Worried now

My doctor sent me a text message asking me to come and see him to discuss my blood test results. We had already talked about arranging an appointment for that so it's already concerning to have him message me and ask me to make an appointment.

Though I did tell him I'd been noticing a lack of focus / concentration, and problems with brain fog and memory lapses since I had covid. Maybe he just thought it was best to remind me to come in, but then he said my results were "mostly good"...I don't like that part of the message at all, my brain sees that and says that it means something is not good.

So now I'm stressing whilst waiting for the appointment on Friday.

To top it all off, the new blood sugar test machine they provide for free here, and provide strips for, does not seem to be at all accurate. I tried it this morning after breakfast and it gave a really high level of 9.6, I thought that was odd so tried again and it said 7.3, that seemed like a very big difference for blood from the same finger so I tried a few more times and it was different 3 out of 6 times, by as much as 2...that's not filling me with any confidence in the machine at all. Maybe I should keep buying strips for my own machine instead which at least seemed consistent.

Anyway, worried now, and it sucks.

EllieM said:

Hi @the-mental-one , blood sugar meters are required to be accurate to within +-15% 99% of the time, so a lab blood test of 8 can give a meter reading of between 6.8 and 9.2 ....

Though a reading of 9.5 after breakfast might seem "really high", and is probably a bit higher than a non-diabetic reading, newly diagnosed T2s can present with levels in the 20s, so I personally doubt that your readings are as astronomical as you may be fearing. And of course, bear in mind that one reading doesn't tell you much anyway.

What meter has your doctor given you?

Good luck with your appointment on Friday.

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I'm not newly diagnosed, but I am newly going on to the NHS system where I live in Malta, with different metformin meds (slow release isn't provided free here) and the new machine is a TaiDoc TD-4285 URiGHT, their own information states they hit those levels "over 98% of the time" so I'm guessing they don't meet the 99% of the time level you quoted or they would use that figure.

The one I was using before was a Bionime Rightest GM550, I know different machines can give different results but that machine never varied much if I tried a few tests at the same time or used a control for a test, so having a machine throw me from a 7.3 up to a 9.5 and various things in between, doesn't make me happy. I'm used to having things be more reliable than that, and looking up the science it seems like the one I bought for myself is considered a better and more accurate option so I will have to decide whether I can afford the strips or if I should keep using the less accurate but free machine and strips. I found the Maltese facebook group for diabetics and there are a number of people complaining about how inaccurate their meters are, so it seems it's not just me thinking they're not good enough

Geordie_P said:

Obviously we can't really guess the full situation, but I don't think you should worry too much.
'Mostly good' sounds like the sort of thing a doctor would say if there is some relatively minor area to address- maybe your numbers are creeping up, or your cholesterol is a little high. Getting that sort of info is helpful, so try to be positive for now!

Also, as Ellie points out above, your numbers don't look that bad as far as these things go.

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Thanks, I know my brain tends to highlight the negatives so it's good to hear someone highlight that it doesn't sound like that to them

The good news, HbA1c is at 41 (or 5.9%) - so back to prediabetes ranges if not down in the 4s, I'll take it though, was not doing so well last year.

My Monocytes are low and my Red cell distribution width is high again...not entirely sure that's too much of an issue other than I'm more liable to become sick with the monocytes being low.

My HDL cholesterol is a little low and my non HDL a little high but not by much and all the other lipid profile ones are right in the middle of the ranges they like here. My renal results are all within the normal range but at the high end, so I guess we have to watch those, and my calcium is a little low, I've been told to have more sesame seeds with breakfasts when not having dairy.

My B12 looked normal, which is good for the end of my 3 months and needing my next jab but means his initial thought as to why I was suffering from "brain fog" for the last little while was incorrect. He called me in because nothing in the blood tests would account for the fact I'm having some problems with my ability to focus/concentrate and also some forgetfulness, but mum had early onset dementia which is why he was concerned. We're going to try me on anxiety meds (since my autism and just generally being me means I'm prone to anxiety for no defined reason which can effect concentration and memory) and make sure it's not that but if it doesn't improve I may need to go see a specialist...or it may be something to do with long covid but no-one's sure how you even test for that.

edit: I've also just been told it might be a sign I'm perimenopausal, many of the other symptoms for this are symptoms I have from other things, like my PCOS, so *shrugs* not sure that's going to be a big woop for me