Diabetes or prediabetes?

I've been having some abdominal pain so my doc did some routine lab work. The only abnormality was my fasting glucose which came in at 6.1. He then sent me for an OGTT, which showed my fasting at 6.2 and my 2-hour post as 14.4. So, as this inidicates diabetes he asked me to start monitoring my glucose at home. My fastings were all 6.0 or under, the highest post-meal was 1 hour post at 10.0, and the highest 2-hour post was 8.9 (with the majority of post meals being 8.0 or under). He also did a Hemoglobin A1C which was absolutely normal. So I'm either glucose intolerant or actually have diabetes - but tne doc can't seem to decide which it is. Any ideas/thoughts appreciated...

Welcome to the Forum, njam.  Glucose intolerant or diabetic.  What's in a name.  It all boils down to not metabolizing carbs efficiently enough to have normal blood sugar all the time.  I'm sorry about losing your mom.  I'm sure it's a difficult time.  Now, you need to take care of you and starting with your health is the best first step.  Has your doctor given you a regime to lose weight?  If you can start a regular exercise routine at least 3 times a week, it would help with weight loss and the blood sugar levels, as well as other things like blood pressure and heart rate, circulation....  For diet, cutting down on the obvious carbs is extremely effective for weight loss and blood sugar control.  Make sure you eat some kind of breakfast (not cereal or bread!) and more vegetables (not potatoes  or corn), meat/chicken/fish, eggs, cheeses.  There are lots of old posts devoted to food, so if you take the time and read back through them, you'll learn a lot about how many of us here have changed our diet and have been able to not only lose weight but help bring down the blood sugar.  Don't beat yourself up about not doing this sooner in life.  The important point is you're doing it now!  It's never too late.

Thanks LanieG and Jeannie143. I know that there isn't much distinction between being prediabetic and diabetic - I guess it doesn't change much. I'm just thinking about all those forms that ask if you are diabetic or not (you know, at dentists and such) and wondering how I respond, and if how I respond changes the treatment (did I mention I'm a worrier who drives herself nuts?!?). I'm supposed to repeat the OGTT in a month or so since when I did it I was still experiencing a lot of abdominal pain (that hasn't been diagnosed yet either - for awhile they were thinking pancreatitis but all labs are coming in normal - I've had a normal ultrasound and am now waiting for a CT scan to see if we can figure out the abdominal pain). I started an exercise program this morning - 30 minutes on the treadmill (fairly light since this is new but I hope to intensify) and I have a dog that would love a daily walk :)

I do have a question, though. How common is diabetic neuropathy? I noticed in the last month or so some numbness in my left calf - it seems to start with mild pain in my buttock, numbness in the calf, and mild numbness in my left foot. I never even mentioned it to the doc as there has been so much other stuff going on. I always thought neuropathy occurred when you'd had diabetes for years or your glucose was consistently quite high but now I'm wondering. I was thinking this was just sciatica (which I've had before in my right hip) but now I'm concerned. My blood glucose doesn't seem to have been ridiculously high at any point (hemoglobin A1C was normal) and the highest reading ever was the 14.4 after the OGTT. Now my fasting glucose (which has been tested every year for years) has always been normal until this year, so I guess I could have had high post-prandial blood glucose for years and not realized it...but I haven't had any other diabetes symptoms. So I guess I'm really wondering if I could have neuropathy or if that's unlikely?