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Hi. I'm new here. Waiting on GTT results

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Posted 3/2/2010 4:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I stumbled across this site and think it's great. I've never really posted on any internet forums before but I thought I'd share my story.

I'm a new dad smilewinkgrin and recently applied to increase my life insurance. The insurance company took some blood (after fasting) and "some of my results are not within recommended ranges".

Abnormal results were;

Fasting Glucose 6.5 mmol/L
Chol. 6.7 mmol/L
LDL 4.7 mmol/L
HbA1c 5.9% (within range 6.0% being the upper limit listed on test report)

Other abnormal test results which may or may not be related were;
ALT (liver function) 73 U/L (5-40 normal)
Ferritin 349 ug/L (30-300 normal)

My GP sent me off for a glucose tolerance test which I will get the results of tomorrow. I'm a bit anxious about it. My grandmother had T2

I don't have the greatest diet/eating habits nor am I very active. I guess I'm lucky these things are brought to my attention now...

I've convinced myself that the results will come back as "pre-diabetes" as a best case.

Anyway, keep up the good work. I'll continue trolling through past posts now...

Ben
Posted 3/2/2010 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Ben, welcome to the forum.  Congratulations on being a new dad!  That's great!  Boy or girl?   Your fasting is elevated but the A1c seems to be ok.  How was the GTT?  I'm not familiar with the cholesterol results because they're measured differently here in the States.  Are you in Canada?   It could be that the insurance physical caught some levels that are elevated but you're young (I'm supposing.) and maybe just at the beginning of all this.  I'm sure you could improve the fasting by changing your eating plan.  Are you carrying more weight than you should be?  That can have effects on your blood sugar as well.  In the meantime, please read the "stickies" at the top of the Diabetes page here, "Testimonial" by TV Editor and the other one with resouces and other information.  Look around at the past threads here for more information, too.  Hope this helps. 

smile 

Posted 3/2/2010 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Lanie,

Healthy little boy (Mitch).

Bit more about me....
I'm in Australia. 32yo, 183cm (6ft), 91kg (200lb) and carrying the extra weight mostly around my belly. I have recently lost 10kg (22lb) but have been overweight for a while now (about 8yrs).

I get the GTT results this afternoon and will post tonight.

Whatever the result, I am committed to improving my health through diet and exercise (and hopefully not meds). I feel very foolish about the stupid choices I have made in the past (I was a smoker for about 12yrs). I think I'm finally a "grownup". Married, mortgage, father, responsibility..... I just want to be able to provide for my beautiful wife and son and not be a burden on them because of health issues. Sorry, I'm carrying on like an idiot now....

Anyway, I'll post the GTT results tonight. Fingers crossed I've caught it early enough....

Cheers,
Ben
Posted 3/2/2010 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
Ben, you have permission to carry on like an idiot!  You have a nice son!  I hope little Mitch and your wife are doing well.  :-)    Sometimes we need a jolt to get on track.  Even though you've smoked and made 'stupid choices', you're young and able to take the care of your health into your own hands.  It's never too late, honest.  I've never smoked but I was diagnosed at a 'borderline' diabetic about 4 years ago at age 57.  And I had to lose weight, I took blood pressure pills.......  I made a committment to myself (for my family) to change things, so I started exercising, doing cardio and resistance training.  Yes, this old lady lifts some weights (not as a man can but enough for me) and I've lost some weight, reduced the blood pressure medicine and have stayed off diabetes meds because of the exercise and this change in eating plan.

If I can do it, anyone can.  When you get the GTT results, don't throw in the towel if they're too high.  Come back and we'll talk.

  yeah

Posted 3/3/2010 9:03 AM (GMT 0)
OK. So now I feel a bit stupid.

Great thing about the internet and resources such as this one is that you can educate yourself on any health topics you wish to. After doing my research I had convinced myself that my GTT results would indicate some level of impaired glucose tolerance.

Great news! I have normal glucose tolerance.

Fasting - 5.0
1hr - 7.2
2hr - 6.2

Oh well, it's been a bit of a wake up call and I'm going to start taking better care of my health.

Thanks for listening.

Ben
Posted 3/3/2010 10:37 PM (GMT 0)
Ben, that's great and, yes, consider it a wake-up call.  You are wiser now and know that you can control some part of your health - certainly your diet and how much exercise you get.  Good luck to you!
Posted 3/3/2010 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats on a normal test! Now you know a lot more about how to keep yourself healthy. As a former smoker myself, let me congratulate you on kicking that habit. You've saved yourself and possibly your son a future of problems.
Posted 3/12/2010 5:59 AM (GMT 0)
Well, that's something... my daughter has an allergy to sulfur and has issues with eggs and sulfites as well as sulfa as an antibiotic, so if she ever becomes diabetic it would make sense to skip the metformin. Thanks for the tip.
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