Abstain from coffee before lab tests?

[slipperyelm]

Are you advised to abstain from coffee during your fasting hours before lab tests for any of the following? A1c, liver enzymes, microalbumin, cholesterol & lipids, CBC.

I got myself addicted to coffee in the time since my last round of tests. :o I thought in the past I had been told that black coffee or plain tea was okay before those labs. But once when I went the lab worker asked the usual question about my intake of food and drink and then said I should not have my tests as I'd had coffee.

Addicted as I am, I sure would like to have a cup before I go in tomorrow morning.

[notme]

;) I am afraid you will have to go to the lab early and take your coffee with you for after your test. I understand your pain!

[Phonelady61]

I was told nothing before tests at all not even water. so yeah you are going to have to wait untill after the test before you hit coffee. good luck with your test by the way .

[xMenace]

;) I am afraid you will have to go to the lab early and take your coffee with you for after your test. I understand your pain!

Pffft! My hospital has a Tim Hortons!

[RobiJo]

I've always been told "only water"

[RobiJo]

I've always been told "only water"

As a kid I loved it, right after my labwork I'd get to eat at the really cool cafeteria. (My mom worked at the hospital and I thought eating there was SOOO cool.)

[grace girl]

Only water...then head to starbucks!:D

[slipperyelm]

I have to get up quite a bit earlier than normal to make it to the lab. That is going to make it extra hard without coffee. Hope I can drive alright! :D

Not having a thermos is a bummer, but I'm not going to get one just for tomorrow.

Maybe this is my cue to kick the habit....again. I was off coffee for four years and then somehow it just crept back into my life.

[notme]

Pffft! My hospital has a Tim Hortons!

What the heck is a Tim Hortons? Coffee place? Donut shop? Us West Coasters go to Java City. :D

[Evermont]

I love coffee - and don't believe that it's unhealthy, but I quit drinking it for the same reason I quit smoking. I resent the addiction.

Of course now that I don't drink coffee, except maybe once a month, I can count other reasons to avoid it. It's expensive and stains your teeth too. It's also a diuretic so you should increase water intake along with it which leads ultimately to: don't drink a lot of coffee.

[davef]

Pffft! My hospital has a Tim Hortons!

Hmmm, Tim's .... it finally made it to Ireland last year, darn another Franchise I should have gone for!

For me I tend to not eat after 9pm and only drink water after that.

[BrianSCohen]

I also have a dependence on coffee and tea, starting the morning right off with a cup. On days when I have tests, what I do is heat up a hot cup of water and pretend it is coffee or tea. I know. Not exactly the same. At least it is something.

[sprzepiora]

I was always told coffee is ok, but only black without sugar, which ironically is how I now (almost) drink it :)

I drink so much of it I am trying to cut the splenda out as it is kind of expensive.

[w5wjp]

What the heck is a Tim Hortons? Coffee place? Donut shop? Us West Coasters go to Java City. :D

Not only a donut shop but THE donut shop. Coffee is god but the donuts are fantastic.

[kgm0612]

What the heck is a Tim Hortons? Coffee place? Donut shop? Us West Coasters go to Java City.

Nancy..........it's a coffee place, similar to Dunkin Donuts, which I believe started in Canada and then bought out another chain here in the US. We have them on the East Coast, but I'm not a fan.

Karen

[Harold]

Was told I could have one cup black unsweetened. It may depend on the lab tests requested by your doc. My tests are usually only for A1c and Lipids.

[slipperyelm]

Turns out it was no problem skipping the coffee this morning. :)

I originally gave up coffee because it was inconvenient to have to look for coffee every morning of my life. If I was camping or spent the night on the boat, it was a problem. I was badly addicted and would feel sick, head-achy, stuffy-headed and my eyes sensitive to light without it.

During those four "good years" I drank a lot of tea instead. I'm still drinking a lot of tea, so that cuts down on the amount of coffee I might otherwise drink. Maybe that is why it was no problem after all to skip the java this morning. I do the hot water thing as well. In fact the last thing I drank to day was a mug of hot water. Weird, huh? "White tea."

Oh, I find tea stains my teeth worse than coffee.

[tanyatype1]

LOL! I'm actually overdue (for the first time) in getting my labs/a1c done because I just dread having to go without my sleepymorningwakeupcoffee! Ugh.....I think I'm going to try the hot water thing:)

[pokie]

Our lab says black coffee and tea are OK; no carbonated beverages. I guess every place is different. It's kind of my ritual to have a nice hot cup of black coffee to take with me to my labs; I hate the blood draw and it calms me down!

[BrianSCohen]

I have to weigh in on this one. For quite a while my Dr. suggested simply not eating anything in the morning before a fasting test. Of course, crazy me, I would stuff myself at midnight before more first thing in the morning test and darn it, my cholesterol (actually tris) came in high. Well at least in the case of triglycerides, 12 hours really means 12 hours, it takes a while to clear them out of your blood.

The whole thing about whether coffee or tea is ok is problematic. All I know is that medline suggests no (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Cholesterol test (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003492.htm)) and mayo suggests no (Cholesterol test: Sorting out the lipids - MayoClinic.com (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol-test/CL00033/index.html)). I hate having a cholesterol test come in and having to argue with my Dr. that I don't want the *&%^%^& statin. Hence, I always err on the side of caution. In either case, I certainly would not add sugar or cream, this would definitely blow away any cholesterol test, and blood sugar test.