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Blood test results

A

Atad heavy

Well-Known Member
Messages
405
Location
Cambridge
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello everyone,
I would really appreciate some advice as I am very confused after recent blood sugar test results. On December 21st I was told that my fasting blood sugar was 6.3 which makes me borderline diabetic. I was given a copy of the Mediterranean diet, told to lose weight and another blood test in 6 months. As my user name would suggest I am indeed over weight so I immediately started the diet and so far I have lost 12lb. Yesterday I had a random test done at the chemist, I had eaten 2 ryvitas with a slice of cheese and an avocado 2 hours earlier. The result was 6.0 and the pharmacist said that was absolutely normal and in his opinion the fasting 6.3 was also within the normal range. I will continue with my diet as I need to lose another 3 st.
I had a heart attack 3 years ago and since then I have been on beta blockers, statins, blood pressure tablets and aspirin. As I have had some very dodgy liver function test results I am on only half the normal dosage of statins. My cholesterol has dropped from 7.2 to 4.8 so I wonder if any of these tablets have an effect on your blood sugar.
I would be very interested to hear what members of the forum think, I have found out so much information on this site, it is brilliant.
Thanks for reading
Atad heavy, female age 61
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

I would say that the test you had at the chemist proved that you had eaten a diabetic friendly meal.
If you are diagnosed as a pre diabetic then it makes sense to follow a diet that is suitable for diabetics.

If you google your medications you will see differences of opinions as to whether they lower or raise your blood sugars but as they are essential to you I would suggest that you carry on taking them and discuss with your G.P. if they need changing to ones that are confirmed not to change your blood sugar readings. Some sites even say that depending on the individual they can either raise or lower your blood sugars, which adds to the confusion.
 
Hi Atad,

Fasting bloods are a more reliable indication than random ones. As I understand it, the insulin your body produces has three goes at clearing the glucose from your blood: a first rush straight after you eat, a second sweep a while later and finally an overnight trickle to catch the last stragglers. So raised fasting glucose means that all those three have failed to cope with all the glucose in your blood. During the day the level can fluctuate depending on what and when you've eaten and what exercise you've had. But even with a 6 I don't think the chemist's right: a normal non-diabetic person would have scored about 4.8 within an hour of the snack you describe, and the same for the fasting blood.

I'd suggest you assume the pre-diabetes diagnosis was right, keep following the doctor's advice and losing weight and see what the 6-month test shows.

Kate
 
Hi atad heavy, you seem to have got the right advice in going low-carb and your weight is coming off at a steady pace. I did a similar journey a few years ago. Keeping your carb intake low might also have the effect your liver might recover if your problems have has anything to do with fatty liver. Fats don't cause liver problems while sugars do, particularly fructose.
Have you had ferritin tested?

Statins can cause diabetes.
 
Thank you so much for your replies and with so much information. When I posted this I was hoping for lots of replies saying the test results were normal, now I know I must persevere with the weight loss. I am very concerned about the statins and the damage they could be doing so I am going to discuss this with the doctor. I haven't had firriton tested but the hospital did want to do a liver biopsy which I declined as I have blood clotting problems, I understand that this procedure can be quite dangerous. I will do some research on my other tablets as I am sure I read somewhere that beta blockers have an affect on blood sugar. How amazing that I have had more advice on here than at the time of diagnosis. Thanks again
 

If you have a complication with your liver, or other health problems, it's always best to discuss any change to diet or meds with the doctor first, but it sounds like what you're doing is working well, congratulations!
 
The reason I asked about ferritin is that there is a relatively rare condition called hemachromatosis or something like that where your body stores excess amounts of iron in the liver. It is a hereditary disease. Some of my cousins have it. Ferritin is a good test anyway, as it tells you what your iron stores are, while Hb is a bit unreliable.
 
Totto said:
Statins can cause diabetes.
Click to expand...
Totto, can you point me to a source for this? I had a brief, disastrous relationship with simvastatin, which led to my co-enzyme Q10 deficiency being diagnosed, and once I started coQ10 my fasting bloods dropped. So it makes complete sense to me that statins could cause diabetes, and I'd love to understand how.

Kate
 
Statins can prevent diabetes.

Your first reference

"One trial suggested a 27% increased risk of diabetes with rosuvastatin whereas another suggested patients taking pravastatin benefitted from a 30% lower risk."

Second reference

"In conclusion, the researchers say clinicians should consider risk when contemplating statin therapy. They add that “preferential use of pravastatin, and potentially fluvastatin […] may be warranted” and that pravastatin may even be beneficial to patients at high risk of diabetes.
In an accompanying editorial, doctors from the University of Turku in Finland say that “the overall benefit of statins still clearly outweighs the potential risk of incident diabetes”. They conclude that as statins have been shown to reduce cardiovascular events in patients, they “play an important role in treatment”.

Talk about mixed results!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Goo
hello
 
6 months later and I have lost 20lb, I had my 6 month fasting blood test and the result was 6.0 and no further action needed, also my cholesterol was down to 4.6 despite being on LCHF diet. I was a bit worried about the blood sugar result as I had eaten quite late the night before and it was a naughty meal of bacon and egg sandwich followed by half a cantaloupe melon.
Another 2 stone to go but my weight seems to have plateaued does anybody have any good ideas on kick starting it again please
 
Also I don't understand why they only give you the whole number of your cholesterol and not separate it into hdl and LDL, I always have to ask!!
 
Atad heavy said:
Also I don't understand why they only give you the whole number of your cholesterol and not separate it into hdl and LDL, I always have to ask!!
Click to expand...
My GP only gives me the whole number for my cholesterol level when I have a blood test but then I don't understand HDL and LDL
 
AnnieC said:
My GP only gives me the whole number for my cholesterol level when I have a blood test but then I don't understand HDL and LDL
Click to expand...
Hello Annie,
As I understand it (and I'm no expert) cholesterol is made up of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) and there is an ideal ratio for the good & bad so the HDL figure should be higher. Hopefully there will be more answers on this thread which might explain better than I have
 
Hi Annie, The National target for good health is:

Total Cholestrol should be less than 4.
For men HDL (good cholestrol) shoud be 1.0 or above
For Women 1.2 or above.
The LDL (bad cholestrol) for both men and women should be less than 2.

I alway ask for a breakdown of my Cholestrol levels

Hope this helps.

Marilyn
 
Thanks Marilyn My last blood test total was 5.2 and my GP said they like to see it under 5 she has said I have a lot of good cholesterol
 
Hi Annie, that's fine, my total cholestrol on diagnosis was 4.7 and since being on the LC/HF diet my last Ac1 was Total Cholestrol 4.5, HDL increased from 2 to 2.2 and my LDL reduced from 2.4 to 2, so it goes to show that fat doesn't necessarily increase cholestrol. Hoping to see more improvement when I have my next Ac1 in August.

Marilyn
 
Thank you for your reply Marilyn it's all a lot clearer now.
 
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