[GuitarManDave]

I saw this article on Diabetes Update and a lightbulb went off.

One of the characteristics of the two most common forms of Mody is a a normal fasting bg but high post-meal bg spikes. The article points out that this often leads to very late diagnosis due to the fact that most doctors only screen for fasting bg.

This echoes my situation exactly. I have a long history of diabetes in my family going back 4 generations. That plus some other circumstantial evidence point strongly towards Mody. (I'm working on getting the genetic tests but they are expensive and insurance doesn't see the need.)

I was officially diagnosed as diabetic at age 40 however I had some weird health issues starting at age 30 - occasional bouts of atrial fibrillation (cardiac arrhythmia) and unexplained sleep apnea (I'm skinny and tall with a long neck - not exactly typical for sleep apnea).

Both of these conditions are classic symptoms of a damaged vagus nerve which the article points out is particular sensitive to post-meal spikes.

It is obvious to me now that I've been diabetic for many years - perhaps as early as my 20's (I'm now 42). All that time I was untreated and undiagnosed because no doctor knew enough to perform a glucose tolerance test or an A1C.

I'm still just getting used to the idea of having yet another chronic medical problem (diabetes). I can't deny that I feel a good deal of unfocused anger. If I had been properly diagnosed earlier I might have avoided these problems.

I have four young boys. Needless to say I will be demanding A1Cs from their doctors every year so they can avoid my fate. If you have children you might want to do the same.

Dave

[morrisma]

Dave,
Great find. I hadn't heard that before. Sounds like testing 2 hours after a meal is at least as important as fasting. Now I have to corner my kids 2 hours after they eat. Not a very easy task generally.
Mike

[lottadata]

Originally Posted by GuitarManDave

I have four young boys. Needless to say I will be demanding A1Cs from their doctors every year so they can avoid my fate. If you have children you might want to do the same.

Dave

Dave,

I'm the person who wrote the article you cited.

Don't get an A1c. It will be deceptively low because of the normal fasting blood sugar.

Because the flaw in most forms of MODY limits the secretion of insulin in response to rising glucose, what you need to do with your kids is test their blood sugar 1, 2 and 3 hours after a high carb meal once every six months. A bagel eaten after a fast works very well.

When we did this with my daughter, we discovered her blood sugar rose to 130 and then stayed there for three hours, which is highly abnormal in a very fit, very physically active young person. This gave us the tipoff that she probably has the gene and also gave me a better idea of what my blood sugars were probably like in my 20s. My daughter controls her blood sugar with a low carb diet now. She feels much better when she eats that way, and like me, she gains weight if she eats carbs.

My son, in contrast, was in the 90s an hour after eating dessert on Thanksgiving. No problem there!