Fasting blood test

[DancingStar]

I'm going to have a fasting blood test to check my liver function. I can't eat or drink anything except water for 10 hours before the test.

My appointment is for 8.40am. I normally inject my basal Lantus and bolus Novorapid at around 6.30am.

Obviously I won't inject the Novorapid but should I take my basal insulin at my usual time? My blood glucose when I measure it first thing is usually around low 6/high 5, but I'm worried about a hypo before I get the opportunity to eat.

 

[rebrascora]

In your situation, I would inject my basal as normal, but then I know that my liver chucks out lots of glucose as soon as I get out of bed, so my levels rise quite significantly so there is no chance that I would hypo from my basal at that time. I usually also need a couple of units of bolus insulin to keep it from rising, even if I am not having breakfast, but I would give that a miss and just deal with the inflated levels after the appointment.

If you are particularly concerned, you could delay your basal for an hour or so, as that won't have a significant impact over the day but will delay the onset of it's activity sufficiently to give you more peace of mind. In reality, your basal should be holding you steady in the absence of food, so it shouldn't drop your levels significantly on a morning, but can understand you being a bit cautious when it needs to be a fasting test.

 

[Lucyr]

I’d take my basal at the normal time. If you’re worried though you could do it a bit later than usual.

 

[Lucyr]

When is your blood tests? Have you got time for a practice run at home first?

 

[DancingStar]

When is your blood tests? Have you got time for a practice run at home first?

That's a good idea - blood test isn't until 28th so I have time.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

That's a good idea - blood test isn't until 28th so I have time.

Hope your dry run goes smoothly @DancingStar

I think if you are worried then the suggestion of possibly delaying your Lantus until later might put your mind at rest.

When I was on Lantus I found it pretty resilient to shifting dose timings by an hour or two - not ideal regularly I guess, but never seemed to cause me a problem every once in a while. 🙂