Diabetes without symptoms

jnizamani said:

I was diagnosed with diabetes on December,24,2018.Hba1c result was 12.1%.I bought Glucometer and managing my glucose level.My physician advised me to take Glucophage 500mg twic a day.At breafast and dinner.My urine dr shows glucose negative.There are no symptoms of thirst and excess urine.My kidneys are also functioning well.I am unable to understand how is possible to have diabetes with Hba1c as high as 12.1% with negative Glucose in urine dr test.please explain it to me.I am confused.

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the forum,

By no means everyone has obvious symptoms. I certainly didn't. However, if you are overweight, that in itself is a symptom of high circulating insulin, which is a pathway to Type 2 diabetes. T2 is a metabolic disorder, and is grouped together with other markers that are known as metabolic syndrome. These are high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and being overweight particularly round the middle. Not everyone has all of these.

Have a good read round, learn as much as you can about diabetes, and ask as many questions as you like. Meanwhile I will tag @Daisy 1 for her excellent introductory post - please read this.

My A1c at diagnosis was 98 (11.1) with none of the classic symptoms. My liver function test was "dodgy" according to the locum GP who arranged another raft of tests. All other markers were pretty normal.
Have you had a second HbA1c to confirm diagnosis?

jnizamani said:

I was diagnosed with diabetes on December,24,2018.Hba1c result was 12.1%.I bought Glucometer and managing my glucose level.My physician advised me to take Glucophage 500mg twic a day.At breafast and dinner.My urine dr shows glucose negative.There are no symptoms of thirst and excess urine.My kidneys are also functioning well.I am unable to understand how is possible to have diabetes with Hba1c as high as 12.1% with negative Glucose in urine dr test.please explain it to me.I am confused.

Click to expand...

I was also recently diagnosed and had no symptoms until I started to get very very dizzy. Turned out my hba1c was 103.

I also have no other health problems, am only 26 and not overweight...

Higher blood glucose levels often exacerbate other non Diabetes related conditions, I have seen an improvement in my chronic pain and symptoms of Menieres Syndrome which leads me to conclude that for me a diet lower in carbohydrates has beneficial effects on overall health.

May I ask how you are managing your bg levels now?

I was not all that unwell, as far as I knew - since stopping the carbs and restoring normal readings I feel a lot better.
I have never seen a positive glucose in the urine test, even though my Hba1c was 91 and blood glucose was 17.1 at diagnosis.

Just correcting the tag for the info post @Bluetit1802 wrote, it should read @daisy1 with a lower case d

@jnizamani
Hello Jnizamani and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 235,000 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 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. Most of these are 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.
  

Rachox said:

Just correcting the tag for the info post @Bluetit1802 wrote, it should read @daisy1 with a lower case d

Click to expand...

Ooops. Thank you for correcting me, and apologies to the other daisy. Yet another senior moment.

SB.25 said:

I was also recently diagnosed and had no symptoms until I started to get very very dizzy. Turned out my hba1c was 103.

I also have no other health problems, am only 26 and not overweight...

Click to expand...

What's your BMI f you don't mind me asking?

Traceymac23 said:

What's your BMI f you don't mind me asking?

Click to expand...

Sure, my BMI is 21.6