Which
Medications & Supplements to Pause Before a Bali Check-Up
The single most important rule is this: never stop, start, or
change a prescription medication on your own to “prepare” for a
check-up. Most routine medicines — including blood-pressure and thyroid
tablets — are continued exactly as normal. Some supplements (notably
biotin, high-dose vitamins, and certain herbal products) can genuinely
skew lab results and may be paused, but only after you’ve disclosed
everything to your provider and followed their specific
instructions. Getting this right is both a safety issue and an
accuracy issue, and it’s one where good advice matters more than a
generic checklist.
As the medical advisor for Bali Medical Checkup, this
is the topic I’m most careful about, because well-meaning “preparation”
can be dangerous. Abruptly stopping a heart, blood-pressure or diabetes
medication to get a “cleaner” result can cause real harm. The correct
approach is always the same: disclose, then follow
instructions. Here’s how to think it through.
Golden
rule: disclose everything, decide nothing alone
Before your screening, make a written list of every
medication and supplement you take, with doses and timing —
prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal or
“natural” products. Share it with your provider (or with our concierge
team to pass on) in advance. Then follow their specific
guidance for each item.
Why this order matters:
- Safety first. Many medications must be continued
without interruption. Stopping them can be genuinely dangerous. - Accuracy second. Some substances affect specific
tests; the provider decides whether timing or a brief pause is
warranted. - Interpretation always. Even where a medication does
affect a result, the doctor can interpret the value correctly if
they know you take it.
Medications
that are usually continued as normal
For most check-ups, you keep taking your regular medicines. Commonly
continued examples include:
- Blood-pressure medication — usually taken as
normal, so your readings reflect real control. - Thyroid replacement (levothyroxine) — generally
continued; timing may matter for a thyroid panel, so ask. - Cholesterol, heart and most chronic-condition
medicines — typically continued.
The doctor wants to see how you are on your treatment, not
off it. If you have a chronic condition, our guide on booking
a check-up with hypertension or a chronic condition explains this in
more depth, and our full-body
medical check-up pillar page sets out the standard screening pathway
your medications are interpreted against.
The special case:
diabetes and insulin
If you take insulin or glucose-lowering medication and are asked to
fast, this needs careful, individual planning — fasting while medicated
can risk low blood sugar. Tell your provider well in
advance so they can advise on timing and safety, and never
simply skip a dose to fast without instruction. Our diabetes and
metabolic screening guide gives more context on how these tests
work.
Supplements that
can genuinely skew results
Here’s where a pause is sometimes appropriate — but again, only on
advice:
- Biotin (vitamin B7), often in hair/skin/nail
supplements. High-dose biotin is a well-recognised cause of
falsely high or low results on some immunoassays, including certain
thyroid and hormone tests. Laboratory-medicine bodies specifically warn
that biotin can interfere with test results, and note it may need to be
stopped for a period before testing (American Association for
Clinical Chemistry / Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory
Medicine, “Biotin”). Ask your provider how long before your test to
pause it. - High-dose vitamin C — can affect some urine and
blood tests. - Herbal and “natural” products — some affect liver
enzymes or clotting; these are worth disclosing and discussing. - Fish oil and high-dose supplements — occasionally
relevant to specific panels.
The key point: don’t guess. List them, and let the provider tell you
which (if any) to hold and for how long.
Why “clean”
results aren’t the goal — accurate ones are
Patients sometimes want to pause everything to get “pure” numbers.
That’s the wrong aim. A check-up is meant to show your health as
you actually live it — on your medications, with your routine.
A blood-pressure reading on your medication is the useful one; an
artificially “clean” reading off it tells your home doctor nothing real
and puts you at risk in between. The job of preparation is accuracy and
safety, not a cosmetically tidy report.
How this fits the
rest of your preparation
Medication planning sits within a short preparation routine:
- Fast for 10–12 hours (water only) before your
bloods. - Avoid alcohol for 24 hours — see how long to
avoid alcohol. - Skip strenuous exercise for 24 hours — see exercising
before a check-up. - Bring your written medication list on the day.
Our full preparation
checklist ties these together, and our what
to expect on the day guide shows where medications come up during
the visit.
Frequently asked questions
“Should I skip my morning blood-pressure tablet before the
test?” Usually no — most blood-pressure medicines are taken as
normal so your readings reflect real control. But confirm this
specifically with your provider rather than assuming.
“Do I need to stop my daily multivitamin?” Often
not, but disclose it. The one to flag is any product containing
high-dose biotin, which can interfere with certain lab
tests.
“I take a herbal supplement I bought locally — does it
matter?” It might, and the ingredients aren’t always clear.
List it and let the provider decide; some herbal products affect liver
enzymes or clotting.
“What if I forgot to ask and already took
everything?” Just tell the staff at check-in what you’ve taken
and when. The doctor can interpret your results correctly with that
information — which is exactly why disclosure beats guessing.
Prepare
safely, with your list checked in advance
The safest preparation is a conversation, not a guess. When you
arrange your screening through the Sanur Health Concierge, we ask for
your medication and supplement list up front, check any timing questions
with the facility, and send you clear, item-by-item instructions — so
you continue what you should, pause only what a clinician advises, and
arrive fully prepared.
Share your medication list through the
concierge form or message us on WhatsApp at wa.me/6281139414563, and we’ll
return personalised preparation guidance.
Medical disclaimer: This content is for general education only
and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a
qualified doctor — and never start, stop, or change a medication based
on a web article. balimedicalcheckup.com is a medical-travel concierge
and does not provide clinical services.
Reviewed by Dr. Anindita Wirahadi, Medical
Advisor & Preventive-Health Lead, Sanur Health Concierge.