Need help, don't understand info nurse gave me

[swingerofbirche]

Hi, I am a 25 year old male, I've had chronic anxiety problems since I was 14, and have been on a medication called Seroquel for about the last 5 years at 50 mg (at bedtime). This medication is known to raise blood sugar.

I recently asked my psychiatrist to test my blood sugar. I wanted it tested because I've had an uncomfortable fatigue, huge appetite, and huge thirst, plus I bruise pretty easily and they take a long time to heal. I am also very sedentary, sort of as a shut-in. And I often feel weak. When I was a kid, I would have blackouts where I wouldn't be able to see, and I finally made the connection that juice boxes made it go away, so I always carried juice with me. My parents thought I was just weak from being a vegetarian and told me eating meat would solve the problem. Beyond the blackouts, ever since I can remember I've had a very strange visual phenomena of what I called "floating colors," it's almost like a haze of static over my vision. It's hard to describe--the last time I had my eyes checked, which was now maybe four years ago they said they were OK though, but I am very near sighted and know that diabetes can cause eye problems.

Anyhow, my test results came back and the nurse called me yesterday and said everything was fine except that the blood glucose was 5.9. She said that was on the high end of the normal range and that I should start diet and exercise. I had so many questions: what type of diet? Does this mean I have diabetes? And she had answers for none and my psychiatrist has not called me back yet! She suggested I google what type of diet I should eat! So I've been freaking out.

She told me it was the high end of normal, but when I looked it up online, it said it was the equivalent of 117 blood glucose. The time before I had my blood glucose tested it was a 100 (fasting), and the doctor said not to worry about it. (He was a bad psychiatrist who probably didn't know what he was talking about).

I'm really freaking out. I told the nurse to fax the results to my primary care doctor and I made an appt with her, but she can't see me until Feb 4. I'm definitely going to start tapering off the Seroquel (don't worry, it won't be until I see my psychiatrist and talk to him about it).

Today I started a diet and noticed I never had any of that horrible feeling that I've called "uncomfortable fatigue," sort of like a brain fog, although I've felt pretty edgy and extremely hungry. By diet I mean, eating a lot less, and eating mostly protein and vegetables and water.

I have to admit that I eat pretty bad--but if you are non-diabetic shouldn't you be able to eat somewhat large amounts of sugar and still have a normal fasting blood sugar? So basically I'm asking: does having high blood sugar mean that you're diabetic or can it also mean you eat too much sugar?

Now I'm thinking I may have had diabetes all along, and that when I found out a year ago I had a glucose level of 100 I should have acted then, but that doctor told me not to worry, etc. Argg....

Can anyone offer any more insight into what that number means? It's gonna be a good while before I get to see my PCP and when my psychiatrist gets around to calling I kind of doubt he'll know too much about this.

Also, with a level of 5.9 could I have already done irreversible damage to my body? Like nerve damage etc?

BTW, that uncomfortable tired feeling I mentioned has been getting worse, it's hard to describe, I tell people it feels like there's no blood or oxygen in my brain, and I've even said like it's not getting nutrients--it's like a tired, but not the type of tired where you could take a nap. Does that sound familiar to any type of diabetic symptom?

THANK YOU!!!!!!! (especially if you read all that)

[swingerofbirche]

I forgot to add I was first put on Zypexa and gained 50 lbs and they switched me to Seroquel and I lost some weight but not all. And that before the meds my weight was about 185, and since the meds it's been about 215, lately I've gotten it down to 207.

Also if I start dieting now and exercising, when i see the doctor in a couple of weeks will she still be able to accurately do an oral glucose tolerance test? Or will having better sugar levels from diet and exercise mask that I possibly have diabetes?

Also once you have a high level and get it under control do you no longer then have diabetes, or is it an actual disease that you have forever? Meaning that I would never be able to eat like a non-diabetic person?

[swingerofbirche]

Sorry--keep remembering new things--in general I've known for some time that eating sugary things makes me sleepy.

Also I have Tourette's Syndrome-with an unusually late onset, around the same time as anxiety, about age 15ish was when the sounds got loudest, and it's stayed with me.

[xMenace]

A 5.9 is a very very good number for a diabetic. You have little to no worry about complications at that level. With added weight and an apparent need to exercise, you probably are at risk of progressing as a diabetic. Do as they say, start exercising regularly and follow a standard, healthy diet. Continue getting annuals for now.

[xMenace]

Also once you have a high level and get it under control do you no longer then have diabetes, or is it an actual disease that you have forever? Meaning that I would never be able to eat like a non-diabetic person?

Great question. There is the disease type called diebetes mellitus or type 1. You do not have that. Then there's the 'condition' or type 2. There is no pat answer for this one. Diet, obesity, old age, genetics, and a host of other causes have been blamed. But the condition is the same. You cannot produce enough insulin to process the sugar in your body. It tends to be progressive, but not always.

There are many avenues of attack. Meds can make the insulin work better, meds can help you produce more insulin at a cost of a shorter beta cell life expectancy and a quicker onset, you can lose lots of weight, improve your diet, try an extreme low carb diet, get plenty of exercise, and some are even convinced supplements work. Check out eBay ;) The correct plan is very personal and depends on your whole health picture. Some of the drugs are simply dangerous when mixed witrh heart disease and other problems. We tend to call our doctors morons for doing such a lousy job, but it's a helluva decision.

For you or anyone else with a 5.9 A1C, lose weight, cut the carbs, and exercise is the best medicine.

[swingerofbirche]

Thanks for all the help!

I am so hungry lol. But better to be hungry than sick.

I think I'll get that oral tolerance test.

I'm still not sure I get all this completely, so let me ask another way:

The test I had tested for the last few months, and I would say I eat quite a lot of sweets, so is it possible that the test is saying "You are a non-diabetic person who ate a lot of sugar, so you had high sugar levels"

OR

Does it always mean "Your body was unable to get rid of the glucose enough so you are pre-diabetic?"

And what is pre-diabetic? Does that mean you will eventually get diabetes even if you get your blood sugar under control?

And what would be the difference between being diabetic on a restricted diet and having good blood sugar levels and a non-diabetic with good blood sugar levels? Are you at any more risk for complications?

[swingerofbirche]

Maybe I should have put my first question more simply:

Does 5.9 mean that my body isn't processing sugar well or could it also mean that I just eat too much sugar and my body processes it fine?

I again apologize for writing so much--I'm kind of obsessed with this right now since it's so new.

[matingara]

is the test you got the 5.9 on an HbA1C test?

-- Joel.

[swingerofbirche]

I'm not sure. The nurse just told me it was 5.9 and that it was the high end of the range, so I just googled 5.9 blood glucose, and it came up with the info about A1C.

[Axiom]

No you have not done any irreversible damage by having a BG of 5.9, yes sugar makes your BG go up ie super sized Mac Meal with biggie fires and Coke will send the normal non diabetic into a range of 7 2 hours later(postprandial) Seroquel maybe Zyprexa Eli Lilly (olanzapine) just paid 4.3 billion to 85,000 plaintiffs in a undisputed class action. Floating colors haven't heard of that one we get floaters little dots that float in front of us your opthamologist says your ok your ok they can see the ruptured capillaries quite easily. The nurse freaked you out relax 5.9 your high normal.Watch what you eat, get some exercise, diabetes isn't the end of the world.

[Ronin]

Swinger, et al.,

First of all, welcome to DF! We all appreciate and understand your anxiety because we have all been where you are today. I looked at your public profie, it is sparse. Since this is an international forum it is important to know what units your blood test is measuring. I have the sense you are not in the USA (where the standard measure is mg/dL) so your 5.9 is probably just standard FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose). However it would be good if you could clarify the measurements.

More often than not, a person of your age and in your condition will benefit from modifications to diet and exercise regimines. You stated that you are already a vegeterian -- that is okay but a lot of vegetarians I know do have a rather active "sweet-tooth" and that can be a problem.

It also sounds like the numbers game is playing into your underlying anxiety condition. The good news is that the same things that help with BG (Blood Glucose) levels also have a positive effect on mood issues, particularly aerobic exercise.

Please tell us where you live and what measurement system is being used for your lab tests.

[Larry H.]

Welcome to the board. Lots of good folks here who have also been where your at. I don't think anyone likes to hear that they are trending towards what can be a serious condition. We all have the "Oh No not Me", moment.. then with a bit of time we come to the conclusion that something needs to be done, and that what we have been doing isn't working very well for us.
I had to take a hard look at what I had been eating most of my life.. Very high in sugars, not just sugar, but all things that contained sugar. I started watching as the ADA recommends that you count the carbs in a meal. That is pretty easy once you get used to it. You just read the label, or you can also google a several carb counting sites where you can enter and item and it will say how many carbs is in say a cup or what ever the measurement is. I try to stay as close as possible to the total allowed for each meal, mostly even under that. If you do that and start to move, not sit or lay around all the time, you will see your weight and most likely your numbers come down.. That won't necessarily mean that your not prone to diabetes, it means you usually can reduce the levels in your system and take the load off the organs that cause trouble. It may be that catching it quickly at a young age you can keep it at bay for a long time, or perhaps completely. But one thing for sure, the idea that we can load up on sugar will give the reverse effect. Unless you come to grips with the fact that your in love with sugar products you will probably not be successful. It doesn't mean absolutely none, it just means finding low or no sugar items you enjoy and eating the correct serving sizes of those. My first doctor to tell me I was headed towards type II guilded me to the Medline site on the internet. It has a site for diabetes information and many groups there have lots of information for beginners on what and how much to eat to reduce your levels.
I think if you look at it like a chance to take control of your life and have a much happier one overall, then making these changes can be beneficial. Eating less, and not so much sugar will make you feel much less tired. Exercise will improve your moods. Your not alone, so stay in touch.

[swingerofbirche]

Hi, yeah sorry I have not filled in the profile yet, I registered in a hurry after getting the news.

I am in the US, and still have not heard back from my doctor so not sure what units they were measuring in.

[swingerofbirche]

OK, an update: the nurse called me back from the psychiatrist's office (I asked for him to call me, but I've never met a psychiatrist who will do that and I've seen quite a few). Anyhow I wanted to ask her if they considered me pre-diabetic, and she said no, that to be diabetic I would have to be 6% or higher.

So it seems according to them that at 5.9% I am not even pre-diabetic, but if I were .1% higher I would be full-blown diabetic?

She also told m that my fasting glucose was 98 mg. So I'm not sure why that score was better than the other one?

Finally the nurse from my primary care doctor called after getting the fax of my results and said that the doctor told her to tell me that I was not diabetic, needed no further testing and so they went ahead and canceled the appt I had scheduled!


Oy!

So I've been dieting for a couple of days now, just did my first work out from the "you on a diet" work-out DVD--as soon as I turned off the DVD, the local news came on, and was about new warnings of the eoidemic of type 2 diabetes--seemed like more than a coincidence!

What neither of the nurse knew who I talked to was: is my AC1 of 5.9 equivalent to a fasting blood glucose of 117, or what my blood glucose happened to be at any point in the day?

Because it seems to me that a blood glucose level of 117 at any one point in the day isn't particularly high, especially given how much and how often I had been eating.

It's so frustrating to get a LITTLE bit of news from a nurse and no hard core information from a doctor. When I hear something like this I want to learn all I can and take action.

[Simon]

OK, if the 5.9 is a % then it's an HbA1c. Normal range is about 4.5% to 6.2% (I'm not sure about that lower level but the upper one I often use as a guide). Anything below 7% is considered very good for a diabetic. Bottom line: you're ok for now but you don't want to let it go much higher hence the diet and exercise. Stress also pushes blood sugar up so try not to worry about it (easier said than done I know). Caffeine also pushes it up so switch to decaff. Caffeine can also make you thirsty and is generally not a good thing to be consuming on a regular basis.

Best of luck!

[Ronin]

Hi Swinger!

Thanks for the clarification. The test you had, based on the results, must have been an HbA1c. That test is to determine what your average BG levels have been over the past 90 days (actually a weighted average of the past four to six weeks).

The results of 5.9% aren't bad, but by the same token it isn't wonderful either. Combined with a FBG of 98 mg/dL says you are not technically Pre-Diabetic.

A bit of dietary control and some additional exercise can probably reduce your BG levels without any major life-style changes. However, for a man your age these numbers are high and indicate that you really need to take some preventative action.

[swingerofbirche]

Thanks Ronin.

I have been a ball of nerves still though. I had to go in for an emergency root canal and a lot of dental work, which takes hours and is very difficult becuase of my Tourette's--and all this happened while I was doing my new exercise routine. Pretty demoralizing.

You guys here have given me really good, consistent information--it's my doctor I'm upset with. They don't want me to get an oral glucose tolerance test becuase they say it's not necessary and even when I said, so you don't think I even need to diet or exercise--they said, "Nope, you're in the normal range."

The psychiatric nurse on the other hand has echoed your comments here, so I'll have to see if I can get my psychiatrist to prescribe the oral glucose tolerance test.

I get the feeling my primary care doctor wouldn't be interested in this until I needed insulin.

On the diet front, I think I'm going to have to take things more slowly--I got way too edgy cutting back as much as I did, but the problem is that I feel scared of food now. I feel scared to eat and scared not to eat! Like when I'm so hungry from limiting myself, I don't know if I'm getting enough calories. I'm going to make an appt with a nutritionist even though my PCP won't refer me, I think it's worth it out of pocket to figure out what to do with this.

So, if I get this under control is there a good chance I'll never get diabetes? That's what I keep having in the back of my mind. That's why I'm so nervous about diet--because I've gone on diets for vanity, but I never worried about failing because it was just for vanity.

BTW--I'm 6'3" and 207 lbs--I never though that was TOO overweight? Do you all have any ideas on what would be a good amount to lose and what would be too much?

And isn't it odd for someone whose not that overweight like that to start veering toward type 2 diabetes?

[Ronin]

Hi Swinger!

Before you go for the OGTT try getting a fasting C-Peptide test first. That will tell you if your insulin level is Low, Normal, or High. That is important as a Low level indicates that the pancreas is not producing sufficient insulin or slowing down (my issue), normal means that you are okay, and high indicates that you are becoming Insulin Resistant. It is important to know that Insulin works well for people with low C-Peptide and other drugs are needed for high C-Peptide levels.

I cannot say that being 207 pounds and 6' 3" is overweight. The issue of weight and height is one of muscle mass as a portion of the weight. I'm 6' and 155 (off season) and usually around 150 during the prime cycling season. I used to weigh in at 225. I have little fat left although my skin no longer fits as well as it used to.

As to diet: you need to think modified Atkins. More protien less carbohydrates. Follow the rule of Carbs before or immediately following exercise and Protien at other times. Since you are concerned, and I have the feeling that you have a glucose meter, check yourself at various intervals to determine how your body reacts to various foods. That will tell you a lot and you can figure out what works for you.

Finally, the reality of your physical health is in your hands not in the control of your MD. I get two regular physicals from the VA per year along with the blood testing that goes with it. I have my own meter and check my FBG daily along with the occasional post-prandial verification that my body is still managing glucose. I also do a monthly HbA1c using a Biosafe home test kit (I checked these against the lab tests and found them to be accurate they are ~$20 via Amazon when purchased in quantity) to see how my overall is doing. Since I already know that my C-Peptide is at the very low end of normal, I know that when my BG's and A1c's start to climb the next phase will be adding insulin injections.

In the mean time I ride our tandem (occasionally my single bike) and exercise. Watch my diet (but not to extremes), and generally live my life to the best for me. I did obsess for about a year, but discovered that the obsessing only made me crazy and impossible to live with.

[swingerofbirche]

Thanks again Ronin--yeah lower carb/almost no sugar is what I've been doing. I've been reading labels like crazy, and I have (gasp) started eating chicken and tuna. I came to the conclusion that this was going to be really hard to do without giving in to meat.

I have been too obsessed. I'm a hypochondriac--have been all my life--and I'm very used to the scenario where I worry about something and the doctors do a test and come back and say, "You're fine, but you're just crazy." I guess I should consider myself lucky that high blood sugar is the first and so far only physical health concern I've had (mental health, a different picture).

In talking about this I found out that my grandfather was diagnosed as having high blood sugar which is why he lost a lot of weight when I was younger, and I talked to him yesterday and he told me that almost all of his relatives had type 2 diabetes and never took care of it and had complications. My dad is also overweight (by BMI standards he's obese), and he told me in passing recently that his sugar levels were always a bit high too, but he doesn't seem concerned, although he recognizes that he should lose weight.

Today I'm getting a glucometer and on Monday I'll be making an appointment with a nutritionist and an edocrinologist since I can't get my PCP to do the the peptide testing.


Thanks everybody for getting me started on my way! Now that I'm getting this figured out though, I need to really slow my mind. It's been all I've though about this last week.

What do you all do to relax? The best technique I've found is old school super nintendo.......

[Ronin]

Hi Swinger!

For relaxation I ride the family tandem with my wife Linda. Since we are retired this is a major portion of most days (albeit winter does take its toll). We also "Lead" NJ's only Tandem Bicycle Club which takes up some time in adminstrative duties. Linda is involved with some charitable activities and I read a lot in various areas and some fiction.

Of late we are also care-givers to our Male Siamese Cat (Muggels) who developed Chronic Renal Failure at the age of seven years. We have him stabilized and he is "okay" for now but is a high-maintenance cat. His sister, Molly, is fine.

[Axiom]

A quick google finds Zyprexa lawsuit as the cause of 85.000 mentall ill shizoid,bi polar and other mental illnesses and off labeled markets undisclosed settlement offer 4.3billion Canada has also proceeded with there suit if they are successful which they won't be assuredly for it would open the flood gates of the world arrayed against Eli Lilly. You.re best option when taking a psychotic is chlorpromazine since it causes asxtaxia similliar to Tourette in your case with this illness the Docor wil not prescribe because his concerns over Tourette overide diabetes.

However if you have taken Zyprexa for an extended period you may very well become diabetic. Determine your diet plan implement exercise properly eat no trans or interesterified ( a fully hydrogenated fat far worse than trans in diabetic abd lipid (cholesterolfats

[swingerofbirche]

I was on Zyprexa for about three months and gained an enormous amount of weight--I could just not stop eating, I gained about 50 lbs.

This was when I had to leave college because of severe anxiety and family issues, and I had seen a bad psychiatrist (very few aren't, in my opinion) who prescribed Zyprexa and claimed I was bipolar. (No one else since then has thought that diagnosis holds any merit.) Anyhow, after gaining all the weight he switched me to Seroquel, and I did lose some of the weight on that. The only reason I still take it is out of fear of stopping it really. It's essentially been grandfathered in over the last 5 years. They've told me that since I take it at night I would now have severe insomnia if I stop it, and I've been through withdrawal of psychiatric drugs before and it can be hellish (that's a side note, I think if you have anxiety, drugs only cause more problems).

So yes, I know the Seroquel is part of the problem.

I got a glucometer, and the results aren't terribly interesting. The lowest it has been was 92, and the highest 112. I just took it now after not eating for a couple of hours and it was 102. The 112 reading was right after dinner. It seems like my blood sugar in the day is remarkably close to my fasting blood glucose--any idea what that might indicate?

[BlueSky]

.... So it seems according to them that at 5.9% I am not even pre-diabetic, but if I were .1% higher I would be full-blown diabetic?

She also told m that my fasting glucose was 98 mg. So I'm not sure why that score was better than the other one?...

What neither of the nurse knew who I talked to was: is my AC1 of 5.9 equivalent to a fasting blood glucose of 117, or what my blood glucose happened to be at any point in the day?

Because it seems to me that a blood glucose level of 117 at any one point in the day isn't particularly high, especially given how much and how often I had been eating.

It's so frustrating to get a LITTLE bit of news from a nurse and no hard core information from a doctor. When I hear something like this I want to learn all I can and take action.
I think you must have looked up the whole-blood equivalent of a 5.9% HBA1c (117 mg/dl). Plasma readings are normally used when measuring blood glucose. And an HBA1c of 5.9% corresponds to a 3 month average blood glucose of 133 mg/dl. If your fasting blood glucose was 98 mg/dl, it is probably going up to 180+ after meals. The fasting blood glucose reading is typically lower (for non-diabetics) because the beta cells have all night to make the insulin required to bring it down. If you want to see how your blood glucose goes, test an hour after eating a high-carb meal.

I don't know how anyone can say that these are not diabetic levels. An average blood glucose of 133 mg/dl is way higher than it should be. Normal HBA1c for a healthy young person is 4.5%. While HBA1c is not normally used to diagnose diabetes, anything over 6% has traditionally been regarded as diabetic. And you are not far from it. For whatever reasons, it looks like you have made a lot of progress towards becoming a diabetic. IMO, you should take this as a wake-up call. Getting lots of exercise, losing weight and eating low-carb are definitely in your best interests.

[swingerofbirche]

I think you must have looked up the whole-blood equivalent of a 5.9% HBA1c (117 mg/dl). Plasma readings are normally used when measuring blood glucose. And an HBA1c of 5.9% corresponds to a 3 month average blood glucose of 133 mg/dl. If your fasting blood glucose was 98 mg/dl, it is probably going up to 180+ after meals. The fasting blood glucose reading is typically lower (for non-diabetics) because the beta cells have all night to make the insulin required to bring it down. If you want to see how your blood glucose goes, test an hour after eating a high-carb meal.

I don't know how anyone can say that these are not diabetic levels. An average blood glucose of 133 mg/dl is way higher than it should be. Normal HBA1c for a healthy young person is 4.5%. While HBA1c is not normally used to diagnose diabetes, anything over 6% has traditionally been regarded as diabetic. And you are not far from it. For whatever reasons, it looks like you have made a lot of progress towards becoming a diabetic. IMO, you should take this as a wake-up call. Getting lots of exercise, losing weight and eating low-carb are definitely in your best interests.

I will try the high carb test. So far with my Accu-check the high has been 112. I took my dad's at the same time and his was 134. This was after we had both had dinner. I was trying to determine a correlation between the fatigue/brain fog I get and blood sugar. Just now I had extreme fatigue brian fog feeling, and took my BG and it was 77, and this was a few hours after a large pasta lunch and some chocolate chips (yes I cheated a bit with some stress I've had). I'll try a more timed test. My GP is refusing an oral glucose tolerance test and referral to an endocrinologist.

[Ronin]

Hi Swinger!

In your response to Blue Sky you wrote: "My GP is refusing an oral glucose tolerance test and referral to an endocrinologist." Actually you can do your own OGTT -- since you have a meter, you can get up one morning and drink sufficient OJ to give you 75 grams of glucose (check the label on the OJ carton) and then test youself every 30 minutes for the next two hours and record the results (use a spreadsheet and make a nice graph to show your GP if you like). You cannot get the C-Peptide readings alongside but it will show you how your body handles a load of glucose over a two hour period.

I was interested in your BG check when feeling "extreme fatigue brian fog feeling". I've had similar results when I've been feeling groggy/foggy after leaving my lowered carb diet for a brief spree. (Hey, I'm human, not perfect.) That low, albeit not dangerously low, BG is interesting. It says your body produced sufficient insulin to lower your BG despite the large blolus of carbohydrates.

I have the feeling that your GP's opinion may be linked to your anxiety problems and s/he feels that you are over-reacting to the results. If you do your own in-home OGTT and present the results from your meter s/he may get the kind of data that can be discussed.

As far as the Endo goes, that is the next step after determining that you have a serious problem and need medications. In the mean time try working on developing a sustainable diet and exercise regimine that gives you the meter results you are looking for. In the end it is you who will have to live with the condition not the MD's. Even if you don't have Diabetes you cannot harm yourself by adopting a lower carb higher exercise lifestyle.

[swingerofbirche]

I think you must have looked up the whole-blood equivalent of a 5.9% HBA1c (117 mg/dl). Plasma readings are normally used when measuring blood glucose. And an HBA1c of 5.9% corresponds to a 3 month average blood glucose of 133 mg/dl.

So that means on average my blood sugar at any point int he day was 133. But that's still lower than the 140 they say you can go up to after meals, right? And given that I was eating a lot and very frequently I'm not too surprised at that number. I am not a very overweight person but I had been eating a lot--I eat a lot of food---and it goes through me very quickly. I am thinking that has to with cravings from the Seroquel (and the other two meds I take also cause weight gain). I'll finally see my psychiatrist this coming Tuesday and see if he has any more insight and I'll talk to him about going down on the Seroquel which is quite exciting as I've always wanted to but was too afraid to titrate it down. I now definitely have real motivation, though. Don't take it the wrong way as if I see going down on the Seroquel as a fix--I know this problem isn't exclusively caused by that, and I am still committed to eating better and moving more.

[swingerofbirche]

Hi Swinger!

Actually you can do your own OGTT -- since you have a meter, you can get up one morning and drink sufficient OJ to give you 75 grams of glucose (check the label on the OJ carton) and then test youself every 30 minutes for the next two hours and record the results (use a spreadsheet and make a nice graph to show your GP if you like).
I have the feeling that your GP's opinion may be linked to your anxiety problems and s/he feels that you are over-reacting to the results. If you do your own in-home OGTT and present the results from your meter s/he may get the kind of data that can be discussed.

As far as the Endo goes, that is the next step after determining that you have a serious problem and need medications. In the mean time try working on developing a sustainable diet and exercise regimine that gives you the meter results you are looking for. In the end it is you who will have to live with the condition not the MD's. Even if you don't have Diabetes you cannot harm yourself by adopting a lower carb higher exercise lifestyle.

Thanks Ronin! I get what you mean about the OJ--that makes sense. So if 8 oz has 22 g sugar I would drink 27.27 oz of OJ! Yikes! That's gonna make me very tired, but I'll give it a go.

As far as my GP--she's a tough nut to crack. She gets very worried about anything once it reaches the official threshold. Like my liver enzyme level was slightly elevated. My psychiatrist thinks it's fine and a normal reaction to the medications I take, and my GP is freaking me out telling me I need an ultrasound on my liver right away. With regard to the blood sugar, I imagine if she had seen a level that was even slightly above, so like 6% instead of 5.9, she would have had a reaction. And yes she does know I'm a hypochondriac, but I think she's a bit of one too--just about different things sometimes!