could i be diabetic?

[a01020304]

I have been getting regular blood tests due to my underactive thyroid and the last two times my gp requested a gluclose blood test and each time it has come back 6.0 or 6.1 and he was concerned but not overly concerned and said he would monitor it and see what happens.
Anyway I borrowed a friends spare Freestyle Insulinx tester and done tests over the last 2 days.
Can anyone tell me if the results mean I should pressurise my gp to do more tests?

23/07 21.10pm 9.1
24/07 05.43am 5.0
24/07 09.00am 7.0
24/07 11.00am 6.7
24/07 12.00pm 7.4
24/07 14.03pm 7.6
24/07 16.00pm 8.8
24/07 23.47pm 5.3
25/07 09.36am 5.0
25/07 13.10pm 5.8
25/07 16.00pm 8.4

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Were these tests taken 2 hours after a meal? The figures look pretty good and at most you might be pre-diabetic? I wouldn't rush to get the GP to do more tests at present.

 

[brettsza]

I agree with daibell.
Random figures don't mean a lot.
I suggest if you have to it then do a fasting which is first thing when you get up and then before meal and 1 and 2 hours after meal . Your figures look good though.

 

[Rillum]

You could very well be prediabetic, as people with a perfectly healthy glucose metabolism rarely goes over 7.8. Do as the others suggest, and test before eating, one hour after and two hours after. One hour after should not be above 7.8 and two hours after back to the fasting level. Check the website Blood sugar 101.

 

[Jo123]

You could very well be prediabetic, as people with a perfectly healthy glucose metabolism rarely goes over 7.8. Do as the others suggest, and test before eating, one hour after and two hours after. One hour after should not be above 7.8 and two hours after back to the fasting level. Check the website Blood sugar 101.

I didn't realise two hours you should be back to fasting level.

 

[andcol]

You could very well be prediabetic, as people with a perfectly healthy glucose metabolism rarely goes over 7.8. Do as the others suggest, and test before eating, one hour after and two hours after. One hour after should not be above 7.8 and two hours after back to the fasting level. Check the website Blood sugar 101.

I'm sorry but that is just wrong!

 

[Bluetit1802]

You could very well be prediabetic, as people with a perfectly healthy glucose metabolism rarely goes over 7.8. Do as the others suggest, and test before eating, one hour after and two hours after. One hour after should not be above 7.8 and two hours after back to the fasting level. Check the website Blood sugar 101.

Plenty of non-diabetics exceed 7.8 an hour after a carb meal. My own husband does. Other partners of members on this site have also recorded levels above 7.8. It isn't so unusual if there were major carbs in the meal. The difference is, non-diabetics will be back to normal base levels by 2 to 3 hours depending on what was eaten.

 

[Rillum]

Well, here's the link:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/16422495.php?no_redirect=true

The interesting thing to consider is that many spouses etc. may already be on the slippery slope to glucose intolerance.

 

[Rillum]

I read the paper and saw the presentation, that the site refers to. What they did was to find healthy volunteers and then check that they actually were healthy, by putting everybody through a glucose tolerance test. In this way they excluded all the "healthy" people with beginning glucose intolerance.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I didn't realise two hours you should be back to fasting level.

2 hours is very "moveable". It depends entirely on what you ate. What you should be is lower at 2 hours than at 1 hour, in other words, on your way down, and not up. It is good to aim to back to base levels before 3 hours, again depending what you eat. Fat plays an important part on this as it keeps spikes lower but prolongs the rise.

 

[Rillum]

Excerpt from website, summarizing findings in scientific paper:

A Second CGMS Study that Confirms this Range

A study of CGMS measurements taken in 74 normal people aged between 9 and 65 years old over a period of 3 to 7 days was published in June of 2010. It found the following:
Sensor glucose concentrations were 71-120 mg/dl for 91% of the day. Sensor values were less than or equal to 60 or >140 mg/dl for only 0.2% and 0.4% of the day, respectively
Overall only 5.6% of sensor readings were were over 140 mg/dl. (7.7 mmol/L) and these higher readings were more frequent in people under 25 years old. Only 4.4% of the readings of those over 45 were over 120 mg/dl.

Only .4% of all readings were over 140 mg/dl. But most significantly, this group was screened to ensure they had all off the following: A1Cs less than 6.0%, fasting blood glucose 70 to 99 mg/dl, 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) levels below 140 mg/dl and no antibodies characteristic of autoimmune diabetes. After all these tests, all 17 people over age 45 who met the screening criteria had NO CGMS readings over 140 mg/dl at all.

 

[Rillum]

What springs out here is that only 5.6 % of readings were above 7.7 mmol/l.

 

[andcol]

You own glucose tolerance test says under 7.8 at 2 hours not back to fasting level! You are reading more into sample stats than is there. Add 2 standard deviations to the mean and you will get what 95 percent of the population of normals achieve

 

[Rillum]

And timewise they were only below 3.3 or above 7.7 for 0.4 % of the day. That's six minutes.

 

[Rillum]

Andrew:
It's WHO's guidelines, not mine. They could probably be stricter. We are having an epidemic of diabetes, and quite a lot of healthy people are already on their way to diabetes.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I have been getting regular blood tests due to my underactive thyroid and the last two times my gp requested a gluclose blood test and each time it has come back 6.0 or 6.1 and he was concerned but not overly concerned and said he would monitor it and see what happens.
Anyway I borrowed a friends spare Freestyle Insulinx tester and done tests over the last 2 days.
Can anyone tell me if the results mean I should pressurise my gp to do more tests?

23/07 21.10pm 9.1
24/07 05.43am 5.0
24/07 09.00am 7.0
24/07 11.00am 6.7
24/07 12.00pm 7.4
24/07 14.03pm 7.6
24/07 16.00pm 8.8
24/07 23.47pm 5.3
25/07 09.36am 5.0
25/07 13.10pm 5.8
25/07 16.00pm 8.4

There looks to be very little wrong with your numbers, but you need to record levels immediately before you eat, then again at 1 and 2 hours after your first bite, together with the contents of the meal eaten and drunk. That would give us a better idea.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

FWIW, I think your doctor would be better off using the HbA1c test to screen for diabetes than fasting glucose. I suggest 6 monthly HbA1c testing... that's how my prediabetes then diabetes was picked up (I was obese with a family history).

 

[andcol]

FWIW, I think your doctor would be better off using the HbA1c test to screen for diabetes than fasting glucose. I suggest 6 monthly HbA1c testing... that's how my prediabetes then diabetes was picked up (I was obese with a family history).

I absolutely agree with this. What I assumed was that your 6.0 and 6.1 are 6.0% DCCT HbA1c and not fasting 6.0 mmol/l. This puts you just into pre-diabetic and this would be the time to take action and correct your lifestyle so as not to go where we have led - down the T2 path. If you do not know if it was an HbA1c or fasting then please ask your doctor/receptionist.

 

[Jo123]

Excerpt from website, summarizing findings in scientific paper:

A Second CGMS Study that Confirms this Range

A study of CGMS measurements taken in 74 normal people aged between 9 and 65 years old over a period of 3 to 7 days was published in June of 2010. It found the following:
Sensor glucose concentrations were 71-120 mg/dl for 91% of the day. Sensor values were less than or equal to 60 or >140 mg/dl for only 0.2% and 0.4% of the day, respectively
Overall only 5.6% of sensor readings were were over 140 mg/dl. (7.7 mmol/L) and these higher readings were more frequent in people under 25 years old. Only 4.4% of the readings of those over 45 were over 120 mg/dl.

Only .4% of all readings were over 140 mg/dl. But most significantly, this group was screened to ensure they had all off the following: A1Cs less than 6.0%, fasting blood glucose 70 to 99 mg/dl, 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) levels below 140 mg/dl and no antibodies characteristic of autoimmune diabetes. After all these tests, all 17 people over age 45 who met the screening criteria had NO CGMS readings over 140 mg/dl at all.

I am confused in this study they are quoting 2 hr OGTT levels below 140 as normal, and fasting as up to 99 as normal, that contradicts what you were saying surely. You said fasting levels should be reached 2 hours after a meal.

 

[Rillum]

I am confused in this study they are quoting 2 hr OGTT levels below 140 as normal, and fasting as up to 99 as normal, that contradicts what you were saying surely. You said fasting levels should be reached 2 hours after a meal.

Sorry, I didn't see your post right away.

The use the definitions for normality, as they are defined right now by medical consensus to ensure that there are no undiagnosed diabetics or prediabetics in their samples.

This means that they are sure all of the healthy volunteers are healthy, as this is defined now.

They then discover that these people actually have daily values way lower than those set limits for normality.