Question about blood sugar results

[DC2018]

Hello

I'm 70, very active with dog-walking, gardening, and hill-walking, with a BMI of 26, but was recently diagnosed with prediabetes after a routine annual blood test. I've been advised to have an annual HbA1c and change my diet.

I immediately bought a blood sugar testing kit which I find very useful. However whilst there are masses of data about what your blood sugar levels mean and what you should aim for, it still raises questions for me.

Generally my fasting results are normal, typically 4.3 - 5.5 mmol/l, but my 2-hour results after meals range from 5.5 to 8.8. I retested after the 8.8 result, two hours later and it was down to 6.3.

What I haven't understood yet is whether this single 2-hour result is key to knowing if you have a problem, being the maximum blood sugar level you are experiencing, or whether a rise above the normal max of 7.8 is in itself normal after a large meal as long as the blood glucose level drops away quickly afterwards ?

Is it the maximum blood glucose level that defines if you have possible Type2 - or is it the way in which it increases and then decreases after meals that is equally important ?

To me it seems pretty obvious that if you overload yourself on sugary and high carbohydrate foods then anyone's 2-hour blood sugar level will be very high. But that in itself doesn't mean he or she has diabetes ? Or have I got that wrong ?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Welcome to the forum!

More important than the level at 2 hours after starting a meal is the actual rise from before eating to the 2 hour mark, and even more important is how long it takes you to return to the level you started at. Certainly, what happens after eating is far more important than a fasting blood sugar level in the mornings, as this can vary according to many factors outside our control. However, your fasting numbers are good, so no worries there.

A healthy non-diabetic may well see a big level after eating a normal meal containing carbs, but because their insulin works properly, they normally peak within the first hour, and by the 2 hour mark are well on their way down, returning to where they started well within 3 hours. (much depends on the full contents of the meal) They rarely go above 7.8, although sometimes they do.

Does this help?

 

[ringi]

High BG can result in you becomming diabetic........

Hence it would be worth noting what foods results in high post meal levels and advoiding these foods most of the time. If you were to be "labled" diabetic I would give you the same advice, thereofore deciding if you should have the lable is not of much use.

 

[DC2018]

Welcome to the forum!

More important than the level at 2 hours after starting a meal is the actual rise from before eating to the 2 hour mark, and even more important is how long it takes you to return to the level you started at. Certainly, what happens after eating is far more important than a fasting blood sugar level in the mornings, as this can vary according to many factors outside our control. However, your fasting numbers are good, so no worries there.

A healthy non-diabetic may well see a big level after eating a normal meal containing carbs, but because their insulin works properly, they normally peak within the first hour, and by the 2 hour mark are well on their way down, returning to where they started well within 3 hours. (much depends on the full contents of the meal) They rarely go above 7.8, although sometimes they do.

Does this help?

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply and yes your comments are very useful. I also suffer from daily migraines and COPD for my sins. I have little time for GP's in general - I was wrongly diagnosed with asthma for 18 years till a specialised nurse found it was COPD and put me on the correct medication - hence a walking and climbing trip to the Highlands last week. As for migraines I have now given up with the medical profession who trot out the same old tripe. Without boring you with details I now have the headaches under control after ignoring our doctors and taking account of many health sites in the US reporting on the solution, mirroring exactly my own conclusions.

I only mention this because I think everyone should understand and take control of their own health. I prefer to tell my GP where I stand and what I need him or her for than be wrongly diagnosed or mis-prescribed ! My cynicism stems from when I walked around with a collapsed lung for 3 weeks while my GP first claimed it was a virus and then bizarrely an allergy to a fungus in the atmosphere. I kid you not !

 

[DC2018]

High BG can result in you becomming diabetic........

Hence it would be worth noting what foods results in high post meal levels and advoiding these foods most of the time. If you were to be "labled" diabetic I would give you the same advice, thereofore deciding if you should have the lable is not of much use.

I think my problem is more the size of my evening meal rather than the contents ! I'm working off the Diogenes Database for GI/GL and avoiding foods which score badly.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply and yes your comments are very useful. I also suffer from daily migraines and COPD for my sins. I have little time for GP's in general - I was wrongly diagnosed with asthma for 18 years till a specialised nurse found it was COPD and put me on the correct medication - hence a walking and climbing trip to the Highlands last week. As for migraines I have now given up with the medical profession who trot out the same old tripe. Without boring you with details I now have the headaches under control after ignoring our doctors and taking account of many health sites in the US reporting on the solution, mirroring exactly my own conclusions.

I only mention this because I think everyone should understand and take control of their own health. I prefer to tell my GP where I stand and what I need him or her for than be wrongly diagnosed or mis-prescribed ! My cynicism stems from when I walked around with a collapsed lung for 3 weeks while my GP first claimed it was a virus and then bizarrely an allergy to a fungus in the atmosphere. I kid you not !

You will no doubt discover that taking control of our own health is the only way to beat diabetes into submission. Our GPs (mostly) haven't a clue about this disease nor the best way of treating it. They were poorly trained in diabetes and have been floored by the recent influx in diagnosed cases. It seems to be "You have diabetes. Here is a pill, cut out sugar, eat carbohydrate with every meal and always low fat" On the next review it is "Your diabetes is progressing. Have another pill" And so on ... until we are on insulin and the disease continues to progress. Doctors and the diabetes nurses are too fond of saying "your results were fine" or "you are doing OK" but failing to tell us what the result levels actually are. I'm afraid this is all too typical, and not just in the UK.

With diabetes you have to research diligently for the best way to control matters, especially when it comes to diet. This forum is an excellent place to find all the information you need ..... from fellow diabetics who understand and have a wealth of experience behind them. So ask questions about anything you don't know the answer to. Someone will have the answer.

Go to all your review appointments, attend all your blood test appointments, but always ask for print outs of the test results and then do your own analysis. This is not just for glucose, but also cholesterol, lipids, kidney & liver functions, and full blood counts. All these markers are important for us. Never accept they are within normal range. They may be teetering on the edge of not being, or maybe deteriorating but still "normal". The doctors won't tell you this. If you are in England you would do well to ask if your surgery puts test results on-line as they are supposed to do, and how to register for this.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I think my problem is more the size of my evening meal rather than the contents ! I'm working off the Diogenes Database for GI/GL and avoiding foods which score badly.

You may also wish to take a look at the insulin index. As a pre-diabetic you may be similar to T2 diabetics who mostly produce too much insulin. This causes insulin resistance, so the insulin that is produced isn't able to push all the glucose into the cells for energy. Hence the glucose stays in the blood stream. (That is putting it all very simply). The insulin index is a big list of foods that show the percentage of insulin needed to cope with it. The lowest foods on the index are the best choices - and if you compare some of these to the low/high GI index, you will see several surprising discrepancies, which may account for the reason most of we T2s don't do well on a low GI diet.

http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=3624

https://public.tableau.com/profile/christoffer.green#!/vizhome/InsulinogenicFoodData/Dashboard1

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/93/5/984/T1.expansion.html

Have a read of those.

 

[DC2018]

You may also wish to take a look at the insulin index. As a pre-diabetic you may be similar to T2 diabetics who mostly produce too much insulin. This causes insulin resistance, so the insulin that is produced isn't able to push all the glucose into the cells for energy. Hence the glucose stays in the blood stream. (That is putting it all very simply). The insulin index is a big list of foods that show the percentage of insulin needed to cope with it. The lowest foods on the index are the best choices - and if you compare some of these to the low/high GI index, you will see several surprising discrepancies, which may account for the reason most of we T2s don't do well on a low GI diet.

http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=3624

https://public.tableau.com/profile/christoffer.green#!/vizhome/InsulinogenicFoodData/Dashboard1

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/93/5/984/T1.expansion.html

Have a read of those.

Thank you for all this . I will definitely take your advice.