Newly diagnosed as diabetic

Gentlemanmike · Mar 9, 2011

Hi everyone,

I wonder if you could help me with a query I have about my diagnosis before I go back to my GP.

About 4 weeks ago I had the flu virus but found that it was taking me a long time to recover and I kept having trouble breathing and also being very tired. I saw my Doctor who thought it might be the onset of diabetes and suggested I have a blood test.

On Monday I had a blood test and it showed a raised sugar level (although the doctor had forgotten to ask me to fast before so I had breakfast before having the blood test)

I saw her again today and she got a nurse to do another test by taking blood from my thumb and putting it in a machine. She said that this would take about 6 minutes and would be able to tell what my sugar levels had been over the last three months. She said that my HbA1c was 7% and gave me all the details about Diabetes and how to deal with it. She did not take a urine sample.

However, when I got home I spoke to one of my diabetic friends who said that the thumb test is not a good test for diabetes and that I should have had a ‘fasting venous blood test’. She also thought that the reading was not indicative of diabetes

As my doctor is very good to me, I didn’t want to query the result but wonder if you could tell me whether I should get another test.

Many thanks

Mike

HLW · Mar 9, 2011

You can ask for a fasting test and a glucose tolerance test if you want, I don't think the doctor would mind, they are usually used for diagnosing diabetes rather than hba1c.

Gentlemanmike · Mar 9, 2011

HLW said:
You can ask for a fasting test and a glucose tolerance test if you want, I don't think the doctor would mind, they are usually used for diagnosing diabetes rather than hba1c.

Thanks

phoenix · Mar 9, 2011

The test you had sounds like an HbA1c rather than a test of your blood glucose at that moment.
Hb A1cs have in the last couple of years become accepted as a way of diagnosing diabetes in the Us and were accepted by the World Health organisation as a valid method in January of this year
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/New ... -diabetes/

Snodger · Mar 10, 2011

It's so rare I say this but....
... I think your healthcare professionals were doing the right things. HbA1c is a far more informative test than a urine test, and although the venous blood test version of it is marginally more reliable than the thumb test, I don't think there's a lot in it to be honest. Our local paediatric diabetes centre relies on the thumb test meters. I wish my surgery had a thumb test version of the HbA1c, I would far prefer that than waiting for results from a lab.
7% is not a hugely high HbA1c, many of us would be glad to get down to it, but it is still not what would be expected in someone without diabetes. I think the 'normal' threshold is usually defined as 6%.

As others have said, if you want other tests you should of course ask for them, but personally I think what has been done is totally fine and I'd trust it. And I almost never trust doctors!

daisy1 · Mar 10, 2011

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum I'm not quite sure if you have actually been diagnosed or not although your thread title says you are diabetic. This basic information will be useful to you in case you are diagnosed. I'm sure you have already been doing a lot of reading on this forum on subjects that interest you. Ask as many questions as you like.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS.
Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.

Gentlemanmike · Mar 10, 2011

phoenix said:
The test you had sounds like an HbA1c rather than a test of your blood glucose at that moment.
Hb A1cs have in the last couple of years become accepted as a way of diagnosing diabetes in the Us and were accepted by the World Health organisation as a valid method in January of this year
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News_Landing_Page/HbA1c-test-to-be-used-in-diagnosing-diabetes/

Thanks for the information; that makes me feel a bit better in that the practice nurse does know what she is doing.

Gentlemanmike · Mar 10, 2011

I'd like to thank you all for your help and information; it's been a bit of a shock this week and I'm trying to get a handle on the situation as quick as I can.

The only think I am worried about now is what to do next:

Basically, the nurse has done the test and said I am diabetic and have given me the leaflet NHS 'First steps in healthy eating for people with Diabetes' and told me to follow the guidelines in there and to come back in three months to have my blood tested again.

I always though that diabetics had to check their sugar levels on a daily basis or certainly more often than every three months?

Am I being overly paranoid?

cugila · Mar 10, 2011

Gentlemanmike said:
Basically, the nurse has done the test and said I am diabetic and have given me the leaflet NHS 'First steps in healthy eating for people with Diabetes' and told me to follow the guidelines in there and to come back in three months to have my blood tested again.

I always though that diabetics had to check their sugar levels on a daily basis or certainly more often than every three months?

Am I being overly paranoid?

No you are not being paranoid.....that's what some HCP's would like you to think. Follow the advice that Daisy posted regarding testing if you want to keep on top of things.......it seems to work for most who use it. Mind you I would say that wouldn't I...... :wink:

Gentlemanmike · Mar 10, 2011

cugila said:
Gentlemanmike said:

Basically, the nurse has done the test and said I am diabetic and have given me the leaflet NHS 'First steps in healthy eating for people with Diabetes' and told me to follow the guidelines in there and to come back in three months to have my blood tested again.

I always though that diabetics had to check their sugar levels on a daily basis or certainly more often than every three months?

Am I being overly paranoid?

Click to expand...

No you are not being paranoid.....that's what some HCP's would like you to think. Follow the advice that Daisy posted regarding testing if you want to keep on top of things.......it seems to work for most who use it. Mind you I would say that wouldn't I...... :wink:

Thanks

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