Advice please! Fed up of conflicting results!

[A1983]

Hi there-new here 🙂 I'm a 30 year old slim female, relatively fit (could and will do more!) healthy and no family history of diabetes. Whilst in Australia last year I had some routine bloods which showed one issue-high insulin resistance. I was shocked - and just want to note i was also very stressed and homesick there. They put me on 1g metformin daily.

On arriving back to the UK, my GP said they don't prescribe metformin for pre-diabetes and plus she was skeptacle due to my frame and size-plus id lost the bit of healthy weight I had due to metformin and less food/increased exercise. I then fell pregnant and here I am 6 months later. (Ill post this in another section incase not the best place?). The diabetic midwife gave me a freestyle optimum finger prick test which I used whilst waiting for my gtt (2 hour fasting) and I always had normal fasting readings of 4, 1 hour after breakfast was between 6.5 and 9, (and back down to 6or5 two hours post breakfast) and lunch and dinner readings rarely went above 7.

Now-I tested myself during the gtt session also with my meter, fasting-4.2, 1 hour post glucose 11.3, 2 hours post glucose 8.2. HOWEVER I apparently passed the gtt test-fasting 3.9, 2 hours post was 6 (2.2 lower than meter). I was very concerned about my high readings especially the 1 hour one, however the specialist/endocronologist said to ignore the meter-this was this week, adding im not diabetic and furthermore took me off my metformin. I have found that meter to give me higher readings than the bayer one at work, normally about 2.0 higher.

Could the metformin have affected my results? Am I right to just ignore that reading off 11 5 plus some post breakfast highs? He also took the meter off me saying I didn't need it. I did have a hba1c done 4 months ago which was normal.

Thank you for reading

 

[Northerner]

Hi, welcome to the forum 🙂 There can be discrepancies between meter readings, and it may be that the 'official' tests you had done were using more specialised equipment - did they just prick your finger for those tests? Also, the 1 hour reading that worried you was quite high, but bear in mind that the GTT gives you glucose which will hit your blood sugar levels very fast and hard - the test is looking for how quickly and how well your body responds to that, and I believe it is the 2 hour reading that is important in this respect needing to be over 11 mmol/l in order for a diagnosis to be made. Also, your post-breakfast highs would depend on what you had for breakfast and are pretty close to what a non-diabetic might expect. Having said that, the metformin would probably have had some effect given your insulin resistance. 🙂

 

[A1983]

Thank you Northerner for your reply 🙂 No they took my blood intravenously pre-glucose and then 2 hours later, it was me who thought id simultaneously test my bs whilst waiting with my meter at one hour and two hour post glucose. The endocrinologist was insistent I only went by the gtt and refused to even look at any of my meter readings! Kinda makes me think what's the point in taking meter readings?!

 

[Northerner]

Thank you Northerner for your reply 🙂 No they took my blood intravenously pre-glucose and then 2 hours later, it was me who thought id simultaneously test my bs whilst waiting with my meter at one hour and two hour post glucose. The endocrinologist was insistent I only went by the gtt and refused to even look at any of my meter readings! Kinda makes me think what's the point in taking meter readings?!

We need the meters to test levels before injecting insulin, or to discover the effects of food on our levels. It's not as accurate as taking blood intravenously, but a lot more practical, and a lot better than peeing on a stick like people used to have to! 🙂

 

[A1983]

Yes of course, I know they are important 🙂 Just finding them saying one thing and the gtt another. For example some ppl have said I should speak to another doctor as meter readings above 7 should not be ignored like my endocronogist is doing. Of course I want to just listen to the gtt and hba1c results but I just would prefer if id had meter readings to match to ease my mind! Especially being 6 months pregnant and being told this week to stop metformin!

 

[trophywench]

Well venous blood measurements in a lab are always going to be more accurate than meter readings, however many you take - for the simple reason meters are allowed to vary and lab testing isn't ! Plus venous blood measures slightly different to capillary blood anyway.

We don't know how accurate our readings are - we have to judge that by how we feel, what effect the injected insulin has on us, and the blood tests we have from venous blood. If you ain't diabetic, you wouldn't have as many of these tests as diabetics do, and anyway - as I've said the lab tests are unlikely to be incorrect.

Was this the normal OGTT that all preg ladies get? or an extra one the endo decided to do?

And did not the measured IR you had in Oz indicate probable PCOS? Were you scanned for that? Not all PCOS sufferers put on weight or become more hirsute.

 

[A1983]

Well venous blood measurements in a lab are always going to be more accurate than meter readings, however many you take - for the simple reason meters are allowed to vary and lab testing isn't ! Plus venous blood measures slightly different to capillary blood anyway.

We don't know how accurate our readings are - we have to judge that by how we feel, what effect the injected insulin has on us, and the blood tests we have from venous blood. If you ain't diabetic, you wouldn't have as many of these tests as diabetics do, and anyway - as I've said the lab tests are unlikely to be incorrect.

Was this the normal OGTT that all preg ladies get? or an extra one the endo decided to do?

And did not the measured IR you had in Oz indicate probable PCOS? Were you scanned for that? Not all PCOS sufferers put on weight or become more hirsute.

Hi, yes they were looking into pcos but everything came back fine apart from the IR. Then she started me on metformin due to that. And yep it was the normal ogtt-just slightly earlier as I already had an 'issue'.. although according to the endo now I don't. Plan is to get re-tested once baby is born-so ill increase my exercise to what it should be non-pregnant and stop the metformin and after a few months request another gtt. Just need to know the answer!