Possibly Diabetic? Would like insight!

Hi All,

I am a 29 year old caucasian male, who for the last ~10 years has been slowly making my towards the higher end of the “overweight” range of a BMI chart.

Went for an annual physical today, had a slightly elevated BP (132/88), and bloodwork from two weeks prior gave me a FBG of 108. Historically I’ve hovered around 100- once or twice a little over, but usually under. Everything else- cholesterol, triglycerides, etc, are not even close to being out of spec.

My (new) doctor, for the sake of being thorough, gave me an A1C test and it came back as 6.5%- I’ve never taken this test before.

This surprised me given the FBG would indicate i’m not diabetic. I’ve also been dieting (~1600 calories per day, high fiber and protein, lower carbs, gov’t-recommended levels of fat) since July and have lost ~15 pounds thus far, down from 220. Most of this weight loss was from July through September, and since then I’ve sort of regressed but haven’t added any weight back on.

Due to COVID though I’m not super active- I run 2-3 miles once a week and haven’t been able to do much weight training since the gym is closed.

It seems to me like more testing needs to be done, but… what do you guys think? I do have some history of Type II in my family, and my diet hadn’t been ideal prior to my new diet/weight loss (higher fats and carbs, drink alcohol fairly frequently, etc), and I may have some sleep apnea issues (unsure how frequent this happens, may only be if I drink in the evening). Other than that though, I’m genuinely surprised and don’t see a clear reason why I’d suddenly develop diabetes.

I’d like to know what you guys think. Should I continue to diet and just do another A1C in ~4 months (which is what my doctor recommended)? Should I buy an at-home monitor and see what’s going on here? Open to opinions!

Welcome to our community!!!

Yes, absolutely. Buy yourself a Contour Next meter and some test strips and start testing before you meals, 1 hour after meal and 2 hours after meal and keep a good record. You will quickly start to learn what is driving your blood sugar up and what to avoid for food/drink. If you plan to fix your issue with little to no medications, it will be tough to do on your own given your weight.

You may want to look into virtahealth

Just the meter:

https://www.amazon.com/Bayer-CONTOUR-Bluetooth-Glucose-Meter/dp/B06Y42FL2R/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=contour+next+meter&qid=1605053241&sr=8-7

Meter with strips:

https://www.amazon.com/Contour-Glucose-Monitoring-System-Wireless/dp/B084GGR18H/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1NJLML8BDG85H&dchild=1&keywords=contour+next+meter+test+strips&qid=1605053375&sprefix=contour+next+meter+%2Caps%2C242&sr=8-7

Also available at any pharmacy but most likely more expensive there.

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Welcome @ferrarifan0811 to the possible adventure.
Agreed fully with @CJ114, get the BG meter & test as suggested. Additionally, continue with your exercise, & reduced fuel intake. No gym = no problem: find your locale flight of stairs & slowly work your way up to climb as many flights as you can per session, mindful of knee strain. And reintroduce yourself to your old highschool friend ‘Standard Pushup’! All in the effort to get your BMI down.

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FBG of 108 is a bit high for a non-diabetic. Even around 100 is borderline, so it sounds like it’s been a little elevated for a while. You’d ideally want to see that value solidly under 100. So I would guess probably didn’t suddenly develop it—I would suspect your A1c (which is a much better indicator than FBG) has also been rising slowly for a while. Keep in mind that if you do have T2 or prediabetes, that increasing insulin resistance (which is when your body doesn’t use the insulin it makes effectively) might actually be causing weight gain as much or more than caused by it (so the good news is that treating insulin resistance can also help some folks with weight loss). Family history is a huge factor for Type 2, and I would guess part of what’s going on. Diabetes or prediabetes doesn’t mean you did anything wrong, and it’s good that you are catching this very early, before it starts causing any major issues.

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I agree with everything that has been said. If you can’t walk outside, walk inside . I track my steps. That is what I do you tube has lots of walking videos. Or I put a book on and walk around my house. Welcome to the group. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Nancy50

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