[ade234uk]

My grandfather had Diabetes, My father also had Diabetes. He was insulin dependant, but never looked after himself properly.

I feel I have all the symptoms of a Diabetic.
I have constant thrush, it never goes away.
I wake up usually feeling groggy and tired.
I also get tingling in my hands and feet every now and then
I urinate quite a bit and also get quite thirsty at night.
If I eat the wrong foods my body tells me this the next day.

I bought a Glucose meter, it arrived today and I tested myself. The meter read 8.2. I dont have a clue what this means.

I am seeing the doctor next week, but what does 8.2 mean and is it quite a high reading.

Thank you very much for your help.

[Funnygrl]

8.2 is marginal, but not very high. Your symptoms don't really scream diabetes, but they sorta could be. You might have pre-diabetes. I'm glad to hear you are going to the doctor.

[ade234uk]

I am going to do another test tommorow. I reckon it could be Pre- diabetes like you suggested, and since my grandfather and father had it might have passed on. Also since I will not have eaton during the night it might be a good time to test.

I sometimes suffer from small trembles, shaking as well.

[Geoff]

Hi ade234uk, Welcome to the forum it is good to see another Brit here. All of the systems that you describe are markers for being diabetic. The reading you got from your glucose meter is a high reading for a none diabetic, this does not mean 100% that you are, as there could be other factors that contribute to this reading such as how soon after eating a meal did you take the reading? If it was less than two hours, even a non diabetic could hit this number before dropping back into the normal range, which is around 4.5-6.0mmol/lt for most people. You really need to test first thing in the morning before you eat, then after two hours, and before and after each meal for the next two to three days. keep a record of your results, and make an appointment with your GP, who will advise you if you need further tests.

I hope this is of some help to you. Others here on the forum will expand on this advice.

[ade234uk]

Thank you very very much. I will check tommorow morning Geoff and report back.

Thank you for the advice its been great. Say I do have it, I can accept that becuase I remember what my father went through with his Diabetes and not what to do with your diet.

Unfortunately he passed away 3 years ago, this was becuase he did not look after himself properly. Actually just thinking about this, has bought it all back to me again.

[ade234uk]

I did a new reading this morning without eating and I came out at 6.9, I presume this is still a little high for a non diabetic.

Will keep testing myself like you suggested.

[Geoff]

Yes keep doing the tests, and keep reporting back then we can see if there is a patten. Just a question when do you have your last meal before bedtime, and how many grams of carbohydrate are you eating? To get a good picture do not eat anything for at least eight hours before your first morning test.

[ade234uk]

I have my last meal about 6pm in the evening. Then I might get myself cerial around 9pm in the evening.

[ade234uk]

Ok I have test results for Sunday and Monday morning. This was with no eating for +8 hours

Sunday 5.2 mmol/L
Monday 6.5 mmol/L

Today I will take a reading before my evening meal and then two hours after

Then Tuesday I will take a reading in the morning then one before my evening meal and then one two hours after my evening meal

Reason Is I don't have enough strips. But at least I can build up a small picture and hopefully leave me with 3 more strips for wednesday

[Geoff]

Hi ade234uk, Good to see you are sticking with the testing. You are still showing on the good side of normal, but if your pre-breakfast reading continue to show in the high 6 mmol/lt range, you could be be going into what is termed pre-diabetic. This is a warning sign, but with changes in life style and eating habits you could stay none diabetic for a long time, if not for ever. Ask you GP about speaking to a dietician for advice on eating.

keep up the testing, and keep reporting back.

[ade234uk]

I'm off to the docs today. I will report back. Here are some more results. I totally forgot the complete test yesterday, but got the morning results. Any here goes.

Monday [ before breakfast ] 6.5
Monday [ before evening meal ] 4.9
Monday [ after evening meal ] 6.6

Tuesday [ before breakfast ] 6.2

Wednesday [ before breakfast ] 6.3

[BlueSky]

It looks like you have Impaired Fasting Glucose. The criteria for this is fasting blood glucose between 6.1 & 7.0 mmol/l. It means that you are at risk of becoming a T2 diabetic, but taking suitable action now may enable you avoid this. Here is an article about it :

Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus: New Criteria - October 15, 1998 - American Academy of Family Physicians

Scroll down to table 2. And good luck!

[ade234uk]

This morning I feel totally ****. Light headed, pins and needles in my arms.

A lot of this is due to anxiety about going to the docs, however I would not be suprised if I do have diabetes, but lets wait and see. I am not a doctor. However If I do have it I can live with it and accept it. My dad and my grandfather had it.

Other days I wake up and feel great. Not a twitch, not a problem.

[ade234uk]

I just got back. I have blood fasting test next Tuesday. I showed the Doctor my results and he said we may be able to control it, with diet, however we will wait until I have had these tests.

All your advice has been fantastic on these boards.

He also took my blood pressure, and it was a little high.

I have never had high blood pressure in my life, but I have only starting feeling ill since my workload was increased at work and more was put on me.

I am also very anxious, I never stop worrying about things, especially work and stuff so this has not helped.

The HBP might explain why I am feeling ****, some mornings and are getting these other problems like pins and needles.

However this does not explain why I get thrush on a regular basis, so this could be the diet thing.

So the plan is, eat more healthier and increase my exercise. When I finally get some blood tests I can report back again.

Again let me say thank you for your advice.

[sofaraway]

Glad you went to see your GP and it seems he is taking your concerns seriously,
The fasting blood test if it comes back as the same as your results have been on your meter they may not be high enough for a diagnosis. you may want to ask fro a glucose tolerence test.

if I had relied only on fasting blood glucose i would have gone undisgnosed for several years.

diabetes or not, eating more healthy and exercising sound like a good plan.