Hi - My name is Ken and I'm 77 years old, I live in the Central North Island of New Zealand and I've suffered from chronic fatigue for a long time, severe for the past 8 years. Two or three months ago my wife made some Anzac biscuits which were rich in Golden Syrup and I had a reaction to them, felt ill and very tired, never had anything quite like it before. A bit later on I had some cornflakes for breakfast which had been sweetened with Golden Syrup and had the same reaction to them and had to stop eating them. Later still I had Honey for lunch, spread it a bit thick and 2 hours later I became very ill, this lasted the rest of that day, all day the next day and until midday on the third day. I had a look at the make up of both Golden Syrup and Honey and found that the common factor was Glucose. I booked an appointment with my doctor but couldn't get to see him for a week as there was a long weekend in between. That evening my wife served me up a brand name sponge pudding - I was ill all the next day so I looked at the ingredients and sure enough there was Glucose Syrup there. I did a bit of research on the puter and it indicated that I had Glucose Intolerance which is otherwise known as Pre-Diabetes. I immediately went on a full diabetic diet. My doctor gave me a finger prick blood test which was 9 and then sent me for a Haemoglobin blood test, that was 5.8 which was .2 below the diabetes level. My doctor doesn't seem to know anything about Glucose Intolerance, said he had never heard of it then after a while he said I must mean Impaired Glucose Tolerance (obviously the same thing). He offered me a Glucose Tolerance blood test which I turned down at that point because of it involved drinking 75 grams of pure glucose. After the severity of the reaction I had from Golden Syrup and Honey that amount of glucose would make me extremely ill to say the least.
I purchased a blood glucose meter and checked my own blood sugar levels but since rigorously staying on a diabetic diet they are well under control, I'm not getting ill and my energy is improving.
I have two questions if some kind person would advise me. First should I pick up my courage and have the Glucose Tolerance test, and secondly would it help if I went to see a dietician.. I know I'm old but this days I might live for a long time yet giving plenty of time for it to move into full blown diabetes.
Thanks for your patience.
Ken
I purchased a blood glucose meter and checked my own blood sugar levels but since rigorously staying on a diabetic diet they are well under control, I'm not getting ill and my energy is improving.
I have two questions if some kind person would advise me. First should I pick up my courage and have the Glucose Tolerance test, and secondly would it help if I went to see a dietician.. I know I'm old but this days I might live for a long time yet giving plenty of time for it to move into full blown diabetes.
Thanks for your patience.
Ken