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tabitha95 posted 8/6/2013 00:18 AM

My psychiatrist ordered blood work and I'm going in the morning. She marked off fasting, but didn't say how long. I read online it is probably a 12 hour fast.

Can I drink decaf green tea before bed, or just water?

RidingHealingRd posted 8/6/2013 00:23 AM

I do not know the answer but I will say that I was instructed to fast for blood work as well and was told that I could drink coffee BUT it had to be black ONLY...that or water. I am not a tea drinker so never asked.

tabitha95 posted 8/6/2013 00:46 AM

I always have my cup of tea after I put the kids down and before i go to bed. I don't have to, but I like my ritual.

I just didn't think to ask.

Dreamboat posted 8/6/2013 07:11 AM

I have always been told nothing after midnight if you are going in for fasting bloodwork in the morning.

HTH

itainteasy posted 8/6/2013 07:23 AM

If it's before bed, and before you're starting your 12 hr clock, then yes.

Nothing but water after that, though, and especially nothing before you go for the lab work.

Water only. And you should drink water, it keeps you hydrated, and keeps your veins easy to hit.

ETA:
I'm a phlebotomist, I draw blood for a living, I constantly have to turn people away because they had their morning coffee or tea, or took their pills with milk. NOTHING but WATER while you're fasting. We don't accept black coffee or tea with nothing added. Only water.

[This message edited by itainteasy at 7:24 AM, August 6th (Tuesday)]

tabitha95 posted 8/6/2013 12:04 PM

To be safe, I didn't have the tea. I had the blood work done this morning. Glad to get that off my plate.

Jrazz posted 8/6/2013 12:30 PM

Yaay! At least you can have a cup of tea tonight!

Hope everything goes well at the lab.

purplejacket4 posted 8/6/2013 23:09 PM

For future reference fasting before blood work means no caloric intake. You can drink tea, coffee, diet drinks, whatever.

Fasting before a procedure means NOTHING by mouth unless they specifically tell you to take meds with a sip of water. This is so if you vomit under anesthesia there won't be anything there and you won't aspirate causing a severe pneumonia.

Dreamboat posted 8/6/2013 23:32 PM

t/j

Is it bad that I time my bloodwork so I miss the worst of traffic but can still hit the Chick Fil A afterwards for a chicken biscuit before they stop serving breakfast? Especially since I usually am having my cholesterol checked?

end t/j

InnerLight posted 8/7/2013 00:00 AM

For accurate lab results nothing but water. Caffeine would definitely mess with lab results as it may affect yr blood sugar. Its also a diuretic. Decaf tea has some caffeine in it. It's not just about calories.

iwantamiracle posted 8/7/2013 14:04 PM

another phlebotomist here....water only...no other substances but water and water is highly recommended especially for peeps who have bad veins or small veins.....and fasting starts at midnight the night before....

just ro reitterate...no decaf anything.....no clear liquids, no diet anything

ONLY WATER

purplejacket4 posted 8/7/2013 16:11 PM

From my point of view as a PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN I don't care if you drink tea or coffee or crystal light. There generally isn't enough caffeine to bother the lab results I'm looking at. However, I can see that a phlebotomist might be put out by those itty bitty veins and would like some water volume! The safe answer would be to ask YOUR individual doctor.

I want to know people's results based on what they normally do. Really the fasting is only for looking at lipids values or fasting insulin levels. Your CBC, chemistry panel, thyroid testing, pregnancy tests, rheum tests, hormones etc. etc. aren't affected by eating at all. That's why we don't always do fasting labs.

[This message edited by purplejacket4 at 4:12 PM, August 7th (Wednesday)]