Exercising Before Getting Blood Drawn?

[Pozibilities]

Hi - is there a standard for what time of day to have blood drawn in relation to exercising?  I am a morning gym/exercise person and like to get it in first thing but also like to have my blood drawn "fasting" which means it has to be in the morning. Is there a range (say within 1-2 hours, etc) of exercising that is recommended?

Any help, thoughts, guidance appreciated

Thanks

[Luke]

I can't say that I've ever heard the exercise thing; but we do naturally tend to have lower CD4 counts earlier in the day, and slightly higher later in the day.

Fasting is optional and between you and your doctor. I tend to fast because I want meaningful cholesterol readings.

With my particular lab, I also know that my blood is processed the same day if it is taken before noon; whereas blood taken in the afternoon sometimes isn't processed until the next day - that can affect the CD4 count slightly. 

The important thing about bloods is seeing what your trends are - so as far as possible I would say try to get them done at around the same time of day, meaning that as many of the same variables as possible are at play each time you go; but don't try to do things that will improve your numbers for the day.

[Oceanbeach]

We had a Nurse here who said things like, "It makes me horny when you talk dirty" and since I can charm the pants off a snake, I always exercised before going to the clinic.  Then he retired and I never saw him again. 

I always do my appointments in the afternoon, I sleep in the day (like the undead) and stay up all night.  Here, they freeze our blood samples and ship them off to a lab, one in Santa Barbara (500 miles away) and the other in North or South Carolina, we don't even get the results for two weeks.     Have the best day
Michael

[J.R.E.]

Hello ,

I don't know about the exercising either. But I do have my labs drawn at the same time each, time I go to the doctor. ( I go every 3 months) This has been pretty consistant since  2003. It's also taken ususally between 9:00 and 10:00 AM, and since I work the Graveyard shift, I've already been up and moving around for at least 14 hours prior to the blood tests. I also take my morning meds at 8:00 AM, which is just about an hour prior to the test. 


Ray

[Pozibilities]

Thanks all for the information and opinions!

[newt]

Erm

Exercise might double your  peripheral blood CD4 count for 1-2 hours after an intensive workout, especially if the exercise is targetted at endurance rather than strength but thereafter it drops to "normal" ie whatever it really is. It might be worth checking your CD4% each time.

Also, fasting for cholesterol is only important for triglycerides.