6 Vitamins and Supplements that Can Affect Your Blood Test Results
Your blood test report will help the doctor analyze your health status. Hence, it is imperative that the results be accurate. Many people are unaware that regular vitamins and supplements can affect a blood test result.
Before you get your phlebotomy testing services VA, inform your doctor about the supplements you regularly take so they can guide you accordingly. Following are the vitamins and supplements that can affect your blood test results.
1. Biotin
Biotin has fast become the go-to supplement for many people since it improves skin, nails, and hair. However, most consumers need to realize that biotin can affect your test results.
Regular intake of supplements containing biotin can falsely increase or falsely decrease elements in your bloodstream. This may lead to a wrong diagnosis or mistreatment.
Your over-the-counter vitamin, prenatal vitamins, and dietary supplements may contain biotin.
2. Creatine
Another popular protein supplement these days is creatine. It is mainly taken by people who aim to gain muscle. The supplement helps them gain or increase muscle mass.
Ingesting too much creatine may increase your creatine levels, leading the doctor to believe that you have kidney disease.
If you haven’t informed your doctor about your creatine supplement, the doctor may misdiagnose you, causing other health problems.
3. Vitamin C
A fecal blood test is required for colon cancer. If you have taken more than 2 grams of vitamins per day, you may get a false negative for colon cancer in your fecal blood test. It is crucial that you stop taking vitamin C at least three days before the test for accurate results.
4. Vitamin E
Vitamin E can thin your blood and is present in multiple over-the-counter medications and vitamin supplements. This can affect particular blood tests measuring clots, like a coagulation test, which can adversely affect your result and create hindrances in reaching the correct analysis.
5. Vitamin B12 (Folic Acid)
Vitamin B12 has the ability to hide its deficiency. This deficiency can cause anemia, memory loss, neuropathy, and other mental difficulties.
6. Iron
A fecal blood test helps analyze the blood in your stool. If you have been taking iron regularly through supplements and other sources, it will show up in the test and present itself as a false-positive for your blood test. Excessive iron intake can appear as blood in your stool, leading to a wrong analysis.
The Final Word
Blood test results must be accurate so that doctors can make correct analysis and help their patients efficiently. Wrong or false indications of results can lead to misdiagnosis and mistreatment, which can be dangerous for the patient.
The best practice is to inform your doctor or the phlebotomist so they know what they can expect from the result. If they feel your blood sample cannot be analyzed this way, they will ask you for another test.
Mobile Blood Labs offer professional phlebotomy testing services VA. Their competent staff will inform you about the guidelines so you get the correct results.