What test was used for your diagnosis?

None of these!
I was diagnosed in 1993 and my doctor asked me to wee on a Ketone stick. It went dark purple and I was admitted straight to hospital. I was given fluids on a drip straight away and treated with insulin injection within the hour.
Sounds a completely different process these days!

Mine was a fasting blood glucose level. It was in 2000? & my level was 15.5mmol / l. The cut-off point was 7+ mmols, fasting bloods.

rosserk said:

I don't think there's a set protocol in the UK and it's totally reliant on the Doctors expertise/ knowledge of Diabetes as to which test they use to confirm diagnosis. Some insist on HBa1c others will confirm diagnosis based on fasting blood glucose.

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Sounds like that is the case. I think one reason why some doctors prefer HbA1c is that it doesn't require fasting, and there seems to be a move away from fasting tests in general. They can be uncomfortable for the patient and they make the lab very busy first thing in the morning when many of the patients are trying to get to work. I used to hate going hungry until after the test... it made the drive to the lab and the time in the waiting room unpleasant for me. I'm not nice when I'm hungry, lol.

Some GP s ask what time you last ate, at the time the blood was taken. They are then able to work out if ur diabetic

I was given a finger prick test by paramedics ,they were called out for bad chest pains, that test came in at 15 and was told to go and see my doctor ..a HbA1c test was done and that came back at 7.9 and the rest is history

Two dodgy random readings were ignored, eventually I got to do HbA1c which was inconclusive and I managed to nag my GP into doing OGTT and that was conclusive at 13.8. My fasting readings have never been high.

What do they want u to do then Totto? Are they meaning to wait until your bloods are sky high until they do something? Have they referred you to a dietitian? Maybe stave it off

Bagpuss Lives! said:

What do they want u to do then Totto? Are they meaning to wait until your bloods are sky high until they do something? Have they referred you to a dietitian? Maybe stave it off

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I suppose they couldn't fit me into the box, everything else being normal like BP, liver, weight etc but both parents being T2 (as well as uncles, aunts, grandparent, cousins) I knew I had a great risk of developing it so insisted on tests.

I managed to get a BG meter and test strips, declined the dietitian, went seriously Low Carb High Fat and reduced my HbA1c to 33.

rosserk said:

Can I ask the good people on this forum if they were diagnosed using a testing method other than HBa1c ?

To clarify where you diagnosed using one of the following methods.

• A fasting plasma glucose test measures your blood glucose after you have gone at least eight hours without eating or drinking anything but plain water. This test is used to detect diabetes or pre-diabetes.
• An oral glucose tolerance test measures your blood sugar after you have gone at least eight hours without eating and drinking and two hours after you drink a glucose-containing beverage. This test can be used to diagnose diabetes
• A random plasma glucose test, your doctor checks your blood glucose without regard to when you ate your last meal. This test, along with an assessment of symptoms, is used to diagnose diabetes but not pre-diabetes.

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I was in doctors for a health check for work
I was tested with a urine stick in the surgery by the practice diabetes specialist GP
The shorted version of this storey i lost my job as a paramedic i was devastated that was 20 year ago feel cheated ever since

Sounds like your head's screwed on! I'm glad ur managing it, even though you've chosen to go it alone; at least ur family could help. P.S.- I'm old fashioned, what is a hba1c of 33 in old money?

Bagpuss Lives! said:

Sounds like your head's screwed on! I'm glad ur managing it, even though you've chosen to go it alone; at least ur family could help. P.S.- I'm old fashioned, what is a hba1c of 33 in old money?

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Haven't a clue. It's good though. My DSN scratched her head and draw the conclusion I might have been misdiagnosed. And most of my family are dead but I know how to handle this, no worry, My dad passed away 30 years ago and mum earlier this year at the age of 94 so it could have been worse. I have my BG meter. Mum had one too but dad didn't.

Souns like you've done really well. I admire you for taking charge of it and not allowing it to control You. I was and am the only type 1 in my family. Mum got type 2 after having Pancreatitis, which damaged it, leaving her with T2. Nobody else in my family with it.

An HbA1c of 33 is 5.3%

Thanks. I am still baffled by the newer numbers!

I know what you mean, there should just be one universal number. I have a chart that I keep so I know the conversions as mine went from 11.3%, 6.9%, 6.2% and now 5 4% so its my motivation some days to keep on track.

I gave birth to a daughter with severe hypoglycaemia, on 97 centile at 35 weeks. Consultant on the neonatal unit diagnosed me by examining her, and it was confirmed with hba1c, fasting glucose test and glucose tolerance test (GP was sceptical so ordered belt and braces)! T1.5 determined by subsequent antibody test. So thankful we are both now OK.

Glucose tolerance test aged 35 given warning that would be diabetic within 10 years. 180 lbs and 6FT 4Inches.
Sugar drinks and sweets where not a big feature of my life.
Advice none.

Where did this come from?

Aged 42, subjected to fasting tests and declared diabetic.
Take these pills and follow diet instructions.
Talked through with a diet specialist who was informative, but only had urine test sticks to monitor.
Stopped drinking and adopted sugar free drinks including tea and coffee, and reduced my carbohydrate intake, but it was all guess work as there was no information on packets like today.
From then it was, you know what is wrong, use the advise and get on with it.
No more support.

3 months later very ill, nobody knows why.
See private specialist who decides I am not trying hard enough re diabetes.
6 months later back up to speed.
3 years later I am feeling very ill, and Doctor says I have renal threshold problems.
Confused, not happy trying to do my excellent job as a Director in a major Engineering company.
I resigned, moved to Devon, started my own business, registered with Doctor.
After 3 months I am referred to the hospital/ Peninsula Health where I met the late Dr McCloud, and was put on Insulin immediately.
My Blood sugar levels where running in the mid 20's
A few years later I am on DAFNE and doing very well.

I am now challenging some of the ways in DAFNE, but not the main principal.

It would appear I was diagnosed Type 2 and should have been Type 1. A specialist recognised the situation.

If they had done an HBA test they would have known, but had to wait until I moved to Devon and a new NHS region.
As for the medical specialist, who had me in hospital under observation for a week, rather not say.

Why write all this?

Just to say despite the misdirection or poor diagnosis it is possible to get the attention that is required, even when some areas of the NHS failed to progress as fast as others.

The NHS may be slow and cumbersome at times but they are really a fantastic organisation.

If I had been living elsewhere in the world there is a good chance I would not have been here to type this.

Whatever way diagnosis was made, things are changing so fast it is not worth worrying about.