Diabetes or Not

[Sharon69]

I’m looking for advice as I’m confused. For a while I had been having symptoms of diabetes like thirsty all the time , sweating after eating , headache that goes away after I eat something with sugar. My blood pressure also drops when I sweat after eating. My doctor suggested checking the sugar levels on waking and before and after meals. On waking it was 7.4 on average and after meals roughly 9.8- 11.8. The doc told me it was likely prediabetes but I saw another doctor and they told me it is definitely not diabetes as the sugar levels would drop after eating. I had an HBa1c Test done which was normal but one of my consultants told me this could be a result of the vitamin D I was taking. Can anyone shed any light on if this could be diabetes or not as I am confused.

 

[HSSS]

I’m looking for advice as I’m confused. For a while I had been having symptoms of diabetes like thirsty all the time , sweating after eating , headache that goes away after I eat something with sugar. My blood pressure also drops when I sweat after eating. My doctor suggested checking the sugar levels on waking and before and after meals. On waking it was 7.4 on average and after meals roughly 9.8- 11.8. The doc told me it was likely prediabetes but I saw another doctor and they told me it is definitely not diabetes as the sugar levels would drop after eating. I had an HBa1c Test done which was normal but one of my consultants told me this could be a result of the vitamin D I was taking. Can anyone shed any light on if this could be diabetes or not as I am confused.

The first dr sounds on the ball. What level in numbers was the hba1c and was it the second that said “normal”? Many of us have been told “normal” when in fact we’ve been prediabetic or full on diabetic. Always check the numbers. Your levels whilst not horribly high are a bit higher than ideal. So diagnosed or not it’s an idea to tackle it now before it gets worse. Reduce the sugar and carbs in your diet and replace them as necessary with unprocessed proteins and naturally occurring fats (not vegetable or seed oils!,!). Move as much is practice for your situation especially after meals.

I’m confused what the 2nd dr is talking about regarding sugar dropping after meals? In a non diabetic they return roughly to pre meal in 2 hrs (so they can and should drop). In a type 2 eating too many carbs for their body they remain higher for longer. Many aim to get within 2mmol in that time to mimic normal reasonably closely. In type 1 I’d assume they continue to rise unless insulin is taken (I’m no expert there as I’m type 2 not on medication). If they thinks levels drop below pre meal levels after eating they are very confused about type 2/prediabetes and unmedicated diabetes in general. There are conditions and medications that can cause that but not diabetes in itself.

i know a vitamin d deficiency if severe can raise hba1c as vitamin d is involved in red blood cell production and anything that effects rbc’s has the potential to effect hba1c. And supplements will lower that back to reflect the a more accurate glycation status. As most people supplementing significantly will be correcting a deficiency I’m not sure you’d call that a false low in this case and the studies I’ve seen have suggested in someone without a deficiency the effect is minimal.

 

[Lamont D]

A food diary would be a great help.
also if you have dawn phenomenon, that is how your body works on waking with a boost of glucose to get you going Do a fasting test get half an hour laters breakfast and then two hours later as suggested above.
testing the same meal a few times will give you a better view of what happened when eating. This will help your doctor understand what is happening.