I don't undrstand this.

Hi Linda, I remember you posted here before and your blood sugar was not as high as this. It might be what you're eating. Are you on metformin or anything else for diabetes?

The A1c 7.4 is about an average of 166 blood sugar and you know that's high. If you can't get it lower by diet and exercise, then your doctor needs to figure out what medication will help you.

Staying away from bread and other food made with flour, potatoes, rice and food made with sugar will certainly help control the blood sugar, so if you're eating any of that food, your blood sugar will continue to be high. Cutting down or cutting out those carbs will bring it down but depending on how you're doing this, you might still need medication. Your blood sugar readings are too high (and you already know this) and it's probably the food.

Please read over this website called "Blood Sugar 101" for more detailed information:

www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/


High blood sugar (diabetes) as well as high blood pressure can cause kidney disease which a nephrologist is well aware of since that's their specialty. I don't know why you haven't heard from your doctor's office about your test results, so it's a good idea to call them now. In the meantime, you can help yourself by eating lots of greens, veggies (not potatoes or corn), some meat, chicken, fish and drinking plenty of water.

You can do this yourself while waiting to see what your doctor will recommend for you.

If the butterscotch candies had sugar then your blood sugar would have been high while you were having them. Even if they were sugar free, there is still an impact on blood sugar although not as great as the candies made with sugar, but also the artificial sweeteners can cause gas and sometimes diarrhea if you have too many. The A1c is an average of your blood sugar over about 90 days so I don't think that the butterscotch candies would have made such an impact on the A1c. They would have affected your blood sugar for a few hours after you at them on the days that you ate them.

It's true that the acceptable ranges for blood sugar have changed and also the different organizations even have different parameters. The American Diabetes Association even has different goals for people without diabetes and those with diabetes. It says the levels for non-diabetics before meals is less than 100 and the goal for diabetics is 70 - 130. (This also applies to type 1.) And their goal for after meals is 180 as a peak for diabetics. However, it's also been found that blood sugar that remains elevated above 140 or 160 for lengths of time causes damage to various organs. This varies with the individual but the damage includes, neuropathy, heart, kidney diseases, and blindness. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has slightly lower guidelines for the A1c. They say people with an A1c of 5.5 - 6.4 are high risk for diabetes and an A1c of more than or equal to 6.5 is diabetes.

A non-diabetic's blood sugar taken randomly during the day will be 83 to 85 which is normally what their fasting blood sugar is.

So, it's confusing in that acceptable parameters for blood sugar have changed through the years and also that there are different acceptable ranges for non-diabetics compared to anyone considered diabetic.

Since studies have shown that health complications can be caused with only "elevated" blood sugar over a period of time, it doesn't make sense to me to live with higher than normal blood sugar if I can help it. I am on metformin twice a day and I eat very little carbs (the carbs that I explained in my first post above). I am now 67 and was diagnosed finally 10 years ago but my mother and grandmother had diabetes and it killed them both. In those days, testing was difficult and not exact and there didn't seem to been a lot of knowledge of the damage that flour products did.

Please read through that website that I posted the link for and you will find studies and other information about blood sugar, what's normal, food, etc.

I don't know what's going on with your doctor but I DO know that your blood sugar is too high and you need a plan to bring it down as best you can to more normal levels. If you cannot do it with diet and exercise alone, then you will need some sort of medication to help. Metformin is normally the first drug prescribed. It is not insulin and it does not cause low blood sugar. It works with the food you eat.

If you are on any steroid medication for other conditions, you need to know that they can cause blood sugar to be high, too.

You need to be your own health advocate and learn as much as you can about you and your health. I am really happy you have posted! And please ask all your questions! I'm not a doctor but I've learned a lot in the past ten years and a good place for you to start is by reading the BloodSugar 101 website.

Palmy, if you are testing your blood sugar, then this weekend, test right before you start eating a meal and then about two hours later. Write down what those readings were and what you ate. This will tell you the impact of the food on your blood sugar. As I wrote, if you are eating a lot of carbs like bread (and cereal, pasta, rolls, crackers, etc.) and potatoes, try to cut down. This will bring your blood sugar lower. You can do this on the weekend and keep notes to see how the food is affecting your blood sugar.

And call your doctor early Monday morning. You might also consider finding another doctor.

Thanks for the update! I hope you've found the answer then. If you need to refresh your memory about blood sugar and all that, re-read my posts above and look at the website whose link I posted. Good luck and good health!