Confused

Metformin is the first line drug of treatment for T2 Diabetes (which includes Pre Diabetes) and yet your Dr. says that you are not Diabetic? This seems counter intuitive. The symptoms you have are common but your A1c is fair. We cannot diagnose you here, we are not doctors but I feel that another appointment with your GP is called for and your first question should be 'If I do not have Diabetes then why have you put me on Metformin?'.

Meanwhile, I shall tag @daisy1 who will swing by to give you loads of information that is invaluable to all new members. Do read around the forum and I am sure that other members will comment with more advice.

Welcome to the community.

I think you need some clarification from the gp. If they do not think you have t2d why put you on metformin?

If the sugar did.not occur because of diabetes why did it happen? I really think you need to go back and ask.some questions.
Good luck with it all.

Obviously we are not doctors but it sounds as though Dr is playing the safe game. You may be pre-diabetic and they are giving you Metformin to be on the safe side. It depends how you feel about taking meds and whether they agree with you (Metformin can upset your stomach a bit). Perhaps they will do another test in 3-6 months to see what your readings are? I would book another appointment just to get some clear information.

Lgnewsome said:

My Dr told me that my hb1c level was 5.6 or 5.8.

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Can we nail that ambiguity? Did they do the test twice or something? (If you don't know, that is another question worth asking your GP.)

By the way, according to some sources the HbA1C test has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. So if they did two tests, the fact that the results are different is par for the course. (As far as I know, and to be confirmed with the doctor.)

Here in America, 5.6% is "normal" but 5.8% is "pre-diabetes." Also, you have three of the symptoms of diabetes: thirst, frequent urination, neuropathy. But those things can have causes other than diabetes.

Welcome, and my best wishes. You should be able to sort out the basics soon, with the help of your GP. This forum is a great place for support and (non-professional) advice.

@Lgnewsome

Hello Lgnewsome and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope this will be useful to you. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 250,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

Lgnewsome said:

My Dr told me that my hb1c level was 5.6or 5.8. she said I don't have diabetes but is making me take metformin twice daily, told me to stay away from sugar n check my glucose levels every morning.i have neropathy, reacurring UTI's and yeast infections, thristy all the time frequent urination but she hasn't diganosed me with anything. Has anyone else had problems like this or any advice to help? Thanks in advance

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I know for women with PCOS Metformin is sometimes prescribed with out a diagnoses of Type 2.

Lgnewsome said:

My family Dr is the only Dr I've seen for this! She hasn't even referred me to a diabetic expert! Do u think I need to get her to refer me to one?

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I have no idea if you need to see any one else because the gp has not told you what is wrong. If it were me I would go back and ask what is my actual diagnosis.
And get hold of your blood results. In the uk you can just ask for them.

Lgnewsome said:

My family Dr is the only Dr I've seen for this! She hasn't even referred me to a diabetic expert! Do u think I need to get her to refer me to one?

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To my knowledge, in the UK and also in the USA where I am, the front-line of diabetic treatment is through your family doctor and specialist nurses. There are, of course, diabetes specialists but in America you would have to get your family doctor to refer you to one. Family doctors are properly trained to deal with the more common cases of diabetes. The illness is so common nowadays that specialists would fast become overwhelmed if they had to treat all of those who get diabetes.

I agree with @Kentoldlady1 that the main thing you need right now is a lot more information from your GP.

Grateful said:

Family doctors are properly trained to deal with the more common cases of diabetes

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That's a matter of opinion..!

bulkbiker said:

That's a matter of opinion..!

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Well let me put it this way. Do you think the endocrinologists are any better, on average?

Grateful said:

Do you think the endocrinologists are any better, on average?

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As a Type 2 in the UK the chances of me ever seeing an Endocrinologist are pretty much zero... The chances of me seeing a GP for Type 2 related problems are pretty much the same. I got a Diabetes nurse for two appointments (in one of which she told me my condition was progressive and I'd end up on insulin) she then left and I got the stroppy miserable Practise Nurse who knew very little and the last time saw the new Diabetes Nurse who whilst mildly interested in how I had "reversed" my condition didn't seem to take much in and initially thought my low HbA1c was because I was over medicating with insulin.
Thanks to this forum (and a fair bit of my own research) I was better informed than any of the HCPs I have ever seen about Type 2.

bulkbiker said:

As a Type 2 in the UK the chances of me ever seeing an Endocrinologist are pretty much zero... The chances of me seeing a GP for Type 2 related problems are pretty much the same. I got a Diabetes nurse for two appointments (in one of which she told me my condition was progressive and I'd end up on insulin) she then left and I got the stroppy miserable Practise Nurse who knew very little and the last time saw the new Diabetes Nurse who whilst mildly interested in how I had "reversed" my condition didn't seem to take much in and initially thought my low HbA1c was because I was over medicating with insulin.
Thanks to this forum (and a fair bit of my own research) I was better informed than any of the HCPs I have ever seen about Type 2.

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Interesting, albeit depressing. When I first found out about it I was quite impressed that in the UK, there are Diabetes Nurses. It sounded like a really good idea (we have nothing like that here in America).

So what went wrong?

As I understand it, in relation to diabetes x levels of sugar in the urine are much less accurate as a diagnostic tool than spot blood glucose levels and the longer term hba1c are - this is mainly because we all have differing thresholds at which our kidneys start to spill glucose filtered from the blood into our urine, there is also a condition in which the kidneys can produce excess glucose themselves.
I would think high glucose levels in urine always require further investigation to determine whats going on and if whats going on is / is not diabetes. Im not a medic but know that when things are not immediately obvious, medics often look for correlations before making a diagnosis. Sometimes they are looking at things like - do blood test results correlate with the results of other tests? Does the patients reaction to a particular medication correlaet with the predicted reaction of a person with disease x?
If it were me in your situation, I think I would want an answer from your GP about what he/she thinks might be going on and what information they are looking for to confirm things one way or the other

Lgnewsome said:

She also sent me to a urlrolgist to find out where the blood is coming from

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I recently suffered a kidney stone. One diagnostic test for that condition is finding blood in the urine. But there are of course lots of other possible reasons. It is good that you are going to see a urologist.

For what it's worth, and I hope this is not Too Much Information, urine that has blood in it is sometimes also cloudy (and tending toward brownish). So it is something that you might be able to eyeball even in the absence of an actual blood test.