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Fluctuating blood sugars, not diagnosed. Looking for insight :(

C

Ckpierce

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hello everyone..
Over the past few months I've noticed that I've had to urinate quiet often. Sometimes as many as 6 times in an hour. I've had mood swings, feelings of intense anxiety, my fingers and toes have been going numb, I've been fatigued and felt like I can eat until I die at certain times. (Amongst other symptoms)
I am 25 years old, 5'7 and weigh 124 pounds. After I started to notice these symptoms, I got concerned. About two weeks ago, I started to check my blood sugar levels. I've done tests on four different meters and have taken a home A1c test. My blood sugar levels have been: 155 (fasting), 68 (fasting), 127 (fasting), 82 (fasting), 137 (fasting)
Last weekend, anytime i checked, I wasn't even in the 70s. I stayed in the 60s all weekend. Two days ago doing a random check, my result was 170. The highest reading I have gotten so far. I did a postprandial last night, 150. My home A1c tests read 4.7 and 5.7. But I've read a lot about how inaccurate they are. I'm so confused. Can ANYONE shed any light on this please? I don't have insurance and don't want to go to the dr until I get it just incase I happen to be diabetic or prediabetic. Considering that would be a preexisting condition.. My first cousin is type 1 for 16 years. Other than that, we don't know about anyone else in our family that has had type 1.
 
Ckpierce said:
Hello everyone..
Over the past few months I've noticed that I've had to urinate quiet often. Sometimes as many as 6 times in an hour. I've had mood swings, feelings of intense anxiety, my fingers and toes have been going numb, I've been fatigued and felt like I can eat until I die at certain times. (Amongst other symptoms)
I am 25 years old, 5'7 and weigh 124 pounds. After I started to notice these symptoms, I got concerned. About two weeks ago, I started to check my blood sugar levels. I've done tests on four different meters and have taken a home A1c test. My blood sugar levels have been: 155 (fasting), 68 (fasting), 127 (fasting), 82 (fasting), 137 (fasting)
Last weekend, anytime i checked, I wasn't even in the 70s. I stayed in the 60s all weekend. Two days ago doing a random check, my result was 170. The highest reading I have gotten so far. I did a postprandial last night, 150. My home A1c tests read 4.7 and 5.7. But I've read a lot about how inaccurate they are. I'm so confused. Can ANYONE shed any light on this please? I don't have insurance and don't want to go to the dr until I get it just incase I happen to be diabetic or prediabetic. Considering that would be a preexisting condition.. My first cousin is type 1 for 16 years. Other than that, we don't know about anyone else in our family that has had type 1.
Click to expand...
Hi ckpierce, welcome to the forum, you are definitely showing all the signs of being prediabetic, i would go to your doctor and describe your symptoms and have the necessary tests done ,please feel free to ask questions and act sooner rather than latter.
 
Ckpierce said:
Hello everyone..
Over the past few months I've noticed that I've had to urinate quiet often. Sometimes as many as 6 times in an hour. I've had mood swings, feelings of intense anxiety, my fingers and toes have been going numb, I've been fatigued and felt like I can eat until I die at certain times. (Amongst other symptoms)
I am 25 years old, 5'7 and weigh 124 pounds. After I started to notice these symptoms, I got concerned. About two weeks ago, I started to check my blood sugar levels. I've done tests on four different meters and have taken a home A1c test. My blood sugar levels have been: 155 (fasting), 68 (fasting), 127 (fasting), 82 (fasting), 137 (fasting)
Last weekend, anytime i checked, I wasn't even in the 70s. I stayed in the 60s all weekend. Two days ago doing a random check, my result was 170. The highest reading I have gotten so far. I did a postprandial last night, 150. My home A1c tests read 4.7 and 5.7. But I've read a lot about how inaccurate they are. I'm so confused. Can ANYONE shed any light on this please? I don't have insurance and don't want to go to the dr until I get it just incase I happen to be diabetic or prediabetic. Considering that would be a preexisting condition.. My first cousin is type 1 for 16 years. Other than that, we don't know about anyone else in our family that has had type 1.
Click to expand...
Hi & Welcome to the forum, I agree with Clivethedrive above it appears what you describe & maybe pre diabetic, but you need to go to the Doctors. We are not medically trained people here so it's impossible for us to give a diagnosis.
Neil
 
I concur with the previous posts, the doctors need to do their own tests to diagnose which form of the condition and what stage you are at, if at all!!!

Meanwhile I have tagged @daisy1 to give you a lot of information, read it, have a look around the forum, ask questions, keep posting.

But, do go to your doctors.
Let us know how you gt on.
 
Thank you to everyone that responded. I got some really nasty comments in the live chat about how I was playing a prank and it sounded like I was determined to have diabetes. Having a close family member with diabetes and seeing how much she struggled with it and being a nursing student and having patients with it and the complications that they have, I would never be "determined" to have it nor would I joke about such a thing. So thank you to everyone who responded with kind words. I'm just worried and confused. And was wondering if anyone else had similar experiences leading up to their Dx. I just think it's odd to have blood sugar levels all over the place like mine have been. A lot of the time I have a perfectly normal blood sugar level and other times, it's either way high or somewhat low. :(
 
Go get that insurance.
 
@Ckpierce

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Some good advice there. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.


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 over 130,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

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 bloodglucose 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.
 
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