My docs said that I'm not diabetic. What I learned elsewhere made me wonder. Due to growing up in a dysfunctional and abusive family I found food my only solace. I became a binge eater for most of my life. Lots of junk but really healthy foods too. Like I'd eat pounds of raw organic veggies each day along with the donuts and chips and with everything I'd eat until I was emotionally numb. (did not purge however).

That's the background in a nutshell.

Anyway I've always felt that there would be some dues to pay for such behaviors but even with years of therapy it was only slightly better so I did not stop often or for long. Anyway I'm sure there was plenty of glucose spiking going on even if my insulin still worked.

So I started monitoring myself at home with a Max glucose meter. My first readings while not scary made me wonder. Two hours after food I was around 150-60. That's prediabetic. My fasting glucose was around 140 which sucks IMO.

Fear sucks but lets appreciate its function as a motivator. I quickly quit binge eating and started eating five small meals a day that are all healthy food. Within a few days my numbers came down and the symptoms seemed to abate just a tad and I got cautiously excited.

So my Fasting numbers are now in the 84-90 range which is pretty solid and at two hours it's about 110. Stellar from what I know.

This makes me think I was wrong about the prediabetes. Or is there more to this story that I don't get yet? I'm just getting going on the sugar thing.

Can you help me understand this?

The docs and my search have yet to find a cause of my neuropathy. I have many suspicions but no certainties. I'm sure you can all relate to that.

I think there is glucose intolerance that affects people.

Your numbers as they are now sound great. I know diet has affected mine vastly. I also know pretty quickly when a food is overdone or needs to be eliminated due to how it makes me feel.

Diet is hard to control if you pn affects standing, balance and the litany. I used to cook at least half the time. Now I cook a Sunday meal if I am not worn too thin by the day.

Cooking makes me feel good, but I have to be so careful now. My hands have the feeling of three pair of food service gloves on in regard to sensation and dexterity. Some days are less. Who knew changing fryers would lead to a useful analogy for my hand sensation/lack there of?

My first comment is about your "two hour number." You said you were 150-160 two hours after a meal and now you're 110. Were identical meals involved? You have to compare apples-to-apples. A meal of pasta vs. a meal of meat of non-startch veggies will yield very different two hour results if you have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT).

The diabetics who have been guiding me promote the "eat to your meter" approach to controlling blood sugar. In a nutshell, always eat so that your blood sugar never goes over 140, and preferably 120. I have no trouble doing that as long as I keep carbs to a minimum. This was a page I was referred to:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045621.php

Something as simple as a measured 1 cup bowl of Cheerios with enough milk to cover it sends me to 169. An apple takes me over 140. All this happens with my Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) being in the low 80s and my A1C in the low 5s....well below pre-diabetic screening criteria.

Most of the diabetics say to ignore your FBG as it's not a good measure of what's going on. Your post-prandial (PP) values tell the story. There's a lot of good information on the website I linked to. Start reading on the home page.

Something like 50- 60% of diabetics will get peripheral neuropathy, so obviously there's a real motivation for someone with neuropathy to keep their blood sugar under control regardless of whether blood sugar is believed to be the cause or not. Will a doctor tell you this? My neuro didn't, but my primary care doc did.

The meals were basically identical day to day but each meal was slightly different but I ate the same the next day so I would have apples to apples comparison.

I've never heard of numbers improving that drastically that quickly, but I'm certainly no expert.

I've been low carb for about 8 months now and have seen no improvement in PP numbers with regard to how I process carbs. When I get my annual physical next month, however, I'm hoping my A1C will be even lower showing the effects of my dietary changes.

If you want an accurate test in a controlled environment to see what going on post-prandrial, I'd request an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test from your doc. It's a two hour ordeal at the lab getting stuck four times, but it will really show what's going on. Some researchers recommend that anyone diagnosed with idiopathic SFN should automatically be given this test.

http://www.jabfm.org/content/17/2/127.full

"Conclusion

Based on the data available in the current medical literature, we suggest that patients presenting with unexplained painful sensory neuropathy should be evaluated for impaired glucose metabolism with a 2-hour OGTT; if the results of the test are abnormal, they should be referred for lifestyle interventions and/or initiation of oral hypoglycemic agents in addition to management of neuropathy symptoms. Improved glycemic control can prevent the development of overt diabetes mellitus and may have some impact on progression of neuropathy in these cases. The association between “idiopathic” painful sensory neuropathy and impaired glucose metabolism argues very strongly for prospective studies in larger populations looking at the cost-effectiveness of this approach."

My Dr. told me that once you get above 140 on fasting glucose in the morning, you are diabetic. 80-120 is what you want. I am glad you can eat better and get your numbers down. If you test two hrs after eating the number needs to be 180<. I don't think you were wrong about the prediabetes. My backstory may be very similar but my numbers have been bad. I lost 60lbs during muscle wasting acute phase amyotrophy and the diabetes went away until the strength started coming back. Now I'm getting stronger but sweeter too! I have a month to get my numbers into safer range or else the Optometrist is going to do laser surgery on my eyes as they are bleeding on the inside. So please keep on testing. I have in the last week, given up tortillas at breakfast and doubled my Metformin to 2000 mg/d.
Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

< 180 is the post-prandial target for a diabetic as given by the American Diabetes Association which many believe is too high.

Regardless of that, it is WAY too high for a non-diabetic like icelander.


Below is what I've consistently read to be postprandial numbers for a person without issues.

http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org...t/20/2/71.full

"In healthy, nondiabetic subjects, 2-h postprandial blood glucose levels are usually <120 and rarely >140 mg/dl. Glucose levels peak at ∼1 h after the start of the meal and then return to preprandial levels within 2–3 h."


If I eat a high carb meal, I spike into the 170s/180s, and it will take me 4 - 6 hours to return to preprandial levels. This is how I know without a doubt that I have a problem with glucose metabolism. Well that, and the fact that my Oral Glucose Tolerance Test showed reactive hypoglycemia.

_______

My annual reading comes in at 90 or so, and this is non-fasting. Regardless, I would work to keep carbs/sugars to a MINIMUM. I decided about 5-6 yrs ago to get off breads...started buying gluten free but then decided I didn't need to bring breads into my house....my sandwiches are a romaine lettuce wrap, I buy a lot of organics as at this time in my life, my health is too important to put cwap into my body. I was raised on pasta and this time in my life, hardly ever eat it. My health is too important...

I have a friend who deals with skin cancers and she says idiopathic neuropathy, but I believe her issues are sugar....she gets a HIGH when sweets are around her. I've stopped talking to her, does no good. cancer loves sugar environment.

I now eat no sugar, and very rarely grains. I eat small amounts of meat. lots of veggies cooked and raw, whey protein powder, some berries for fruit. That's about it right now.

See this is what I think I've been doing to myself all these years. Spiking over and over and over because of binge eating junk. My insulin still works however and that's why eating like a normal human has brought my glucose into the healthy range. So I might not be pre or diabetic but still have caused my neuropathy with the spiking for all those years. Does that sound like a possible?