The Elite Performance Optimization Panel is a 19-panel blood draw that gives your provider a complete clinical picture of your hormonal, metabolic, thyroid, inflammatory, and nutritional health in a single visit. This is the panel we run before designing enhanced peptide protocols, building a data-driven wellness plan, or addressing micro-enhancements to optimize performance in high-level athletes. It covers full thyroid with antibodies, sex hormones with SHBG, adrenal markers, fasting insulin, inflammatory markers, iron status, and key micronutrients. One draw. One review. The complete map of where your biology stands today.
This panel targets six clinical domains in a single draw: full thyroid function with autoimmune markers, sex hormones with binding protein context, adrenal and stress response, metabolic and insulin health, systemic inflammation, and nutritional status including iron, B12, magnesium, and vitamin D. It is designed for patients who want their provider working from a complete picture, not a partial snapshot.
An 8-to-12-hour fast is required for accurate insulin and lipid markers. The blood draw takes about 10 minutes at our Lincoln Park clinic. Results are typically available within 5 to 7 business days through our lab partner. Once results are in, your provider schedules a review to walk through findings, flag concerns, and connect results to a specific treatment path or protocol recommendation.
Your doctor checks TSH and calls it a day. We run the full thyroid panel with antibodies. Your annual physical skips SHBG, DHEA-S, fasting insulin, and hs-CRP. We don't. The Elite Performance Optimization Panel exists because most bloodwork misses the markers that actually drive clinical decisions. Your provider reviews every result in context and connects findings to a treatment plan you can act on.
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An 8-to-12-hour fast is required before your appointment. Water and black coffee are fine. Skip supplements the morning of your draw, as some (particularly biotin and B vitamins) can interfere with hormone and thyroid assays. If you are on any medications, take them as prescribed unless your provider advises otherwise. The blood draw is performed at our clinic at 2117 N Halsted St in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The draw itself takes approximately 10 minutes. For patients outside Chicago or with scheduling constraints, we can order your draw at a lab center near you.
The Elite Performance Optimization Panel covers 19 markers organized across six clinical domains. Here is what each marker tells your provider and why it is included:
TSH: The pituitary's signal to the thyroid. The starting point for thyroid evaluation, but not sufficient on its own.
Free T3: The active thyroid hormone. Low Free T3 with normal TSH is a common pattern that standard bloodwork misses entirely.
Free T4: The precursor hormone that converts to T3. Evaluates thyroid output before conversion.
Total T4: Measures both bound and unbound T4 for a complete picture of thyroid production.
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO): The autoimmune marker. Elevated TPO indicates Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the most common cause of hypothyroidism, and is almost never included in standard annual bloodwork.
Testosterone, Free & Total w/ SHBG: Total testosterone alone is incomplete. SHBG (sex hormone-binding globulin) determines how much testosterone is actually available to your tissues. Two patients with the same total testosterone can have completely different free testosterone levels based on SHBG. This is the marker that determines TRT candidacy, peptide protocol design, and hormonal intervention strategy.
Estradiol (E2): The primary estrogen. Relevant for both men and women. In men, elevated estradiol alongside TRT can indicate aromatase activity that needs management. In women, estradiol levels inform cycle health, menopausal status, and HRT decisions.
FSH & LH: The pituitary hormones that drive gonadal function. Essential for distinguishing primary from secondary hypogonadism, evaluating fertility, and assessing HPG axis integrity. If you are considering Kindling (Kisspeptin) or Testosterone Boost (Enclomiphene), these markers tell your provider where the axis is breaking down.
Cortisol: Your primary stress hormone. Chronic elevation drives fatigue, weight gain, immune suppression, and sleep disruption. Chronic depletion signals adrenal insufficiency. Either extreme affects how your body responds to every other intervention on this panel.
DHEA-Sulfate: The adrenal precursor to both testosterone and estrogen. DHEA-S declines with age and chronic stress. Low levels are associated with fatigue, reduced libido, and impaired immune function. Provides context for sex hormone findings and informs supplementation decisions.
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP): 14 markers covering glucose, kidney function (BUN, creatinine, eGFR), liver function (ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin), electrolytes, and proteins. The baseline organ function check.
Fasting Insulin: The metabolic marker most standard panels skip. Fasting insulin can be elevated years before fasting glucose becomes abnormal, making it an early indicator of insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. If you are considering a medical weight loss program or GLP-1 therapy, this marker is essential.
Lipid Panel: Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. Cardiovascular risk assessment and metabolic context.
Vitamin B12: Critical for neurological function, red blood cell production, and energy metabolism. Deficiency is common and frequently missed, especially in patients on metformin or proton pump inhibitors.
Vitamin D, 25-OH Total: The benchmark for vitamin D status. Deficiency is widespread in Chicago, particularly through fall and winter months. Impacts immune function, bone health, mood, and hormone production.
Magnesium: Involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions including muscle function, sleep quality, and stress response. One of the most commonly deficient minerals and rarely tested in standard bloodwork.
Iron + Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC): Evaluates iron stores and transport. Low iron causes fatigue, poor exercise recovery, and cognitive fog. Elevated iron (hemochromatosis) carries its own risks. TIBC provides context that a standalone ferritin test cannot.
High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP): A sensitive marker for systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk. Elevated hs-CRP can indicate chronic low-grade inflammation driving fatigue, weight retention, and disease risk that would not appear on a standard metabolic panel.
CBC with Differential: Red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelets with white cell differential. Identifies anemia, infection markers, immune function baseline, and blood cell production. For patients starting peptide protocols, the CBC establishes your hematologic baseline for monitoring.
Results are typically available within 5 to 7 business days through Access Medical Labs. Once your results are in, your provider schedules a review consultation (in-person at our Lincoln Park clinic or via telehealth) to walk through every finding in context. This is not a PDF dump. Your provider explains what each marker means for your specific situation, identifies patterns across domains (for example, low Free T3 combined with elevated cortisol and depleted vitamin D tells a different story than any of those markers in isolation), and connects findings to a specific treatment path: peptide therapy, hormone optimization, IV therapy, targeted supplementation, a referral, or a combination.
19 markers. Six clinical domains. The diagnostic foundation for every peptide protocol, hormone intervention, and wellness decision. $425 at Better Med Spa.
The typical annual physical includes a CBC, a basic or comprehensive metabolic panel, maybe a lipid panel, and if your doctor is thorough, TSH. That covers organ function and basic metabolic health. What it does not cover is the hormonal, inflammatory, adrenal, and nutritional detail that actually drives how you feel, perform, and age. Your annual physical will not tell you whether your free testosterone is clinically low despite a normal total number. It will not flag that your thyroid is under autoimmune attack while your TSH is still within range. It will not catch that your fasting insulin is elevated a decade before your glucose goes abnormal. And it will not reveal that your vitamin D, magnesium, and B12 are depleted, even though those deficiencies are silently undermining your energy, sleep, immune function, and hormone production.
The Elite Performance Optimization Panel at Better Med Spa in Lincoln Park, Chicago, exists to close that gap. It is a 19-marker blood draw that covers full thyroid function with autoimmune markers, sex hormones with SHBG binding context, adrenal stress markers, metabolic and insulin health, systemic inflammation, iron status, and key micronutrients. One draw. One visit. The complete diagnostic foundation your provider needs to make informed decisions about peptide protocols, hormone optimization, nutritional interventions, and long-term wellness strategy.
Patients starting or considering peptide therapy. Every peptide protocol at Better Med Spa is designed around your biology, not a generic template. If you are evaluating Kindling (Kisspeptin), your provider needs FSH, LH, testosterone, and estradiol to know where the HPG axis is breaking down. If you are considering Sentinel (Thymosin Alpha-1), your CBC and inflammatory markers establish the immune baseline. If Sleep & Sculpt is on the table, your thyroid panel and cortisol tell your provider whether GH secretagogues will interact with an existing thyroid or adrenal issue. The Elite Performance Optimization Panel is the pre-protocol panel that makes every subsequent intervention smarter.
Men evaluating testosterone status. Total testosterone is a starting point, not a conclusion. Two men with identical total testosterone can have dramatically different free testosterone levels depending on their SHBG. This panel includes free and total testosterone with SHBG so your provider can assess bioavailable testosterone, not just the headline number. Combined with FSH, LH, estradiol, and cortisol, it provides the complete hormonal picture needed to determine whether TRT, enclomiphene, kisspeptin, or lifestyle intervention is the right first step.
Women managing hormonal health. Estradiol, FSH, LH, full thyroid with TPO antibodies, cortisol, DHEA-S, and fasting insulin together paint a comprehensive picture of reproductive, adrenal, thyroid, and metabolic health. For women in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Old Town, and surrounding North Side neighborhoods navigating cycle irregularity, perimenopausal symptoms, fatigue, or unexplained weight changes, this panel surfaces the patterns that drive clinical decisions.
Athletes and high-performance individuals. Training demands put stress on every system this panel measures. Cortisol and DHEA-S reveal adrenal load. Iron and TIBC catch exercise-induced depletion before it becomes symptomatic anemia. Fasting insulin tracks metabolic efficiency. Thyroid markers ensure that training-induced thyroid suppression is not being mistaken for general fatigue. Magnesium depletion from heavy sweating undermines recovery, sleep, and muscle function. The Elite Performance Optimization Panel gives athletes and their providers the data to train smarter, recover faster, and avoid the performance plateau that undetected deficiencies cause.
Longevity-focused patients building a wellness stack. If your goal is to optimize health proactively rather than reactively, you need data. The Elite Performance Optimization Panel establishes the baseline against which every future intervention is measured. It is the panel you run before starting a protocol, and the panel you re-run 3 to 6 months later to quantify the response. Patients combining peptide therapy, IV therapy, and targeted supplementation use this panel as their recurring diagnostic check-in.
Anyone whose standard bloodwork came back "normal" but they still don't feel right. This is the most common scenario we see. A patient tells their doctor they are exhausted, gaining weight, losing hair, can't sleep, and have no libido. The doctor runs TSH and a CBC, everything comes back in range, and the patient is told they are fine. They are not fine. Their Free T3 is suboptimal, their TPO antibodies are elevated, their DHEA-S is depleted, their fasting insulin is creeping up, and their vitamin D is in the basement. Standard bloodwork cannot find what it does not look for. This panel looks.
Markers: 19 markers across 6 clinical domains
Includes: Blood draw at 2117 N Halsted St (or mobile draw order), all 19 markers processed through Access Medical Labs, and a provider review consultation (in-person or telehealth)
Fasting required: 8-12 hours. Water and black coffee permitted.
Results timeline: 5-7 business days
Available to: In-person patients (Lincoln Park) and telehealth patients (Illinois statewide, labs ordered to draw center near you)
Pricing is all-inclusive. No separate draw fee. No separate consultation fee for results review. The $425 covers the full panel, the draw, and the provider review where your results are connected to a specific clinical plan.
Markers: 6 (CBC, CMP, TSH, HbA1c, Lipid Panel, Vitamin D)
Best for: First-time wellness screening, weight loss candidacy, general metabolic baseline
Limitation: No hormones, no full thyroid, no insulin, no inflammation, no iron, no adrenal markers
Markers: 13 panels covering hormones, full thyroid with TPO, and metabolic markers
Best for: Hormone-focused evaluation, thyroid deep dive, TRT candidacy
Limitation: Does not include fasting insulin, iron + TIBC, magnesium, or hs-CRP
Markers: 19 across all 6 clinical domains
Best for: Complete pre-protocol assessment, performance optimization, patients who want every relevant marker in one draw
Advantage: Adds fasting insulin, hs-CRP, iron + TIBC, magnesium, and B12 to the hormone and thyroid picture. The only panel that covers metabolic, hormonal, inflammatory, and nutritional health simultaneously.
If you have already run the Advanced Wellness Baseline Test and want to go deeper, the Elite Performance Optimization Panel is the upgrade. If cost is a consideration and your primary concern is hormonal, the Comprehensive Hormone & Metabolism Panel covers that domain well. If you want the complete picture in one draw with no gaps, the Elite Performance Optimization Panel is the one to run.
The Elite Performance Optimization Panel is a cash-pay service and is not submitted to insurance. This is by design. Insurance-based lab ordering often limits which markers a provider can request, which defeats the purpose of a comprehensive panel. At $425 all-inclusive, you get every marker your provider needs without insurance restrictions dictating what gets tested.
$425, all-inclusive. This covers the blood draw, all 19 markers processed through Access Medical Labs, and a provider review consultation (in-person at our Lincoln Park clinic or via telehealth). No separate fees for the draw, the consultation, or the results review.
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