Please help me interpret my blood work

Hi Faith and welcome. Your 102 is normal although maybe a little lower than average considering you had just eaten a bagel. However, this is hard to say exactly because what is not known is : size of bagel (carb amount), your blood sugar before the test and how long after you ate the bagel that your blood sugar was tested.

Your A1c is what a non-diabetic's would be. Keep in mind this is an average, so we don't know what the highs were or what the lows were. That would be important to know if you suspect you have hypoglycemia.

I am not familiar with insulin levels so I found this on the emedicine.medscape website:

Insulin Level (SI Units*)

Fasting

< 25 mIU/L


30 minutes after glucose administration

30-230 mIU/L


1 hour after glucose administration

18-276 mIU/L


2 hour after glucose administration

16-166 mIU/L


≥3 hours after glucose administration

< 25 mIU/L


*SI unit: conversional units x 6.945


What does your doctor say? Are you testing your blood sugar at home? Are you seeing an endo?

I don't know if the chart I copied is correct for this situation but it says after one hour that the insulin level should be between 18 and 276 - but again, I am not familiar with insulin levels. You could ask a pharmacist if your doctor is hard to ask.

In any case, do you know what your blood sugar was before you ate the bagel? If so, that would clarify things a little. The 102 is not bad though and it's not low by any means.

When someone is diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia, the doctor normally tells that person to eat smaller and more frequent meals in order to keep the blood sugar levels more even and not bounce high and low. The issue with having RH (my short form) is that the blood sugar drops too low after eating. This sometimes happens in many people when they overeat carbs, like at Thanksgiving, and then feel like they have to take a nap after dinner. It's not detrimental in that case, but it does make you sleepy. If this happens routinely after regular meals, though, I would suggest seeing an endo for a diagnosis.

If this is a concern (well, of course it is if you're asking these questions!), then again, I suggest seeing a doctor and also testing your own blood sugar right before you eat and then about 1 and 2 hours afterward. Keep a journal of these readings and also what you eat. This will give valuable information to the doctor/endo. If you feel you can pursue this with your own doctor, please do. If not, see if you can make an appointment with an endo.

In the meantime, I highly suggest that you keep a log of your blood sugar that you take. Do you have a meter?

I understand about having anxiety because that can mimic a lot of health problems and that makes us more anxious, a vicious cycle. I do know that understanding more about my health has helped that, too. So, if you can take your own blood sugar before and after meals, then you will see if there are problems with your blood sugar or not.

Very often RH may be a forerunner to diabetes later on in life. And diabetes type 2 more often than not, runs in families, if you have any family members who are diabetic, then getting a grip on this early is good.

Yes, being obsessive isn't good either. (been there!) The best advice I can offer is to eat regularly, don't skip meals, eat a balanced diet (not overload on carbs especially because that can really make blood sugar drop), and try to get involved in other things not related to food or how you feel. I am adding the last piece only to try to get your mind off of this if it's adding to your anxiety.

If you find yourself with symptoms of low blood sugar, try to drink something with sugar in it or maybe carry some glucose tabs with you. I wish I could help you more.