Refused to take my blood?

Hi everyone, I have been IF for around 8 years now, mostly 18:6, sometimes 20:4 or OMAD, with a 24 hour fast sprinkled in every few months. I find it works well for me and my lifestyle and have had no issues with it at all after the initial adjustment. I'm 31F for context. I've been having (seemingly) unrelated skin issues which I saw a doctor about and was referred for a blood/hormone test. When I went to get the test done the pathologist refused and said I had been fasting too long so my levels wouldn't be accurate and that I had to only fast for 8-12 hours (it had been 14 hours at that point). I explained my diet/fasting lifestyle and asked if it would make more sense to do it while in my normal fasting routine so that my day to day levels would be reflected, rather than eating over a wider timeframe for the test. Still, no dice, they wouldn't take my blood and told me to come back another time between an 8-12 hour fast. Is it normal to have to stop fasting or fast for shorter times to get an accurate reading on a blood test? Should I try somewhere else? TIA

Answer

I think the issue is less about you and more about getting predictable results based on data they already have.

I have to do blood tests, and one of the things I have to do is make sure I take a specific medicine exactly 7 days before I’m tested. Because the doctors know how it is supposed to be metabolized through a body my size over 7 days, and if it doesn’t align with their chart, then something is wrong.

It doesn’t really matter when I take it normally, but they are expecting a very specific result, so I have to follow their procedure when I know I’m being tested.

This is how I view your situation. The doctors likely already have data that they will be comparing yours to. And if you mess up the time scale, then their data is useles. I would just do as they suggest for this one test.

Answer

You don’t have to change anything.. Just go for the test when you’re at the 10hr mark of your fast… You don’t have to eat over a longer period.. You can keep fasting for however long you want after giving the blood sample.

>I explained my diet/fasting lifestyle and asked if it would make more sense to do it while in my normal fasting routine so that my day to day levels would be reflected, rather than eating over a wider timeframe for the test.

Going by that logic, people who don’t fast as a lifestyle should be able to give the sample anytime of the day.. Obviously it wouldn’t work.

The parameters that are being measured have been calibrated to be measured at the 8-12 hr mark of a fasting human.