11.2 reading after 12 hour fasting, help?

[Puhi87]

Hi everybody,

this is my first time posting here so I am sorry if it is in the wrong section etc. So, my mother has diabetes (Not sure what type but she has 3 injections of insulin into her stomach every day) and my nan had it and I'm told nearly all the women in our family have it, my aunt does too (on my mums side) I know they do for sure. I just got my blood tests back and the doctor said it's a reading of 11.2 which is boarder line - this is jargon to me, I don't fully understand it yet. I had fasted for 12 hours before the test and the reason for the testing is because I am overly hot all the time - facial sweating even when other people are 'freezing' - and I have numbness if say I cross my legs, hands, way faster than a regular person would and when I walk I get excruciating pain in the back of my lower legs and sometimes while walking one of my feet (it differentiates as to which one) will just go numb, the numbess doesn't happen as often as the pain. I am lethargic every other day and I had put this down to anaemia, although he said I don't have that any more. The blood test also said my u&e was high (liver, kidneys) but could be due to a lot of things so we don't know if that's linked. I don't pee more often than usual (although I may just be used to it by now as I've had sypmtoms for years of diabetes) but that seems to be a big thing.

I asked him what the chances are of me being diabetic now and he said high. I have to go back for a blood glucose tolerance test on the 27th and I'm just wanting what ever information you guys think is necessary.

My direct questions are, after fasting for 12 hours and having a reading of 11.2 that's a likelihood of diabetes right? I don't know what a normal reading would be from a 12 hour fast and I don't know anything about readings to be honest. It's all very confusing as all I know about it is what my mother has to do and she never really explained the in's and outs of it.

Thank you for any help, I'm very worried right now. :thumbdown:

 

[Lazybones]

Hi there,
I'm not sure what the 11.2 reading you mention refers to. If it is your morning fasting blood glucose level taken after a 12 hour fast then a reading of 11.2 mmol/l (Plasma) is indeed too high and would indicate that you are definately diabetic. If this is the case then this reading by itself would not require you to undertake a further test to confirm that you have diabetes.
On the other hand the reading of 11.2 that you mention might refer to your HbA1c reading which would also show you to be diabetic otherwise the 11.2 reading could refer to countless other results some of which are not directly related to diabetic diagnosis.
I realise that several of your close relatives have diabetes and this is also worrying you, but try not to get unduly worried as this can also raise your blood glucose levels.
Your doctor should have explained to you what the recent test results showed in greated detail, but even at the end of the day should he/she confirm that you are diabetic, diabetes with careful control is something that millions of us have and successfully manage to live our daily lives with.
As for the forthcomming Glucose Tolerance Test, you should eat/drink as you normally do in the week that preceeds the test and inform them if you are unwell for any reason (colds, fever, illness) prior to the test, as being unwell can effect the end result. Its nothing to worry about, but I should point out that it is usually only undertaken with a patient who is hovering about the diabetic threshold and not a patient who has a 11.2 mmol/L fasting Blood Glucose, so I'm perplexed as to why they would ask you to undertake such a test in the first place.

 

[Puhi87]

Thank you very much that was exactly what I needed to know. It was my blood glucose (which is as he said it to me) The second test I have to have is a glucose tolerance test, fast 12 hours, blood test, drink glucose drink, 2 hours later, blood test.. Is this to confirm that I have diabetes or to see what type? I have no idea about this stuff. but I was fairly sure that with a reading like that, that I am indeed diabetic.

 

[Lazybones]

Dear Puhi87,
I'm pleased that my first reply was of some help to you. I'm also still puzzled as to why you have been asked to undertake a Glucose tolerance test as your earlier Fasting B/G reading of 11.2 mmol/L should be sufficient to say that you are diabetic, provided that you also are exibiting some of the classic diabetic symptoms that go alongside diabetes.
There as a few of us Type 2 diabetics who exibit 'No obvious Symptoms' but the HbAic Test is able to show if our B/G has been running too high for the previous 120 days. the HbA1c test is not suited for diagnosing someone with Type 1 diabetes, so without knowing what your test reveal I'm sorry that I can't say what type of diabetes you might have, though I would suspect Type 2.
Also it is possible to have 'No' diabetic symptoms yet still have a high B/G level due to a whole list of other medical conditions, but I would worry that with a fasting reading of 11.2 mmol/L you Dr hasn't put you on something that can bring these high readings down already.
The Glucose Tolerance test is as you describe, after fasting for 12 hours your B/G fasting level will be initially taken. you will then be asked to drink a preset volume of glucose drink and a further blood sample/s will be taken at one or more specific times after drinking the glucose.
From the results that are obtaind it is then possible to asses how well or otherwise your body copes with metabolising the glucose drink. This would normally show if a person is diabetic/pre-diabetic/non-diabetic, though as I have said before, I'm rather supprised that they intend for you to undertake this particular test.

Wishing you all the best - Lazybones

 

[mo1905]

I agree, a fasting reading of 11.2 should have prompted action. The GTT seems pointless to me. Maybe your doc is not communicating things very well and there may be something else which made another test appropriate but I can't see what that would be. Good luck though and I hope you start to feel better soon.
Mo

 

[Puhi87]

Thank you everybody.

Today I have awoken with a headache, and slowly over the day my diabetes symptoms have got worse, thirst, urinating because of drinking so much water, increased hunger - I ate and it made me feel a little sick actually - weakness and fatigue mixed with spacing out. So I have called my doctor and said I am worried. He has said to me to go in the next hour (although I'm not sure what for because he said there isn't a way for him to bring it down) and see him but not to worry because I haven't actually been diagnosed yet (I don't need a diagnosis, I'm diabetic, the symptoms - I've had 10 years - and that reading confirms that for me) and that my blood sugar was only JUST high. I think whats classed as very high here is 11.6 (I'm sure that's what he said yesterday). I don't know if it's the stress that's made me feel so much worse today or genuinely being too high but I feel like **** and I can't wait to see him to get him to explain to me properly.

He also said that the other test is to confirm or not if I have diabetes. I am with you guys though, I don't see why I need a second to know that 11.2 is too high and needs to come down because my symptoms are driving me crazy. I know they are a warning sign, the doctor really should be taking note of that I guess :/

 

[hale710]

He might be trying to confirm LADA or MODY or T1 as opposed to Type 2

It's clear you have SOME form of diabetes though!