Anybody here had a blood test come back with high blood glucose?

[dickytoo]

Dickytoo, you have a lot of good advice! Sorry to hear about your complications! P.s. The hba is glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c)

don't worry about it. i was a fat bastard and my diet was pretty poor. i used to weigh over 100kgs and eat about 6 chocolate bars a day!

its all good now, my eye specialist said that my eyes are definitely improving, something she sees very rarely and the sugar level is pretty good as well. i walk all over johnsonville and newlands most evenings and the exercise is great.

[rachprice]

don't worry about it. i was a fat bastard and my diet was pretty poor. i used to weigh over 100kgs and eat about 6 chocolate bars a day!

its all good now, my eye specialist said that my eyes are definitely improving, something she sees very rarely and the sugar level is pretty good as well. i walk all over johnsonville and newlands most evenings and the exercise is great.

Wow thats really good news about your eyes! Congratulations on the massive lifestyle changes. Anyone can pop a pill for some disease but diabetes is a very hard disease to deal with, not only from my education but my mum also has type 2 so I see first hand how hard it is!

[JimO]

if it is diabetes, you're in for a hard slog if you love chocolates and sweets. from personal experience, the first 15 years are the hardest (i've been diagnosed 15 years and counting...) the faint whiff of a cadbury will drive you to a frenzy!

anyway, as said before, high glucose count is not a definite indicator. was it a full blown blood test or just a finger prick for a drop of blood?

the finger prick should return something between 4 to 8 (not sure of the exact unit) and anything over is not too good, although people can suffer spikes. the proper blood test measures what they call hba and it is an indicator what you've been doing over the last 3 months (so they can tell if you've been manipulating the finger prick test and pretending that everything is ok!) the unit range is the same as well. anything under 8 is good.



if you're a woman and pregnant, you can develop a type of diabetes which goes away after the pregnancy. i think they call it gestational diabetes and my sister had it. after she lost the weight and watched her diet, she is back to normal.

if you're confirmed as a diabetic, its called type 2 which is controlled by diet, exercise and medication. if you don't improve, then you go down the insulin road. you've got to watch the eyes as well as it takes a few years for your abuse of the body to catch up! i had to have laser surgery to cauterize 3 blood vessels in my eyes that had started to leak. they had seemed ok for a long time but the eye specialist said that the vessels take time to catch up to the rest of the body and let you know you've been bad.


the urine test also picks up proteins in the urine. if that happens, than you're in big trouble as it is an indication that your kidneys are doing a jonah!

otherwise, eat healthy, exercise and having a cheerful outlook is important. stress can do strange things and elevate your blood sugar count. getting enough rest is also good.

and if you behave, you can sometimes sneak a sweet without the sky falling in. good luck with the test. its not the end of the world but getting sorted takes time and discipline.

it was a full blood test

[riffer]

Good luck mate.

There's a few of us on here with Type I diabetes (the type where you die if you don't use insulin).

Don't let anyone ever talk you into it being too dangerous to be on a bike if you end up with diabetes. It's manageable. I've been doing it forever (riding bikes 28 years). However, if you don't get it under control your GP is within his rights to get your licence suspended. I've been threatened with it when I was being naughty.

If there's anything you need to know regarding blood sugar levels and motorcycling (particularly hypoglycemia and its effects on your ability to ride safely) don't hesitate to PM me.

Simon

edit: LOL at the "you should be between 4 and 8 millimols/litre". I wish. I try to maintain a level of 5.5 mml/l. My hbA1c sits around 5.8. However, my lowest in the last fortnight has been 1.9 and my highest 15.6.

When diagnosed I had lost 15 kgs, had a temperature of 41.5 degrees (a raging fever), had massive infections through my lymphatic system and a blood sugar level of 32 mml/l. I was not well.

[dickytoo]

edit: LOL at the "you should be between 4 and 8 millimols/litre". I wish. I try to maintain a level of 5.5 mml/l. My hbA1c sits around 5.8. However, my lowest in the last fortnight has been 1.9 and my highest 15.6.

When diagnosed I had lost 15 kgs, had a temperature of 41.5 degrees (a raging fever), had massive infections through my lymphatic system and a blood sugar level of 32 mml/l. I was not well.

yeah, thats the ideal but i notice that they've dropped it down to 7 now. my best is around the 4 mark and i start getting edgey and looking around for chocolate bars! my legs usually start feeling wobbly around then. my worst is now around 11 but that's when i've been eating too much sweet and sour! another no-no is white bread.

infections and cuts take forever to heal as well but not now that i've got it fairly well under control. still room for improvement though.

interesting about the weight. i lost a lot of weight as well and now my metabolism just burns up the food i ingest. i'm actually a lot healthier now than i was back then (even though i was a lot younger).

jimjim, it could be just an early warning so don't freak out just yet. exercise and a change of diet/lifestyle may be all you need.

cheers

richard

[kerfufflez]

i walk all over johnsonville and newlands most evenings and the exercise is great.

From South Auckland? That would be great exercise.

[riffer]

interesting about the weight. i lost a lot of weight as well and now my metabolism just burns up the food i ingest. i'm actually a lot healthier now than i was back then (even though i was a lot younger).

Don't worry about the weight; it comes back on quick. Now I'm in my 40s, sit at a desk and don't get a lot of exercise I really struggle to keep my weight under 100kgs, particularly with injecting 30 units of Humilin 12-hourly and 12-30 units (depending on the food) three or four times a day.

I know if I was exercising like I did in my twenties I wouldn't need so much insulin, but I just don't make the time anymore. So its a real double-edged sword.

And now my leathers are on the limit of fit. Damn. Have to lose weight.

[rachprice]

yeah, thats the ideal but i notice that they've dropped it down to 7 now. my best is around the 4 mark and i start getting edgey and looking around for chocolate bars! my legs usually start feeling wobbly around then. my worst is now around 11 but that's when i've been eating too much sweet and sour! another no-no is white bread.

infections and cuts take forever to heal as well but not now that i've got it fairly well under control. still room for improvement though.

interesting about the weight. i lost a lot of weight as well and now my metabolism just burns up the food i ingest. i'm actually a lot healthier now than i was back then (even though i was a lot younger).

jimjim, it could be just an early warning so don't freak out just yet. exercise and a change of diet/lifestyle may be all you need.

cheers

richard

Yes very interesting about the weight, riffer is type 1 which usually presents with weight loss. Are you type 1/type2? I thought you were type 2 from a previous comment but type 2 doesnt normally present with loss of weight. though not to say it cant happen.....medicine is strange and interesting field when it comes to differing from the norm!!

[dickytoo]

From South Auckland? That would be great exercise.

i live in wellington now but i still go back to auckland for my check ups. i just haven't bothered to update my profile

[dickytoo]

Yes very interesting about the weight, riffer is type 1 which usually presents with weight loss. Are you type 1/type2? I thought you were type 2 from a previous comment but type 2 doesnt normally present with loss of weight. though not to say it cant happen.....medicine is strange and interesting field when it comes to differing from the norm!!

definitely type 2 with the sword of insulin hanging over me if i didn't get my sugars under control. one of my symptoms was a severe weight loss, along with lethargy, constant thirst and going to the loo all the time.


my weight is now around the 80kg mark and most of the symptoms seem to have gone away. on a long road trip, i used to need to stop every hour or less for a quick pee.

[rachprice]

Oh thats no good! Thats interesting that you lost weight!! Sorry to pry this stuff is always really interesting to me. Hope you get it under control

[riffer]

Yeah, the loss of weight is very interesting.

You see the big difference (to those who don't know) is that type I is caused by the death of the islet cells in the pancreas (the ones that make insulin), whereas type II is caused by Insulin resistance. Imagine that insulin is like a key which opens the doors in all the cells of the body to allow glucose from the blood to feed the cells. Fat causes insulin resistance by blocking off the doorways.

Maybe you could talk to Robyn Toomath regarding your diabetic condition. She helped me a lot when I my type I turned into a combined type I/II condition after gaining a fair bit of weight when I gave up sports.

[smoky]

Yep it will be diabetes, and it will be the end of your life.
Screws up your sex drive, can't eat stuff all anymore, your legs swell up with fluid, your eyesight goes bad on ya, then you cut your foot and it won't heal and rots and you have to get it cut off, then you end up in a wheelchair and then you're really F****ed cause with even less exercise you get worse until your kidneys fail and you have to live in a state house by the hospital and have dialysis three times a week - then you just kark it
Yep your f***ked
That’s life Jim, but not as we know it
The above is what I have observed of people who have ignored diabetes.

I got diagnosed 4 years ago - not getting worse, I have made some changes in my life and it's caused me to re focus and think about what's important in life.
Regardless of the results of the next test - treat it as a wake up call and look at how you may be able to change your life for the better, If you haven't all ready.
Good luck mate and I hope it aint diabetes

[riffer]

Jeez smoky that was fairly miserable.

I'd rather have diabetes then heart disease or cancer any day.

[Toaster]

High sugars does not necesarily mean diabetes, they will repeat test looking for ketones if diabetes is suspected. Probably mean a bit of a diet change for you, or whoever it is, my friend. Best of luck!

Agreed.... plus exercise.