Hello All, hope you are well:

My neurologist sent a note saying that some of my lab results were back and there were two things:

First, my vit. D level is low (again) and he prescribed 50,000 U of Vit. Softgel to take once a week for six months. I have had to do this before.

Second, my fasting glucose came back borderline at 101 (normal is <100).

I don't know if these results are causative of my PN. I am having additional labs drawn Tuesday from Athena Labs. My neurologist ordered a PN profile and a MAG profile.

Mere

Mere--I saw an excellent video about vitamin D you might be interested in seeing. MrsD referenced it in one of her recent posts. It is rather long, but well worth watching, especially since your levels are low. I hope I got the link correct: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ-qekFoi-o.

I have often wondered.....they keep lowering the ranges on labs.

Glucose used to be 120. Then they lowered it to 110. Now 100.

Same with cholesterol. Hmmm.

Cyclelops, I wonder why that is? Do the levels change based on age? I am 48.

My glucose, non-fasting, is usually just outside of the range for normal. Always borderline. I suppose the neurologist will let me know if this has any bearing on or is causative of my PN. I suppose it could be that it is normal for me.

Mere

i think it changes with how much money the pharmaceutical companies want to make which of course is always more. If someone had the patent on b12 you could bet that 800 would be the minimal accepted level.

I agree with C and Ela it is driving me nuttier then I should be. Sue

FASTING BLOOD SUGARS ARE NOT THE GOLD STANDARD, and havent been for years! you need a glucose tolerance test! minimally a post prandial level.
many persons with faulty glucose metabolism maintain a "normal" fasting while having elevated post prandial numbers and doing damage to their systems........good luck!

My mistake pabb, the test was a glucose tolerance test; not a fasting blood sugar as I stated in my post.

There is increasing evidence and research (Johns Hopkins, Cornell-Weill, etc) regarding the relationship between a pre-diabetic condition (consistant high 'normal' readings) and the onset of PN.

I know, but how low is all this going to get? Cripes, when I did triathlons, and was buff, I had trouble keeping a cholesterol total below 180....my glucose ran lower, but I couldn't keep up eating what I needed. I just wonder if any of this is driven by the desire to create a demand for drugs, as some one mentioned. I know of stellar athletes who dropped dead of heart attacks, and people who needed to lose 100 pounds keep plugging away.

I wonder if we don't drive ourselves nuts with all this.

My GP wants me on a statin....I have refused up to now, because I already have myopathy and neuropathy....how miserably do I want to live??? I can have a great cholesterol level and be in a wheel chair! I admit lately my diet been too much high fructose corn syrup, so I need to clean that up. I am not going to be running or cycling long distances anymore, but I admit, I need to walk more. I just loathe being fully upright these days, not to mention it is freakin cold where I live and I am an hour from a mall for walking. Yes, I did buy a treadmill which I call 'the rack'. I have a genetically low HDL. No matter how hard I pounded myself, it never exceeded 46. My hubby sits on his duff and his is 60.

I should just start eating a clove of garlic a day...keeps the vampires away...and any one else too. The perfect solution for any one with social phobia.