Diabetes Question

[Eeyores Butterfly]

In September I was diagnosed with prediabetes. I am a little concerned with the more I read that a C-Peptide or Glucose Tolerance Test were not performed.

Within the last week I have had three readings in the 200's. It's my understanding that this is the threshold for full blown diabetes. I'm thinking it's time to bite the bullet and go see my family doctor (a two hour drive). My mom also wants me to see a family friend who is an endo, but I was very rudely told that they do not accept patient referrals. I'm a little worried about how fast the progression has been. During the week between my first visit and my diagnosis my highest reading was 169. It's been about a month and now I'm in the 200's?

So what do you all think? Should I call my family doctor, or wait and see?

 

[mechurchlady]

You need an endocrinologist and a regular doctor who will be with you and monitor you. DisneyMom and Sue are nurses who can help you most. Make sure what ever doctor you get will do ALL tests and be watching for things like vision, skin, and other changes. Diabetes can usually be managed if the patient and the doctor are both knowledged and work together. My aunt has very bad health and diabetes because her pet doctor was a doddering old fool who did not tell my aunt about diabetes until she was very bad off.

hugs
chin up
laurie

 

[mgilmer]

I am not an MD, but I do have diabetes, and if you are getting readings in the 200s and above, you are already a diabetic. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there it is.

 

[wdhinn89]

Go to your doctor before long term complications begin. Procrastinating does not make the situation go away. Take care of your health!

 

[Talking Hands]

I am a diabetic and any fasting reading above 124 is now considered diabetes. Any reading over 140 fasting or otherwise are diabetes. You need to see an endocrinologist and your family doctor.

 

[DisneyCDE]

you need to see your doctor so you can get things under control. You can control your diabetes so it does not control you

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Thanks for all of the replies! With all that I've read since my diagnosis, I'm really surprised a Glucose Tolerance Test wasn't done. I'm going to my family doctor (a two hour drive) on the 31. That was the earliest they could get me in that works with my schedule. Normally my fastings have been under 110, but this morning it was 134! I can't believe it's progressing this fast! Of course, I've been mildly sick the last few days, so I don't know how much that affects it.

I'm hoping my doctor will refer me to our endo friend.

 

[Joanna71985]

Hang in there Jessi. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Ugh, I can't wait for the appointment. Next Friday feels like forever away.

Yesterday I had a reading of 206 three hours after eating (forgot my meter so couldn't do a two hour test) and tonight it was 244 after dinner. I'm thinking my original doctor missed the mark, but at least she got me started on the path. I can't wait to figure out exactly what is going on and get this under cntrol.

 

[PatsMom]

Just wanted to say good luck with the doctor. You are young to be developing Type II so it is really important that you get control of it now. I can sympathize with you - I was older than I think you are but I was only 31 when originally diagnosed. I had gestational diabetes and I am one of that very small percentage who didn't recover when the baby was born. Gestational diabetes does increase the odds that you'll develope Type II diabetes later on but most get a break for a lot of years in between.

As others have said, you can control this disease!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Thanks for the encouragement. I am honestly wondering if it is really Type 2. I have met several people online with a simliar beginning who were really type 1.5. I just don't fit the profile of a typical Type 2. Until two years ago I was a performer for Disney, was at my ideal weight, very active. Yes, in those two years I gained about 25 pounds, but that is not a lot of weight and I have been working to take it off, eating healthy, etc.

My mom is a microbiologist in a hospital so she does a lot of the tests that they use to diagnosis. She thinks my pancreas may be calling it quits. From what I understand of LADA, it has a slow progression similar to prediabetes/Type II which is why it is often misdiagnosed, and it seems like the most common form in people my age, which is why I'm wondering if that's not my issue.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Hi, I hate to hijack your thread but I really need to ask a bunch of questions.

I was given the diagnosis of diabetes the day before I left for WDW in mid-Oct. The on-call doc (not my normal doc) called at 8 am on a Sat to give me the news and tell me it was very serious. My reading was in the 300's. He wanted me to go immediately and get another test. Sounded serious to me. Talked to my regular doc on Monday from a bench in DHS and said my second test was as bad as my first. My regular doc called in a prescription for pills for me to taken when I returned, said to avoid sugar and come in for an office visit in two weeks. At that visit, he took my blood sugar reading which was 90. He said to continue what I was doing and come back in 6 weeks since it takes 6 weeks for the pills to work effectively. He said I didn't need to test my blood sugar and to call the hopital to get into a diabetes class. I told him I hardly ate anything because I was afraid of what to eat and lost 10 lbs. He said good, you need to lose weight

I've seen on the diabetes website that you can have some carbs each meal. I've been eating some carbs and when I checked my blood sugar at the hospital today (long story) it was 222. I think I should see an endocridologist. I don't want to wait another 6 weeks to see what I should be doing. I realize that you are not doctors but I'm thinking I should get another doctor to help me manage my diabetes. What do you think? Am I overreacting?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[mechurchlady]

SnowWhite2:
If you can afford it then do see an endrocrinologist and try to find someone who specializes in diabetes. On this board you will hear over and over how people had self-educate themselves on an illness in their life. It to a homeopathic chiroprator to get me off of wheat then me researching celiac and going on my own to a free testing before I knew I had celiac. Also some doctors take too lightly illness and disorders. I think your doctor needs some more classes.

Blood sugar numbers do not be diddly squat unless there is other information included. Sugar of 90 is very low if you had just eaten a big meal an hour before hand or high if you had been fasting for 20 hours. 300 can be very high or a little high depending on things like stress and diet. Eating a candy bar before visiting the doctor for example will give a false reading.

Since you are newly diagnosed he should have recommended a food diary to teach you self awareness of what you eat. He should have recommended daily or even before and 2 hours after meals testing for a while to see if you are on track then in time back down to daily or even no testing. The food diary plus the readings would show how food is affecting your sugars and if the meds are working right.

Also he should be asking why your sugars are high. I have celiac and when I get wheat reactions my sugars go haywire. Stress, diet and poor health can affect sugars. He should have arranged for some form of education on diet. Avoiding sugars is not going to help your sugar levels if you are pigging out on the carbs like potatos, bread, and pizza. A bit of protein keeps the sugars up. Cannot explain but it does. Beans can cause sugars to go low and mom has crashed once because she ate beans. He should have taught you what to do if your sugars went too low. If he could not do the educating then he should have sent you to a dietician or classes.

There are horrible things that can happens because of diabetes but with proper education, self awareness and daily maintenance most problems can be delayed or prevented. Your doctor is as bad as the one my aunt had who did not tell her about diabetes until she had had early stages for 10 years and was very sick. Because of his incompetence she nearly lost her foot and her diabetes is far worse that her two sisters. I want to get some diabetes literature and wap him up side the head. grr.

 

[PatsMom]

SnowWhite2 - Will your insurance pay for a certified diabetes educator? After years of self educating and dealing with doctors who don't take type II seriously, my control was so bad that I finally went to an endocrinologist (which I should have done years ago). That was when I was finally told that I could not control this with diet and oral meds alone - it was time for insulin. And time to start testing myself regularly. The specialist was appalled that my doctor had the same attitude yours did regarding testing in Type II's - she didn't believe I needed to do it unless I was insulin dependent and for years I would resist any suggestion of testing or injecting insulin. The endo immediately sent me to a CDE who has been wonderful. They take the time to work with you to educate you about your disease and the treatments. If your insurance won't pay, you might want to consider paying yourself. I know that at this point I would have been happy to have paid somewhere between $150 and $200 for each session with my CDE. If I had started seeing her several years ago, I would probably be much better off now.

Don't wait for complications like neuropathy to start before you start aggressively educating yourself. As mechurchlady said, the blood sugar numbers need to be taken in context. I kept a "diary" of when I tested, what I had eaten, how stressed I was, etc. that really helped us to figure out how to get my blood sugars under control. I learned that starving yourself is not a way to lower blood sugar - your body will make more. You actually need to eat some carbs or your blood sugar will be higher. But you want good carbs!

Good luck to you.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I guess since it popped back up I should update this thread real quick:

Saw the doctor, wouldn't even answer my question if it was diabetes or prediabetes. She also told me the tests weren't necessary. I didn't even ask for an endo referral since she obviously wasn't game. Meanwhile, I continue to have high numbers. I have my follow up with the first doctor at the beginning of December. They called me to reschedule and I brought up the tests then. They told me it should not be a problem. So maybe in December I'll get a clearer answer.

Snow White: Get a meter! If you go online you can get one for free from pretty much any company. You also need to see an endo. Get your doctor to refer you if you can. I would not wait six weeks if you can help it.