How to take blood tests?

[dancingflamingo]

Just have a few questions of what I should / shouldn't do before my blood tests

I've stopped all vitamins two weeks before and plan to just have some water beforehand with my test as early in the morning as possible but;

- When should I stop coffee?

- How long should I fast for before my test?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

dancingflamingo

I've stopped all vitamins two weeks before

There is no need for that at all. The only thing you need to stop is Biotin or a B Complex which contains Biotin for a maximum of 7 days (the testing companies tell you 2 days but we suggest 7 as it includes people who are on high doses for other medical conditions that we may not know about). This is because when Biotin is used in the testing procedure and we take Biotin it can give false results for any blood test.

Coffee - you don't have to stop this, just drink water only before the test on the day.

Fasting - no need to fast, just do an early morning test before eating anything, you can have your normal evening meal/supper the night before as usual. As much water as you want is allowed. The only thing this might affect is TSH and it can be lowered depending on what you eat.

Thyroid meds - last dose of Levo 24 hours before test, last dose of NDT or T3 8-12 hours before test.

The above applies to thyroid tests.

If doing vitamin tests the above applies plus

Ferritin/Iron tests - stop any iron tablets for 7 days before the test. Iron tests require a 12 hour fast so it's best to do them as early as possible so you don't go too long without food on the day.

B12 - if you want a baseline to see what you are holding on to you stop 4-5 months before the test. Otherwise you can continue and see what your B12 supplement is achieving and whether or not you need to alter dose and in this case you take your supplement after the test on the day.

Vit D - continue with the supplement and take after the test on the day.