all thing are going through my head right now I’m thinking the worst case sinario like maybe they are checking for cancer or something I have never heard of fasting blood test can anyone explain what a fasting blood test is it would really put my mind at rest.
Oh thank goodness you have really put my mind at rest all things have been going through my mind ie cancer next but I thought if was cancer they’d ask her in the next day not next week. thank you again.

Hi! Don’t worry!! A fasting blood test is common. It’s used for testing a variety of things, from iron levels, potassium, phosphorous, lipds, cholesterol, thyroid, glucose etc and it’s possible that your Mum’s doctor wants to check the levels of a number of things.
The foods we eat can affect the levels and the results of these tests and a fasting test gives you a ‘bottom line’. When fasting this is the lowest you can expect the sugar and cholesterol figures to be.
If you have just eaten then the levels of sugar and cholesterol are determined by what you have just eaten – not by your body’s ability to handle these substances.
If a non-fasting level is high, it might not mean anything at all is wrong.
If a fasting level is high, then something is definitely wrong.

Good luck and hope all goes well for your mum!

all thing are going through my head right now I’m thinking the worst case sinario like maybe they are checking for cancer or something I have never heard of fasting blood test can anyone explain what a fasting blood test is it would really put my mind at rest.
Oh thank goodness you have really put my mind at rest all things have been going through my mind ie cancer next but I thought if was cancer they’d ask her in the next day not next week. thank you again.

Hi! Don’t worry!! A fasting blood test is common. It’s used for testing a variety of things, from iron levels, potassium, phosphorous, lipds, cholesterol, thyroid, glucose etc and it’s possible that your Mum’s doctor wants to check the levels of a number of things.
The foods we eat can affect the levels and the results of these tests and a fasting test gives you a ‘bottom line’. When fasting this is the lowest you can expect the sugar and cholesterol figures to be.
If you have just eaten then the levels of sugar and cholesterol are determined by what you have just eaten – not by your body’s ability to handle these substances.
If a non-fasting level is high, it might not mean anything at all is wrong.
If a fasting level is high, then something is definitely wrong.

Good luck and hope all goes well for your mum!

It could; it’s better to wait to take them after the blood draw.

It could; it’s better to wait to take them after the blood draw.

Im supposed to have a fasting blood draw to see if my cholesterol lowering med, and my diabetic med, which I started taking a couple months ago, are working. I cant find anything on the internet which explains exactly what is included in fasting. Ive heard black coffee is ok, can you use artificial sweetener, or powdered cream? What about diet soda? No ridiculous answers, just to get points, please.

The only blood test that requires a patient to be in the fasting state is the lipid panel. Fasting state usually refers to taking nothing by mouth for approximately nine hours. Usually, I just tell my patients not to eat anything after dinner. Water and black coffe is okay. A diary creamy may affect the lipid panel (especially the triglyceride component) result and not recommended. Artificial sweetener and diet soda may not affect your lipid panel, but it may affected your fasting glucose. If your doctor are ordering the Hemoglobin A1C, a fasting state is not required.

Im supposed to have a fasting blood draw to see if my cholesterol lowering med, and my diabetic med, which I started taking a couple months ago, are working. I cant find anything on the internet which explains exactly what is included in fasting. Ive heard black coffee is ok, can you use artificial sweetener, or powdered cream? What about diet soda? No ridiculous answers, just to get points, please.

The only blood test that requires a patient to be in the fasting state is the lipid panel. Fasting state usually refers to taking nothing by mouth for approximately nine hours. Usually, I just tell my patients not to eat anything after dinner. Water and black coffe is okay. A diary creamy may affect the lipid panel (especially the triglyceride component) result and not recommended. Artificial sweetener and diet soda may not affect your lipid panel, but it may affected your fasting glucose. If your doctor are ordering the Hemoglobin A1C, a fasting state is not required.

is 55/86 too high for a liver result? My doctor sent me word by his nurse, per phone, to stop taking my Cholesterol until my next visit 5/27/08,. This seems too long a wait to me because how am I going to control my cholesterol without medication?

55 / 86 – may be you mean SGPT / SGOT (ALT / AST). If that is so, it is mildly elevated, presuming the normal upper limit in the laboratory is around 40. But liver enzymes can go as high as 500 or more in simple jaundice (viral hepatitis A). Please follow your doctor’s advice as he knows your condition as well as the urgency of cholesterol control in your case. Medications for controlling cholesterol level act only slowly. So their effects will also wane out only slowly, over weeks.

Call your doctor. Do not skip your blood pressure medication without first consulting a professional who knows what the medication is and the nature of your condition.

I can’t eat for twelve hours before. it’s at 8.30 am so i don’t have to wait too long but just know i’m going to faint because i’m not good with needles/blood and i won’t have any sugar going round. How long will it take?

The best thing to do is to eat as late as you can – 8.30pm and as much as possible, including sugary foods to last you through the night.

I presume you are being tested for diabetes. You will not faint from 12 hours fasting. Especially if you are diabetic.

You are not allowed to eat anything after that time (actually I am surprised it is 12 hours. I usually fast from midnight – about 8.5 hours). You can drink water or black tea but not with milk. Milk can change your blood sugar levels quite dramatically.

There are various sprays and creams on the market which you can put on to numb the site of the blood test. The creams would need to go on thickly, not rubbed in and covered with a waterproof dressing about 1.5 hours before. Ask the pharmacist.

The test will take less than a minute. If you use the cream you will feel nothing.

Let the tester know that you are likely to faint, they will lie you down. Do not look and keep breathing in through your nose, out through your mouth. You will be fine. Blood takers are better at getting it out virtually painlessly than doctors! Unless they work in A&E.

Please i need help!

Only if you request that you be tested for them. The lab doesn’t just run random tests, only the ones requested by your doctor,and agreed to by you.