Best time of day to get bloods for hormonal panel drawn?

I'll be getting bloodwork for some things, notably hormonal and thyroid panel, in the next week or so. only thing is my days off are the days the lab is closed, so i either gotta go really early around 7AM or kinda late, like 1PM-ish after school. they say i should be 12 hours fasted (i assume this is mostly for BG and not the others) so the 1PM time would make more sense since I stop eating around 1130-12. BUT, will going later in the day make the testosterone result less accurate? I'd rather that one be more accurate, as I don't really care too much about my BG as my last A1C was low-normal so I know I'm not diabetic.

any tips you got, appreciate it

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Originally Posted by pman42

I'll be getting bloodwork for some things, notably hormonal and thyroid panel, in the next week or so. only thing is my days off are the days the lab is closed, so i either gotta go really early around 7AM or kinda late, like 1PM-ish after school. they say i should be 12 hours fasted (i assume this is mostly for BG and not the others) so the 1PM time would make more sense since I stop eating around 1130-12. BUT, will going later in the day make the testosterone result less accurate? I'd rather that one be more accurate, as I don't really care too much about my BG as my last A1C was low-normal so I know I'm not diabetic.

any tips you got, appreciate it

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Testosterone levels are peaked in the morning and drop off considerably by afternoon.

7 AM is good time, best time to draw bloods is in the morning. make sure you are properly hydrated as too much water or not enough of it affects results a lot.
You should stop eating an hour or two earlier than usual.

thanks jelisj and burly. my concern is that if i'm at the lab at 7AM, this will mean I'm sleep deprived, and might this in itself throw the value off?

The idea is to not be sleep deprived, be fasted, well rested, etc... The fasting isnt just for blood sugar, important heart health monitors require it, and there are also varying effects on your hormone production/released based on being rested.

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Originally Posted by pman42

thanks jelisj and burly. my concern is that if i'm at the lab at 7AM, this will mean I'm sleep deprived, and might this in itself throw the value off?

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Well, It will affect cortisol a bit, maybe few more things but majority will be ok. Results are always affected by something more and less, but you'll get an idea where you stand... Unless you used some medication that will affect it a lot- like for example SERMS will skew some of your results for a while, like 2-3 months after cesation.

The best time is first thing in the morning and this must be "your morning" if you work the night shift and wake up at 12pm then thats the time to get the bloods done.

You should also fast for 12hrs so if the blood test is 9am then last meal at 9pm drink only water for the net 12hrs.
Fasted is the most accurate and most repeatable testing method also testosterone levels are at their highest in "your morning" and also at their highest after a 12hr fast.

I know some people think their levels will be lower if fasting for 12hrs but they are not they are higher it has been shown in several studies they are higher and drop off after about 24-48hrs of fasting.