[Rachie781]

First I will provide a little bit of background on myself and introduce myself. My name is Rachel and I am 23 years old. I have had 2 children. I have struggled with a weight a little bit my entire life but was never "obese" or extremely overweight until after my first child passed away in 2005. I have gained over 50 pounds since then and am now 250 lbs (I am 5' 10"). I have normal blood pressure (120/60) and have normal cholesterol as well as tested normal for everything else, really am overall pretty healthy (other than being overweight).... I have been tested for diabetes and have had my glucose levels checked many times with my pregnancies and outside of them (they worried about gestational diabetes because my babies measured large throughout pregnancy). I have never had elevated levels and everything has always been normal.
To try and make a long story short I changed insurance and needed to see a new doctor, she immediately told me that she felt I mey be diabetic or at least pre-diabetic and that my weight and BMI pretty much guarantee that I will develop diabetes. I had a fasting insulin taken as she wanted me to get tested at whcih my result was 26.8 with a reference range of 0.0-24.9. I am not sure what this means and have to weight another month to see the doc again. I couldnt find any information I understood on the web so I was hoping someone on here might be able to provide insight on my results. Thank you!

 

[Shanny]

Hello Rachel, and welcome. I'm not real sure what test she gave you either, but if it's measuring your level of insulin like I think it is, your 26.8 is not indicative of diabetes. But others here are much more knowledgeable than I, and I'm going to defer to them about this.

The usual tests ordered to diagnose diabetes are an A1c, which measures the amount of glucose molecules attached to hemoglobin cells. Because these cells live about 90 days, this test shows your blood glucose levels over the past three months, and it doesn't require fasting. Other tests used in conjunction with the A1c are the OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test), and a fasting blood sugar.

Again, welcome and thank you for joining us.

 

[onaughmae]

I think your doc is basing this on the fact that your insulin level is high. In type 2 diabetics (especially in early stages when they are still producing insulin well) a higher insulin level means that you likely have some degree of insulin resistance. Meaning, your body is not using your insulin properly to move glucose into the cells where it belongs. This results in a high serum blood glucose level. Your pancreas sees a higher glucose level and puts out more insulin in an attempt to correct it. Sort of starting a vicious cycle. Insulin resistance is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. In order to actually diagnose you as diabetic, they are going to have to check blood for several things, a fasting blood glucose, an A1c (which gives an average of your blood glucose over the last 2-3 months) and maybe even an oral glucose tolerance test.