Do I have diabetes?

Hi all,

I'm a sufferer of chronic illness and have a autoimmune disease. To me, it seems like I have all of them sometimes and they switch off, sometimes I'll have bad arthritis and then it goes away and I get psorasis, then if all of those are good I get abdominal pain from inflammatory bowel disease... well, currently, my most annoying symptom is what seems to be peripheral neuropathy! I started a new medication just before Thanksgiving and six days later my feet are freezing, then burning intensely. I stopped taking the medications and it seemed to get better, but now I have occasional problems in my fingers and sometimes toes. There is not one particular toe or finger it effects, but seems to jump from one to the other. The only other thing that seems related is massive swelling in fingers and feet that makes it hard for me to bend my fingers. (I've had this before though). I had my sugar tested after eating breakfast the day after symptoms started and it was 68. I have and have always had low blood pressure and my cholesterol is also low. I am overweight from the ridiculous amount of prednisone I have been on for a good chunk of my life, but I don't really think I can handle another diagnosis of chronic illness right at the moment so I'm too scared to go to the doctor (they never help me anyway). Any suggestions?

Hi crashbabe2, and welcome! I'm sorry you're dealing with these things. Your blood sugar was 68 after eating breakfast? Can you tell me what you ate for breakfast and how long after you ate that your blood sugar was taken? Having a 68 is on the low side but I would like to know the other information.

Prednisone is notorious for sending blood sugar very high and because of this, doctors warn patients and it would seem to me if you were put on it for a very long time that the doctor would monitor you or have you test yourself. Sometimes, depending on the dosage, patients are even put on diabetes meds temporarily during treatment.

I don't know about the neuropathy. With this, I believe the skin on the toes, feet and sometimes fingers lose feeling and this happens after blood sugar has been uncontrolled for a long time. Doctors can test this in their office. I don't know about the swelling, to be honest.

Do you have a blood sugar meter? What has your doctor said about your blood sugar and other problems?

Gosh, you've been through a lot! I hope you get answers with the lab work you're having done tomorrow.

Diabetes is diagnosed by certain blood tests (regular lab tests ordered by your doctor) like the regular fasting which is usually part of a blood panel of other tests, the A1c (another blood test which gives your average blood sugar over about 90 days) and the Glucose Tolerance Test in which you arrive fasting, drink a very sweet glucose drink and they test your blood sugar a few times up to 2 or 3 hours. The GTT is mostly ordered for those patients whose doctors believe have diabetes after the other tests are very high.

If your doctor thinks you're hypoglycemic, then normally it's suggested that you eat more often during the day, smaller meals spread out so the amount of food is the same as you'd normally eat in one day but it's divided into more meals. Also, it's suggested that you not overload on carbs because that would probably cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash. The goal is to try to keep the blood sugar level. Actually that's good advice for everyone, not just a person who might be dealing with hypoglycemia.

So, I don't know if you're having blood sugar problems, to tell the truth. Those symptoms with the toes and fingers are odd but I don't know what the cause is.

I wish you a lot of luck tomorrow and I hope they get to the bottom of this. I can only imagine not knowing what's going on is frustrating.

Keep us updated! All my fingers are crossed for you!