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Blood sugar levels

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decka

Newbie
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2
Hi, as far as I know I don't have diabetes, but I went for a finger-prick test at my pharmacy as I think i have mild acanthosis nigricans around my armpits and beltline. I read this can be caused by insulin resistance/pre-diabetes.

My reading was 5.7 which i was told was high end of normal. This was just over 4 hours after last eating(large meal).

I was offered another test next week first thing in the morning to get an 8 hour fasting level but just wondered if 5.7 was normal or not 4 hours after a meal, or if this could be a sign of insulin resistance. How long after eating do glucose levels return to fasting baseline?
 
hi, its not a terrible number but it depends heavily on what the meal was, some foods take a lot longer to digest therefore will raise your blood glucose levels at different rates so the 8 hour fast will probly be a better example, but hey imagine if you could treat it as a warning and try to eat healthier (if you don't already) its a win win as if you are fine and diabetes free then you are still healthier :) and if not then it will help you to control it, good luck
 
Sorry, but correct me if I've got this wrong... You think you may have an undiagnosed medical condition which may be symptomatic of another undiagnosed condition. The condition you think you may have can also be caused by cancer. Go see your doctor. Get a proper diagnosis and then come back and ask about blood sugar levels when you know for certain you aren't playing fast and loose with your life.


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I'd be proud to have a <6 reading, especially after eating, even with insulin. My wife sometimes tests and she is not diabetic. It sounds like a reasonable reading to me as she is 5.4 to 5.8 generally.

Mart.
 
Thanks for replies. I will get the fasting test next week and take it from there.

@sparkyrich, the markings on my skin have been there for years (around 5-6 years) and appeared during a time I was very overweight - over 18 stone.
I am aware Acanthosis Nigricans can very rarely be as a result of cancer but when it is, from what I've read, it usually appears suddenly and quite severely.
Mine (if that's what it is) is very mild and has been there for years, without much if any change and conincided with a time I was very overweight. I also got skin tags under my arms at the same time which are linked to insulin resistance.

I wasn't actually aware of Acanthosis nigricans until earlier this year, prior to then I just thought the marks under my arms were pretty normal due to friction/chafing, which is why I never considered visiting a Doctor. It's only after reading a lot about it and seeing pictures of it, that I thought this may be something I have albeit a very mild case, and makes sense given my history of overweight.
 
decka said:
My reading was 5.7 which i was told was high end of normal. This was just over 4 hours after last eating(large meal).
Click to expand...

It depends on what you had for your meal. The normal range two hours after a meal is wide, 4.0 to 7.8 so a 5.7 reading 4 hours after a meal could mean that you are coming down from a higher reading two hours before. Also, I have been down at 4.1 at 6 am but at 5.7 at 9 am despite having had nothing to eat. The reason is because the homeostatic processes top the blood glucose up if it gets too low. A single reading at a random point in time doesn't tell you if you are going up or down. Your BG levels are up and down all the time. Also, it takes time for whatever is released into your blood to get evenly spread out, about an hour, though some test after 30 mins. You can get considerable differences either side of this 'mixing time'. You can often see this in the different readings obtained from different fingers. 5.7 is nothing to worry about.
 
decka said:
Thanks for replies. I will get the fasting test next week and take it from there.

@sparkyrich, the markings on my skin have been there for years (around 5-6 years) and appeared during a time I was very overweight - over 18 stone.
I am aware Acanthosis Nigricans can very rarely be as a result of cancer but when it is, from what I've read, it usually appears suddenly and quite severely.
.
Click to expand...

Fair enough matey, I was just concerned you might have been trying the google health method and leaving yourself open to a potential disaster. :-)



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