Time for the new series of “lab work” (ie fasting). Why on earth do THEY waste our time with the fasting portion of the bloodwork??? Why on earth would they require us to not take our insulin…?
WHY ???
Am I suddenly going to be/get magicly cured after 40 years as a Type 1…? How much could insulin mess with ANYTHING but the BG… which will be off because gee… HEY YOU’RE A DIABETIC .and NOT taking insulin (until after the test is done). I get it that food could alter some blood chemistry (???)… but what are they really looking for that insulin could possibly alter besides BG?
I wish I was mistaken… I’m not. It’s perplexing… Regardless it’s a full panel… I can’t read the majority of the testing CBC, A1C, lipids, is all that I can make out so far. Breaking out a giant magnifying glass (once I can find it under all the kids laundry on their desks).
I always take my basal insulin dose as usual. I’ve never heard of withholding insulin before fasting tests: someone must be far out if that’s what they’re saying. If I’m not eating, I’m not taking boluses.
I always take as many glucose tabs as needed if my BG is below 100 before driving over to the lab. My labs stay the same.
Now let’s say all together to the lab people: you’re kidding!
I get the fasting request on every lab work sheet as well. I think it’s so they can measure your cholesterol level better. My endo isn’t too worried about whether I fast or not because my levels are pretty good right now. So I rarely fast and just tell the lab tech that it’s fine.
I have done plenty of fasting labs but was never asked not to take insulin before. I always take my basal as scheduled and do fast acting if I am having DP. When I had my c-peptide to get a pump, that was done fasting & even asked about taking insulin otherwise my BS would have been sky-high. I was told it was OK to take and that everyone else would have been in the same boat.
Why would they ask you not to take insulin?! That puts your life in danger.
…I recommend talking to the lab, because this has to be a miscommunication. Either that, or find a new dr. ASAP!
I’ve NEVER been asked not to take insulin. Even for full panels - I never know in advance if my dr is going to order the labs or not so I have never taken a full panel without food in my system. EVER.
Not for a WHOLE bunch of days it doesn’t… no insulin for a time does no genuine/serious harm. Its merely puzzling what doing so is supposed to provide/create… Been diagnosed for many decades. I know I’m a Type 1 diabetic kiddies. As for food, there are a whole bunch of reasons THAT could mess up the lab tests.
This has been “lab protocol 101” since I was a very little kid, no mtter where I went. And It always puzzled me both then & now. Your reasoning is correct re: counteracting food with insulin would obviously make sense. No food, no insulin required is fine. But, short acting is likely necessary regardless.
So what’s the thinking why it should be avoided… ? If I were a type 2 ok, maybe I could twist something around and find a reason… but as a type 1… 8 O. Nothing comes to mind.
For the record I take long acting… its the prohibited “short acting” thing that’s got me scratching my head…
Stuart
I have been told not to eat or drink but never not to take my insulin…I always take insulin if needed before given blood. Its kind of irresponsible for a medical person to tell a T1 not to take insulin for a test sake…
If I dont take my longer lasting insulin every day at the exact same time my BG will increase quickly. If I wait just two hours past my time my BG is already in the upper 300’s. So lets just say I take my longer insulin in the morning 8 am (by shots) and my appointment is at 9 am and by some stroke of luck there is no weight in the doctor’s office or in the lab that is still two hours of no insulin…And that is the best case, most of the time there are long waits when seeing the doctor and getting lab work done which can mean my BG could easliy creep in 400/500 range…
Bottom line I think it could be very dangerous if not taking any insulin for hours…Will the person die maybe not but its not safe either…
My endo does not request fasting, the lab checks to see if you had breakfast/lunch/etc. For me to fast, I would have to spend the night in the hospital as it’s an hour drive to the doc! My gripe - doing a finger stick when they are running a blood sugar anyway! And the blood sugar and a1c test result is posted by the time I get to see the doctor - within 20 to 45 min most of the time.
Stuart in all the years I’ve been a Type 1 They have never told me not to take my insulin but just not eat so apperantly we’re both missing the point here.
I once asked “What if I have a low bg in the morning” and if it was okay to take glucose tabs in that case of if I had to get a new appointment then. I was told that, if I must, I must take some. They agreed that I’d have to be at a bg level that made it possible for me to get there save.
I actually had a few cases I needed some. Never had any problems with inaccurate blood values.
If not even that takes a noticeable influence, why would basal insulin do so?
You forget: A healthy person does always have insulin in their body - even if they are fasting to have lab tests done. Why would any doctor tell a diabetic to stop taking their insulin for the tests?
I said this based on my experience without any insulin for some time…
My pump stopped giving me insulin once. It was probably stopped for only 12 hours or less, by Medtronic’s best estimates after they investigated. I ended up in DKA and hospitalized for two days while out of state on vacation.
Laughing at me over this is HIGHLY disrespectful, and frankly uncalled for and irritatingly immature.
Just because you’re lucky enough to be ok without insulin doesn’t mean other people are.
