New T2 - Help unscramble this..

[steveokla]

I was diagnosed T2 this week. Still have a ton of questions going through my mind. Some things are really confusing and I'm sure the board can help sort them out. My dr (which happens to be a VERY close FAMILY FRIEND) said I was right on the bubble with a 6 A1C. My other numbers Cholesterol, trig, HDL, etc. were way out of line. Cholesterol was 257, HDL was 27, and Trig was 489. He said he ran the test twice. Said we would monitor it through diet the first three months. Gave me a bg meter and said to check it on a morning fasting, trying to keep it between 90 and 120. Yesterday it was 95, today 90. Glad to be here and hope to learn more as I go. I can be out in the yard working and get shaky and have to stop with little physical exertion. I'm not overweight, male, 5'11, 200lb. He did say to check into the internet and I would and would learn a lot! It seems that my numbers are running low, but shouldn't they be high with T2? Maybe it's just the morning numbers that are low and then shoot up...

[lasko]

It seems that my numbers are running low, but shouldn't they be high with T2? Running low and it's asociated problem are a big concern with insulin users, but T2s can also have the problem with exercise.

[Harold]

There is only one way to find out what's going on when you feel off. Use your meter and stop guessing. The list of symptoms are essentially the same for low bg's and high bg's. To compound it you can have the same symptoms with rapidly rising or falling bg's.

BTW Welcome to the forums and Please do not post duplicate posts in different forums.

[labob]

Fasting numbers in the 90s are not "low," although I think they are in non-diabetic range. An A1c of 6.0 is not bad for someone who has been diagnosed and is trying to control his/her blood glucose levels, but I'm pretty sure it's outside of the non-diabetic range.

Harold, I'm a little confused by your comment regarding the symptoms for high and low blood glucose levels. Maybe I misunderstood, but my reactions are very different depending on whether I'm running high (which I define as a post-meal reading over 140 mg/dl) or low (which I define as a pre-meal reading under 70 mg/dl). If I'm low, I feel shaky, nervous, extremely anxious, etc.; if I'm running really high (actually well over 140), I feel tired and kind of washed out. The symptoms are very different for me.

[Harold]

Harold, I'm a little confused by your comment regarding the symptoms for high and low blood glucose levels. Maybe I misunderstood, but my reactions are very different depending on whether I'm running high (which I define as a post-meal reading over 140 mg/dl) or low (which I define as a pre-meal reading under 70 mg/dl). If I'm low, I feel shaky, nervous, extremely anxious, etc.; if I'm running really high (actually well over 140), I feel tired and kind of washed out. The symptoms are very different for me.For the most part my symptoms for low and high are the same as yours. What I said was the LIST of symptoms and they are. What I was warned about and have experienced is the symptoms may swap at anytime and from one day to the next. Then there are the days I feel no symptoms at the same levels.

[steveokla]

I tested about 4 times today. It kept creaping up... started before breakfast around 95. Ending tonight around bedtime at 157 ( no meds)

[Harold]

Think you answered your original question! So where do you plan on going from here? From what you have said it does not appear you have been offically dx'd yet. You might be lucky, catching this early enough and have a chance of reversing it.

[steveokla]

No... I was in the dr's office this past tuesday and he said officially T2 based on the A1C but would try and regulate with diet and exercise for the first 3 months and then reevaulate the direction we would take.

[Harold]

Interesting, dx usually requires one to fail two different test done on different days, usually a month apart. That has exceptions as in if you went in and had a RBG done and it was over two hundred, or I thought an A1c of 7 or over. The three test usually done for dx are RBG, FBG, and GTT. With the FBG being the so called Gold Standard for dx. Not saying you don't have it so don't it wrong. Think you should be treating it as you do have it. Doctors have other resources and they may be changing the standards unbeknownest to us.

There is a lot of debate on the No Meds take on diabetes management. In the past couple of years the recomendation has been to prescribe oral drugs to Prediabetes to try to reverse it. This approach was deemed possible through some study. Which leads many to believe it foolish or irresponsible, possibly a form of denial, to try control on diet and exercise alone for full blown type 2. Expect a lot of responses on that statement and some of them heated. :)

[steveokla]

My doctor said A1C standards are at a 6 to tip the scale. Who knows. Guess we have to trust our physicians. I'm not sure he would want me going in this direction if he was undecided...

[Harold]

Kudos to your doctor! Mine seen it coming a year before dx and only told me to eat more protein. I was dx'd 6 years ago with an A1c of 7% and going over 200mg/dL on a GTT. My lipids did not climb untill 2 to 3 years later.