Where are PINP and CTX bone marker tests offered.

Posted by lillimere @lillimere, Jan 1 7:12pm

Where are PINP and CTX bone marker tests offered? Are they available in Washington State? I am starting Evenity 12 month injections. Listened to Dr Doug on You-tube, he stressed the importance of these markers to determine when to transition to Prolia. My endocrinologist knew nothing about them. I gave her some research papers to read-she was interested. However I have been unsuccessful in finding a lab near me that offers them.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Osteoporosis & Bone Health Support Group.

Where in WA are you located? I live in Eastern WA and had mine done at LabCorp. My Endo wasn't interested in doing them so I asked my Primary Care Dr to order them for me.

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@debsinwa

Where in WA are you located? I live in Eastern WA and had mine done at LabCorp. My Endo wasn't interested in doing them so I asked my Primary Care Dr to order them for me.

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I’m in Vancouver. Neither my clinical pharmacist nor primary care knew anything about them. I recently moved from Seattle and so disappointed in the health care here. I get more info from You-Tube.

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@awfultruth

@ lillimere I'm using Jason Health for both ctx and p1np. The thread suggested by @mayblin has lots of info. It's the cheapest place I've found. The ctx is $50 plus $18 fee for prescription-lab draw etc. The $18 is a once a visit fee. If you had 10 tests in a visit it would still be $18. The actual blood draw takes place at a Quest site in my area. Oh, P1NP is tricky to find on Jason Health. I had to call and get help from their support folks.

My doctor told me that traditional medicare will only cover ctx once a year. If anyone knows anything different than that, like how we can get Medicare to cover it more often, please let me know. Otherwise it's worth it to me to pay myself when I want the tests done.
My situation is a good example of when you might want to do frequent bone marker testing. I'm testing monthly right now to see if Risedronate can hold my Evenity gains. I don't want to wait months to find out it's not working. I want to find out right away and change meds if so. There are studies with Risedronate that show how ctx responds to it at selected time periods. It should go down right away, like in the first couple of weeks. That's going from no meds to Risedronate not from Evenity to Risedronate but still there is data showing the ctx should go down fast. Testing ctx monthly in this case is the kind of info that is invaluable but is not what most of us are getting.

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I'm on Medicare and I had three rounds of P1NP and CTX testing in 2024, all covered.

Also, if being treated for osteoporosis (i.e. on medication), Medicare allows more than one DEXA a year.

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@awfultruth

@ lillimere I'm using Jason Health for both ctx and p1np. The thread suggested by @mayblin has lots of info. It's the cheapest place I've found. The ctx is $50 plus $18 fee for prescription-lab draw etc. The $18 is a once a visit fee. If you had 10 tests in a visit it would still be $18. The actual blood draw takes place at a Quest site in my area. Oh, P1NP is tricky to find on Jason Health. I had to call and get help from their support folks.

My doctor told me that traditional medicare will only cover ctx once a year. If anyone knows anything different than that, like how we can get Medicare to cover it more often, please let me know. Otherwise it's worth it to me to pay myself when I want the tests done.
My situation is a good example of when you might want to do frequent bone marker testing. I'm testing monthly right now to see if Risedronate can hold my Evenity gains. I don't want to wait months to find out it's not working. I want to find out right away and change meds if so. There are studies with Risedronate that show how ctx responds to it at selected time periods. It should go down right away, like in the first couple of weeks. That's going from no meds to Risedronate not from Evenity to Risedronate but still there is data showing the ctx should go down fast. Testing ctx monthly in this case is the kind of info that is invaluable but is not what most of us are getting.

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Yes, I can't find the P1NP by any name variation on the Jason Health site. I have tried
"PN1P,"
"Procollagen Type 1 Intact N Terminal Propeptide," and
"Intact N-Terminal Propeptide of Type 1 Procollagen," (this finds "PTH, intact without Calcium").

What did they call it?

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$98.00

OrderJason Health
Procollagen Type I Intact N Terminal Propeptide
Covered tests: Procollagen Type I Intact N Terminal Propeptide (Quest)
Covered components: Procollagen Type I Intact N Terminal Propeptide
Blacklisted States: NY, NJ, RI
$80.00Jason HealthRequisition Charge (per order charge)$18.00
You have the right Name. Are you in one of the blacklisted states? I had the same experience that you had. This is the link that let me order.
https://www.findlabtest.com/lab-test/bones-and-joints/procollagen-type-i-intact-n-terminal-propeptide-quest-16609 for Quest.

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@pr2

Yes, I can't find the P1NP by any name variation on the Jason Health site. I have tried
"PN1P,"
"Procollagen Type 1 Intact N Terminal Propeptide," and
"Intact N-Terminal Propeptide of Type 1 Procollagen," (this finds "PTH, intact without Calcium").

What did they call it?

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@pr2

Yes, I can't find the P1NP by any name variation on the Jason Health site. I have tried
"PN1P,"
"Procollagen Type 1 Intact N Terminal Propeptide," and
"Intact N-Terminal Propeptide of Type 1 Procollagen," (this finds "PTH, intact without Calcium").

What did they call it?

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@pr2 Hi, the rep at JasonHealth added it for me when I ordered it because I could not find it either.
However I just experimented for awhile on the Quest shop web pages and found that these tests have "test codes". CTX has a test code on Quest of 17406 and P1NP has a test code of 16609. P1NP actually had two test codes but the 16609 works. Enter those on Jason Health and it brings up the tests you want.
I also could not make the search work on Jason Health with any variation of the names for P1NP but what I noticed was that I could not bring it up on Quest by name either. The "test code" numbers work.
Good luck with your tests.
And thanks for reminding me as it's time for me to order my next CTX test.

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It looks like you can order them yourself from Ulta Labs. I just found them online.

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@lillimere

I’m in Vancouver. Neither my clinical pharmacist nor primary care knew anything about them. I recently moved from Seattle and so disappointed in the health care here. I get more info from You-Tube.

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I agree. I live in Bellevue (near Seattle). My Rheumatologist and PCP have not been at all helpful in this regard or other issues. Like you, I've been researching online and in books.

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@windyshores

I have had no trouble getting these tests drawn but the P1NP can take weeks to come back!

Reclast or alendronate are both options after Evenity that you can discuss with your doctor. My doctors don't use Prolia due to rebound but some people on this forum are using it for a year or so then Reclast. Just a heads up to talk with your endo about.

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Hi there, how are you? I just got back my CTX and it is 600. It was 360 last summer. I know you’re pretty knowledgeable about these numbers I’m a little concerned. I had my blood work taken right after I had the Noreau virus and the flu. Do you think that could alter my numbers? I get my DEXA next week and I am extremely nervous. Thank you for any advice or help you could offer me.Nina

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