I don’t know if I have LADA or something else diabetes. I had reactive hypoglycemia for years growing up (actually diagnosed when I was in college) and I had gestational diabetes 3 times (12 years ago, 9 years ago, and 7 years ago) and used insulin in the first while controlled with diet with the second and third (and diagnosed at the beginning of the second trimester with those). About 4 years ago I was sick and couldn’t get better and went to see a new doctor. I mentioned my history of gestational diabetes and she suggested a fasting blood test to check how I am doing. I agreed but commented that when I was pregnant my fastings were always fine even though I had trouble with the post-meal numbers. Her suggestion was an A1C. I agreed and got a fasting result of 94 and an A1C of 6.1. She mentioned that the 6.1 was a bit high and I should try and cut back on sugars and maybe exercise and not gain any weight (my weight being normal/healthy). I went heavy into exercise (and thanks to some antibiotics finally got well) and retested a year and a half later. That gave me a fasting number of 90 and an A1C of 5.7, My doctor treated this A1C the same as the 6.1 and mentioned that I should try to get my numbers down (no helpful advice - just keep doing what I was doing). A year later I was at (fasting 94) A1C 5.8 (despite an INCREASE in exercise) and last September I was at (fasting 88) A1C 5.9 despite working to reduce how many carbs I was eating in addition to the exercise. Last summer (before the A1C test) I was feeling lousy and exhausted all the time and worried that my sugars were climbing. I got out my old meter and bought some new strips and started testing. Nothing very high, but not normal. I could easily hit 130-150 at 2 hours if I didn’t limit my carbs.
So, in December I decided to become serious (with turning 40 right around the corner) along with a feeling that things just weren’t right. I started significantly reducing my carbs and checking after most meals. What I found was that my numbers seem to be worse (now I can see over 150 at 2 hours if I’m not good about my carb intake) and wildly inconsistent. The same breakfast over the course of two months gave me 1 hour readings of 80 and 132 within days of each other (this happened multiple times). I feel like my fingers are pin cushions and I haven’t learned much. I still don’t know what I can/should eat. I am healthy weight, I exercise regularly. I limit carbs. I don’t know what else to do. On the other hand, I don’t go over 200 unless I eat straight sugar (like dessert or a sweetened drink), things that I can avoid if I am motivated. It seems like there is nothing a doctor would do with me even if I did get a diagnosis. I’m sick of chasing my post-meal number unsuccessfully. At this point I don’t know what to do next.