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nomorepanic
13-08-09, 18:48
Can someone tell me if they know how long before this type of blood test you need to stop eating?

I have the blood test at 9.45 am tomorrow morning.

I did google it but got answers ranging from 10 hours - 14 hours and obviously I don't want to be starving all night lol. They are doing the test to check my cholesterol if that helps.

I tried calling the doctor's surgery to ask this afternoon but forgot they shut at lunchtime!

Cheers in advance.

teez
13-08-09, 18:51
I stop eating at 12 the night before,,,you can have sips of plain water, no hot drinks ,no chewing gum,,

xBettyBoopx
13-08-09, 18:54
Doctors usually say nothing to drink or eat after midnight.

Els

nickieb
13-08-09, 19:00
Its after 8pm to make it more accurate

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 19:04
Thanks all

8pm - I will be starving by 10 lol.

honeybee3939
13-08-09, 19:07
Hi Nic

When i had my Cholestrol checked they told me not to eat and drink after 10pm except for tiny sips of water. I made sure i went to bed at 10.30pm and also got up as late as possible in the morning before my appointment then i wouldnt get tempted.lol:)

Love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxxx

nickieb
13-08-09, 19:07
Yeah i would too Nicola but thats the correct time! I have also just had bloods done myself & i too had to starve from 8- boo!!

Hope your ok x

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 19:19
I think they just want to check my cholesterol isn't too low as I am on meds for the heart and I know it can drop down too much sometimes. It was down to 1. something last time they checked it.

nickieb
13-08-09, 19:22
OMG that is low, crap! I guess its better for you its lower though?
Nicola before your heart attack did you have any heart problems?

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 19:28
Never had any heart problems no and they still don't know what caused the blood clot in the artery.

My Crohn's consultant said it could have been the stress of the Crohn's flare up and one other doctor said it could have been lifestyle issues and we also have a history of heart disease in the family too - with my nan (mum's mum) dying of heart attack, one of my mum's brothers having angina and the other one just had a triple heart bypass op!

nickieb
13-08-09, 19:52
Gosh its so scary how it can happen to anyone it still shocks me & i worked in CCU! I need to stop worrying, i really do!

I would be a wreck now if u i was in your position xx

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 21:11
I have learned to live with it Nickie. I am just glad to be alive I guess.

The heart attack caused problems with the Crohn's as they couldn't operate when they wanted to and I was very ill with that - so much so that they didn't give much thought to the heart as the abscesses on the bowels were far more serious.

They scared my mum and Alex saying I could bleed to death at one point and on my medical records it said "high risk of mortality".

Life is very precious so you just have to accept what has been dealt to you and do the best you can I guess. I know that I am more likely to get other things such as bowel cancer but we will face that when we have to.

nickieb
13-08-09, 21:21
Gee you poor thing, my HA seems so pathetic now eh?
Well im glad your fine now & as for what the future can bring i guess we cant think about that- we have to live one day at a time!

Big hugs xxx

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 21:37
Thanks Nickie

I have never suffered HA but I had an intense fear of drugs - so much so that I wouldn't even take a paracetamol lol.

That all went out the window with the drugs they put me on and I now accept that I have to take what drugs I do.

The only thing I cannot tolerate and they kept putting me on it was Metronidazole - it made me so ill lol.

Now I am on so many - you will probably know a lot of these:

Mercaptopurine 50mg
Lipitor (Atorvastatin) 80mg
Plavix (Clopidogrel) 75mg
Cardicor (Bisoprolol) 1.25mg
Ramipril 1.25mg
Aspirin 75mg
Sulfasalazine 500mg

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 21:41
Nickie - just realised you suffer with HA - I am so sorry if this is making you anxious!

nickieb
13-08-09, 21:48
No its not making me anxious i work full time as a nurse in A&E- soon to be ITU hun so its fine. Its my own anxieties that stress me not others.

Yeah i know all your drugs.. your taking a few- but all have there place & you need them. Metronidazole is a horrible antibiotic- it makes a lot of people poorly & smells vile!

I am really quite stressed that the last 2 years i have suffered health anxiety & prior to that i was shall we say normal. I guess one day i will accept its anxiety & perhaps let it go back where it came from. Luckily i can still lead a normal life- which is a huge relief.
xx

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 21:59
I admire all nurses Nickie - it is not a nice job to do. Hmm that sounded bad but you know what I mean lol

The funny thing is that since I have been ill my anxiety and panic has taken a back seat in my life so it proves that we focus on it and once we have new things to focus on it can go!

nickieb
13-08-09, 22:07
Its very true indeed, when i was with my ex i didn't once think about my health! It wasn't until we split i started suffering again!

Just goes to show!

x

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 22:16
I guess our priorities change over time and when we have new issues those priorities change too.

I am reading up on HA and there are some very odd theories on how to treat it too.

I think the worlds worst enemy is the internet. Cos we can type in all these symptoms and guess what comes back......

most times it is cancer or some other life threatening disease.

We never read the pages that explain things in other ways we want to read the really really bad case scenario don't we?

I do google but I am not obsessed but now I think I have Cushings syndrome lol. But I will not diagnose it on the net, I will talk to doc if I can ever get to see her lol.

nickieb
13-08-09, 22:27
Really? Hmmm i don't know too much about it other than what causes it. I do Google a lot myself & convinced my Labrynthtis is MS but i get to see the ENT in 2 weeks so we shall see what happens!

The internet is lethal for us i agree, Dr Google is a bad DR x

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 22:30
Before the internet we relied on docs lol and we should go back to that.

I have noticed we get a lot signing up here for medical advice too and we can't do that to be honest.

We cannot diagnose things on here - it needs tests and advice and a medical opinion but we try all we can.

nickieb
13-08-09, 22:36
Yeah, its really only our experience we can give. However we may as well all be doctors with our health knowledge after so much googling we do...we know an awful lot ha.

Night hun 5am start, lovely chatting to you xx

nomorepanic
13-08-09, 22:37
Nite Nickie and take care ok

xx

kazzie
14-08-09, 00:01
Hi Nic:)

I have to have fasting blood tests often cos of diabetes

My doc says 8 hrs but you can have water or unsweetened black tea or coffee

Hope it goes ok mate

Luv Kaz x:hugs:

Meant to say unsweetened but no milk either:doh:

honeybee3939
14-08-09, 22:22
Hiya Nic

How did the blood tests go? Did you manage to keep off the food and drink !:winks: ......... Thats a impossible task for me..lol:wacko:

Hope all went well mate!:yesyes:

Love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxx

nomorepanic
14-08-09, 22:53
Yes all ok thanks - just look like I have been stabbed in the arm now lol. I guess I will bleed and bruise more than most cos my blood is thinned down with meds

Will call for results next week.

I did feel a bit yucky this morming cos I hadn't eaten but had some sweet grapes after test and that made me feel better.

honeybee3939
14-08-09, 23:32
:yesyes: :yesyes: :yesyes:

Glad it went ok mate!

Hope the results come back ok too!

Hope your stuffing your face tonight to make up for last night..lol :yesyes:

Andrea
xxxx