I have so many questions. First a little background on myself. I am in my fifties, normal weight, had GD for 1st child. Had a steroid injection in my shoulder a month age and started having sweats and increase thirst. I went to NP and bld work show HA1c at 5.9.My fasting was 93. Does the steroid shot have anything to do with me starting with symptoms?
Steroids can raise your BG. Although the fasting BG doesn't seem out of line, the A1C is a shade higher than normal. I wouldn't think that the 93 fasting BG would produce symptoms. Do you know what carbs do to your BG?
I'd give your doctor pretty good marks as some people report similar numbers that a doc things are more like something to keep an eye on. What did they tell you to do about it? Some people (Brian/ BSC and 'Lil Mama come to mind but there's *bunches*) have different experiences and Brian had a big thread that I can't seem to find where he talked about his decision to give himself insulin to control his BG even though the doc thought he was "ok." It might be interesting to get a meter and have something crazy, like a burrito or whatever and see what that does to your BG!
Yes, steroids raise BG, but if it was a m onth ago the symptoms should be gone by now. Have you been checked since then?
I plan on gettng a meter and test fasting and 2 hours after eating and see what numbers I come up with. I also plan on seeing an endo MD. My symptoms is what is making me push forward with this. I get the hot sweats and am so thirsty. I am also more tired then normal and my eyes are very dry.
Your lab results are almost but not quite normal. If A1C is slightly elevated but fasting is near normal, this may be what used to be called "glucose intolerance", mildly high bg's but only after meals.
I do think it's good that your doc listened to your symptoms, and also excellent that you were so finely tuned into your symptoms. Yes it is possible that the steroid shot has resulted in high bg's after meals.
Out of curiosity... was the steroid shot in the shoulder because of "frozen shoulder"? I had a steroid shot because of that but because the doc knew I had diabetes he specially tailored the steroid type and dose and placement (sorry, I don't know the details) to help minimize effect on my bg. Without such special effort, I understand that steroids can be a very big deal in raising bg's. There's some other frozen-shoulder sufferers here too if that's the case and you want to talk about it.
My father was on steriods after the removal of a tumor on his putitary gland. After he was taking them, he was diagnosed as Type 2, sent to a ton of diabetes classes, etc. I called his doctor, because I was sure it was the steroids, and his PC doc agreed with me. There really wasn't a need for the steroids (long story) so he weaned Dad off of them and the blood glucose levels returned to normal.
The few times I have taken steroids my glucose numbers have been very high and I have needed an increased temp basal to cover it.
Your fasting and A1c are at the top of the normal ranges but not over. They are both something to keep an eye on. I guess that's what they define as pre-diabetes these days. The medical community keeps lowering the bar on what is considered T2 diabetes. 30 years ago they considered over 130 to be pre-diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes in lean or normal weight people does sometimes happen and since you had GD with your first child it is very possible with you.
T2 in most folks is usually caused by insulin resistance, that's when the body does not use it's own insulin properly. There are thing that you can do to help. Exercise is the first thing because exercise will help lower IR. It doesn't have to be a big deal maybe 30 minutes of walking 3 or four times a week. The next is diet, I know that you are of normal weight but eating the right kind of food can help.
I recommend that you read Dr Bernstein's book 'The Total Diabetes Solution', it will do a better job of explaining this than I. The solutions in his book are extreme and not totally necessary for everyone but they give good guidance and you can decide to what extent you wish to follow them. Unfortunately it's not an easy book to read but it's worth the effort.
The testing recommended by others is also a good idea especially the pre-meal and the 2hr after reads. This will give you and idea how your foods affect you. This might help you avoid or at least reduce the foods that cause higher BG reads.
This community is an excellent resource, it would be a good idea to spend some time reading the forum and maybe visit some of the groups where you will find conversations that focus more on you situtation.
Gary
Don't limit the testing to two hours. You may spike earlier {or later) than that. The only way to tell is to test at varying intervals.