Posted by Rick on October 25, 1999, at 13:55:36
In reply to Um, Rick..., posted by Racer on October 25, 1999, at 3:02:11
> > Neither dawn phenomenon nor variable fasting readings necessarily make you diabetic at all, let alone "full blown". Dawn phenomenon (overnight rise in blood sugar) is common among many people whose glucose gets nowhere near diabetic levels. And variation alone doesn't make you diabetic either. Some people fail the Hemoglobin A1C blood test (the one that estimates your blood sugar control over the last 2-3 months), yet are not considered diabetic because they pass the fasting glucose tests (which constitute the current "official" method for diagnosing diabetes).
> >
> > Over the last eight months, I have terrorized almost a dozen (former) friends and family members by making them take finger stick tests. These were all people whose routine fasting glucose lab tests showed no indication of diabetes. Yet many came up with fasting readings near or over 126, and some had after-meal readings of well over 200 (supposedly suggestive of diabetes). And my meter IS accurate.
>
> While you make a lot of really good points with all of this, I should mention that my 'dawn phenomenon' readings tend to be between 180 and 240, depending on a lot of factors. Then, by the time I'm out of the shower (unless I eat first), they drop through to about 60. I'm very brittle. And when I say I get some high fasting readings, I mean things like 160, 180, 200+. NOT 120...
>
> When I said that I guess I was fully committed, I meant that I didn't realize there was ANY arbitrary cutoff. I guess I always assumed that there was a general 'if you can't control it by diet and exercise after a reasonable period of being really really good' sort of a thing. I always thought that it was a pattern of consistent poor control, rather than the spikes and crashes I tend to have when I'm under stress.
>
> Oh, and the definition of 'under stress' for me is pretty much 'planning to be awake at some point in the next week...' That's basically the way I work, not always by choice...
>
> Thank you again, though, for the great information you've passed on. I agree absolutely with your assessment of the absurdity of an arbitrary cutoff point, even though I didn't give you a whole lot of good information about my situation. So, same page?Definitely same page now. I was doing a little reading between the lines regarding your blood sugar situation, and apparently mis-read the invisible ink in some spots (although my Effexor-related and "don't panic" reccomendations weren't affected by this).
Sounds like you prefer to control your without (diabetes) meds, but if the variations you described continue, you may want to consider them. Like I said, some of the newer ones I've read about (Actos, Avandia) can do a lot of good with minimal side effects, no liver danger, and once-a-day dosing. The drawback is $$$$. I'm considering taking them based simply on a *possible risk* of developing diabetes.
BTW, I assume you aware that -- while somehat uncommon -- there ARE secondary, and frequently fully curable physical causes of diabetes (usually something that causes a hormonal imbalance). If not, you should look into this. If I recall correctly, some of these same problems can cause simultaneous depression and other mental disorders, and occur most often in women.
Rick
poster:Rick
thread:13663
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991016/msgs/13861.html