the keep the glucose below 140 rule
 

To Mrs. D.


dear Mrs D. I had 3 hour glucose tolerence test, and all results were within the lab's normals. the 30 minutes result was 189, and that is within normal of the lab, 70 - 200 is niormal. range for that lab. BUT the neurologist said that even though one are not diagnosed with diabetes, any time the glucose goes above 140, it will affect the nerves, if one has abnormal glucose metabolism.
TSH was high also, so PCP increased the Synthroid and I will repeat in 4 weeks, and see a endocrenologist. Will see what happens .

so I guess I should buy a glucosemonitor, and be sure I stay below 140?

Mrs. D Do you have any links to diet advise in this regard?

You can download an application called iCookbook Diabetic. It's very simple recipes with calories, carbs and sugar contents per serving. It has also procedures that you can follow, even if you are not a cook....

I had a 2-hour glucose test and my second hour was 72. Mrs.D said that I was not a reactive hypoglycemia (yet) but it will develop to problems with sugar in the future. That was in Feb 2012 and true enough, I now have elevated blood sugar post meal. My Aic is still within the normal level but its the post meal glucose that I have problem with. I monitor my glucose 3-4 times a day. My sugar goes down very, very slowly.

I read that healthy glucose should be at least 120 on the second hour. I'm sure Mrs.D will correct this if its wrong.

ideopatic PN

Thank you for reply. I hope you are doing fine.

result: 30 minutes: 185
1 hour 93
2 hour 98
3 hour 73

At first look, I thought these were within normal range, as the labs normal range.
But the doctor said, even so, if the glucose goes above 140, it effects the nerves.
So now, I have a new outlook on it I guess, it could be what they call pre diabetic. Perhaps I should say, I was lucky I happened to have had this glucose tolerance test now. This way I am aware. and will monitor this.

I do have other causes for the terrible neuropathy also, I think. That is due to the vasculitis.
But I am going to search for some links regarding Diabetes management. As you mentioned, I will dpwnload some diet information. Thank you.
I will be seing a endocrenologist.
Thank you for your reply.

That test uses glucose only after a long fast. So naturally there will be highs very early after you swallow it. If it remains high during the duration of the test, it shows, low insulin response and hence diabetes. That test was designed for that. Not for evaluating other diabetic states like type II. That is why the A1C is replacing the GTT today.

Regular food, if it does not have pure glucose in it will show a different pattern.

Doctors are always being told new things...about diabetes.
Some may be correct and some not. We are learning that as people age, their A1C may go up a little, and this is NOT a sign of diabetes in most. I put up some papers about this to a post of Glenn's not too long ago.
This post link has two complex links in it... you will want to try and read it. I gave the papers to my own doctor too!
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post947907-8.html

The Accord study found that the "aggressive" arm of the patients included had an alarming death rate...so they stopped it before the end of the study. The more modest goals, did not have the elevated death rate.
http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20110...ise-death-risk

One of the new things is the post prandial spike. It is thought that it should remain below 200 in the hour after eating. But I am rather a cynic now. It seems just about everything that doctors will tell you will be out of fashion, in a few years time. I've watched this unfold for 50 yrs! So I don't think there are really complete answers yet.:rolleyes:

I am not diabetic.

I follow the belief that anything over 140 can cause nerve damage. I keep mine below that, at the 1 hour after first bite rule, which means I follow a low carb diet of below 30 carbs a day.

I am hypothyroid.

I definately have more flare ups on days when I cheat and eat too many carbs.

Have you considered natural hormone vs the synthetic??? A great wealth of info is at www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

I am on perscription nature-throid and not only is my tsh better but free T3 and T4 numbers are good too, which is something synthetics sometimes do not help.

Thank you Mrs. D. I will be reading those links .
I know that those GTT results were within normal range. And it was not realy right/fair of this neurologist to try to diagnose diabetes. Well he did not realy do that, but, as you said just after 30 m inutes of high glusoce . I know, normally with a normal food meal, it would be different. Any how, the doctor said I had abnormal glucose metabolism. Well, there you go. It was then consult completed, problem identified, cause found, case closed.
To be fair, this doctor has helped me greatly. He has identified and documented by diagnostic testing multiple or polyneuropathy. Autonomic nervous system included, all documented. So I thank him

I will look into a more closely monitored carbohydrate in my diet.
I will actually buy a glucose meter. It would not hurt.


thanks for thos links.
Yes, I too, have the experience that doctors are using the Hg A1C now for diabetes management/diagnosing. And that goes for years.

thank you stacy 2012.
No, I do not know much about the nature-troid. Natural hormone? I have taken Synthroyd for years.
I am not a diabetic eighter, have no symptoms of it, and have always had normal Fasting glucose, when ever tested routinly.

but now I hear from you and others, that it is a good idea to monitor the glucose even for non diabetics due to the nerve effects in neuropathy.

So thanks .
I did check out the link you posted.

I keep my glucose lower than 120 as far as I have ever seen. I like to keep it as level as I can so nerves can heal. I test one hour after eating. I do not have diabetes.

I bought a monitor also. It just gave me a clear view of which foods to avoid. Now that I have that, I don't use it much anymore, but it is a great tool for sure.

Yes, Nature-throid is the natural desicated hormone but you do need a dr/perscription for it. It is not always easy to find dr that will prescribe it....too many dr's use the standard synthetic synthroids without learning more. Just like the B12 testing is outdated, so is the tsh and thyroid testing...dr's simply don't know the facts and trust that stupid tsh number.