseline is clean.
There isn't one — the value is in the set. That said, lipids/ApoB and hematocrit are the ones that move most and are worth a solid 'before' reading.
Put your own numbers in context
Analyze free →Educational information only — not medical advice. Consult a physician about your results.