Advise on my blood sugar levels

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Chrispies1701

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Morning

Several years ago I received a diagnosis for pre-diabetes. At the time I lost weight and modified my diet, although I have never eaten sugary foods in qualitity and do not consume fried food. The symptoms subsided and I carried on as normal.

Recently I have started to feel unwell again. I am 6ft 1 and weigh around 13st 3. I walk on a daily basis, but my job is sedentary and I work from home. Otherwise I am quite active. I have resumed testing my sugar levels and am finding that even after fasting for around 16 hours, my sugar levels are at 6.8 mmol. This was after a cup of tea with no sugar, but containing milk.

Is this a cause for concern? Should I go see my GP?
 
How are you feeling unwell @Chrispies1701 ? If you think you might be pre-diabetic again or diabetic, you need an HbA1C test to give you a definitive answer. I wouldn’t take anything from your 6.8 reading as a one-off reading is meaningless and the home glucose meters have a margin of error anyway.
 
Chrispies1701 said:
Morning

Several years ago I received a diagnosis for pre-diabetes. At the time I lost weight and modified my diet, although I have never eaten sugary foods in qualitity and do not consume fried food. The symptoms subsided and I carried on as normal.

Recently I have started to feel unwell again. I am 6ft 1 and weigh around 13st 3. I walk on a daily basis, but my job is sedentary and I work from home. Otherwise I am quite active. I have resumed testing my sugar levels and am finding that even after fasting for around 16 hours, my sugar levels are at 6.8 mmol. This was after a cup of tea with no sugar, but containing milk.

Is this a cause for concern? Should I go see my GP?
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Fasting level of 6.8 does indicate pre-diabetes or maybe diabetes.
When was your last hba1c test?
Do you have any more tests?
 
If you have fasted for a long time your liver will be churning out glucose to keep your levels topped up as well as a bit in the milk. I would also suggest that a reading of 6.8 is not by any means "a spike". It is just slightly elevated. I would not expect you to experience diabetes symptoms at that level but it depends what your levels do after eating.

You do also need to be aware that diabetes is not just about sugar but all carbs so bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals and fruit etc. Also fat is the least problematic macro nutrient with regard to your Blood Glucose (BG) levels, so fried food should not be a problem in itself but you need to make sure they are not high carb foods you are frying. I eat fried food quite a lot to keep my levels low and stable and to keep me from feeling hungry, because fat helps you to feel full, but I keep my carb intake low. So for instance last night I had onion, garlic, mushrooms, cabbage and tomato fried in butter with cumin, garam masala and turmeric and a little cayenne pepper..... Oh and a little bit of beef mince. It was so tasty (and I was out of yoghurt, which is my usual morning meal choice) that I had the leftovers for breakfast. Can't beat leftover curry for breakfast!
 
6.8 would put you on the cusp of pre-diabetes but I wouldn't make that assumption based on a single test. If you repeat the test two or three times and get similar results then it might be worth asking for a fresh HbA1c.

At around 5g carb per 100ml I wouldn't think that the amount of milk you put in tea would cause a spike.
 
OK - thanks. I'll give it a week to see how things go.

I realise carbs turn to sugar and have been limiting my intake. Your meal sound delicious, btw - although I am vegetarian/fish eater

I would also have been surprised if the milk I had in a cuppa would cause a spike
 
rebrascora said:
If you have fasted for a long time your liver will be churning out glucose to keep your levels topped up
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... but if you do not have diabetes, you will not see a significant BG rise because your own insulin will be released fast enough to convert this glucose dump into energy we need to start the day.
It is only those of us with a dodgy pancreas who are likely to see the effect of Dawn Phenomenon on our BG.

@Chrispies1701 I do agree with others that a single reading of 6.8 would not be cause for concern. Given the 15% accuracy tolerance of home testing kits, this could be anything between 5.8 and 7.8.
As said above, if you are concerned, keep track of your BG over a few days and if it is higher than you would like, talk to your doctor regarding a hba1c test.
 
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helli said:
... but if you do not have diabetes, you will not see a significant BG rise because your own insulin will be released fast enough to convert this glucose dump into energy we need to start the day.
It is only those of us with a dodgy pancreas who are likely to see the effect of Dawn Phenomenon on our BG.
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Yes, absolutely, but since the OP has already had a "diagnosis" of "prediabetes" several years ago, then it is reasonable to assume their insulin response is compromised to some degree.

It seems quite shocking that they have not had follow up HbA1c tests in the interim period!
 
Thanks - I had two tests by my GP on consecutive years. They then informed me that all was normal and nothing since.

I am only investigating my blood levels due to feeling unwell. The symptoms reminded me of my previous pre-diabetic diagnosis. No extra thirst or blurry vision or anything. Just this feeling of exhaustion and that there is a 'pressure' or 'barrier' between me and any feeling of having energy. Could just be age, as I am 60 years old!
 
Chrispies1701 said:
Thanks - I had two tests by my GP on consecutive years. They then informed me that all was normal and nothing since.

I am only investigating my blood levels due to feeling unwell. The symptoms reminded me of my previous pre-diabetic diagnosis. No extra thirst or blurry vision or anything. Just this feeling of exhaustion and that there is a 'pressure' or 'barrier' between me and any feeling of having energy. Could just be age, as I am 60 years old!
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It might be worth getting vitamin levels checked as well as having another HbA1c. Lots of things can leave you feeling fatigued but vitamin B12 deficiency is quite common and it certainly would make sense to get an HbA1c check up when you have a bit of history of "flirting" with diabetes, so I think a doctors appointment would be the sensible thing to do..... I know that can be easier said than done in the current climate.... perhaps try an econsult if you have that option at your surgery.
 
Chrispies1701 said:
Thanks - I had two tests by my GP on consecutive years. They then informed me that all was normal and nothing since.

I am only investigating my blood levels due to feeling unwell. The symptoms reminded me of my previous pre-diabetic diagnosis. No extra thirst or blurry vision or anything. Just this feeling of exhaustion and that there is a 'pressure' or 'barrier' between me and any feeling of having energy. Could just be age, as I am 60 years old!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear you’ve been feeling a bit under the weather @Chrispies1701 :(

I guess it was natural for you to wonder if those feelings might be related to your glucose levels, given you’ve been at risk of diabetes in the past - and tiredness certainly can be associated with consistently elevated BG.

As others have said though, there could also be all manner of other reasons. And home BG monitors are designed for management of an existing condition rather than for diagnostic purposes.

I know it can be tempting to put-off interaction with GPs for as long as possible, particularly with the difficulty of getting appointments these days… but I’d suggest getting an HbA1c sooner rather than later - then at lease you’ll know where you stand. You may even be able to request one via e-consult or the receptionist, given that it will essentially be a follow-up check?
 
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