Few questions

[kee4u]

Hi there,

I have a few questions to ask you all. I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes June 2007 my fasting bg was at 130 and 169 and my A1c was at 6.0 my thyroid and cholesterol was ok I'm taking 80mg Pravachol and 125mg Levothyoxine and 40mg Protonix for acid reflex.
I took another A1c test in Sept 2007 and it was at 5.1 My question is when should i go back to have my blood work again? The report said to come back for routin blood work. I don't know what that means 6 month? 9 months? one year? what do you think?

My other question is this i bought a drug store brand meter I did it because the strips are cheaper about $52.00 a 100 My question is how reliable are they? I know the saying "you get what you pay for" but in this case is that true? My numbers seems to be high at times in the 190's to lower 200's but at time it's in the 115 to 140's it's been 9 months since i've seen my doctor and 6 months since my last A1c test. Thanks for any help...Ken

[itotito]

Originally Posted by kee4u

Hi there,

I have a few questions to ask you all. I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes June 2007 my fasting bg was at 130 and 169 and my A1c was at 6.0 my thyroid and cholesterol was ok I'm taking 80mg Pravachol and 125mg Levothyoxine and 40mg Protonix for acid reflex.
I took another A1c test in Sept 2007 and it was at 5.1 My question is when should i go back to have my blood work again? The report said to come back for routin blood work. I don't know what that means 6 month? 9 months? one year? what do you think?

My other question is this i bought a drug store brand meter I did it because the strips are cheaper about $52.00 a 100 My question is how reliable are they? I know the saying "you get what you pay for" but in this case is that true? My numbers seems to be high at times in the 190's to lower 200's but at time it's in the 115 to 140's it's been 9 months since i've seen my doctor and 6 months since my last A1c test. Thanks for any help...Ken

I used Brand X of a meter and it measured always much less than when I had the lab do the test. Then I bought a aviva accu-check and it always gives numbers very close to lab tests, so I trust it. These devices can be as much as 20% off I believe, which is a lot. But if you are getting fasting numbers at 200, you want to be sure your meter is wrong. I would get a reputable brand and compare the two. Even 140 is too high fasting, so you do want to get this checked out.

[Canada eh]

I have a fasting test and A1C checked every 3 months. I would think that it should be done at least every 6 months ( my opinion only). These results let your Dr know when you need to start / adjust medications. I have heard here many times that this is a progressive disease and most can only control with diet so long, then medication for so long, so regular check ups are necessary.

[SamQKitty]

Ken,
Not sure if I understood your post correctly. Did they do two fasting blood glucose tests, one of which was 130 and the other 169? If so, you are not pre-diabetic but are, in fact, in the early stages of T2 diabetes. That doesn't mean you can't control it with diet and exercise, and your A1c's show very excellent control, but if your doctor called it "pre-diabetes" with those fasting numbers, I would see another doctor! The gold standard for diagnosing T2 has been, for many, many years, two fasting blood glucose levels of 126 or more. Pre-diabetes is when your fasting bg's are in the 100-125 range.

Why is this important? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, as Canada pointed out, T2 is often progressive, and you should be seeing a doctor more often. It sounds as if this doctor has been less than thorough in educating you as to how to manage this disease and in following up. You should definitely be seen at least every 6 months.

Second, with a diagnosis of diabetes and a scrip from a doctor, your health insurance will most likely pay for the meter and the test strips, which means you can then get a good meter. Many of the brand names are excellent. I personally use the One Touch Ultra by Lifescan, but the Freestyle and the Accu-check are also excellent meters.

Ruth