Help with Numbers

TPJ said:

Hi all,

Firstly I have not been diagnosed as being diabetic so this is most likely me being paranoid.

I have been suffering with fatigue for years and have been tested negatively for diabetes a lot of times (although I cannot find any reference to these tests in my medical notes). After a lot of nagging, phone calls and email writing I think my GP is taking me seriously and has approached a number of specialists. They have asked for a blood glucose test (apparently a diagnostic test) which I am booked in to have next Tuesday.

I have a BGM at home so since hearing that they wanted this test done I have been taking random tests to see if I can spot a pattern but I think that these might be concerning.

Tuesday
4 hours after lunch - 7.2 mmol/L

Wednesday
Waking - 9.5 mmol/L
1.5 hours after lunch - 13.2 mmol/L
2.5 hours after lunch - 13.2 mmol/L
4 hours after dinner - 11.2 mmol/L

Thursday
Waking - 8.3 mmol/L
2.5 hours after breakfast - 18.9 mmol/L

What do you think and what would you do in my situation?

Thanks for any help.

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If you check your medical records, you don't see a HbA1c or A1c result anywhere? That'd be the test to check for diabetes. As for your at home tests, if those strips are in date, and your hands weren't contaminated (unlikely to be consistently the case), then yeah... Your numbers are a bit on the high side. If there have been no HbA1c's done yet, get that test done, and soon-ish. If you do find them in your previous results, can you tell us what the numbers were?

Once you know what's what and have a definitive diagnosis, you can start tackling your high-ish numbers. Don't start before you're diagnosed with anything, because if you are diabetic, this entitles you to regular check-ups, blood tests and all sorts, and you'd need those... So don't bring your blood sugars down before you've got a result, one way or another.

Once you have a yea or nay, https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help. Remember the 18.9 after breakfast? I'm guessing it was either toast or cereal, and most likely the latter. Not something a person with insulin sensitivity issues can deal with. Anyway, if you have further questions, throw them out there. We can't diagnose on here, but just, you know... Strap in and be prepared: read, learn, ask questions, here and with your GP.

We're right here should you need us.
Jo

TPJ said:

Thanks @JoKalsbeek That is really helpful. Firstly, I did have cereal for breakfast. You must be able to read my mind, if you can please respect the areas marked private, it's for your own safety.

The only thing I am doing at the moment is drinking lots of water which I have always done but I'm aware can also cause the sugar levels to drop.

My main concern is that from what I have read 13.2 is high and 18.9 is very high but if these are not high enough to be of concern then I will feel a lot better about it.

I have just found an HbA1c from May 2022:
IFCC st:34.00 mmol/mol

I hope this makes more sense to you than me.

Thanks

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A HbA1c of 34 is quite fine, and in the non-diabetic range. A HbA1c that's a year old, though... The finger pricks you're currently seeing, well, those would be diabetic, but those aren't coming from a lab and I can't be sure your strips are in date. (Can you check the pot?). The cereal's an educated guess: Those are so carb heavy they'd likely spike anyone, even a non-diabetic.

Mind you, my numbers were quite a bit higher than yours when I was diagnosed, if these pricks are correct... And I got my numbers back down into the non-diabetic range, and managed to get rid of diabetic symptoms like fatigue and such. If I could do that, then if need be, so can you. (Either by diet or medication, or... ).

Get that new HbA1c done, and go from there. You've been right to keep asking for it.
Jo

TPJ said:

Thanks, I will do.

I think the tests are in date, I haven’t had them that long. Is it worth doing a keto test as well?

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@Antje77 got there just before me, but yeah... Keto testing is only useful when you're decidedly ill, and are sporting consistently high numbers. If that's not the case, no worries. (Keto strips are much more expensive. If you already have them though, maybe save them for if you ever start a ketogenic diet.)

TPJ said:

Thanks @JoKalsbeek and @Antje77

I'm still worried but a lot less than I was 2 hours ago.

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You're going to be okay, whatever way this turns out. Honest. I thought I had one foot in the grave, seven years ago. Who am I kidding, I did have one foot in the grave. Now I'm more alive than I had been in ages, more active... Just because I found out I had a problem with blood sugar, and knowing that, I finally got to fix it. Knowledge is power.

Hang in there. It'll be fine.
Jo