I have a question about blood sugar. Mine has always been in normal range, but for the past few months I've had alot of wierd things going on and the doctors cant figure it out. I've been having dizzy spells,nausea,headache,elevated blood pressure for the first time in my life,and a number of other symptoms. I am hypothyroid, and it's not stabilized as of yet. My doctor just sent me for a CT scan of my pelvis and abdomen because she suspected an adrenal mass....that came back normal...along with all other tests I've gone through. So what brings me here is, during my Dr. appt on the 31st of Jan, she checked my blood sugar and said it was normal. It was 108 and I had not eaten or drank anything since the night before. (I guess she assumed I ate breakfast)I later found out fasting blood sugar should be between 60 and 90. My mothers boyfriend told me this, he's a body builder who is hypothyroid also. So he checked my blood with his meter after I ate a meal at moms house and it was 159 about 20 minutes after eating. Should I get a second opinion on my blood sugar? Should I go to another doctor? Could my wierd symptoms just be pre-diabetes???

A couple of your symptoms align with diabetes. These are usually accompanied by frequent urination and excessive thirst. 108 isn't a terrible
sugar, although it is higher than the "prediabetes" qualifying levels typically accepted. Your doctor is probably (and rightly) reluctant to place the "diabetes" label upon a single high reading. She will probably test you again once or twice before making any recommendation. This level is a judgement call for the doctor, it is not screamingly loud and clear, and you are not presenting with the very compelling symptoms. Glucometers are only accurate to about 10%, too. I have no cause for concern because your doctor seems quite thorough to have done the testing and to have made the recommendations you are stating.


Diabetes is frequently accompanied by hypertension, too.

I wouldn't necessarily go back to a doctor just yet. You say you have a glucometer.....

Try taking a week-average of your fasting sugar level. It is better to wait about two hours after you wake up, "dawn phenomenon" can make the reading high when you first get up. Delay your breakfast a bit, and take your sugar for a week, then look at the average to say whether you are "prediabetic". If you are, call your doc and present her with this evidence.

Your reading of 159 20 minutes after eating is not compelling, either, if you ate any substantial carbohydrates - if you ate only protein and/or fat, I would be quite concerned. This represents a rise of 50 points, if your baseline is 108. Your sugar would probably increase more until about 45 minutes after you eat, then start going back down.

Your sugar should be below 140 two hours after eating. I think it likely you would qualify.

Lower your carb intake for a couple of weeks. If you find your symptoms going away, then you know.

A fasting of 108 would possibly put you in the very early stages of pre-diabetes. However, it's also possible that the symptoms you're experiencing are actually from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which is often a precursor to diabetes.

Suggestion: Test your blood sugar before eating a meal, then at the 1, 2, 3 and 4 hour points after eating (start the timing from when you begin eating, not from when you finish.) If at any time during those tests your blood sugar is dropping much below 70 (maybe even below 75), then your symptoms could be caused by reactive hypoglycemia. Try this out at least twice; once with a low-carb meal and once with a high-carb meal.

Of course, all the symptoms you describe could also be coming from the low thyroid levels...but if that's been taken care of by medication, then you might suspect hypoglycemia which is slowly turning into pre-diabetes.

Ruth

Normal blood glucose for a person without diabetes is 70-100 before meals. This is according to the book my doctor's office gave me and also the lab values we use at the hospital where I work. After meals, you should wait two hours after the start of the meal and it should be <110.