My wife is having an upper GI x-ray with contrast tomorrow, and she is supposed to fast after midnight tonight. Does that exclude morning coffee? If so, it will not be a pretty sight…
IANADr but when I have to do the fast for other tests it has been nothing but water.
Leave before she gets up and have and call your wife a cab. Have a big cup-a-joe waiting for her after the procedure.
I actually asked once for clarification - I could take my usual oral medication (a capsule) w/sufficient water, but nothing else. My ex ended up in the hospital for mis interpreting “fasting” in a medical sense with “fasting” in the sense of “I’ve not really eaten anything”.
I’ve had the procedure several times and posing the same question to the nurses delivering the instructions beforehand was always met with an unequivocal “no.”
No coffee, no exclusion, no “mugging” for the camera.
Medically, fasting means not even water from midnight and essential medications only, with just a sip of water to swallow them.
No coffee.
How 'bout a caffeine tablet?
AIUI, IANADoctor, there is always a slight chance of vomiting during a medical procedure, and drowning on your own vomit. The purpose of fasting for hours is to remove all matter from your stomach. That means no coffee, no pills, not even a glass of water.
Peter Morris- that is why we ask you to fast before you have a general anaesthetic, not why patients are asked to fast before certain scans. You won’t drown in your own vomit if you are conscious and can protect your airway.
The purpose of fasting before an Upper GI contrast Xray is to get an accurate look at the stomach, duodenum and oesophagus, i.e. a view that is not obscured by gas, food, debris, tablets or fluid.
If we know the stomach should be empty we know to be worried if the scan shows it isn’t! As gastric emptying time is variable for different people, we choose a window (12 hours) for the fast, after which time we can be sure that everyone who has the xray should have an empty stomach.
Thanks for the info. I presume this is informed comment from a medical professional?
I actually had minor surgery under local anaesthetic a couple of years back. I was fully concious the whole time, and could have controlled my vomit, not that there was any. Still, I had to fast overnight.
IANAD, but I’m guessing that if there are complications from your minor surgeries and you lose consciousness, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Not a doc, but I run the numbers for a Radiologist on the side.
If you eat or drink anything, it shows up. Then, the doc has to either guess that you ignored orders - or assume that you have some terrible growth in your system and you need to see the surgeon immediately. Another possibility is that anything bad that you DO have is masked by whatever you consumed.
There is fasting - don’t eat or drink a damned thing
There is fasting where clear liquids are allowed. Drink all of the water and gatorade ICE you like, nothing else.
Then there’s fasting for certain blood tests, like glucose and triglyceride levels. Here, fasting generally means nothing with calories for the time period before the test. Water, black coffee, and certain diet sodas would be ok.
So, the bottom line: ask your doctor what ‘fasting’ means for your particular test and situation.