Glucose blood test

Hi - hubby had a glucose test yesterday (it was on offer at his dentist): apparently they expect a normal result to be around 9 whereas his was over double this at 19. He's going to get this checked properly at the GP (along with his cholesterol which came in at 6.6 - I thought mine was elevated at 5.8) but my immediate thought was whoosh, he's on a fast-track to diabetes which then, as primary fodder provider, got me thinking about his diet (his mum has age-related mild diabetes which she controls by diet). I was just wondering if anybody had come across this and perhaps had any tips or advice for lowering it? (other than trying to prise him off his 2 tsp of sugar in his tea) It's a bit bizarre as he doesn't do puddings and sweets - more a meat & 2 veg, crisps and nuts chap, is relatively fit (overtime allowing), has fruit for brekkie & is not overweight - lean cyclists' physique, mid 40s.

Thanks.

Comments

  • Best to have a proper check at his GP before doing anything. Type 2 diabetes, which sound like his mum's type ,does run in families.

    Even if his results come back and indicate he does have diabetes, he may well be able to control it by diet. It should not impact on his lifestyle a great deal. The practice nurse will be able to advise you on the most sensible diet.

    There is a huge amount of info available on the British Diabetic Association website..you might want to have a look!

    I hope all goes well for you and him!
    Cholesterol has a hereditary factor too by the way!
  • NessieNessie ✭✭✭
    Hmm, I wonder how accurate the test was, if it was done by a dentist. My ex's father was diabetic, and my ex got tested just in case. He had to fast for (I think) about 6 hours before they took the blood, to make sure that the insulin had time to regulate the sugar in the blood. If your hubby had just eaten, or had had a large meal a few hours before hand, this could have caused a high reading.

    However, best to get it tested by his GP, so that if any action is needed, it is taken sooner rather than later.

    Cholesterol can also vary depending on what you have eaten in the last 24 hours although 6.6 is still a little on the high side.
  • If his blood glucose is 19, even if it was straight after drinking a gallon of Lucozade, he's not on the fast track to diabetes, he's already well and truly GOT diabetes! That's an emphatic number, and the only confounding factor would be if he'd got sugar on the finger that was used for testing and it contaminated the sample. We'd accept a random blood glucose up to 10 as within the normal range.

    It's important to get the diagnosis confirmed, but a capillary blood test on an over-the-counter machine is usually pretty accurate.

    If it IS confirmed, then as a lean, active man he's likely to be put on medical treatment very quickly, and the possibility of it being late-onset type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes can't be ignored.

    Do let us know what happens!
  • Cheers Raptor - the test was taken a couple of hours after his usual fruit brekkie. I'd often wondered in the past as he tends to keel over after a couple of hours without a regular top-up but typical bloke, GP-phobia!! I've got him booked in - will wait and see. Thanks for the tips everybody! Much appreciated!
  • hi-ho, just a wee update: his blood glucose was confirmed at 20 & cholesterol at 7.something, blood pressure (which has always been a healthy normal on previous regular checks)up - GP is keen to move things along quickly (as am I!) but hubby is just taking a bit of time to get his head round things (felt v ill after the tests). I never realised something like this can creep up on or hit you like this relatively symptom free - it was a total fluke he took the dentist up on the pinprick test & we could've so easily just carried on regardless. Dentist will be getting a big bottle of scotch at my next check-up!
  • it's good that it's been picked up now as hopefully he can get some treatment and will soon be feeling better (even if he didn't realise he felt ill in the first place).

    we have a lot of diabetics in my family!
  • Thanks for the update, Erratic :o) Hope everyone is jumping to attention - when a lean, active man in his 40s develops diabetes, there's no room for "change your diet and we'll see you in three months".
  • ((Erratic and Mr E))

    Should have remembered this was happening Monday thus explaining being AWOL from the other place!
  • allo piddler :-)))) He had his tests a week last monday & got the results a few days later on fri - I was AWOL Mon for another reason! <<cloaks self in air of mystery mwah-ha-ha-haaaaaaa>>

    Your reply made me laugh V-rap - everyone is jumping to attention except the man himself, whose initial response was to request a re-test in 6 months in return for giving up his daily flake! yeah...right...
  • OK - I give up - am totally confused!

    As long as something gets sorted for him that's the main thing!

    Think I said somewhere else (to you?) that we have a diabetic runner in the club and once he got to know his own body it hasn't stopped him doing anything!
  • as a diabetic i have had it said to me the upper most blood sugar levels for me should be 7 and a reading from 4-7 is normal, funny to hear you are saying 9 is normal, however 19 is right off the scale. hope its all going better now, remember to make sure he caries contact info on him should he have a severe hypo one day, especially if jabbing up insulin rather than taking pills to control it
  • V-rap, is it unusual to have slightly high blood sugar levels and for them to change quickly? Used to date a diabetic, and tried her BMI tester for a laugh - registered about 4.5 I seem to remember. She said that some people run low or high - just a quirk of nature. Then after a packet of cookies (yes, the full packet) it was over 10. Don't seem to have had any other problems (except constant peeing and thirst, but that only occurs when I'm losing weight and training, therefore drinking litres a day, the rest of the time I'm fine).

    Sorry for the threadjack.
  • yes i think that is probably very normal, after eating a whole packet of cookies your pancreas would need to kick out sufficiently high amount of insulin to combat the intake of sugar, it would stabalise probably within a couple of hours. depending on how active you were afterwoods
  • That's absolutely normal, 2T :o) So SOMETHING about you is...
  • tep, is your dad on insulin and if so is it the 4 times a day or twice a day. if its twice a day his control will be far more difficult to make 'normal'. pressure him to ask about switching and he can maintain better control and be a lot more flexable with his eating habbits. the sugar intake is the same as a non diabetic, any one who lives on a diet of sugary and more importantly saturated fats will suffer from long term problems. to lose weight i never think it is rocket science, eat less and more healthily and couple it with a bit of exercise - you'd be amazed at how much better he will feel and how much it will make a difference to his health and cardiovascular improvement. sugar in moderation is fine, almost everything has some form of it and it is fine to add a spoon of jam or honey or sugar with his porridge, there is no proof is does anything bad to diabetics, there is a number of books about the diabetic diet and the glucose index which are well worth tracking down as it will give him/you all you need to know about the diabetic diet and how it works. readings of 12 are bad long term and will cause problems in the eyes, kidneys, heart and liver - this is a fact. i know this might sound a bit harsh but tell him he needs to face up to responsabilities and take a lead in his life to control his health, at the very least as you are concerned about him. it is important he goes for regular eye checks also as it is likely he will be getting heamoraging in his eyes, which is easy to treat but needs to be check once a year with an optician and specialist eye unit through hospital.
  • ok first step get him on insulin straight away, the needles are so fine these days he will not even notice them, all he needs to do is try it. try getting your mother to start easing him into a healthier diet, explain to her it is vital this is done as once the damage is done it will make his life pretty depressing. the key is fruit and vegitables, ok not everyone likes all veg and to be honest it requires a bit of imagination to make it interesting. i think in this case though once he tries it just for a week or two the change in his lifestyle will make him feel so much better, and it WILL seem difficult to imagine whilst he is set in his ways with his current lifestyle. one of the things it will improve is his concentration, but also his temprement, his labido, and generally his energy levels. diabetes is a serious illness but can be less serious if a little effort is put in to control it. obviously i dont know how your relationship is with your parents but if you express a concern about it and put them in your shoes and say if their son/daughter got diabetes would they be concerned about it? i think you all know the answer to that question without having to make it so blunt, and you obviously care about your parents enough to be bothering to post on here for advice. a major problem for diabetics is smoking and it is not the easiest thing to overcome, and really needs to be tackled by the smoker wanting to give up a pleasure they are addicted to, cant really offer much advice on that one but i think an ideal starting point is to tackle the easier (?!) things first - diet, light exercise and medication. try setting targets with them and encourage them to make progress, a little at a time. hope that helps
    w
  • hmm well diagnosed at 9 years old it wasnt high on my priorities to investigate it too thoroughly (more interested in climbing trees and playing star wars) and to be honest a lot has changed in the knowledge about diabetes and how to treat it since i was diagnosed (over 20 years ago). there was no history of it in my family and as a son or daughter you do carry a higher risk of getting it, however it may well never surface so until you do think you might be getting the symptoms i wouldnt worry about it, there is not a preventative system to follow so if you are going to get it theres nothing you can do (- except blame your parents, especially if you are a teenager - joke). it may skip a generation and if you decide to have children it will be tested for if you mention a history of it in your family, i think as a parent you carry a 1 in 20 chance of it developing at some stage in your son or daughters life. i think there is a world epidemic of it at the moment, although no one knows why - it could be because of diet or pollution levels i dont know but those things seem most likely to me, but i am no eco warrior so i'd better not preach my beliefs here :o)
  • hiya, not been around for a fair old while but in case anyone passes through who's interested, hubby is controlling his diabetes through diet alone - he wanted to give the "body heal thyself" thing a shot first before going down any medication route & overnight just switched his lifestyle, zapping all sugar & anything processed or refined out of his diet, concentrating on slow-release foods that his body has to work on (fruit bill is now ginormous & his appetite has soared through the roof & I'm spending alot more time in the kitchen making lentil soups & the like). I never thought he could do it & thought he was just delaying the inevitable, but the docs are happy with the latest tests a month or two back showing his blood sugar levels down nearer more normal ranges; all the feet, eyesight things showing no damage, dieticians giving terrific guidance. I know this approach doesn't suit everyone, if many, but I was stunned at the effect of this. The docs are now taking the same approach with his cholestrol - they wanted to get him onto tablets for that but have allowed him a few months grace to try to get that down his own way too.
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