Unsure of diagnosis

[flateric999]

Bit of a tricky one for me this

In essence i have found occasional raised blood sugars, the highest being 13mmols.

Thing is this isnt all the time, so i have been checking more regularly. fasting tests seem to be 5-6 with pre meal 5 ish. two hours post meal 7-8mmols.

I have also been able to munch through a take out pizza and have two hour post sugar below 6......

So i am now a bit confused.

If i am diabetic, then surely given i am only taking thyroxine my sugars should be higher than this given i dont follow any diet.

Does being controlled on thyroxine for hypothyroidism have that big an impact on sugar control? i would have expected if anything low sugars.



Eric

 

[g-man]

Don't know anything about that particular drug, but you could just be at the start of diabetes where it's pretty easy to control with just diet alone.

Pizza is one of those foods that, because of all the fat content, will take anything from 3-6 hours (depending on the person) for variations to show. It would have been interesting to see your 4hr reading which I suspect would have been higher.

When I was first diagnosed, my fasting level was around 8, this was due to all the stuff I'd been eating. Once I kicked off the 'managing by diet', it dropped down to around 5 - 6. It didn't last long and after a while (months rather than years), I moved to metformin.

I am a type 1.5 though, so the progression is somewhat quicker for me. Whilst you can control it by diet alone you are very fortunate, but I'd recommend you make your diet super healthy to delay the requirement for the drugs you will inevitably need.

G-man

 

[Copepod]

it's all endocrinology

Hi Eric

It's definitely worth presenting your blood glucose figures and food intake / physical activity records to your doctor. All doctors study endocrinology, which covers diabetes and thyroid problems. Some GPs specialise in one or other or both, and there are hospital specialist endocrinologists. Sometimes hospital departments are called "diabetes and endocrinology", and include (or have links to) dieticians, nurses, pharmacists, podiatrists, psychologists, doctors etc. In some ways, it's not the diagnosis that is the key, it's getting appropriate treatment from people who take into account everything that is important in your life (well, perhaps not getting a new sports car, but things like driving licences).

 

[diagonall]

Bit of a tricky one for me this

In essence i have found occasional raised blood sugars, the highest being 13mmols.

Thing is this isnt all the time, so i have been checking more regularly. fasting tests seem to be 5-6 with pre meal 5 ish. two hours post meal 7-8mmols.

I have also been able to munch through a take out pizza and have two hour post sugar below 6......

So i am now a bit confused.

If i am diabetic, then surely given i am only taking thyroxine my sugars should be higher than this given i dont follow any diet.

Does being controlled on thyroxine for hypothyroidism have that big an impact on sugar control? i would have expected if anything low sugars.



Eric

Hi Eric,
You need to go to your Dr and have some blood drawn so they can do a check on you.
The odd 13 could be due to something on your hands if you haven't washed and dried them properly. But it's not worth thinking this is the problem and having a false sense of security.
You do need to go and get this sorted though as the longer you leave it the more likely it will be for you to have complications.(which you don't want) If you do have diabetes.
Just cutting down on the amount of carbs you eat per meal will greatly reduce numbers. Startches are a killer for blood sugars so restrict those to small portions. Pasta/bread/rice/spuds/pizza are all 😱 on my blood sugars so I tend to make sure I have smaller portions of these. I'm lucky in that I have a pump so if I get it right my numbers are fine with these foods but type 2's do not have that advantage when on diet/tablets.

 

[Caroline Wilson]

The odd high reading on the surface doesn't seem too much to worry about, but it is always worth getting checked out. In the least it is re assurance for you that nothing else is happening. One of my friends with thyroid problems is checked out regulalry for diabetes.

When doing the tests, it is always worth making sure you have clean dry hands. Soap and water is best as I find some of those hand sanitisers affect the results as they contain alcohol.

I try to keep a track of what my levels are, and when there is a high it is because of something I've eaten or because I've forgotten to take a pill.

It may be worth keeping a food diary and a record of your glucose levels and present them to your doctor. It will help you both form a clearer picture of what is going on.

 

[flateric999]

Thanks for all the info so far, i have no other symptoms so this is early in onset.

I will be doing regular monitoring over the next week or so as recommended by some of the reading i am doing. this will confirm or dispute any diabetes tendancies.

While i am tempted to ditch the BM kit and try to stop being paranoid i will feel better if i can prove to myself there is no problem apart from the od rogue high reading.

Plan is morning reading, then 2 hours post meals.

 

[diagonall]

Thanks for all the info so far, i have no other symptoms so this is early in onset.

I will be doing regular monitoring over the next week or so as recommended by some of the reading i am doing. this will confirm or dispute any diabetes tendancies.

While i am tempted to ditch the BM kit and try to stop being paranoid i will feel better if i can prove to myself there is no problem apart from the od rogue high reading.

Plan is morning reading, then 2 hours post meals.

It would be a lot simpler to just go and see your GP who will then arrange a blood test which will tell you what the last 3 months average blood sugar was.(HbA1c) If you are having high readings then you have a problem. Which needs to be sorted sooner rather than later.
You might not have any symptoms due to being higher than normal over a prolonged period of time. You would be suprised at how many people have no symptoms and are just picked up due to a works medical.

 

[flateric999]

Ok so went for bloods, Hba1C despite eating c**p 5.8

TSH 2.9 T4 11

Makes me a little suspicious that this is not diabeties causing random high sugars.

More confused that ever now!!!!

 

[sofaraway]

A1c is good so doesn't look like you have diabetes from that test.
Can I ask what prompted you to start testing your blood sugars if you don't feel any symptoms?

If you have any risk factors for diabetes then the best thing is to move away from the 'c**p' and eat more healthy and increase exercise.

 

[mikep1979]

thats a good a1c eric. now i would have to agree that based on that your not diabetic. if it is your doctor who said you are then you need to ask why they thought it and if it is due to rogue bg levels now and again then maybe a full blood screening is needed to rule anything and everything out. but again good a1c 🙂

 

[flateric999]

hi guys,

well i dont have many risk factors for diabetes apart from the whole thyroid thing, so hopefully that is the end of it, although will keep an eye on hings.

diet is good mostly and i run 3 times a week at least, walk dog an hour a day so fitness is good.

Gp was rightly careful about diagnosing diabetes on a high single reading, although its not unheard of, my own thought is this was sluggish thyroid, only wish i could prove that!!

 

[AmandaB]

Hi guys

Ok, my comment... have been T1 for 39 years. Got hyperthyroidism firstly about 15 years ago, after several bouts I had radioactive iodine (8 years ago), they got the dose wrong and completely killed off my thyroid so now I have hypothyroidism.

Anyway, the thyroid doesn't affect your insulin production, they are completely separate. The only thing is that if its hypothyroid then you're likely to feel less hungy but also have less energy and do less so it could cause higher blood glucose, but only if you're diabetic in the first place.

Not sure if this helps!!

 

[flateric999]

Hi guys

Anyway, the thyroid doesn't affect your insulin production, they are completely separate. The only thing is that if its hypothyroid then you're likely to feel less hungy but also have less energy and do less so it could cause higher blood glucose, but only if you're diabetic in the first place.

Not sure if this helps!!

Your right there is no direct connection with thyroid and insulin production but thyroid disorders do affect blood glucose control, though not usually like this.

we, ie me and the GP are putting this down to rogue high readings, rather than a new diagnosis. Hypothyroidism by the nature of slowing down metabolism could certainly give high readings, also as with most endocrine disorders, you often get both together

mike