HI..my hospital likes the test to be done early I think they are seeing if this gives better results..Im not allowed food and just water for a few hours before..I grumble because I so need my first cup of tea and this is the hardest part of the whole thing LOL..when I go in they put in a tap in my arm as I call it and usually my veins shrink at this point..so they warm them up and sorted..now to that lovely drink its very sweet some sip it ..I dont it goes down in one go ..maybe not for you as I did feel sick first time I ever did it..I just want to get it over with and a few pulled faces its done..then the torture they take blood which is fine its the one where the person sitting next to me can have tea or coffee and Im not allowed..ARRRGGGGGHHHHHH..

I've had this done a few times. Done in the morning, nothing to eat or drink before, usually nothing after midnight. The drink is about the size of one soda and grape or strawberry. I try to gulp it down too, get it over. I think the nurse told me I had to have it down within 5 minutes. Then your blood is taken every hour for 3 hours. They test your blood sugar and your growth hormone, somehow these two are connected. Make sure you have a snack ready when the test is over as my sugar levels tend to drop at the end. The last time it went to 41. I don't know if that's a normal reaction or a sign of acromegaly. I also get very sleepy during the test and catch myself dosing in the waiting room between sticks. Take something to read or do too as you are there for about 4 hours total. I've tried to find what normal results are on the internet but can't find them, anyone here know? This test is supposed to be the definitive test for acromegaly. Good luck.

Okay I think I can do this one! Thanks for letting me know how it goes. I had no idea it takes so long...will bring a book to read (if I can stay awake)and a snack. The waiting room at our hospital has a fireplace and cushy chairs so it should be comfy.

With all the tests I've had for this and some other things the docs are testing the staff are getting to know me on a first name basis like in Cheers :)

Hi the test is very straight forward and simple. In the UK you arrive for the test early 8.00 have a needle placed in your arm for them to use during the day and then they take the first test. You then have another one a few hours later. On the third test (usually around lunchtime) they get you to drink a bottle of lucozade, yum. Bloods are taken again (can't remember if straight away) or a little while after the sugar has got into your system.

Another sample is then taken a couple of hours after that and the final one a few hours after that.

The process is simple but incredibly BORING as it involves you being there all day from 8.00 until 8.00 in the evening. Some hospitals might admit you for the day just for the tests.

I took my work into the hospital with me and luckily work nearby so I popped back into work during the day a couple of times, so that worked perfectly.

Yes, the solution is very sweet, it's just a small glass worth, but I find it best just to try and "knock back" the whole lot and have a glass of water to wash it down.

In hospital there is a lot to distract your attention, so I find it best to take reading material that I can quite easily dip in and out of. Factual books, magazine, or newspaper. You will quite quickly run out of reading material with a newspaper.

I also find conversations with the nurses, doctors and other patients very interesting - so often I don't end up reading much.

You can have drinks of water during the test, by the way.

At the end of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test they will probably offer you a tea/coffee and a small snack.

www.acromegaly.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/oral-glucose-tolerance-test/

It's not a bad way to pass a morning, a chance to catch up on some reading, and to meet some interesting people along the way!

Trys
www.acromegaly.wordpress.com

Thanks so much for the input from everyone! Just got a call from my endo yesterday and she's not going to do the suppression test afterall but instead just redo the IGF1-1 blood test in April. I've had 3 IGF-1 tests done so far. The first two done at Mayo lab came back at the bottom of their high range so she checked with an acromegaly specialist and found out that Mayo has a particularly narrow range for "normal". So she had it redone at Peace-Health Lab in Eugene and it came back within normal range (208 - range is 81-225) but high-normal. So she checked again with specialist who said just to do periodic IGF-1 blood tests to gauge any changes.

So that's where I'm at for now. The only possible symptom I've had is a possible enlargement of feet but I also walk marathons and most of my friends have grown 1/2 to full size larger too.

I so much appreciate my endo being so thorough! And I've learned so much reading everyone's posts. I think all of you are so courageous! I'll be back in touch in April after the follow-up test.