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Type 1 is this a diabetic indicator

ExChocoholic

Well-Known Member
Messages
300
Location
West Kent
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
rude, loud people
I have genetically inherited type 2 diabetes as has my brother. My daughter who has Hashimoto's thyroid disease, and whose glucose levels were raised during her last pregnancy with her daughter, who will be 3 in a couple of months. Having recently registered with a new doctor, she had blood tests. Her blood sugar came back at 6.9. A subsequent test came at 5.1 which is normal. We are unsure if the first result is just an anomaly or could indicate a predisposition for diabetes.
 
Bit unsure, seems border line. Maybe an OGTT blood test would rule it out. The test requires you to fast, then they take blood. You then drink a set amount of lucozade and are told to come back 2 hours later and another blood test is taken and are sent for analysis. The doctor then can see how your body handles sugar and is a definitive test for diabetes. I had it done. Hope this helps.
 

Doctors love to use fasting blood glucose levels as an indication of prediabetes.

I find it very frustrating because such thinking is a tremendous over simplification.

I'm a type 2 diabetic, and my fasting blood glucose varies from 6.2 up to 8.5
Why?
There are so many variables!
Stress
Time of test
Eating habits
Sleep quality
Dream activity
Menstrual cycle
Exercise levels generally
Exercise level on the day before
Various hormone levels...

So, in answer to your question;

Doctors will say: her two tests suggest she may show signs of prediabetes. Come back in 12 months and get tested again.

I say: get her a cheap blood glucose meter (the SD Codefree is the cheapest I have seen) and buy 50 strips. It'll probably cost about £23. Get her to test her fasting BG every morning til the strips run out.
Then average the test results. That average figure will give you a MUCH better indication of where she is on the normal/pre/diabetic spectrum.

If her average is over 7, she needs to go back to the doc and press for an oral glucose tolerance test.
If her average is between 6.0 and 6.9 she needs to think seriously about diet and exercise and lifestyle because she has an increased risk of developing D in the future.

I wish I had been able to do this, but i didn't even know you can buy your own test meter til I joined this forum.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Brunneria, men's testosterone levels affect BG levels as well. I know it is good advice about testing but in today's austere society not everyone can just shell out £15 for a meter and £23 on strips, never mind lancets that cost me once £28 for a box of 200. Some diabetics are known to reuse lancets due to cost. Am kinda glad to now be on insulin and no cost involved as it should be for all type 2's.
 

The meter is £13ish the test strips are about £7 for a pot of 50
I think that anyone who is concerned about their health should be able to find a one off payment of £23ish
- even if it takes them a couple of months to save up.
The kit will come with 10 lancets included - which will easily last for 50 tests (I reuse a lancet far more than 5x)
 
Brunneria, what meter is it and I will check all the prices for the that specific one. I bought the Accucheck Aviva and found it costly to maintain. A pot of 10 strips cost me about £8 then if I remember. The point I really wanted to make is that type 2's should not have to go out of pocket to self-test, they should be issued with a free meter and so many strips and lancets periodically.
 
The SD Codefree is available from Amazon, eBay and the manufacturers.

This thread isn't aimed at type two diabetics though - it is aimed at exChocoholic and his or her daughter. And since the daughter is not a diagnosed diabetic, she won't have a meter supplied to her - and would need to buy a meter to test her fasting, as I suggested.
 
The thread is open for anyone who has gone through the diagnostic tests for diabetes. I have had those and was trying to offer advice about that. Do not dictate thread terms with me, it was a fair answer to a fair question. The discussion between you and me is finished on this and this site's members are pre-diabetics or diabetics so I will contribute freely.
 
Sorry about this unfortunate spat too.
 

There is more to diagnosing diabetes than just a fasting blood glucose test, although a fasting level test result can be diagnostic of diabetes if it's high enough. My fasting levels were all in the non-diabetic range before, during, and after diagnosis. My blood glucose went high after eating carbs, then went back down to normal levels eventually. However, my average blood sugar levels were in the diabetic range based on an HbA1c test.

The link below discusses this in more detail:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
 
Hi all - many thanks for replies and, of course thread is open to all. I tend to agree about the sugar test and/or self testing. Re: weight loss, exercise and diet - she is wheat intolerant and only eats gluten free bread - her two small children have coeliacs disease so all food prepared from scratch ruling out processed food. This incs sauces etc. With two small children and work as a teacher - plenty of exercise and weight is a problem as at 5'9" and largish frame she constantly strives to control her weight in part due to thyroid issues. She waa supposed to see GP regarding second results but cancelled as she said 5.1 is normal. I mentioned the original 6.9 result but she was not worried. I do not wish diabetes on her, but that was her first test since birth of her daughter when her sugars were fairly high. She complains of RSLat night and says her feet burn. So i think i will try to broach subject again. She has admitted with T2 in the family and as she has hashimotos thyroid she is a prime candidate. I am thinking if she has prediabetes action now may prevent or slow down a chance of developing T2. As i am 5'5 and at 8.8 - 9 stone average i never thought i would get it but since diagnosis found maternal and paternal history of it.
 
Burning feet? That's a classic symptom of high blood sugar, although it can be caused by other things. I have that, along with reduced sensation in my feet, but my doctors all seem to think my blood glucose isn't high enough to have caused that, but I disagree. As I've lowered my blood sugar the burning sensation as slowly subsided.
 
 
I know, I have it - had for years not knowing what it waa - my father used to complain about his feet and i just thought i inherited it. He was never tested or diagnosed and as he was Canadian i did not know about his family medical history but I was diagnosed after he passed away,,then found it was pretty rampart in his family!

Also,my daughter's baby was 12.6 at birth and i think that could also be an indicator of prediabetes.
 
I am fairly sure that a sciatica pain through buttock up and down thigh, knee and leg is neuropathy from previously undiagnosed diabetes but medical staff refuse to agree GP said it always affects both sides, not what it says on Diabetes site! States it can start on one side - Dr and DN insist it is my back. I a have never suffered with back and pain not in my back.
 
wow both of you...big babies lol. I weighed 3lbs and my twin sister was 3 lbs 4 oz. Anyway I have matured into a big dude lol
 
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