Fasting Bloodwork

[gettingby]

I have an appointment coming up for my yearly bloodwork up (cholesterol and all that jazz).
One of the nurses at my doc's office called to remind me of my appointment and told me that even though it was fasting bloodwork, I can have water and black coffee. :hmmmm2:
Has anyone else been told this? I would hate to drink my morning :coffee: and not be able to have my bloodwork done.

[duck]

Just don't tell them if you do...:-

[gettingby]

LMAO, I like the way you think Duck. Evil minds do think alike........:-

[camjen1]

Just don't tell them if you do...:-


*cough* Cam clears her throat.

[gettingby]

I'm just hoping that my A1C will be better this go around. My 90 day average (according to my UltraSmart) is 135. I know that probably doesn't mean much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good A1C !!

[Cinnabon]

My endo doesnt care if ur fasting or not, but I do. I fast and drink lots of water because I have found that if I have coffee, my BUN tends to show high.

[Tsukia]

I have always been told water is fine but i have never heard of the black coffee
then again I don't drink coffee of any kind :P

[RLK]

One of the nurses at my doc's office called to remind me of my appointment and told me that even though it was fasting bloodwork, I can have water and black coffee. :hmmmm2:

I get labwork done for work as well as part of my medical monitoring, and I get conflicting advice from the two labs. One says nothing but water, the other says water, black coffee, or tea. I just err on the safe side, and stick with water until I get to work. I would really hate to a) get up at 5:00 so that I can be at the lab when it opens so that I can be to work on time or b) drive the 1+ hour to the lab we use for work only to find out that the vampires won't stick me over a lousy cup of coffee.
If you get an answer from the lab about this, please post it- I'd like to know!

[JediSkipdogg]

I would just stick with water. I think part of the reason my last labwork was messed up was because about 4 hours into the 10 hours fasting (did it duringa work shift) I started to run low and well, there isn't much here at work to eat. I think we had some cake so I grabbed some of that, just a tab, but that sent my numbers higher than the previous year by quite a bit. When I redo mine in a few weeks I'll find out if that was why.

[gettingby]

I was told though that if at any time during the fast (midnight to 8:15am), if I had to treat a low, then the bloodwork would have to be rescheduled. Guess I'll just do things as I have before and forgo the coffee.
Man, that will be hard. Not having my first cup of :coffee: until after my appt is over with. Ugggggg

[Penny]

I don't understand the reasoning for fasting at least in my case. The last time I fasted 13 hours before my test and my level was 193. The nurse insisted I had to have had something, but I did not even take my morning meds or coffee, only sipped water. A few days ago, after not eating for 5 hours, during the day, I was 46.
I guess you have to fast as they always check other things like cholesterol, but it doesn't make sense for diabetes. IMO

[seacomp]

The fasting is mostly for the lipids (fats) in the blood. If you are already DXed as having diabetes, your fasting BG level doesn't really say too much (unless it's very high or low) and your HbA1C doesn't reflect the immediate BG level anyway.

[amccrazgrl]

i just did my fasting last week.
just check your blood sugar like hour before midnight or when you go to bed. then you can treat for a low or high.
i just brush my teeth and have water in the morning.

[JasonSmithMT]

My usual advice is to stick with just water. Once you start telling people that they can have other things and it causes confusion and leads to people not following proper fasting protocols. The real thing is to avoid any calories. Non-caloric drinks are usually fine for most fasting test work, lipid studies included.

Jason

[Cyborg]

When I go for an A1C test only, they don't have me fast. I even asked about it. IMO, it makes sense since I'm on a pump and taking corrections and changing basals all the time.

When I get the triglycerides and cholesterol checked, my prescription for lab work does request fasting. Since I know coffee affects my bg, I won't drink anything but water for these tests.

Good Luck Cin!

[JasonSmithMT]

When I go for an A1C test only, they don't have me fast. I even asked about it. IMO, it makes sense since I'm on a pump and taking corrections and changing basals all the time.


Fasting (or not) will have no effect on your HbA1c level.

Jason

[koblenz]

I always make my lab appt for first thing in the morning and I take my coffee with me. As soon as the needle is out, in goes the coffee!

... and no they don't let me just mainline the coffee... not because I haven't asked!

I asked and my endo and he said he would prefer I don't have coffee before morning fasting labs, but for all other labs (A1c, office visits, etc.) go for it. He said since coffee doesn't seem to affect my BS, it wouldn't significantly affect any other test, but would prefer if I had nothing but water... just to be safe.

[gettingby]

I think I will just stick with what I have been doing in the past. I just hope they hurry things along. I'm never sure whether or not to take my Lantus before my appt or after so I usually wait. It's only once a year for the fasting bloodwork. Wrecks my day waiting to inject but I can recover fairly easily.
Thanks guys (and gals).

[MamaCat]

I don't understand the reasoning for fasting at least in my case. The last time I fasted 13 hours before my test and my level was 193. The nurse insisted I had to have had something, but I did not even take my morning meds or coffee, only sipped water. A few days ago, after not eating for 5 hours, during the day, I was 46.
That's why the pump is such a great thing -- more control over the insulin -- then you can fast all day if you want and keep your bGs fairly level!