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Possible pre-diabetes

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
James Hartley

James Hartley

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Hi everyone. My name is James and am currently trying to understand what is happening with me.
I am 34, non-smoker, i drink, have normal blood pressure and a normal BMI for my height (6ft 1). I have lost over a stone in weight since Xmas due to a combination of walking, swimming and intermittent fasting.
However, 10 days ago i started getting a dry mouth and feeling drained. This has progressed over that period and with the dry mouth came thirst. I knew enough to know that this could be Diabetes related so had a finger prick test done at Lloyds Pharmacy. The result was 6.5(after a 12 hour fast) which the Nurse said was normal. I went to my GP and he said it was on the high side but no reason to suspect Diabetes. In any case, he sent me for a non-fasting blood test which i have now done and await the results of.
Can anyone tell me the difference/significance between the two tests? Also, is my reading of 6.5, on the finger prick test, high? There seems to be a difference of opinion with those i have spoken to.
Thanks for reading.
James
 
Hi James, a fasting finger prick test should normally register under 5.6 for a non diabetic but a one off test isn't reliable at all, nor is a symptom of having a dry mouth which can be caused by lots of things. Severe thirst and high urine output are symptoms of diabetes along with fatigue but there may be other reasons.
Prediabetes or Impaired Glucose Tolerance: 5.6 to 7.0 mmol/

The test your GP will now have done is the Hba1c test (usually a blood sample taken from your arm) and this looks at the level of glycated haemoglobin in your system for the past 10-12 weeks. Essentially how much glucose has stuck to the red blood cells. It's the test now used to diagnose diabetes and the level at which a diabetic diagnosis is made is 48 or 6.5. However don't confuse this 6.5 with the finger prick result, they're different ways of measuring.

Ideally your result will be below 42 because anything over suggests pre-diabetes. Don't panic however, this is sortable and your levels don't sound in any way drastic.

Hope all works out well for you but please come back if you need advice once the result is in. Unless there's a strong familial history, you don't sound like the usual candidate for type 2 however.
 
Amigo said:
Hi James, a fasting finger prick test should normally register under 5.6 for a non diabetic but a one off test isn't reliable at all, nor is a symptom of having a dry mouth which can be caused by lots of things. Severe thirst and high urine output are symptoms of diabetes along with fatigue but there may be other reasons.
Prediabetes or Impaired Glucose Tolerance: 5.6 to 7.0 mmol/

The test your GP will now have done is the Hba1c test (usually a blood sample taken from your arm) and this looks at the level of glycated haemoglobin in your system for the past 10-12 weeks. Essentially how much glucose has stuck to the red blood cells. It's the test now used to diagnose diabetes and the level at which a diabetic diagnosis is made is 48 or 6.5. However don't confuse this 6.5 with the finger prick result, they're different ways of measuring.

Ideally your result will be below 42 because anything over suggests pre-diabetes. Don't panic however, this is sortable and your levels don't sound in any way drastic.

Hope all works out well for you but please come back if you need advice once the result is in. Unless there's a strong familial history, you don't sound like the usual candidate for type 2 however.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Amigo. Not got the hang of the posting in forum yet. Thanks for the informative and promot response.
 
Hi James, lots of things can affect out BG, yes, the big test will be the HbA1c result.

Whatever comes back then I would advise not to worry about it, if it turns out that you are pre-D or D then you will get lots of wonderful advise from the board. If it turns out that you are neither then you will still get wonderful advice as much of what we talk about is lifestyle in general.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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