Dear Mrs. D,
You said once I have my Glucose Tolerance Test result, I should post it so you can compare with your graph. (I am sorry, I could not stay long on the computer to look for your post to quote because I feel dizzy.)

I got it today and here it is (it looks within the normal range):

Glucose, Fasting : 87 (normal range : 65 - 99 )
Glucose, 1/2 hour: 129 (normal range: 65 - 199)
Glucose, 1 hour : 101 (normal range: 65 - 199)
Glucose, 2 hours : 71 (normal range: 65 - 139)

Well, I am thankful that its normal. One step forward to a long journey....

I had my skin biopsy today. I was not given antibiotic which is good. I dont want to be taking antibiotic, anyway.

Thank you as always.

I think 71 at 2 hrs is quite low. A reactive low.
http://hypoglykemie.nl/gtt.htm
Not true hypoglycemia yet, but close. It would be helpful to have
fasting insulin run. When there are reactive lows, that suggests insulin excess. This may precede diabetes by several years, but can imply
impaired glucose utilization. Lows are starving nerves just like highs are.

While doctors look for highs, they ignore lows.
So while you are "normal" for diabetes, your lows, which might be more revealing on a longer test... are indicative of a possible reactive hypo state.

--and would highly recommend a much longer glucose tolerance test, with both glucose and insulin levels determined with each draw, to see the patterns.

Specifically, as Mrs. D says, you would want to know your fasting insulin level, to see if it is relatively high (that may be what is keeping your fasting glucose in a normal range, and it may signal insulin resistance, in which the body has to produce more insulin to keep blood sugar in check). Then, you would want half hour draws until at least 4 hours to watch the pattern of insulin and glucose rises/falls. What often happens in the insulin resistant is that their blood glucose does not rise that much in the first hour and a half or so as the body reacts to the glucose challenge by producing a big spike of insulin--this spike, however, tends to drive glucose levels down below one's fasting level in hours two/three (which may be happening here) until first insulin and then glucose "normalize" in hours three and four.

This pattern of "reactive hypoglycemia" is quite common among the insulin resistant.

Also I should add. When I was hypothyroid and undiagnosed, my fasting glucose was usually below 80 and often 70.

When my thyroid was treated, it rose to 85-90. I haven't had a 70 in YEARS now, and in fact my fasting is now over 100 regularly. This is the progression of insulin resistance over time.

Dear Mrs. D,
I have had Glucose serum test last May and November 2011 and the results were 97 and 87, respectively. I am not sure if this is thesame as the fasting blood sugar. The tests were part of the Metabolic. Panel Test. Again, in June 2011, I had another glucose serum test but this time I did not fast as the blood extraction was done at the doctor's clinic - result was 98.

Are the numbers indicative of a reactive hypoglycemia?

Is hemoglobin a1c a good test to determine if one is a reactive hypoglycemic or is this only to determine the average sugar in the blood for diabetic?

Thank you Mrs D for helping all of us.

Hi Glenntaj,

Thank you for your ideas.
I will have to consider taking a longer glucose tolerance test. However, I showed the copy of the result to my endocrinologist during my visit (the request for the test came from the. Neurologists) and he said everything is normal.


I don't know how to justify to the endocrinologist the additional test.

Assuming I am in the threshold of being a reactive hypoglycemic, can this be corrected with frequent small meal and no medicines?

Thank you.

There is no medicine for hypoglycemia -- well there was one, long ago that ended up to too toxic to use: ProGlycem. You see hypoglycemia was a "disease" back in the 70's. It was an epidemic actually. What it really was ... is an indicator of impaired glucose utilization, that has now become diabetes for many.

Not all doctors attend to lows predictably. They are only looking for the dreading diabetic highs. But the lows are a message, a HEADS UP, to change your ways. Avoid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and heavy reliance on starchy carbs. Smaller meals, and some good nutritious snacks twice a day or so, help even out swings in blood sugar. Keep in mind when LOW your cells are not getting the glucose they need.

The HbA1C is for targeting high blood sugars after eating. With your rather depressed results I would think your HbA1C would be normal, or on the low side.

Dear Mrs. D,
I will take note of your advice on what food to avoid.

Thank you so much.

Idiopathic

I would like to raise some clarifications on the results of my husband.

My husband has not been on medication for blood sugar.

His blood sugar has always been less than 7 (but more than 6 - just forgot the exact number) on fasting blood sugar and Hemoglobin AIc. On my insistence, he asked our PCP during his annual physical examination to give him the glucose test (I suggested to be more than 2 hours - as recommended in this forum). However, the PCP only has 2-hour Glucose Test in their computer system. The results are as follows:

Glucose, Fasting - 103 (65-99) High
Glucose, 1/2 hour - 161 (65-199)
Glucose, 1 hour - 119 (65-199)
Glucose, 2 hour - 108 (65-139)

A medical staff called him advising him that there is no need to see the doctor since his 2-hour glucose test is normal.
It appears he is pre-diabetic, but I need confirmation from those who understand the test better.

Thank you.

If his A1C is over 6.5... I'd put him on a low carb diet for awhile.

I think he is borderline. Sometimes just some diet can help this.
Size of meals, etc can make a difference in the A1C.

Just keep an eye on him.