TL;DR: My fasting glucose is consistently 98-108, and my blood sugar regularly climbs to 160ish 1-2 hours after a meal of, say, tofu/broccoli/brown rice or a falafel wrap and chips. I’m 30, female, thin, vegan (of the non-militant variety ), I run 35-45 miles per week, don’t drink, and avoid refined sugar. I realize that my numbers are in the pre-diabetes range, right? Should I be concerned? Does this sort of elevation indicate that I’m heading to Type 2 Diabetes, or could this be early LADA?
Long version:
I know, I know. I shouldn’t be asking Dr. Google to solve my problems. And, I’m not really. I’m just wondering whether I should be concerned.
A few weeks ago, I ran two half marathons on back-to-back weekends. I wasn’t racing them, just using them as long runs with friends. Anyway, on mile 2 of the first race and mile 6 of the second, I got super lightheaded, dizzy, and shaky, and I thought I was going to pass out. The distance wasn’t unusual for me, and I had no idea what was going on. Another runner mentioned that this looked like a classic low blood sugar, so I went out and bought a meter.
I thought I’d get some baseline data for a few days and then go on a run and see what happened. Instead, I’ve seen three weeks of readings between 98 and 180, with the exception of two readings in the upper 80s. (I’ve only run a few times during this time, as I’ve had some serious fatigue. I’m attributing some of that to anemia—which I’m treating and which isn’t supposed to affect my meter’s readings.)
The Internet told me that this puts me squarely in the pre-diabetes range. But, I guess my question is whether that makes sense given my lifestyle. Every Type 1 story I’ve come across mentions very high numbers, and every “lean Type 2” story I’ve read states that staying active keeps you from getting sick. And, this sort of sounded like MODY Glucokinase, except that I have no family history of diabetes and was a normal birthweight (which, I guess, rules out an independent mutation). Could this be LADA? Basically, how much should I try to self-advocate to get tested, or how much should I be concerned? Is this just a case of having too much data (i.e., I’m not super sick, so I wouldn’t know any of this if I didn’t have a meter)?
Two days into my having the meter, I’d mentioned my fasting glucose to my GP at my annual checkup, but she didn’t seem to think this was worrisome. And, I know that the Internet is full of scary information, but I think that the facts seem to point toward at least further investigation.
I’d love any thoughts you might have.