I went to the doctor a couple of years ago and was informed that my blood sugar was a little high. He told me to lose 20 lbs and come back in 3 months to get checked again. Well, here it is 2 years down the road and I haven't been back yet. I have been really tired lately - BTW - I'm 50 years old and overweight. I haven recently started a new job and attribute part of my fatigue to that since I haven't worked in 21 years. I went to visit my uncle (who is a diabetic) and had him test my blood with his monitor. We had eaten a lunch of mexican casserole chips and cheese sauce and sugar free key lime pie. I just had a small helping of each and had him test my blood sugar. It was 124. But afterwards I realized that I hadn't waited 2 hours - only 1 1.2 hours after I had eaten. Is this number high with what I ate after 1 1.2 hours of eating? I do intend to go to the doctor soon anyway. By the way, I've lost 5 1.2 lbs. already. Thanks, Cindy

Your fasting blood sugar should be below 100 and 2 hours after you eat it should have come down to below 140. So 124 at 1.5 hours is fine.

Cora

I agree with Cora as far as that blood sugar after you ate...it's fine. HOWEVER...you received a wake-up call over two years ago and, to date, haven't done much about it. Type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness, and it usually (not always, but usually) gets worse as time goes by. The better you manage it (diet, weight loss, exercise, good meal planning, medications if needed), the more slowly it will progress. Conversely, if you ignore it and stick your head in the sand, it'll most likely progress more quickly, and once it gets to a certain point, the only thing that will work is insulin.

You have a wonderful opportunity now to take charge of the disease instead of letting it take charge of you. See your doctor, ask for a referral to a registered dietician for advice on meal planning, and start following a plan of eating that works for you to help you lose weight. Add some daily exercise in to the mix. If you do all that, you may never have to worry about going on insulin, and might even be able to avoid the necessity for oral medications.

By the way, just because something is "sugar-free" doesn't mean it's okay. What counts is the total carbohydrate content, whether it's from sugar, flour, milk products, etc. Doesn't mean you can't have any of those things, just means you have to watch your portions. This is something a registered dietician can help you with, too.

Ruth