Multi-year maintainers: do you adjust diet before blood tests?

fireflyfaster · 09-02-2010, 02:02 PM

Well, my doctor's office has called twice this morning because my fasting glucose was 105 yesterday and 78 after a 2-hour GTT. They think I did something to mess up the results, probably eating right before one or the other of the tests. Grrrr. I didn't.

My doctor had told me that the belief that one had to add carbs back in before a GTT had been "largely debunked" and I didn't need to eat any differently than I usually do.

I did have my annual half ear of corn on the cob the night before (bad planning, that).

When you've been LCing for a long time (for me it's a year and a half now), how have your tests come out if you just eat as you always do?

Have you had to add back in carbs?

I'm as concerned about the fasting of 105 as anything else. I generally get about 85 fasting tests. If I'm diabetic or pre-diabetic, no results I've ever received have diagnosed me as such.

ravenrose · 09-02-2010, 04:18 PM

You know, those fasting glucose readings on medical tests have always confused me. I will typically see a number 20-50 points higher than my glucose meter shows when I test at the same time, AND if my blood sugars were as much higher as their test results show, my A1c would be a lot worse. I don't know why it is, but I think their number is just wrong a lot of the time, for me anyway.

Why are you having a GTT anyway? I never get those.

fireflyfaster · 09-02-2010, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravenrose

Why are you having a GTT anyway? I never get those.

It must be the cheapest answer the HMO system has to a patient saying "I'd like to know if I'm diabetic or pre-diabetic, and to what extent I have blood sugar issues." Because every few years I bring that up, and that's the one test they order. 2 hour GTT.

Auntie Em · 09-03-2010, 08:56 AM

FFF, did the doctor give you any references to research studies regarding what had been debunked?

LoveMontana · 09-03-2010, 02:40 PM

In all the years that I have been maintaining, since 1997 ish ) my blood sugars remain stable in the mid 70's.
I don't eat much different than I had since I started Atkins.

fireflyfaster · 09-03-2010, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auntie Em

FFF, did the doctor give you any references to research studies regarding what had been debunked?

Nope. Here's what happened: I saw my doctor (who is my OB/GYN but the only doctor I make a point to see rather than letting them assign one from the "doctor pool" at my HMO, and the one whose intelligence and willingness to listen I respect) for the first time in a year, having lost 87 pounds, and he was just beside himself. He kept saying "You are a whole different specimen!" It clearly made his day.

So I seized the opportunity and said, "As a reward I'd like to get some numbers to see exactly how I've improved ..." and listed off the tests I wanted (HDL/LDL, Free T3 and T4, etc.; some normal stuff, some stuff that it's hard to get my HMO to approve, like the thyroid tests.) I also mentioned that I wasn't sure it had been definitively proven that I'm not diabetic, because they'd told me to fast before a blood sugar test last year, then told me when I arrived that "they shouldn't have told you to fast, it wasn't necessary." So I feared the results had been skewed.

On that info he added the OGTT to the list (and I do need to point out he's an OB/GYN, not an endo ... the GTT may be the test he's most familiar with given all the pregnant women who come through.)

I asked him then if I needed to go higher carb beforehand, and he simply said that he didn't think I needed to, that he thought that had been proven unnecessary.

At this point I hope I get a referral to an endo -- he was only ordering the tests for me because he knows it's hard to get through the system and he's quite kind. He won't be the one to follow up on the issue, if indeed there is an issue, which there may not be -- unfortunately to find out, I may end up having to risk carb-readdiction before I get to drink another 75 grams of stickysweetgoo, because I'm sure the first thing they'll do is re-order that test.

debbiedo · 09-03-2010, 07:38 PM

They should do a Hemoglobin A1C. It tells what your sugar is over time some how. It is just a blood test.

I don't see why you would need to adjust your diet before a GTT. I hate that test. I had them when I was pregnant and found that the rapid drop in blood sugar made me feel very moody and not well at all.

Auntie Em · 09-04-2010, 03:33 AM

FFF, thanks for filling me in. I'm glad you've got a doctor who is kind and listens.

09-02-2010, 02:02 PM	#1
fireflyfaster Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Southern CA Posts: 1,976 Gallery: fireflyfaster Stats: 234/150 5'9 BMI 22 WOE: Atkins Maintenance Start Date: 4/20/09 - Met Goal April 2010	Multi-year maintainers: do you adjust diet before blood tests? Well, my doctor's office has called twice this morning because my fasting glucose was 105 yesterday and 78 after a 2-hour GTT. They think I did something to mess up the results, probably eating right before one or the other of the tests. Grrrr. I didn't. My doctor had told me that the belief that one had to add carbs back in before a GTT had been "largely debunked" and I didn't need to eat any differently than I usually do. I did have my annual half ear of corn on the cob the night before (bad planning, that). When you've been LCing for a long time (for me it's a year and a half now), how have your tests come out if you just eat as you always do? Have you had to add back in carbs? I'm as concerned about the fasting of 105 as anything else. I generally get about 85 fasting tests. If I'm diabetic or pre-diabetic, no results I've ever received have diagnosed me as such. __________________ Goals: * Bodyfat % < 23.5 by April 1; < 23 by July 1; < 22.5 by Oct. 1; < 22 by Dec. 31 * Appreciating those that I love each and every day Losing/lost your last 10 or 10%? Join us in the Maintain Lane Last edited by fireflyfaster; 09-02-2010 at 02:04 PM..

09-02-2010, 04:18 PM	#2
ravenrose . Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: California Posts: 9,175 Gallery: ravenrose Stats: lost 130 lb so far, and miles to go before I sleep WOE: low carb controlled calorie Start Date: June, 2009	You know, those fasting glucose readings on medical tests have always confused me. I will typically see a number 20-50 points higher than my glucose meter shows when I test at the same time, AND if my blood sugars were as much higher as their test results show, my A1c would be a lot worse. I don't know why it is, but I think their number is just wrong a lot of the time, for me anyway. Why are you having a GTT anyway? I never get those. Last edited by ravenrose; 09-02-2010 at 04:19 PM..

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09-03-2010, 08:56 AM	#4
Auntie Em Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,896 Gallery: Auntie Em WOE: VLC-Ancestral, restricted calorie Start Date: Maintenance since 2000	FFF, did the doctor give you any references to research studies regarding what had been debunked?

09-03-2010, 02:40 PM	#5
LoveMontana Way too much time on my hands! Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: NY/PA border in the Finger Lakes region of NY Posts: 29,571 Gallery: LoveMontana Stats: 5'1" 155/ 100/112. Not bad for a 69 yr.old gal WOE: Atkins Start Date: Dec.1997	In all the years that I have been maintaining, since 1997 ish ) my blood sugars remain stable in the mid 70's. I don't eat much different than I had since I started Atkins.

09-03-2010, 07:38 PM	#7
debbiedo Way too much time on my hands! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Maryland Posts: 13,548 Gallery: debbiedo Stats: pretty close to perfect! WOE: mindful eating/running off the pounds Start Date: over and over again	They should do a Hemoglobin A1C. It tells what your sugar is over time some how. It is just a blood test. I don't see why you would need to adjust your diet before a GTT. I hate that test. I had them when I was pregnant and found that the rapid drop in blood sugar made me feel very moody and not well at all.

09-04-2010, 03:33 AM	#8
Auntie Em Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,896 Gallery: Auntie Em WOE: VLC-Ancestral, restricted calorie Start Date: Maintenance since 2000	FFF, thanks for filling me in. I'm glad you've got a doctor who is kind and listens.