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Avatar universal

not sure if I have diabetes

I'm a 32-year-old female. I've been sick with strep, mono, yeast infections, bladder infections, more strep and more yeast infections for the past 8 months. I've been tired and just feel bad over-all. My vision has changed, my toe has fungus and I seem to have all of the symptoms of diabetes. I was tested for hypoglycemia about three years ago and it was 117. I saw my doctor last week for a follow up strep appointment and mentioned diabetes to him. Unfortunately I had just eaten a huge lunch, so he was unable to test me. He told me to come back next week. Well, as of Jan.1, my insurance has changed and I have to switch doctors. Instead of getting a red flag on my chart immediately (I'm considering changing jobs - life insurance, etc.), I decided to buy an inexpensive home blood glucose monitor. To my surprise, my levels read in the low 50's in the morning and before meals. I decided to check right after I ate to see if it would make a difference. I had tortilla chips and chicken noodle soup, then tested 15 minutes later. It read 142. My mom and sisters have hypoglycemia and both grandmothers were diabetic. I have all the typical symptoms of hypoglycemia, like feeling really nauseous if I don't eat and getting shaky. So, my question is, my symptoms seem to tell me I have both. Is it normal for the level to be high, especially after eating a starchy meal? And what do I really mean by both? Are they one in the same? Could my levels just be all over the place? Is there anything else besides diabetes or hypoglycemia that would cause this? Thanks!
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Avatar universal
Lemons~sorry for not getting an answer to you, there seems to have been a bit of confusion with our Holiday volunteer scheduling.  You've had great comments from others and I can simply add that I believe that LRS is right in saying it's time to see your doctor for sure to get to the bottom of all your symptoms.  We are not doctors here, simply people who themselves have type 1 or have loved ones who have type 1, so we can't offer you medical advice.  We speak from personal experience.  Given the way you've been feeling for quite sometime, I'd say now is the time to get a handle on your health.

I hope your physician can shed some light on your health issues and that you will return to this forum should you get a diagnosis of type 1.  I wish you all the best and let us know how you're doing!

Jill
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Avatar universal
I'm not a physician, but I have also read that hypoglycemia is often a precursor to diabetes, tho' not all folks with hypoglycemia go on to develop diabetes.  What a great idea to track your own blood sugar to see your own readings ... while waiting to see your doc.

I think if you brought some written records to your (new?) doc, you'll get his/her attention ... and you'll likely get some serious analysis of your data.

With all your infections, it would be great to finally find *a* root cause instead of chasing multiple causes.  

While this is off the topic of diabetes, it is also common that antibiotics kill off good bacteria along with the intended bad ones and thus, folks can get yeast infections simply because their bacterial balance is off.  Cranberries/juice and yogurt can help minimize that effect.

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Avatar universal
If your blood sugars are in the 50's, you definately have hypogycemia.  My neice has it and was told to not eat any sugar or high carb meals.  She also needs to eat protein at the same time she eats carbs because it will help her blood sugar not drop so low.  I know that whenever she is having a low blood sugar episode, she is told to eat half a peanut butter sandwich.  I'm sure any high protein snack would do the same thing.  Your blood sugars are not near high enough to have diabetes though. I'm a diabetic and I often check the blood sugars of my non-diabetic friends.  It's normal for a person's blood sugar to raise after eating.  However, I believe that hypoglycemia can be a precurser to diabetes.  Since you said that it runs in your family, I would try to keep a healthy weight, eat a low-carb diet, exercise and have regular check-ups.  If your blood sugar was high while fasting, then you might be concerned, but not a couple hours after eating.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the information and advice. While testing my level today during an "episode", my level was 32. Wouldn't that mean I was...like dead? Maybe it's the inexpensive monitor that's confusing me. I was feeling bad, but not THAT bad. Sounds like it's time to visit the doc!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oh yes!  'tis time to see your doc.  

We *do* adjust to lower blood sugars and sometimes, if we get a long string of lows, our counterregulatory mechanisms don't kick in to give us symptoms.  That's when diabetics need to get tuned into more subtle symptoms and to try harder to stay out of the low blood sugar territory.

In case you might like to know, some of the more subtle symptoms of lows can be a bit of mental confusion, not being able to get your thoughts into words, numbness, sometimes physical imbalance.  One of my more unique symptoms is what I can only describe as a "hollow" feeling in my throat &/or stomach ... not hungry but this other odd feeling.

I hope your doc can get you on a path toward more stable blood sugars.  It'll be wonderful to feel good again (even if you're treating yourself for hypoglycemia or diabetes) after feeling "not quite right" for a while.
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