Doctors divided on diabetes diagnosis (details)?

Question

My family doctor said my blood sugar was close to the diabetic level and was alarmed about it. I probably should have told her I heard the same thing about 20 years ago but I forgot. A different doctor looked at my blood sugar and said it was on the high end of normal, but it was ok. What should I do? Should I get a third opinion?

Answer 1

Go with your family doctor. Take steps to live a healthier lifestyle. If your family doctor wants to put you on meds before using nutritional/exercise treatments, then have them repeat the tests in a few weeks or a month before this is done.

I would go with your family doctor, unless you are planning on going to the second doctor from now on. Also, there are 2 mistakes to be made, the first mistake is treating diabetes seriously when you didn't have to. The second mistake is not treating diabetes seriously when you should have.

Diabetes diagnosis numbers are not lowered because of drug companies. They are lowered because long term studies out of England show that people who were not diagnosed as being diabetic but had fasting blood sugars above 126 had an increased risk of eye complications similar to what diabetics have.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

20 years differences in opinions almost makes sure you are now diabetic. 20 years ago the diagnosis was made at 145!! Now it is 126.

What I would do is go back into the doctor's office for more blood work, CBC will tell the whole story. If there is any doubt about the A1c reading, the doc should go for a GTT - glucose tolerance test. CBC is complete blood count.

You of course have the option of another doctor as well. A simple finger stick test tells absolutely nothing unless your glucose reading is above 300 in which case the doc would have hit you with a couple of prescriptions!!

Don't live in doubt. Make another appointment with this doc to talk some more about this. Or make an appointment with an Endocrinologist - the specialist who specializes in diabetes among other endocrine diseases.

Answer 5

What you should do is start watching your diet. In general, you should be avoiding highly sweetened foods (especially those that contain sugar, or high fructose corn syrup), as well as foods high in fat. Keep your weight close to what's appropriate for someone of your age, sex, and height. Get regular exercise. Make and keep regular appointments with your doctor. Invest in a glucometer, and check your blood sugar at least once a week. Keep a record of your results, and bring it with you when you see your doctor. It should also give you a pretty good idea about how what you eat affects your blood sugar level.

Sometimes diabetes is genetic and unavoidable. If you make all the things I listed above habits, you'll be way ahead of the game regardless of any health issues that might crop up during your lifetime.

Answer 6

Diabetes is diagnosed by having two fasting blood glucose levels of 126 or above. New guidelines call anything between 100 and 126 "pre-diabetes." Anything between 65 and 100 is normal. Sometimes people have a single elevated reading, but then it is normal when repeated. That is why it is crucial to have two different readings, on two different days. Eating a healthy diet, exercising, and achieving a normal weight can prevent moving from a pre-diabetic to a diabetic level.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Yes... get another opinion. Here's a graph comparing a normal person to three different levels of blood sugar abnormalities leading up to type 2 diabetes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_tolerance_test

This really isn't rocket science. First you take a preliminary measurement after a twelve hour fast. It should be under 110 mg/dl (6.1 mmol/l). If, in two hours after a NORMAL 400 to 800 calorie meal (not two servings of cake and ice cream), your blood sugar soars up to over 200 and stays there for several hours, you're diabetic. If it goes up to around 140 to 150 after two hours and then starts coming back down, you're most likely not diabetic. If it's somewhere in between, then you just might be what some call pre-diabetic or borderline diabetic. Those two terms are somewhat controversial. Suffice to say, borderline is still diabetic, but you can control it without meds provided you get your weight down, eat right, and exercise regularly. For more helpful info and lots of interesting links, check this out:
http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/Type_II_Diabetes.html

An even better test is the Hemoglobin A1C test which measures the average glucose saturation in the hemoglobin over the past three months. Normal is under 6 to 7... the lower, the better.

Answer 9

Why would you want a 3rd opinion? You have two opinions saying you are still in the normal range. By watching your diet, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising you may be able to stave off diabetes a long time. If you trust your family doctor go with what he/she says. If you don't trust your family doctor get a new one. The longer you can make diet and exercise work for you the better off you will be.

Answer 10

If you have to ask, then get another opinion. Nobody here can answer that for you. If you are diabetic, then you are the one who will have to live with the complications if WE are wrong. But in any case, your sugar being on the high side of normal means that you should at least start paying attention to what you are eating and how much exercise you are getting. Stop this before it gets worse.