CNN says Hep C folks, me included, have increased risk of diabetes 2

Just watched a short clip on CNN that says based on a population based study, (whatever that is) we have an significantly increased chance of developing diabetes 2.  Not a lot of meat to the article and it wasn't even specified whether it was related to interferon use or not.  Now, I'm wondering if some of the symptoms I've been feeling is NOT fatigue from Hep C, but diabetes 2.  

I know I gained too much weight back after failing treatment in 2003, but I am still pretty active and push myself a lot to do THINGS, mow the lawn, take the stairs, etc.

Does anybody else wonder about diabetes 2?  Sometimes, I get a kind of dizzy feeling, sort of woozy, but it passes quickly.  I watch the sugar I eat, but still have a popsicle every day.  I'm working on losing 30 lbs, I lost 50 lbs during tx but gained it all back over the last three years, it was quite insidious, very slowly creeping back to my bu tt and thighs.

It pops into my head that I am carrying around 30 extra 1 lb. new york strip steaks and no wonder I am freakin tired.   I've upped my veges and fruit and have cut back seriously on portions.  

So I'm thinking I need a glucose meter, take the blood sugar  now and then and see what's up.  Every once in a while, I will read something that talks about "insulin-resistance" and am wondering if this is one of the gifts left to me by IFN.  Anybody have any experience with this?  

Let me know, before I go see my GP, I need to know what to tell him.  He is very scared to treat me because of his lack of knowledge about Hep C and is always grateful when I tell him what I need.  Sad situation, but my infectious Doc is in Seattle, about 300 miles away.  So I am on my own and I don't know about the rest of you, but since I was diagnosed with Hep C, a lot of my treatment has been in my own hands, my own research and I'm glad to do it.

Willows

[Upbeat]

Get a meter.  Its easy to check.    80  to 120 is normal  when fasting.   The thing is you normally lose a lot of weight with the onset of diabeties. Other symptoms are frequent trips in the middle of night to the bathroom and extrem thirst in the night.

                                                                                                            Ron

[ladybug52]

A glucometer is kind of an expensive investment if you're not sure you even have diabetes. You can ask your GP to check  your fasting blood sugar. They can either do that in his office or give you a lab slip for one. I'm lucky in that I work in a skilled nursing facility, and can just ask one of the nurses to check mine. I've done that several times, because, I worry also. My BS is just fine, was a little high once when I wasn't fasting when it was taken (119)
Several people here have diabetes post tx. Do you have other risk factors besides some extra weight & hep c that make you more likely to develop diabetes? Like family history, high triglycerides and high cholesterol?
Here's a link to insulin resistant-pre-diabetes:
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/
I tookk a continuing ed course on diabetes and learned enough to put me to sleep, as I wasn't as interested in it at the time! My grandmother was a type 2 diabetes (adult onset) but no one else in my family has developed it.
Good luck,
Bug

[ladybug52]

Upbeat is sooo right. My brother-in-law developed it a few years back and looked gaunt and terrible. I asked are you sick? He said in a way, I just found out I'm diabetic. He lost 30 lbs in a short amount of time and felt like shite.
Bug

[cigaso]

That's exactly what my doc told me. High triglycerides(sp), over 100 blood sugar and fatty liver will lead to diabetes if not checked. That means a low carb diet. This my 2nd time on tx.

[MrsOckert]

And I didn't lose any weight when I was diagnosed with diabetes.  Felt like cr**p and didn't lose a pound.  I've rarely known anyone that lost weight when DX.

[MrsOckert]

I use the Reli-On brand from Walmart.  The meter cost $10.00 and 100 strips around $40.00.  That's very inexpensive as far as meter and strips go and they work just as well as the higher brands.

There is a direct correlation between Hep C and diabetes.  Do a google search.  For now just check your blood sugars from time to time or day to day to get an idea of what they are doing.  You could be in a Pre-diabetes state.

[Forseegood]

hi, yeah, I'd just ask your doc to check for this, they have a few ways to do it with blood tests...as far as some of your symptoms, they are often found in menopausal women...and I've been told by obgyns that you can still experience many menopausal symptoms even if you stopped mentruating, it can go on for years in some women...dizziness, brain fog, many of the symptoms of hep c are experienced by menopausal women...I should put a list on, it'll blow your mind if you haven't seen it...anyway, sometimes I think between my hep and menopause, I'm getting tagged teamed, I'd imagine since the liver is the general of the hormones, six of one, half dozen of the other...while this article said some things many of us have heard of, I really don't know a whole lot of people who got diabetes through this, though of course there are some, I just don't see it that often, and Ive been on a few boards...can't be THAT prevalent, though I"m just judging from a relatively small sample myself...sometimes I think these news outlets recycle old news when they have a deadline to meet and they need a new take on old news...I think I saw this study and it wasn't very forthcoming...not to dispute this though...

[jmjm530]

They seem to get you both ways re diabetes.

According to this 2003 study:

"....Thus, in predisposed individuals, alpha-interferon can either induce or accelerate a diabetogenic process already underway. We suggest that islet cell autoantibodies and glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies should be investigated before and during interferon treatment in order to identify subjects at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes mellitus....

http://tinyurl.com/ynvtcq

Not sure if any more recent studies avail on this.

__ Jim

[pigeonca]

I've heard that the Walmart meter is cheap and good.  Anybody with a question about diabetes ougut to buy one, because diabetes goes undiagnosed in a similar way to hcv, and for a similar reason: medical economics.

I''ve been slowly developing diabetes over the last several years, long before being diagnosed with hcv, but I suspect that the hcv aggravated it, since I'm not overweight.  My brother and his wife are both diabetic, she since in the age of 2 (she has type 1, which is actually a different disease), and they are also extremely knowledgeable, really on the cutting edge of self-care.  Here's what I've learned from them, and I really feel strongly about this, so please take it seriously.

The American Diabetes Society's standards are based on the assumption that people won't go that extra mile, that they're not going to be as "compliant" to treatment as they should be.  So the ADA has very minimal requirements.  The American Assn. of Clinical Endocrinologists has established much higher standards, and if you don't want diabetic damage you should take a look at their web site.  Basically, any fasting blood sugar over 100 is pre-diabetic, and you need to change your eating habits and exercise habits, and you may need medication, probably metforman (glucophage).  If, after meals, you go over 200 (which you will test with your meter), you are fully diabetic.  The definition of full-blown diabetes is over 126 fasting, over 200 one hour after a meal (one with lots of carbs).

Here's why a fasting blood sugar test is inadequate: Some people, and I am one of them, can still pass the fasting, but a nice piece of chocolate cake will shoot their numbers way up - I can hit 250 easily.  Test yourself several times, because the human body is weird, and this sugar elevation won't always happen.  I think it depends on what you ate the day before and how much exercise you had.  In any event, if you have a fasting over 100 or a post-prandial over 200, you must do something.

I started with metformin when I became prediabetic, and I'm now shooting 16 units of lantus insulin every night before going to bed.  Along with diet and exercise, this regime seems to be controlling my sugar fairly well (if I can control my sweet tooth, which is sometimes difficult).  During tx for hcv I must confess that, other than the insulin, I totally neglected my diabetes, since all I could eat was fruit and icecream, and I couldn't move enough to get any exercise.  Now I'm trying to get it back in control, because I don't want to be one of those diabetic amputees or anything else like that.

My sister-in-law has lived with diabetes for over 50 years without any bodily damage because she follows the rules and takes good care of herself (I think great genetics may be helping too).  Her example has kept me from being frightened and eager to take control.  Good luck.  Let us know what you find out.

[Forseegood]

thanks so much for this, this time I copied it! so glad that we have so many knowledgeable people, some first hand, at this board!