I am 26 year old male. Fairly health with regular workout. Stopped working out since couple of years. Gained 20 pounds. I was having dry eye and extra thirst since few days and went for check up. Doctor did A1C and it came out to be 6.4. He told me I am prediabetic and on the border. Gave me month of Metformin and told me to “eat health and workout”. (4 weeks ago) Since then I have been freaking the hell out. Dry eye symptom went away in couple of days. So I asked my doc if I should continue Metformin and he told me its fine if I get off it. I am currently not taking any meds. (stopped taking metformin after a week)
I regularly check my BS and its around 90-100 in mornings. And 140 2 hours after dinner. This is is good range right?
Second thing which is freaking me out is that since last week I am starting to have pins, needle sensation on my feet and hands? Today i started having burning sensation on my feet too. I also have nausea and diarrhea like feeling. Am I having neuropathy complications? Does this happen this fast? Please help!!!
I believe we all freak out in the beginning, I believe it wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t.
What you describe appears to be prediabetes or early diabetes. What you describe in your hands and feet does sound like neuropathy. Neuropathy at this early stage is unusual but it’s possible.
The question now is where do you go from here. You are at the stage were you can have the most effect with your treatment. With proper diet and exercise you will most likely able to push back some or all of the symptoms you are having.
There is argument in diabetes circles whether there is such a thing as prediabetes. The feelings of many are that prediabetes is merely Type 2 diabetes in it early stages. Either way it must be taken seriously. I mention this because diabetes is a life long thing, you can control it but can never really rid yourself of it. If you are successful with you efforts to control it you may be able to live your life as if you don’t have it as long as you maintain control. What causes Type 2 is always there waiting to resurface.
The bg numbers you are reporting now are high normal depending on who you talk to but they are not the total story.
About neuropathy, the best thing for it is to keep bg under control. The symptoms may improve or disappear all together.
it would be a good ida for your doctor to test for type 1 diabetes called lada diabetes
lada can be miss diegnosed as type 2 i have had a few friends go throw this hers some info
and the tests that need to be run http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/54/suppl_2/S68
I agree with Shelly4 - you need to be tested for T1D - LADA. You should also have your C-peptide levels checked to see how much insulin you are producing - A low c-peptide could indicate T1D.
I was misdiagnosed as T2 at age 27. I was able to treat with Metformin, exercise, and diet for about a year, and then I needed insulin. I too had all the symptoms you described above, both before and after my T2 diagnosis. After I started insulin, the pins and needles, nausea, and diarrhea all stopped. I figure it was either a side effect of metformin, or my BS was actually out of whack the whole time. I’d also suggest testing your BS more times throughout the day, like 1 hour and 2 hours after all your meals, just to see where you really are and how you’re trending.
I have a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) now and it’s absolutely the best piece of equipment for a new diabetes diagnosis. The CGM allows you to see your BS every 5 minutes, 24/7, without pricking your finger - so you can experiment with different foods and exercise, see how you’re BS does overnight or when really stressed out or sick. It allows you to still live your “old” life, and only make changes when necessary because of adverse BS responses.
Allen - according to Dr. Bernstein a fasting BG for a non-diabetic should be 83. I have never seen a study which supports this and if it changes by age range, What I can tell you is my three sons all in the 20’s fasting BG is 83 so Dr. Bernstein appears to be correct. Their postprandial BG never seems to go above 125 and they are back to 83 within three hours. These numbers match other numbers I have seen.
If your A1c is really 6.4 thats an average BG of 137. Microvascular damage starts after a couple hours of being above 140 which leads to diabetic nephropathy.
What I would suggest is getting a real understanding of your BG with a 24/7 profile. The easiest way is with the Abbott Libre which is not officially approved yet in the U.S. but you can get the sensors on ebay and other sites for about $80 per sensor. You can download free android reading software. Keep a log of what you are eating and times so you can then correlate to the Libre. A sample log is available from Gary Scheiner here Printable Diabetes Logsheets | Integrated Diabetes Services You should have a pretty good feel with one sensor but a full month - 2 sensors would be better.
There is really no such thing as a prediabetic. Either your pancreas is producing enough insulin to keep you in a non-diabetic range or its not. What has caused the issue is a question but as Dr. Ralph DeFronzo (University of Texas Health Science Center) recently said at the Beyond A1c at 2017 ADA Forum "The most waste in type 2 diabetes is to continuously put people on metformin and sulfonylureas (glyburide, glimepiride, etc.). These drugs have no protective effect on the beta cell, and by the time you figure out what you’re doing, there are no beta cells left to save.” "https://diatribe.org/the-diatribe-foundation-and-tcoyd-11th-annual-forum
The study they discuss shows typical BG ranges. Non-diabetic is <130 post meals per their graph. It also shows graphs for a 56yr old who they say is non-diabetic but he is clearly going above the 140 range but he is back to FG within 3 hours. seventhform.com/vdexdownloads/vdex-whitepaper-072817.pdf
Thats from their lab results. I am not sure what they used but I was surprised they were all the same. To be honest I don’t think I ever see them fasting very often and they probably drink too much beer. As I said I have never seen a study on what really is non-diabetic but if you know of one I would appreciate it. I have always thought BG correlates to longevity and I bet a perfectly healthy 80 yr old tests around 83.
Your blood sugars are not super high, but they are higher than normal. I agree with folks advice re: the T1D/LADA tests. One thing to keep in mind re: the metformin is that it’s really a very benign medication (only potential issue tends to be it can cause some folks stomach problems, but sometimes the ER version less so, and some people find they need to take B12 supplements on it), and may even be beneficial in a range of ways (anti-cancer, anti-aging). So it’s not going to hurt you to take it, it may help your blood sugars, and it won’t make your potential diabetes worse or anything (it’s not like you’ll become dependent on it). So might be worth taking it for a little while if your dr thinks that’s a good idea and seeing if it helps your blood sugars—if it does help though, keep in mind, it’s only going to help as long as you keep taking it!
I will reiterate what others have said–I think it is very important that you be tested to see if you have Type 1 diabetes. Pre-diabetes is not just pre-Type 2, there is also pre-Type 1 diabetes. Autoantibody testing can be used to determine if you have autoimmune (Type 1) diabetes; the tests are GAD, ICA, IA-2, IAA, and ZnT8. Ask your doctor. The c-peptide test, done fasting, is also helpful but not definitive. Best of luck to you!
