Would I be Diabetic?

[maddimatt]

My fasting blood sugars are high, 7.3/6.8 (Canada) as well as my random. But my HB A1c remains normal? My doctor wants to diagnose me with diabetes. I am 35 years old and do have some family history of diabetes. Wouldnt the HB be high as well? Thanks Michelle

[Zoelula]

An A1C is the average of blood sugars for a period of 2-3 months. If you experience low blood sugars as well as high, that would pull the average down and make it normal. My first question would be "what is that A1C"? A1C of 5.7-6.5 is considered pre-diabetes, so if it is in that range, it would be pre-diabetes. Your fasting of 7.3 (131) would be in the diabetic range, but your 6.8 (122) is considered pre-diabetes. Random blood sugars are virtually meaningless. Some doctors use fasting to diagnose but since you have two different ones (pre-diabetes and diabetes) he needs to look further. The A1C is the standard currently for diagnosis, so again that would be the question, is the A1C pre-diabetic? Different people's diabetes presents in varied ways. You might have high fasting but not high post prandials (2 hours after meals). One way to check further would be an OGTT which tests reaction to a sugary drink. Bottom line is whether it is pre-diabetes or pre-diabetes you want to look at making some lifestyle changes such as lowering carb intake, exercise and weight loss if necessary as obviously you are at risk.

[Zoelula]

In the last sentence I meant to say "if it is pre-diabetes or diabetes"