bloods confusion

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p. cee

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hi, i need some advice about bloods... about 18 months ago, i had routine bloods and got called into surgery to say i have developed t2 diabetes. i was given an appt with the diabetes nurse around a week later who then told me they were false results because i hadn't been told i had to fast before going to give blood... so i just left it. never had any sign, never had any symptoms, gp hasn't contacted me since.

yesterday, i went for an appt for something else and gp said 'you are diabetic' so i explained all of the above to him. he looked very shocked at what i told him and said it was a priority to get my bloods done and get this cleared up. he said i don't need to fast so, because i'm off work this week, i went to my local health centre straight away only to be told i couldn't get my bloods done because i hadn't fasted. i told them gp said i didn't need to and they agreed to take them but said i will be back next week because it will give false results again.

can someone in the know please let me know about the whole fasting thing? don't know who to believe...
 
Hi P..... Welcome to the group....

It depends on the tests being done, one of the tests is likely a "Fasting Blood Glucose" which, by definition needs to be a fasting test, Another one is the HbA1c which is an average of Blood Glucose over the last 3 months, no need to fast for that one. I have heard it both ways for Cholesterol tests....
I think that the general rule of thumb is to fast, that way all bases are covered....
 
Originally the HbA1c test which is to see what your glucose levels are (sugar) was done one a fasting basis nothing to eat or drink after 9 pm apart from water, then you had an early appointment in the morning for the blood to be taken. These days my current and my last docs stopped doing fasting tests and one just has the blood taken when it's convenient and you have eaten normally. The HbA1c test measures your glucose over the previous 12 weeks as that's how long blood cells last.

Some tests may require a fasting test, as like on occasions they like to do an MOT on you to see what else is happening. It could be some are confused when you need to fast, some may be old school and still want you to fast, where others are following the new school approach or at least in my area there is no need to fast unless it's a specific test that requires it.
 
You don't need to fast for a HbA1c blood test, which is what I suspect your GP sent you for. It measures your average blood glucose over the previous couple of months or so and is what is used to confirm T2D and also to asssess progression as the HbA1C is usually repeated at 3 or 6 month intervals. Fasting prior to the test has no influence on results.
A 'fasting' BG test is usually a finger prick test and gives an indication of your BG at one moment in time and gives only a very general indication. The 'fasting test' is what many T2Ds do first thing in the morning but all it mainly does is help keep an eye on how BG levels are going - up or down.
Sounds like your DN doesn't know what she's talking about and same applies to your health centre.
 
Ask the health centre what tests they are doing. Get them to write it down. Ask your doc what tests he sent you for and what you had 18 months ago. Again, get it in writing.
It is possible their confused about what tests are requested and what they're doing. It's also possible the wrong test is done.
 
thank you all for your replies, i am looking to change gp surgery not just due to this but due to a whole catalogue of errors. guess i'll find out what's happening when i get my results next week some time.
 
Fasting: I've never had a fasting test at GP's for anything. When I was diagnosed I was in hospital for a big infection. I had a fasting blood test then. Blood taken from the arm and taken away. However, I still don't know what half the things they did were for (I wasn't in a fit state to make a fuss at the time). They did lots of blood tests.
 
When I have my blood tests, they insist on fasting because of the cholesterol test. My consultant said it's more accurate if you fast. There's no need to fast for the HbA1c, but occasionally my GP throws in a 'spot check' glucose test as well. ( I'm never sure why, it doesn't tell her anything, apart from the fact that my blood glucose went up as a result of my liver kicking out some glucose to compensate for the fact that I'd gone out without breakfast!)
 
A fasting blood test in terms of a one-off check on fasting blood glucose are never valid if you have to get up, washed and dressed and get to anywhere before you can have it done - only valid if done very soon after you wake up, preferably before you get out of bed. It's of limited use since the minute your brain and body start functioning properly together - your BG will have changed ! - cos you can't consciously 'do' anything without your cells using insulin and glucose, can you!
 
Diagnosis is normally on the basis of a Hba1c test - at least it was for me - no need to fast, just get the number and if it is above 47 then it is pretty certain that you are diabetic.
So much confusion and faffing about.
 
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