Glucose tolerance tests are awful

[cjsmith]

The bad news: the orange drink is so nasty I gagged. Twice.
The bad news: bruises on both arms.
The sort-of-good news: only one bruise on each arm, after multiple pokes.
The good news: it's over and I'm at work now!

I think I lost about a cup of blood.* The glucose tolerance test wasn't the only thing the doctor ordered; the first draw was something like seven vials... and she forgot one, so the second draw wasn't two, it was three... and the other two draws were two. I need a steak.

*edit: that's an exaggeration.

Comments

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

Yah, baby! Large quantities of cooked dead cow!

;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

MMMMOOOOOO! Gimme! :)

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

Yuck - it sounds like you had the 3 hour test, I read a book while I had mine when I was pregnant with Alan. Is this for the NY doctor?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Fortunately I had only the two -- one draw before the hideous drink, one a half hour later, the third a half hour after the second, and the fourth an hour after the third. I read an old statistics text I'd scrounged from Rob.

This one is for my local gyn: glucose tolerance and a big pile of vitamin/hormone checks. (She also ordered the one I'm hoping to do tomorrow, testing for Lyme. Thank goodness I don't have to fast for that one.) The three things the NY doctor want are all going to have to go through my GP, and I see him next week. Everything is soooo sloooooooow.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

I wonder how anxiety about blood draws affect glucose levels? I would think a release of ephedrine would burn up the glucose faster.

[alice-q.livejournal.com]

As a confirmed T2 diabetic, I can attest that stress raises blood glucose levels.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

But it releases glycogen, too, which is why I once had a fasting reading of something like 115. That earned me my first glucose tolerance test, a few years ago. That drink is nasty.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah that is major unfun. I had to do the three-hour test when I was pregnant which was really, really miserable. Urgh. Hope all is well for you glucose-land.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be so bad to sit around for a couple hours, except you can't eat. I don't know about you, but I want some food before 11am, most days. Also, the air conditioning in there was set to something like fifty. I got into my toasty sun-warmed car and reveled in the heat!

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Ugh, no fun. So far I've never had to have one of those. Tho, when we started the IVF stuff, the number of vials for various tests they did beforehand was truly stunning. Something like 12 tubes (at least that was only one needlestick, tho!).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't it nuts? At what point will they not do the draw if you haven't had breakfast? They won't let you donate blood fasting; that's a pint. They'll take seven or eight tubes fasting without blinking an eye. Somewhere in between, there must be at least a fuzzy boundary.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's a legal limit, and then they'll have you come back the next day or something. Problem is they really do need fasting for a lot of tests.

I worked in a lab that was playing with platelet activation for a while. They needed fresh platelets for that (about three hours after draw, the activity was low enough not to be useful for the experiments). The scientist doing the work was on a drug that depressed platelet activity (theofilin, for asthma). My platelets worked great. So I donated 10cc a couple times a week for several months. Usually fasting, but one day she forgot and ended up drawing me right after I had lunch. It was really interesting--you could actually see the globs of fat in the blood. Really amazing.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Also, a pint is 400 cc. A tube for testing is generally between 2cc and 10cc. So even 10 tubes is at most a quarter of a pint.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah, that gives me a sense. So I didn't lose a cup of blood today; it was maybe half a cup.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

but you're a small person - that's a lot to give up at once with nothing to bolster you. i'm pretty good with giving up blood, but 7 vials fasting has me clammoring for water and the nearest edible substances.

Waiter! a cow for the lady, please.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They did let me have water, at least, which was most welcome after drinking the sugarbarf. As soon as I got to work, though, I was stuffing things into my face!

[airporter.livejournal.com]

With a whack of diabetics in my family, I've had the pleasure of the long test twice in my life so far. That's enough thanks. I went from hungry, to wired and hungry, to bitchy and hungry (oh, wait - that's normal for me.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* That's basically what it's like, yep! A very apt description.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

I swear I must be the only person who doesn't think that orange drink isn't nasty. Although I do admit, it tastes better cold.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That might be the difference. Anything nasty tastes better cold, which is why meal replacement drinks and stuff like Mr. Pibb should be served well chilled. My orange drink was room temp.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

haven't you already done one of those this decade? *hugs* i hope you had good reading material, or an interesting view.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I have indeed. I'm guessing that this one will also show me to be not diabetic, at least not yet. And hey, I had chapters 1 through 4 of a statistics textbook! How RIVETING! :-) :-)