Just a few questions

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Just a few questions
7
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 5:30pm

Hello...


I have a few questions and I'm truly sorry for bothering anyone with them. Diabetes runs in my family severly...my grandmother died from it as well did my grandfather...their oldest son did also and my Father was full blown diabetic by the time he hit 50...I have 5 more yrs. til I turn 50 so I'm trying to prepare myself now. My older brother was just dx as a diabetic also.  I recently came across an offer for free glucose meters thru my work so I took them up on their offer and got myself and my kids one also...hey they were free...my father had gotten very sick, having a 5-bypass open heart surgery then coming down with cancer and then a stroke and then he passed away 2-26-06...(Love you Daddy) so I basically know what to be looking for. I do get alot of the symptoms like dryness of the mouth...I'm always thirsty...dizziness...I feel my blood level drop at times...tingly in the hands and face...How do I go about finding a good diabetic Dr.? And what should my sugar level be at for a 5'4 134lb. 44 yr. old female? I know whats coming and I would rather try to take care of it now before its too late. I appreciate any help or suggestions anyone has to offer.  Thank You again and sorry if I bothered anyone.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 7:15pm

So did you test your glucose level?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 8:19pm
Thank you so much...I just took an online test and it too said I had all the symptoms of being Diabetic. When I called the 800# and registered my glucose meter I did my test...it was 211 so I'm not sure if thats good or bad. I think I would like to find a diabetes specialist...no offense to my primary Dr. but I just hate wasting my time and money when she's only gonna send me to one anyways...and also because it truly does run in my family I want to be with the best.
Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 10:17pm

Hi and welcome to the board. My name is Mary Frances and I am one of the community leaders for this board. I am a type 2 diabetic and a registered nurse. Any advise I may give you is not a substitute for seeking medical care from a health care practitioner of your choice.


WOW! Your history is worse than mine! I am a third generation diabetic. Plus that your blood sugar is very abnormal. You need a doctor to diagnose what is going on. You do not need a diabetic doctor unless your diabetes isn't controllable. There aren't enough diabetic doctors, called endocrinologists, to go around. So immediately please make an appointment with your primary care doctor and let her run the necessary tests for diagnosis. The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is 2 fasting blood sugars above 126 or a random blood sugar over 190 or an A1C above 6. Not all doctors use the A1C to diagnose diabetes.


Do not accept the answer from any doctor that says that everything is OK. Ask for specifics. If the doctor doesn't explain them to you, please post them here and we will try to explain them to you.


Please get in touch with your doctor and let us know when your appointment is scheduled. With all the diabetes in your family you and your brother need to be checked with a fasting blood sugar about 2 years and your children need to be checked about every 5 years.


Please get back to me and let me know what the doctor tells you. And keep testing and writing it down on a piece of paper to take to your doctor when you get your appointment. Remember I am not a physician and so I can't diagnose but I can tell you that you need to be seen as soon as possible in your doctor's office.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 10:55pm

I would also say call your regular doctor and get in as soon as possible. It is not an emergency yet but could become one!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2003
Thu, 06-05-2008 - 12:42pm

Just another one chiming in to say Call Your Doctor! A 1 hr post meal test shouldn't be above about 180 and 2 hrs shouldn't be above 140. Whether that one reading was an anomaly or not, with your history you should *assume* (which I don't often recommend) that you will be diagnoses and start Immediately to make the lifestyle changes of a diabetic. It's not a 'diet' but a whole way of looking at Everything in your life:

Stress can affect blood sugar levels
Illness (anything from pneumonia to a head cold) can affect blood sugar levels
Hormones can affect blood sugar levels

That's just a sampling to show why it's a whole-life picture not just "can't eat sugar"

Exercise, 150 minutes per week in 20-30 minute increments is vital in combatting insulin resistance so that your body can use the glucose in your system instead of it backing up in the pipes, so to speak. Exercise is also a good defense against stress and even mild depression (depression can be a common side effect of diabetes because it's a long term, every minute of every day issue).

Limit or avoid entirely 'white stuff' - white sugar, white flour, white rice, white potato, etc. Substitute whole grains as much as possible. The fiber in a true whole grain product slows down how fast the carbs in the product get into your system. You want slow and steady, like drip irrigation, not a blast all at once like a firehose.

Watch your carbs - keep a food log to see what you eat and when you eat. Rule of thumb (to get started, it'll need to be adjusted specifically for you eventually) is 30 grams of carb at breakfast and 45 for lunch and dinner. You *can't* save up carbs and, say, skip breakfast and have 75 grams of carbs at lunch. You'll end up really low then sky high - bad news. You can, however, spread that out if that works better for you - have 30 grams at lunch then a 15 gram afternoon snack, if you find that the space between lunch and dinner is a 'problem snacking' time; or 'save' 15 grams from dinner to have later in the evening. You want to get as big a bang for the buck as possible - that is, if you're going to eat 30 grams of carbohydrates in a meal, you also want to get as many nutrients for that 30 grams as possible, so look for whole grains, whole fruits, steamed or raw veggies, lean meats and low fat dairy.

Watch your calories - even as little as 5% or 10% weight loss can improve your glucose control.

Depending on your primary dr, you don't necessarily have to see an endocrinologist if you can get your blood sugar under control pretty quickly with 'the basics' - food, exercise, and probably a basic medication such as metformin/glucophage. If it stays wildly out of control (huge highs, dangerous lows) then you'd want an endocrinologist. You'd want to coordinate with your primary anyhow because diabetes is not an isolated thing - it affects susceptibility to illness, how readily you heal, and so on - it can even affect your dental care.

Your younger brother is not "bound" to get it - he still possibly has a chance to make the necessary changes to avoid or postpone it. My dad did (and he's 77!) - his A1C kept creeping higher and higher (6.5-7.0) even though his fasting glucose was okay. So, his dr gave him a meter to test with (but no info about it). I explained things to him in Dec 2007 and by March 2008, with better eating and exercise habits, his A1C was down to around 5.6 and the dr said to keep on doing what he's doing but don't worry about testing all the time, they'll just keep an eye on it with lab work at this point. So, it is possible to improve the situation.

Oh, BTW, just in case you weren't sure, the A1C is a blood test that returns the average blood glucose level over the past 3 months - it works (basically) by figuring out how many red blood cells have glucose molecules stuck on them (once they stick on, they stay stuck for the life of the blood cell, which is about 3 months). Normal is <6.0; Endocrinologists look for diabetics to be <6.5; the American Diabetes Assoc guidelines look for it to be <7.0. Those stuck on glucose molecules roaming around on the blood cells are what do the damage to blood vessels and nerves that lead to the major complications of diabetes (cardiovascular damage, neuropathy, kidney and eye damage, etc).

--Deb

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 06-05-2008 - 7:30pm
Thank you all for your help and suggestions.
Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 06-05-2008 - 9:53pm

You should test before you eat.