[OCDP]

Hello,

First off, I am not a diabetic or a pre-diabetic. I am a very anxious hypochondriac. I've had a bad OCD obsession with the fear of getting diabetes. I am overweight for my height/age,etc.. and this contributes to my anxiety and fear of getting diabetes. Just to get that out of the way...

Without rambling too much, my whole fear is that it seems like my current average blood sugar numbers have risen in the last 9 months to a year. The only reason I have a meter is to test to relieve anxiety when I think I am experiencing diabetes symptoms (frequent urination, etc..) I do not REGULARLY test my sugars, only when my anxiety flares.

As of last year I can tell you that my BG's seemed to average MOST of the time in the 4.4 - 5.0 range. Mostly around 4.5 and up.. but they were decent numbers.

Since Thursday I have done quite a few tests to see what my fasting is (I know it's not as accurate as a blood work test from my doctor) and to see if I am spiking really high after foods. So far my numbers have all been in the 5.0-5.6 range or so. This is extremely alarming to me because as of 9 months ago my averages were in the 4 spectrum, now I am in the 5's. I've tested after food, like yesterday for example I had a home made cookie and tested about an hour and twenty minutes later and I was still at 6.1. This seemed alarming to me? After only 1 cookie shouldn't I have been back to the low 5's?

I am just fearful that my numbers are rising now, and that I am on my way to full blown diabetes. My fasting the other day was 5.1. Last time I did a fasting I am pretty sure it was 4.9 (less than a year ago)

The whole issue for me is thinking that it's right around the corner. The other frustrating part for me is that I've LOST weight recently by exercising and eating better, almost 11 pounds. I was hoping my numbers would be better than this. I'm scared that things are only getting worse... and I know all's I am basing this on is results from using a glucose meter.

Does it not seem "bad" to be averaging in the 5.0-5.6 range?

 

[optimist]

When I got my diabetes a year ago, my family wanted to see their BG. They are all healthy, but their fastening bloodsugar was between 4,3 and 6,1.
If you check your BG 20 minut after eating a cookie, it is quite normal that your BG is a little higher, and nothing to worry about.
I`m not a doctor, but if any of my kids tested 6,1 after eating cookie I wouldn`t even think they maybe had diabetes.

 

[jwags]

You need to relax. A 91 is a good fasting bg. Whenever anyone eats bgs are going to go up. The difference with diabetics is that we don't produce enough insulin or the insulin we do produce is not recognised. Your bgs are well within a normal range, stop testing. If you really want to prevent Type 2, Start exercising, get rid of processed foods and wheat products and relax. Stress will raise bg as well as any illness or inflammation. If you keep worrying your bgs will go up. The last thing I wanted to mention is meters can be 10-20% margin of error. So it is very difficult to compare numbers from one year to another.

 

[OCDP]

I know I shouldn't be testing but it's really hard for me when my OCD flares up. The meter I have been using are the ones I used before, I have two of them and they are both giving the same numbers +/- 0.1.

See before I would "average" in the 4 range, which is good. Anytime I test myself now I am usually 5.2 or 5.3. Why is this? All's I ate today was a Vietnamese sub (which I know has carbs and what not) this was at 2:30, I test myself at 5:30 and most definitely should see 4.7 or lower. It was 5.2 again.

My concern is that my BG's are rising and going out of whack, and that my pancreas is slowly giving out, not regulating at the level it used to. I know it sounds crazy, but the meters are showing a rise.

However, my fasting seems to be more or less the same, before it was either 4.9, 5.0, etc. Last time I checked my fasting it was 5.2, 5.1 , etc.

Sorry to come across so anxious and unwilling to listen to positive reinforcement, I just get so scared. I know I don't have diabetes right now, and that I am for the most part healthy. It's just this rise in numbers that makes me think something is happening/going to happen.

 

[Shanny]

Can you tell us what tools you've been taught to get hold of these flares in your OCD? When your anxiety first begins to build, your time will be much better spent employing those tools to rein it in. Posting to us and iterating all your worries only serves to reinforce the anxiety & make it harder to get a grip.

I want to know what your therapists have taught you to do when your concerns stage a runaway.

 

[RobertIA]

Shanny is right. Letting your OCD take over is not good and any testing during this time will tend to be higher, but can vary between individuals. Use a fasting blood glucose when you are not under the influence of OCD and these may give you a better picture.

 

[naynay]

OCDP, first you need to understand that if you don't eat on a regular basis throughout the day (does not mean you have to eat big meals), your body will go into what is known as "starvation mode" and will do what needs to be done for survival. This can cause a liver dump which can raise your bg's. Is there a history of diabetes in your family? If not, I would seriously try to stop testing so much. Your numbers are very good, and a slight increase could be because of your anxiety and OCD causing stress levels to be up. Stress can reek havoc on blood sugar. If you know that what you are doing is because of your OCD, then I would highly suggest you speak with a therapist or mental health specialist in order to get a hold of your concerns and worries about diabetes. You can fret yourself right into illness by power of suggestion too. Hope everything works out for you.