Hey! Am I diabetic? Help with symptoms.

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Sparky81

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Hi all
Apologies if this is in the wrong section or I offend anyone with my silly questions.

I’m 42 years old, was 16 stone 9 now 15 stone 4, fairly active ran a half marathon in march this year maintain running 5k’s weekly as a when I can be bothered.

My question is I’m suspecting I’m pre or have diabetes, if I skip a meal or eat low carb I suddenly come over all weak and jittery, my brain seems to stop working and I get short tempered my heart thumps and feel really dizzy until I eat something usually a big chocolate bar or something like.

I’m trying to eat low carb for my health I had a cac scan done and my arteries are showing signs of “wear and tear” my cardio doc said. My cac score was 14.

I never ever eat white bread, pasta , rice etc only brown whole grain versions.

Do you guys have any ideas if you think I am diabetic or pre?

My bloods always say I’m not near diabetic level I’ve had 3 lots of bloods done in last 18 months.

Thanks in advance guys.
 
Sparky81 said:
Hi all
Apologies if this is in the wrong section or I offend anyone with my silly questions.

I’m 42 years old, was 16 stone 9 now 15 stone 4, fairly active ran a half marathon in march this year maintain running 5k’s weekly as a when I can be bothered.

My question is I’m suspecting I’m pre or have diabetes, if I skip a meal or eat low carb I suddenly come over all weak and jittery, my brain seems to stop working and I get short tempered my heart thumps and feel really dizzy until I eat something usually a big chocolate bar or something like.

I’m trying to eat low carb for my health I had a cac scan done and my arteries are showing signs of “wear and tear” my cardio doc said. My cac score was 14.

I never ever eat white bread, pasta , rice etc only brown whole grain versions.

Do you guys have any ideas if you think I am diabetic or pre?

My bloods always say I’m not near diabetic level I’ve had 3 lots of bloods done in last 18 months.

Thanks in advance guys.
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Welcome to the forum
One thing to find out would be what blood tests have you had done. The test used for diagnosis of diabetes is the HbA1C test which looks at your average blood glucose over the previous three months, the result of that will indicate the status.
Over 47mmol/mol will be diabetic, 42-47mmol/mol prediabetic, below that normal range.
The symptoms you describe are more like low blood glucose rather than high blood glucose but you should speak to your GP and ask for the HbA1C so you have up to date information.
Incidentally though the brown versions of foods release glucose more slowly (in some people) they are still the same carbs as the white version.
If you are eating low carb which may not be as low as you thing, then you need energy from somewhere and that is usually healthy fats and protein.
If you are still having high carb meals then you may be producing too much insulin which then causes you blood glucose to drop quickly giving you those symptoms.
This is all a bit of speculation without knowing what blood glucose levels you are experiencing.
You could buy a home testing blood glucose monitor, inexpensive ones on line, the GlucoNavii or TEE2 are ones with cheaper test strips so you could test when you get your symptoms.
But do speak to your GP
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to the forum
One thing to find out would be what blood tests have you had done. The test used for diagnosis of diabetes is the HbA1C test which looks at your average blood glucose over the previous three months, the result of that will indicate the status.
Over 47mmol/mol will be diabetic, 42-47mmol/mol prediabetic, below that normal range.
The symptoms you describe are more like low blood glucose rather than high blood glucose but you should speak to your GP and ask for the HbA1C so you have up to date information.
Incidentally though the brown versions of foods release glucose more slowly (in some people) they are still the same carbs as the white version.
If you are eating low carb which may not be as low as you thing, then you need energy from somewhere and that is usually healthy fats and protein.
If you are still having high carb meals then you may be producing too much insulin which then causes you blood glucose to drop quickly giving you those symptoms.
This is all a bit of speculation without knowing what blood glucose levels you are experiencing.
You could buy a home testing blood glucose monitor, inexpensive ones on line, the GlucoNavii or TEE2 are ones with cheaper test strips so you could test when you get your symptoms.
But do speak to your GP
Click to expand...
Hi Thanks for replying
My doc said my last one done a few months back my diabetes number 35 if I’ve got that correct, I think I have as I remember asking her about it.
I can’t check at the mo as I’m on holiday.

I don’t eat too much bread I’m trying to move towards Keto with fasting.

So do you think I’m just low on energy then? I just can’t go long without eating but so many people i know can fast for days I can barely make it a few Hours without falling apart and my brain shutting down.
 
Sparky81 said:
Hi Thanks for replying
My doc said my last one done a few months back my diabetes number 35 if I’ve got that correct, I think I have as I remember asking her about it.
I can’t check at the mo as I’m on holiday.

I don’t eat too much bread I’m trying to move towards Keto with fasting.

So do you think I’m just low on energy then? I just can’t go long without eating but so many people i know can fast for days I can barely make it a few Hours without falling apart and my brain shutting down.
Click to expand...

35 would make sense. That’s not pre-diabetic. It’s more likely you’ve cut your carbs too much too quickly.

And, just to be clear to any random people reading this, diabetes isn’t about low blood sugar and feeling weak without food, it’s a condition of high blood sugar. You haven’t mentioned any diabetes symptoms. My advice would be to reduce your carbs slowly, keep hydrated and speak to your doctor if your symptoms persist because they could be due to anaemia, thyroid issues or any number of other problems.

Good luck with your weight loss journey 🙂
 
Inka said:
35 would make sense. That’s not pre-diabetic. It’s more likely you’ve cut your carbs too much too quickly.

And, just to be clear to any random people reading this, diabetes isn’t about low blood sugar and feeling weak without food, it’s a condition of high blood sugar. You haven’t mentioned any diabetes symptoms. My advice would be to reduce your carbs slowly, keep hydrated and speak to your doctor if your symptoms persist because they could be due to anaemia, thyroid issues or any number of other problems.

Good luck with your weight loss journey 🙂
Click to expand...
Thank you so much with your replies. I often get jittery legs at night if I eat chocolate late at night. I’ve stopped now but any form of carbs give me jittery legs at night like they’re crawling or twitching that’s one thing along with low sugar symptoms which made me wonder if i was diabetic that was the reason for my questions.
Thank you
 
As @Inka mentioned, untreated diabetes will result in HIGH blood sugar, not low sugar symptoms.
If you are concerned, a home blood glucose meter is relatively cheap. I recommend checkin the price of the test strips as this is where the manufacturers make their money.
If you get a home kit you can test your levels when you get the jittery legs.
 
Sparky81 said:
Thank you so much with your replies. I often get jittery legs at night if I eat chocolate late at night. I’ve stopped now but any form of carbs give me jittery legs at night like they’re crawling or twitching that’s one thing along with low sugar symptoms which made me wonder if i was diabetic that was the reason for my questions.
Thank you
Click to expand...

Jittery legs aren’t a diabetes symptom. Maybe it’s a vitamin deficiency? Again, diabetes is high sugar not low.

You did the right thing getting an HbA1C test. Now diabetes and pre-diabetes have been ruled out, I’d look elsewhere for an answer, and concentrate on eating nutritious food and drinking enough water.
 
Inka said:
Jittery legs aren’t a diabetes symptom. Maybe it’s a vitamin deficiency? Again, diabetes is high sugar not low.

You did the right thing getting an HbA1C test. Now diabetes and pre-diabetes have been ruled out, I’d look elsewhere for an answer, and concentrate on eating nutritious food and drinking enough water.so you don’t
Click to expand...


So you don’t think it’s due to high sugar? I call it “sugared up” that’s what it feels like I’m full of sugar and jittering different to being low sugar like I’ve been pumped full of something making me hyper.
 
Well, sometimes children (and adults?) get hyperactive from eating too much sugar, so that’s a possibility, but that’s not because their blood sugar is high.
 
Hope you get to the bottom of the symptoms you are experiencing @Sparky81

With your HbA1c at 35 it seems unlikely you are at increased riskof diabetes which is usually defined as 42-47.

Let us know what your Doc suggests as a way forward, and what you find out 🙂
 
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