Mysteriously high fasting blood glucose

I wonder if any of you extraordinarily sharp health enthusiasts can help me. I'm a moderately active, slim 43-year-old male with no family history of Type 2 diabetes. For approximately the last 6 years my fasting blood glucose (FBG) has been elevated (range: 108 to 132 mg/dL), but my HbA1c remains normal or near-normal (range: 4.5 to 5.3%). My fasting insulin and C-peptide are within normal ranges. A low-carbohydate diet (<100 grams/day) did not help; increasing my activity level helped somewhat. I would describe myself as a very anxious person and, in the past year, would probably have satisfied the criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, if I had chosen to seek medical help (doing a bit better now, thanks). Both FBG and HbA1c appear to test higher when my anxiety level is higher.

Question: Can a high level of stress or anxiety cause a sustained increase (not just a spike) in FBG, or is something else a more likely explanation?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Anita Ramsetty, MD]

Hi,
Stress can affect your blood sugars but the effect is usually more acute. If you have had elevated sugars repeatedly on testing, it is not likely from stress alone.  Your A1C is in the normal range because your blood sugars during the remainder of the day are  likely normal as compared to your morning levels. Your impaired fasting glucose is a sign that your glucose metabolism is not functioning quite right and does put you at risk for diabetes in the future, so your decision to seek medical advice was warranted.
Good luck, keep up with the exercise, and take care.

[CLAIRE2991]

A related discussion, raised  blood sugar levels was started.