Second CT Scan with contrast

[Chilly59]

Tomorrow I go for a fasting CT Scan. I am a diabetic with kidney disease but am having various procedures done in the last few months due to hematuria in urine. It started with a pain in my rt lower back which I did not even mention until my family doctor gave me the latest results of bloodwork. He at first thought it was maybe a kidney stone. So I did not worry too much...Then I was sent for a CT scan and it showed no kidney stones.

At that point I agreed to see a urologist. All of this took months with the healthcare system here in Canada. He told me I needed a cystoscopy which although very anxious I did have done. He did not think the blood was coming from my bladder and found no tumours. So he has now ordered a second abdominal/pelvic CT scan with contrast which is tomorrow afternoon. I find it hard to fast as my sugar can drop suddenly sometimes and I am wondering what is the reason for fasting is it harder to see my kidneys if I have eaten or is there another reason? Thanks for the support.

Chilly59🤥

[CKDnomore3953]

Hi Chilly59,

My doctor told me that the reason you are supposed to fast before a CT scan with contrast medium is that the contrast dye can cause nausea in some patients.

I hope your CT scan goes well and provides a clear picture of what is causing your health problems.

Best wishes to you for the best outcome.

[PeaB4YouGo in reply to CKDnomore3953]

I'm going to poke my nose in here to say: people with kidney failure should NOT be getting contrast dye!! I'm all for finding out what the problem is, but you don't want to cause more kidney damage by allowing contrast. I've been told that a CT without contrast may be harder to read, but can give you the same results without making your kidney issues worse.

[Hidden in reply to PeaB4YouGo]

When I was needing a CT with contrast, I always had the imaging center contact my Nephrologist and run it by him for approval or not.

[jodaer]

I recently had some testing done on stomach, needing to see the arteries in there. I was told to fast before too. I also am overweight and most of the excess is in my belly making it hard to see too but the tech had a hard time also because of a full bowel. They say don't eat but what they should say is make sure your gut is fairly empty before the test.