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HbA1c

sallyj123

Active Member
Messages
32
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
How long do you fast for before your test? my doctor says 14 hours but the hospital told me 10 and that 14 was too long
 
What are you having tested? Because you don't have to fast for a hba1c test.
 
I was always told 12 hours (Over the night time) and I could drink only Plain Water during this period. The Blood Test sample being taken the following morning.
Bit of advice - Drink Plain Water half hour before the Blood Test is taken as this will help the blood being taken to flow easier, and AVOID all forms of EXERCISE as walking/cycling to the Surgery or Hospital will artificially lower your fasting Blood/Glucose level., also get the test done in the morning and not after mid-day as B/G levels naturally rise in the afternoons.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As @catapillar says a hba1c blood test is not a fasting blood test


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A fasting glucose test is different to an Hba1C test. Hba1C gives a kind of weighted average of your levels over the past three months and the previous 12 hours has next to no impact on this.


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@sallyj123 Could you confirm exactly what test you're having? I or another mod can change the thread title if necessary
 
sallyj123 said:
How long do you fast for before your test? my doctor says 14 hours but the hospital told me 10 and that 14 was too long
Click to expand...

Double check to make sure the test doesn't include a full lipid breakdown of your cholesterol as this has to be a fasting check, if it is then 10-12 hours fasting is the usual advice (my own gp surgery says 10 hours is sufficient).
 
Double check to make sure the test doesn't include a full lipid breakdown of your cholesterol as this has to be a fasting check, if it is then 10-12 hours fasting is the usual advice (my own gp surgery says 10 hours is sufficient)
Click to expand...

I made this mistake yesterday as was not told it was a fasting test I had breakfast when nurse was about to take bloods she asked if I had eaten as she wanted to do full panel so now will only get the general cholesterol level which won't be as helpful. In future I will always fast whether they say it's fasting or not.
 

I get my bloods taken at my gp surgery but get the results at my hospital clinic @JohnEGreen, but when booking the blood test I always make sure to tell the receptionist that the appointment is for a fasting cholesterol check as well as the HbA1c.
 
Unfortunately I didn't make the appointment my daughter did on my behalf so did not realise that she needed to ask as the appointment was for quite late in the morning I made the erroneous assumption that it was just Hb1Ac and I did not need to fast.

This was my first diabetic review which was over due. The DN at first wasn't going to do it as she said it was to soon as I had had one in may I said no I hadn't. Then she looked again and realised it was May 2015 that I had a Hb1Ac last, which was my second, I was diagnosed in December 2015.
 
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I get a form from my GP when I go for my regular 6 monthly medical checkup, and present it to the nurse when I go to the surgery for the actual test. It indicates on the form what's to be done and GP adds a note if it'd a fasting test. As far as I can remember it's a 10 hour fast but I may actually go a bit longer, as I don't like getting up too early...

Robbity
 
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