Hi elsie,

when you say your iron was at 17, was that the ferritin number or that % aborbsorption? I think my last ferritin number was 24 and % saturation was 14% which is low. But it was improved from the 18 and the 10% where is was.

Again my iron issues are more related to heavy periods. But here is another thought for you. Are you on birth control pills? Sometimes those can affect your sugar readings. And if you have heavy periods you might be estrogen dominant which sometimes goes hand in hand with sugar issues.

I have to say the prescritpion iron is nice once a day because I dont have to worry about taking it too close to my calcim or around milk product etc. Definitely google and read up on it.

Melody, My father was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 83. His brother had it also at an older age. There is no history of diabetes in my mother's family.
Shelley, 17 is my ferritin number. I have no idea about the absorption. I am not on birth control pills. I am having the problem of having to separate my calcium from the iron and it's such a pain. I will definitely read up on repliva.
Thanks.

Elsie:

When I entered the Accord program at Cornell Hospital (it's a Cardiovascular study program in which they track woman with type 2 diabetes), I remember asking the doctor about diabetes.

Now I have Type 2. (due to my previously being morbidly obese, most of my adult life).

The doctor asked me "does anyone in your family have diabetes?
I answered" "well, my grandmother got it when she was 75, and my father (his mother),got it when he was 78". I have one cousin who is now 75 and he got it when he was 50 years old.

Her response: "oh, you have a genetic predisposition to it" I said "really?" I then said "but they got it when they were old, not young, and they had type 2". She said 'doesn't matter, it's genetic and you are predisposed to getting it and the fact that you are morbidly obese, well that didn't help that fact".

She wasn't being unkind, just factual. Now I have no idea if other doctors would agree with her or not.

Take for example, the fact that most of my family has cancer. My mother, my grandmother, my aunts, my uncles. They all had some form of cancer. Many of my cousins have had some sort of cancer.

Both parents smoked, I never did. All this means is that, if I do carry a gene or whatever, that I (luckily) didn't give that gene any triggers. Well, to the best of my knowledge anyway.

It's a very complicated subject, the subject of genetics.

You can be a healthy person, but if you have recessive genes, well, whatever triggers those genes (and we don't have all the answers yet), well we just have to go about our daily life, and do the best we can do.

In my case, I self medicated with food, didn't listen to any of my doctors when I was younger, and ate myself to death. Well, I developed diabetes.

God knows what would have happened if I smoked 3 or more packs like both my parents.

Sometimes I feel like a walking time bomb, given the fact that so many of my family members have had this type of cancer, or that type of cancer.

But as Dr. Oz said on Oprah. Genetics is 30% of our health.

God, I hope he's right.

Even though I didn't pay attention to my health all those years ago, when I hit my 50's I woke up, and followed my own program.

You are doing all you can do to increase your chances toward bettering your health. I give you a lot of credit.

Most young people don't go to doctors, don't give a hoot about their metabolic numbers, supplements, etc. I only wish I did this when I was 24.

But as they say, better late then never.

So keep doing what you are doing, eat a balanced diet, take whatever you need to take, drink lots of water, don't use any artificial sweetners, watch the red meat, eat your veggies, and don't smoke.

Enjoy the glass of wine now and then. They say it's really good for the heart. That is, if it doesn't inflame your neuropathy. I can't do this.

Enjoy life to the best that you can.

you should have a serum insulin level drawn on fasting.

You cannot exercise/walk, or doing anything physical before the test.

There are researchers that claim all people over 40 have some degree of
insulin resistance.

This comes with aging and you can control it, slow it down with supplements and life style changes.

But the GTT only tells one bit of the story.