Pre-diabetes question

Hi all,

Just posting here because I wanted some clarification on pre-diabetes blood glucose levels and how I should approach my doctor.

As a note, I have a doctor's appointment next week with all my recorded fasting blood glucose levels using a finger prick test (glucoman). Type 2 diabetes runs in my dad's side of the family. I'm 22 yrs old 6 ft 3 and weigh 75kg.

I've never checked my blood glucose levels before, however my dad obtained a new machine about a month ago and I decided to take it for a test prick. I used the machine after about 12 hours of fasting and found it to be 5.5 mmol/L which I thought was a little high, since then I have done a finger prick test every week after waking up and before eating, my morning blood glucose levels seem to always be within 5.5 mmol-6.2 mmol/L (~8 hours after eating) which I think is pre-diabetes range.

However, weirdly, my blood glucose during the day is around the same range, even a couple of hours after eating. The highest reading I have seen is 6.5 mmol/L and that was in the morning before eating. The lowest reading I have seen is 5.3 mmol/L.

I should note that I am a bit of a night owl so I usually eat dinner at 8-9pm, snack between 12-1am and sleep around 3am, waking up at 10:30amish, I'm not sure if this has an impact?

So my questions are: how exactly does prediabetes function, is it a constant elevated blood glucose or can it dip between normal and prediabetes level day to day? Is it possible to have high blood sugar in the morning and less during the day? And lastly what should I ask my doctor in terms of testing to get a good indication of my real blood glucose levels.

Thank you

Guzzler said:

Hello and welcome. Perhaps you would like to use the search function on the main page to look up 'Dawn Phenomena'. This is basically what happens to people at or around the time of waking, the liver will splurge out glucose to give us the energy we need to get up and chase down a mammoth for brekky. A fasting reading of 5.5 is fine imo.
If you are concerned then it is right that you see your GP but what would help a little more is to test before the first bite of a meal (pre prandial reading) and then test again two hours after your first bite (post prandial reading). The difference between those two readings should be no more than 2mmol but preferably a lot less than that.
Keeping a food diary alongside your pre and post readings will show you and your doctor how you are reacting to the foods that you eat.
Good Luck.

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Thanks very much for the helpful info, I took my pre-eating blood glucose today and it was 5.5 mmol/l, and then 2 hours after eating it was 6.0 mmol/l. I didn't know dawn phenomenon was a thing! I was just concerned initially as my blood sugar never goes below 5.3 mmol/l during the day before or after food.

Prem51 said:

Welcome to the forum @Virusnoot Your bg readings are good and don't seem to indicate pre-diabetes, especially as you don't get a rise after eating. Morning fasting blood glucose levels are often higher due to 'Dawn Phenomenon' where your liver dumps stored glucose into your blood stream as you wake to get you going. It's quite common and healthy non-diabetics get it too.
If you are worried you need to ask your gp for a HbA1c test which gives an average of your blood glucose levels over the last 8-12 weeks. The doctor might be reluctant to arrange a test given your good bg levels, but might be amenable if you explain there is a history of Type 2 diabetes in your family.

These are the NICE guidelines for bg readings:
View attachment 33884

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Emile_the_rat said:

Where I live pre-diabetes are diagnosed when you met two of the following criterias:

- Fasting blood sugar between 6.0 - 6.9 mmol.
- OGTT between 7.9 - 11.1 mmol
- HbA1c between 6.0 - 6.4 %

Since you only has elevated fasting blood sugar, and no elevated blood sugar through the day or after eating you’re not diabetic. At least not by the regulations here in Norway.

6.5 mmol are very low for being your highest reading, so I think there is no reason to fear, as 6.5 as highest are remarkably good and healthy

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Thank you both for the helpful info, I'm going to see my GP still just to have a record of my current bg levels and I will probably stick around just to better educate myself on diabetes. Thanks for the warm welcome.