Anaemia Test Kit Iron Deficiency Ferritin Testing Blood Anemia Test One Step (1 Test)

After months of feeling exhausted despite decent sleep and a supposedly healthy diet, I decided to check if anaemia might be the culprit before booking a GP appointment. This home test kit seemed like a sensible first step, and I'm glad I tried it. The kit arrived well-packaged with clear instructions and all the necessary bits - lancet for the finger prick, collection card, alcohol wipe, plaster, and prepaid return envelope. Everything was sealed and felt properly medical-grade. I was a bit nervous about the blood collection (not great with needles), but the lancet was surprisingly painless - just a quick click and hardly felt a thing. Getting enough blood onto the collection card took a bit of patience and hand-squeezing. Tip: run your hands under warm water first to get the blood flowing better! Posting the sample was faff-free with the prepaid envelope. Just make sure the blood spots are properly dried before sealing it up as instructed. Results came through via email within four days, which was quicker than the week they mentioned on their website. The report was comprehensive and easy to understand - showing my ferritin levels were indeed quite low (12 ng/mL when the normal range starts at 30), along with an explanation of what this meant and suggested next steps. Armed with these results, my GP appointment was much more productive. Instead of starting from scratch with tests, we could immediately discuss supplementation options. My doctor actually seemed impressed with the accuracy of the home test when compared with previous lab work I'd had done. At around £25, it's not cheap, but considering the convenience of doing it at home and the speed of results, I think it's worth it. Certainly cheaper than going private for blood tests. For anyone constantly tired, experiencing hair loss, or having other potential anaemia symptoms, this test provides a good first check before troubling the NHS. For me, it's led to proper iron supplementation that's gradually helping my energy levels. Only minor complaint is that the lancet is one-use only, and I needed a second attempt to get enough blood, so had to use one from an old diabetes testing kit I had lying around.

Very easy to use, quick results that helped me go to my doctor with greater confidence that i did indeed have iron deficiency.

Easy to use, gave a definitive result which said I was aneamic. So went to the GP who did a blood test the same day and I am definitely not anaemic. So inaccurate and not trustworthy. Waste of time and money, and potentially dangerous.

Quick and efficient - identified low iron level which was confirmed with a follow up blood test from the doctor

* IF IT COMES UP ANAEMIA PLEASE GO TO YOUR GP AS THE ONLY ACCURATE TEST WOULD BE A BLOOD TEST* I brought this as I showed signs and symptoms and it did come up anaemia. I went to my GP explain what my results showed and I even took a picture and I had to get bloods. It’s easy to use, quality is good. Worth the money if you want to self test first before going to your doctors

I’m always a little dubious about these tests, but this one was really helpful for me so I feel I should review. I had been feeling quite tired so bought this on a bit of a whim. Test instructions were easy enough to follow, though the results are a bit tricky to understand. Two lines is normal, just one indicates deficiency - I had a very faint second line. Not sure what that meant, I decided to try taking some iron supplementation and retake this test a month later…again, showed a very faint second line, almost less visible than the first time, so I decided to follow up with a full blood test with my GP who confirmed that I am indeed iron deficient. Have since started stronger supplementation on their advice and feeling quite a bit better. This test is not perfect but for the price and ease I found it very helpful in giving me some indication of what might be causing my symptoms.

I found this quite fiddly. My first finger prick on my ring finger dribbled blood and despite massaging the finger it dried up long before the dropper was at the full mark. It requires a fair bit of blood. So I used the second lance on my middle finger and it spewed blood. I thought "great that'll fill it!" But the capillary would no longer draw it in, presumably the blood already in there had started to dry up because it was taking so long. I ended up squirting out what was in there and trying it with it empty, which started to work just as my vision went and I had to sit down. I think I ended up with 2/3 or 3/4 the amount required, and temporarily blind and deaf with a cold sweat and it took a while to recover from it. I ran the test anyway and got a very, very faint band, so probably somewhere in the lower end of normal anyway. If I was going to try an at home kit again I'd get one with more than one capillary dropper in it and do it somewhere where I can quickly lie down! I'm not squeamish, I have a job that occasionally involves working with blood samples, but evidently when it's my blood, it's a problem! I think I'll probably stick to letting a doctor or nurse with a needle do the testing... Pros: Didn't hurt my finger at all, easy to use apart from the blood collection. Cons: I'm not cut out for blood collection, needs more spare parts in case of failed attempts, it's a shame for a whole kit to be wasted because there's not an extra pipette!

Why you might need this test: Ferritin is a protein need to store iron in the blood. If ferritin is lower than 20, You might have symptoms of anaemia such as fatigue, restless legs, breathlessness, weakness, lightheadedness, ringing ears (aka tinnitus). Who gets anaemia? Women are more prone especially those with heavy periods and during/after pregnancy. Those who consume a lot of caffeine throughout the day, as caffeine inhibits the absorption of iron from food by up to 90% Vegans and vegetarians People who take 'heartburn' medications such as Lansoprazole, Omeprazole and Esomeprazole, which reduce secretions of stomach acid and thus inhibit absorption of iron, b12 etc from the diet. My experience with this kit: It's a little bit of a faff to get the blood in the tiny tube but if you follow the instructions carefully and make sure your hands are warm, you will get enough blood for it to fill. First time I did the test there was just the control line - the test line was none existent. This confirmed my suspicion that my ferritin levels were really low. Made a supreme effort for 6 months to take a good quality iron supplement and drop caffeinated drinks, plus reduce my dose of omeprazole where possible to give my body a fighting chance. Second time round I got a pretty clear test line showing that my ferritin levels were above 20. I'm really glad I bought this test and have recommended it to others based on my experience. It's so much more convenient than traipsing to the doctors. Sadly the NHS is heaving under the strain at the moment so I think that for those of us that can afford to help ourselves with tests like this without wasting a precious appointment, it's a good thing to do. Thanks for reading :)