Blood/Glucose Values

[Hyper hypo]

Are the Blood Glucose values for pre-diabetes and diabetes written in stone or can they vary from person to person. The reason i ask is i am getting classic symptoms Thirst/frequent urination/ light headedness/ fatigue etc, but not all the time, i have found that on days when my fasting reading is around 4.9 i feel fine most of the day but on days when it is up around 6 i get the symptoms, i am confused as both values are within the acceptable range. I have checked my BG randomly during the day for two weeks and it has never been over 9 (even after a couple of donuts) so i dont know what is going on, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi,

People start to widdle excessively when their blood glucose gets high enough that their kidneys need to filter the excess glucose out. The extra volume of pee is because the BG has to be dissolved in something. The thirst is the body's natural way of replacing all that fluid.

For most people, the BG level where this starts to happen is at 10-11 mmol/l. I imagine that there is some individual variation on that precise tipping point, but I doubt if it is as low as 6!

However, you really do need to establish that your BG doesn't rise that high at times.

If you are just testing your fasting level then I'm afraid your BG could be rising much higher after food, and you wouldn't know about it. Some people can have very high after food levels but still return to normal in between.

The highest BG is usually 45-75 mins after carbohydrate foods (e.g. bread, rice, potato, breakfast cereal). So you may be having a sharp rise, followed by a fall, by which time you test. Probably worth testing every half hour after a few carby meals, to find out if that is happening to you.
I'm afraid random checking wouldn't spot what you are looking for.

But it you do that after-food-testing, and your BG stays under the recommended 8ish (I aim for below 7) at 2 hours after food, then there may be other reasons, like salty food, drinking large amounts (beer? ), dry mouth (another symptom of diabetes) and probably many other non-diabetic causes.

If you do the blood testing I mentioned above, and your BG stays below the tipping point for excess widdling then I would discuss it with your doc.

If your BG is going too high after food, then it is time to start reducing those carbs and adjusting diet.

Let us know how you get on?

 

[WilliamEE]

It's also important to remember that other things can cause thirst/frequent urination/ light headedness/ fatigue etc, for example stress and anxiety.

 

[Lazybones]

There has to be some standard in defining most things and that also includes diabetes (Types 1 and 2) as well as Prediabetes and for this reason there is usually a 'band' that is allocated, though sometime it might be when a specific threshold is crossed.
Yes you are right, no two individuals are the same and these 'bands' or 'threshold limits' as chosen so that the majority of us fit into them somewhere, though there are others who are not in the majority who will experience the effects of diabetes at lower or higher thresholds and you may well be falling into this category.
As an example, much mention is made of Gi/Gl tables, and these also should be considered as guidelines only, as no two people will have the same responses to eating even the same food item.