What to Expect at Your First Wellness Consult

A first wellness consult at MINT runs about an hour, happens in person at our Bettendorf clinic, and ends with you knowing what we are testing and why. It is not a sales appointment and you will not be asked to commit to anything that day. Most people book because something feels off and nobody has looked closely, so the whole visit is built around looking closely.

Here is the visit, in order.

Before you come in

Fast if we ask you to. If we are running metabolic bloodwork, we will tell you when you book whether to come in fasting. Water is fine. Skipping this makes some results harder to read.

Come in the morning if you can. Testosterone and cortisol both peak earlier in the day, so morning draws give us cleaner numbers.

Bring three things. A list of your current medications and supplements, including doses. Any lab results from the last year or two, even if you were told they were normal. And your insurance card, if you have one.

Wear something you can move in. The body composition scan works better without heavy layers or bulky shoes.

Write down your symptoms. This one helps more than people expect. Not a diagnosis, just what changed and roughly when. "Started waking up at 3am around February" is genuinely useful information.

Step 1: Intake and the conversation

We start by talking, not testing.

You will go through your history, what brought you in, what you have already tried, how you sleep, what your stress and alcohol look like, what your training or activity is, your family history, and anything you are currently taking. Women get asked about cycle history and, if it applies, where you are in the menopause transition.

This part usually takes the longest, and it should. Symptoms overlap heavily across hormones, thyroid, sleep, and metabolism, so what you describe shapes which panels we order.

Step 2: Biometric analysis on the InBody scale

You will step onto the InBody scale and hold the handles for under a minute.

What it gives us is a breakdown rather than a single number: fat mass, lean muscle mass, and body water, with segmental detail. This becomes your starting point. Every future scan gets compared to it, which is how we tell whether a plan is working the way we intended or just moving the scale.

Step 3: PNOE breath testing, if it applies to your plan

If metabolism or weight is part of why you came in, we may run PNOE breath testing.

You sit still and breathe into a mask. That is the entire test. Nearly everyone expects a treadmill, so we say this up front: there is no exercise involved. It measures the chemicals in your breath at rest to show what your body burns easily and what it tends to store as fat. That tells us how to build the nutrition side of your plan around your body instead of a generic template.

Step 4: Labs

Blood draw happens in the clinic. What we order depends on your intake, and it usually covers more ground than a standard physical does.

Common panels include full hormones, thyroid, blood sugar and A1C, lipids, a complete blood count, and vitamin and mineral markers. If you brought older results, we compare against them, because a trend across two years tells us more than one snapshot does.

Turnaround is typically a few days to about a week depending on the panel.

Step 5: Reviewing your results

This is the appointment people remember, and it is the reason most of them stay.

We go through your results with you on screen, in plain language, line by line where it matters. What is in range. What is technically in range but sitting at the edge. What is actually out of range. How each one connects to the symptoms you described in step one.

Then you get options, with the tradeoffs said out loud. Sometimes that is a hormone plan, whether that is testosterone replacement therapy or bioidentical hormone replacement. Sometimes it is a weight and metabolism plan. Sometimes it is peptides. And sometimes it is a sleep study referral and a recheck in eight weeks, because your labs were fine and the problem is somewhere else. We will tell you that too.

Results reviews can happen by telemedicine or in person, whichever works better for you.

Step 6: Deciding how to move forward

If you start a plan, you choose how to pay for the ongoing part. There is a general membership, a Weight Loss membership, and a la carte. The memberships page lays out what each includes. Membership tends to make sense if your plan involves regular labs and adjustments. A la carte is fine if you want to start smaller.

You are not signing anything at the first visit. Plenty of people take the results home and think about it.

After the first visit

Follow-up depends on your plan. Hormone therapy usually means a recheck in six to eight weeks, then a settled schedule after that. Weight plans get more frequent check-ins early because doses are still moving.

Ongoing visits can be telemedicine or in person. Our providers are licensed in Illinois and Iowa, so patients on either side of the river have both options. Labs, InBody scans, and breath testing stay in the clinic because they have to happen in person.

Also available

If you came in for wellness and are also curious about aesthetics, that is a normal conversation to have and you are welcome to ask. Injectables, body contouring, facials, and skincare are standalone services here, not something bolted onto a wellness plan. Some patients only ever come to us for aesthetics, which is a completely valid reason to walk in. If you would rather book an aesthetic consult separately, that works too.

Booking

Book a wellness consult online, or call 563-800-MINT and ask for the next available. We are at The Plex in Bettendorf, right around the corner from the TBK Sports Complex, and there is easy parking. Our contact page has hours and directions.

Not sure it is time yet? When should I get my hormones checked is a shorter read that answers exactly that.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the first appointment? Plan on about an hour. The intake conversation and body composition testing take up most of it.

Do I need to fast? Sometimes. We tell you when you book, based on which panels we plan to order. When in doubt, call and ask rather than guessing.

Does insurance cover the consult or the labs? It depends on your plan and which panels are ordered. Front desk can check before your appointment, and we will tell you what is likely to be out of pocket before anything is run. Cherry financing is available for treatment plans.

Can I do my first visit by telemedicine? The first appointment is usually in person, because labs, the InBody scan, and breath testing all have to happen at the clinic. Once you are established, follow-ups can be telemedicine or in person, for Iowa and Illinois residents both.

What if my labs come back normal? Then we say so, and we keep looking. Normal labs rule out a specific set of causes, which is useful information, and we will talk through what to check next rather than putting you on something you do not need.

Can my spouse and I come in together? Yes, and a fair number of couples do exactly that. Each of you needs your own appointment and your own panels, but they can be scheduled back to back.