Fasting Blood Glucose Test

[Listlad]

Your fasting blood glucose level does not trump your hba1c level. And that is good news. I wouldn't say you are pre-diabetic, unless I'm missing something?

That’s good. Trouble is opinion is varied on this or so it seems.

 

[Listlad]

FBG levels can bounce around, you could record a trend if you had a meter and see if it trends up or down over time. Rather then just having a once a year level done, which gives you no real worth while info due to the many variable reasons for why a level is higher or lower on just one particular day. That's if that sort of thing interests you.

Like I said to the honourable member @bulkbiker I have not ruled that out.

 

[Listlad]

As someone who is pre-diabetic at worse you seem to be getting a lot more attention and testing than some on here who have high HbA1c and are definitely diabetic. Is there some special reason why you are getting this ideal but unusual treatment?

Don’t forget the 49...

 

[Tophat1900]

That’s good. Trouble is opinion is varied on this or so it seems.

Out of curiosity how long did it take from the time your feet hit the floor (Getting out of bed) till you reached the surgery and actually had the test? Just rough estimate.

 

[Listlad]

Out of curiosity how long did it take from the time your feet hit the floor (Getting out of bed) till you reached the surgery and actually had the test? Just rough estimate.

2 hours. Had to get the nipper up, fed, bathed and then off to school - no mean feat sometimes

 

[Tophat1900]

2 hours. Had to get the nipper up, fed, bathed and then off to school - no mean feat sometimes

Seriously, 2hrs?

And you got a 6.... honestly, I think that is excellent given the length of time before the test. I think you should be very happy with that. It would be interesting to see what it was upon getting out of bed. That is the best time to see what it is.

 

[Bluetit1802]

2 hours. Had to get the nipper up, fed, bathed and then off to school - no mean feat sometimes

Which most likely impacted on the result of the test, which is one reason my surgery, and many others no longer do the FBG test as a matter of routine and probably why you had to ask for it.

 

[Listlad]

Seriously, 2hrs?

And you got a 6.... honestly, I think that is excellent given the length of time before the test. I think you should be very happy with that. It would be interesting to see what it was upon getting out of bed. That is the best time to see what it is.

Thanks. Can you explain that? I genuinely don’t understand what you are telling me. Would you expect it to be lower as soon as I got out of bed? If so then why? Go easy on me here. . I had nothing to eat before the test, just a glass of water.

 

[Listlad]

Which most likely impacted on the result of the test, which is one reason my surgery, and many others no longer do the FBG test as a matter of routine and probably why you had to ask for it.

It did come with a heap of other tests I might add. Hypertension was the reason the nurse gave.

 

[Bluetit1802]

It did come with a heap of other tests I might add. Hypertension was the reason the nurse gave.

As a matter of interest, what is your cholesterol like? I ask because this is another "member" of the metabolic syndrome club that includes glucose dysregulation, along with high blood pressure and a rotund midriff. Please don't answer this if you don't want to.

 

[Listlad]

As a matter of interest, what is your cholesterol like? I ask because this is another "member" of the metabolic syndrome club that includes glucose dysregulation, along with high blood pressure and a rotund midriff. Please don't answer this if you don't want to.

Off the top of my head. Dunno.

It should be blooming good after all the Greek yogurt and Brie I am eating.

I will dig them out and see what you think. (I dont have a rotund midriff ).

 

[Tophat1900]

Thanks. Can you explain that? I genuinely don’t understand what you are telling me. Would you expect it to be lower as soon as I got out of bed? If so then why? Go easy on me here. . I had nothing to eat before the test, just a glass of water.

It's possible it was lower. And I'd think it would be. It just doesn't seem like the liver dumped much in the way of glucose, which is a plus, but it's also possible you went a bit higher and then dropped by the time of the test. Or maybe you didn't go higher. There are many other possibilities.... can't give you a definitive answer really. You won't know what it is like unless you test fbg when waking. It's just not possible to say without testing each morning for a while to see what sort of an average you are getting.

This is part of the reason fbg levels, when all you have is 2 readings taken a year apart are not not worth a grain of salt, especially when taken 2 hrs after rising in the morning. You just can't reach a conclusion worth pondering over. The one thing you can take out of it imo is that 6 seems pretty good. And your hba1c level is normal range, that's the real headline here. I think you are doing really well with the diet.

 

[Prem51]

My test result yesterday was 6.0 so that puts me in the Prediabetes range.
The surgery records have it as within the normal range however.

I'm confused. Is that 6.0% (DFCC) which would be an HbA1c of 42.1 (IFCC) - pre-diabetic.
Or is it 6.0 mmol/L which would be an HbA1c of 36 (IFCC) - non-diabetic.

 

[Listlad]

As a matter of interest, what is your cholesterol like? I ask because this is another "member" of the metabolic syndrome club that includes glucose dysregulation, along with high blood pressure and a rotund midriff. Please don't answer this if you don't want to.

Voila:

 

[Listlad]

I'm confused. Is that 6.0% (DFCC) which would be an HbA1c of 42.1 (IFCC) - pre-diabetic.
Or is it 6.0 mmol/L which would be an HbA1c of 36 (IFCC) - non-diabetic.

6.0 mmol/l for the FBG taken yesterday. The HbA1c of 36 was taken at the end of Feb. I haven’t let up on the stringent diet since Feb.

 

[Bluetit1802]

@Listlad

My personal opinion.

It is the breakdown of the cholesterol that counts as it is a mix of the good stuff, the not so good stuff and the bad stuff. You can ignore the total for the most part.

The triglycerides are the baddies and yours are OK and low enough. Ideally under 1.9.

The HDL is the very good stuff. Yours is low. The standard rate is 1.2 to 3.5. Ideally as high as possible.

The LDL can be bad stuff and can also contain good stuff if other factors are there. The standard range for diabetics is under 2 but LDL is made up of particles. If the particles are small dense ones, it is very bad. If the particles are large fluffy ones, it is good. Sadly we don't get to have particle tests in the UK.

The cholesterol/HDL ratio standard is under 5.
However, the more important ratio is the Trigs/HDL. Yours is 1.24. Ideally it should be under 0.87.

All in all, in my opinion, your cholesterol is OK and better than most, but you could do with increasing the HDL.

 

[Listlad]

@Listlad

My personal opinion.

It is the breakdown of the cholesterol that counts as it is a mix of the good stuff, the not so good stuff and the bad stuff. You can ignore the total for the most part.

The triglycerides are the baddies and yours are OK and low enough. Ideally under 1.9.

The HDL is the very good stuff. Yours is low. The standard rate is 1.2 to 3.5. Ideally as high as possible.

The LDL can be bad stuff and can also contain good stuff if other factors are there. The standard range for diabetics is under 2 but LDL is made up of particles. If the particles are small dense ones, it is very bad. If the particles are large fluffy ones, it is good. Sadly we don't get to have particle tests in the UK.

The cholesterol/HDL ratio standard is under 5.
However, the more important ratio is the Trigs/HDL. Yours is 1.24. Ideally it should be under 0.87.

All in all, in my opinion, your cholesterol is OK and better than most, but you could do with increasing the HDL.

Thanks for that. Far more than I am likely to get from the nurse in a couple of weeks.

Does that mean upping my levels of Brie, Camembert and greek yoghourt?

 

[Bluetit1802]

Thanks for that. Far more than I am likely to get from the nurse in a couple of weeks.

Does that mean upping my levels of Brie, Camembert and greek yoghourt?

'Fraid not.

To raise HDL it is necessary to eat less carbs. Carbs deplete HDL. You can increase oily fish, many sorts of nuts, flaxseeds, strawberries, anything with a better balance of omega3 to omega6 . The more omega3 the better. Try to keep away from vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil etc.

 

[Listlad]

'Fraid not.

To raise HDL it is necessary to eat less carbs. Carbs deplete HDL. You can increase oily fish, many sorts of nuts, flaxseeds, strawberries, anything with a better balance of omega3 to omega6 . The more omega3 the better. Try to keep away from vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil etc.

Okay. More oily fish, strawberries, and nuts and flax seeds it is.

 

[Listlad]

That is a very good question. And the answer is not straight forward. This might help explain:

1] For 7 years I was in the care of the Isle of Man NHS. They were a bit more proactive with my care even if they didn’t advise LCHF. I got used to asking which was almost always responded to positively. I brought that expectation back with me to the UK in 2017.

2] This latest test should have been carried out when I had my HbA1c test done in late February. This was because I didn’t ask (ignorance on my part) and they didn’t arrange it proactively. I had to ask for the HbA1c test and the FBG test. If I hadn’t asked then I would be nonethewiser now.

3] In general I do ask (nicely) and find it helps. I cherry pick the best GP for me where I can. That helps too.

4] My GP is very LCHF freindly as explained before. That helps.

5] I am also registered with hypertension so that is likely to be another factor.

All or some of the above are likely to be factors.

@Mr_Pot Does that answer your question?