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Advice re blood glucose test level please

D

danhalen

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3
Hello.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice please? My name is Dan, I'm 27, and mixed race (white/afro Caribbean).

Of late, I've been experiencing several symptoms similar to those exhibited by diabetes. There is a history of diabetes on my mother's side (both her mother's and father's families have a history), but I am unaware of any history on my biological father's side (afro Caribbean descent) as I have no contact details for any of his family members.

I am very slow to heal, I am frequently very thirsty, urinate very often (sometimes 5 or 6 times in the night alone), feel very tired and fatigued, blurred vision, numb feet etc. My fiancée noticed that a relatively light scratch on my leg was taking a very long time to heal (about 2 months and counting), and thought it would be wise to get checked out for diabetes.

I visited my local pharmacy this morning after fasting since the night before, and the assistant carried out a blood glucose test for me. The result was 5.9. Having lived with my diabetic grandmother for some time I realise that this is not a diabetic blood reading. However, after some research I have been led to believe that this may be a "pre-diabetic" result. About 2 years ago I was given a test for a minor bladder infection, the results of which showed a level of glucose in my urine, however I don't know of the exact results of the following diabetes blood test, only that they were "normal" according to a practice assistant. I do know that there is a note on my file to keep an eye out for further development though.

Basically is a fasting result of 5.9 worth consulting the doctor over? The pharmacy assistant this morning didn't believe so as it was under 6.1. I just thought that the number of family members that have (or had) diabetes, my age and afro Caribbean descent, and list of symptoms may be worth taking into account? Or am I just fussing about nothing?

On a side note, I am overweight but I certainly realise that diet and exercise may help prevent further difficulties. I used to be quite heavy into lifting free weights, and used to be in much better shape, but I find that I'm often far too fatigued of late to lift weights safely. This may be of no consequence, but my grandmother, mother and younger sister have all been diagnosed with hypothyroidism (I've not had a test as of yet).

Sorry about the long post, but any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
-Dan
 
You may or may not be pre-Diabetic......who knows ? If you are still concerned I suggest you go and see your GP and discuss those concerns with him or her. He/she is the person who can answer your question properly.

Ken.
 
Thank you very much for your reply. It's just that there is an awful lot of misinformation on the internet, and I didn't know if a 5.9 was a cause for any further investigation or not (some sources suggest yes, and others no).
 
It is actually because of the misinformation and speculation that you should go to the doctor.

They are the ones who can arrange the proper tests and they are also the only ones with your full medical history.
 
Thank you for your input too :) You are absolutely right, I just didn't want to waste my GP's time unnecessarily (plus it takes an age to get an appointment here too). I'll give my surgery a phone call tomorrow.

Thanks again.

On a aside note, please don't think that I was in any way categorising Ken's advice amongst the myriad of internet misinformation.
 
A fasting glucose between 6.0 to 7.7mmol/L falls within the range that doctors would suspect 'impaired glucose tolerance'. They would follow-up your case to discuss your full medical and family history, then arrange for a repeat test.

I am glad you don't put me in the 'mis-information' category. We try to make sure all our answers are as correct as can be here........ :wink:

Ken
 
Dan Make an appointment with your GP.
Hana
 
Hello Dan and welcome. :)

danhalen said:
any input would be greatly appreciated.
-Dan
Click to expand...

If I had known earlier about how to avoid full blown diabetes for as long a time as possible I would have followed all the advice on this forum, particularly the advice to the newly diagnosed. :roll:

I would recommend that you explore the threads – enthusiastically!! 8)
 
I can only tell you what I would do, which is visit my GP. Even if you don't have pre-diabetes, then the symptoms you describe are worth consulting your GP about anyway.
I also wish I had been diagnosed at pre-diabetes stage, then maybe my wake up call would have been early enough for me to at least delay the onset of diabetes.
 
Another vote for 'visit your GP' here. To speed things up I'd get a morning appointment and go fasting, if they can do blood tests there.
 
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