Effect of water or medication on Fasting Blood Sugar and Lipid Profile Test

[jlsr]

good day,

does drinking water or taking medication affect the results if a patient is while on fasting blood sugar or lipid profile test?

[merlee]

Unless you gave oral hypoglycemic agents such as metformin, actos and others, or meds for hyperlipidemia there is probably no need for concern.

Or the patient drank more than 3-4 oz of water.

BUT - NPO is NPO for a reason. and you are only setting yourself up for a more serious problem.

Best wishes!

[NPinWCH]

I always tell my patients that they can drink water prior to a lipid panel and water isn't going to affect the glucose either. I also tell my patients to take all their routine medications the morning of their tests, with the exception of medications that are taken with food.

When I worked on the floor, we gave all routine meds to patients who were NPO just for lab work and we didn't restrict water for them either. Heck, we gave many routine PO meds with sips of water even for those patients who were NPO for surgery. You don't want out of control BPs in surgery. Of course, that was left up to the doc to order, but if he didn't order routine meds or order them held, we double checked. Most often unless they wrote "Hold all medication day of surgery" they meant for us to give them.

[Sparrow23]

I goofed up on the whole NPO thing for my last FBS and lipid profile (completely forgot I had an appointment that day)... and strangely it didn't really seem to have any effect. Despite eating a multitude of junk food (nuts, chips, crackers, juice, cookies, etc.) during a night shift at work, I had my blood drawn that am and my cholesterol and triglyceride levels came back lower than they had been on a previous test and my glucose was 70! I am sure this was a bizarre fluke and am not endorsing bending the NPO rule; just thought it was interesting.

[BluegrassRN]

For tests such as lipids and metabolic panels, you don't need to be completely NPO. You can have fluids like water, tea, and black coffee. Nothing with calories at all.

I have never heard of holding any sort of meds prior to labs such as these, either.

[MunoRN, RN]

"Fasting" doesn't include water. The should continue to take their statin prior to a lipid panel unless the Doc writes specifically not to. And no, not all NPO orders are the same.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

And no, not all NPO orders are the same.

I agree, howevrer some people on here say that it is better to watch a pt struggle waiting for a physician to call back before applying O2....I would think they would also say something to the effect of "if there doc orders NPO then I am risking my license if I give them anything by mouth..." To very technical about it, the doc need to write "NPO except medications" if he/she expects you to give them meds before surgery (or any other time the are NPO).