"Non-diabetic" with a reading of 234 half-hour after eating

BlueLikeJazz · August 2010

This is probably about to get long, but bear with me because I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has some experience with diabetes. Also, I realize most or all of you are not doctors, and I'm not looking for a diagnosis! lol Just advice from anyone who might have some knowledge on the topic.

A little background: I'm 24, still in the "obese" weight range even after losing almost 50 lbs, I think I have about 20-ish pounds to go before I'm in the "overweight" range, and both of my parents are Type 2 diabetics.

When I was at my highest weight, I checked my fasting blood glucose with my dad's meter and had gotten a couple readings between 100-120, which are in the pre-diabetic range. Recently, I obtained my dad's old glucometer for my own use at home and have been checking my fasting glucose once a week. Usually it is in the mid-90s, which is okay (less than 100 is considered normal.)

Today I decided out of curiosity to check my blood sugar after I had eaten about 300 calories worth of chocolate (I know, bad me! It's T.O.M. and the chocolate cravings hit hard). It was only about 30 minutes since I had eaten it, and my blood sugar was 234! I know you're supposed to wait at least an hour or two to check your levels, so I checked again 30 minutes after that (so a full hour after I had eaten the choc.) and it was 103, which is a fine reading for an hour after eating. The 234 reading got my wheels turning so I checked an hour after supper, got a reading of 154 (not so good), checked an hour after that (so 2 hours after supper) and got a reading of 95, which is good.

So here are my main questions:
-Is it EVER normal for a non-diabetic to have a blood sugar reading of 234, considering it was only a half-hour after I ate it, and a half-hour after that it was back to 103 which is pretty normal? The chocolate I ate had 54 grams of carbs, it was quite sugar-y.
-If that's not ever normal for a non-diabetic, is it probably safe for me to ride it out a few weeks and keep monitoring the situation? I mean, I feel okay and if I didn't have a meter I wouldn't have known any of this anyways...
-Do any of you feel that Type 2 diabetes is "reversible"? Considering my fasting blood glucose readings have dropped so many points along with my weight loss, I really thought that my diet and exercise had put me out of any real danger zone for now.

I'm just really discouraged by all this today. In the past 6 months I have gotten sober (used to be a daily binge drinker), quit smoking, lost almost 50 lbs. and starting eating a MUCH healthier, plant-based diet. I eat tons of vegetables, lean protein and usually have 100-200 "treat" calories every day that I usually use for 70% cocoa dark chocolate, a Kashi granola bar, or sugar-free wafer cookies. With all this hard work I've done, it's so disheartening to think that I may be diabetic already when that's one of the major reasons I was getting healthy in the first place---to prevent getting it!

BlueLikeJazz · August 2010

Sorry, one thing to add!

The main reason I want to "wait it out" is that my husband and I don't have insurance and are already paying off a $12,000 medical bill that I obtained while uninsured for a necessary surgery. We were given 18 months to pay off this bill, so it's a large chunk of our income and makes it nearly impossible for us to get insurance until we're done paying it off (getting insurance is the first thing on our list once the bill is paid off in January!)

I'm scared that if I go in to the Dr. to get this all checked and they put "diabetic" on my chart, any insurance company is going to end up charging us even more of an arm and a leg to get on a plan. So if I do need to go in, I want to call and see if I can get the witch of a financial director at the hospital to cut our payments in half since we've been paying the amount due in full and on time each month for the past year.

Any time a health issue pops up it seems like a new crisis since we got this bill. Between my husband and I, we both have things we need to be seen for (me for womanly stuff, him for his wisdom teeth) that we're trying to save up so we can afford the Dr./dentist visits. So it just makes this whole thing even more frustrating.

SFinn · August 2010

I believe you simply tested too early. A reading of 234 is in fact a high reading, but the fact that you tested a half hour after eating a high carb meal is what most likely caused such a high BG level. Although, it is commonly believed that a non-diabetic should not go above 140. Based on your post-prandial testing your levels were acceptable, since post-prandial testing is supposed to occur 2 to 3 hours after eating.

At the same time, is is still a high reading. I would retest at the same time period to verify the first result. If after 2 hours of eating the chocolate and tested yourself and it was within normal ranges, than that should not be indicative of a problem. If you cannot afford to have a doctor perform their own BG drawing or A1c test to verify, I would still begin to eat as if you were diabetic and then seek medical care as soon as possible.

While it's possible that you tested too soon, it is always better to err on the side of caution and get a medical professionals opinion. Again, I'm not a medical professional yet, just a nursing student, so you are still better off going to a real doctor.

BlueLikeJazz · August 2010

Thanks Stephanie, great advice. I am definitely planning on cutting out/further limiting my intake of sweets and watching my carbs more closely. I think suggesting to eat like a diabetic until I can see a Dr. is great. The bottom line is, not only would we be hard-pressed to come up with the money for a Dr. appointment right now, but there's absolutely no way I could pay for diabetic testing supplies and insulin or medication out of pocket, it's so expensive! So I don't really know that I'd be able to do anything to "treat" diabetes through anything other than diet and exercise until after we get on insurance anyways.

Anyways, thanks again for you advice!

SFinn · August 2010

Thanks Stephanie, great advice. I am definitely planning on cutting out/further limiting my intake of sweets and watching my carbs more closely. I think suggesting to eat like a diabetic until I can see a Dr. is great. The bottom line is, not only would we be hard-pressed to come up with the money for a Dr. appointment right now, but there's absolutely no way I could pay for diabetic testing supplies and insulin or medication out of pocket, it's so expensive! So I don't really know that I'd be able to do anything to "treat" diabetes through anything other than diet and exercise until after we get on insurance anyways.

Anyways, thanks again for you advice!

Diet and exercise are actually the best things for people who actually have type 2 diabetes! There are often times when type 2 diabetics can manage through that alone, without the need for medication.

I had a similar scare about a year ago, thought I might be pre-diabetic. Turns out I just ate too much pizza too close to testing time :embarassed: haha

Anyway, the American Diabetic Associations website has excellent suggestions...I suggest you look there on how to sort of "home treat" until you can afford a doctor or medical care. www.diabetes.org

Good luck with everything!

Bryan190 · August 2010

Be aware there is a high degree of variability in home blood glucose meter readings, so I wouldn't be too concerned about one test taken shortly after a large intake of a simple sugar. If you are going to take post meal spot checks, do so exactly 2 hours after your first bite, that way the readings you take will have more comparative meaning over time. See this ADA article: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/tight-diabetes-control.html

cutmd · August 2010

Ok, I am a doc but obviously can't give you specific advice over the Internet

What I will say is this - if someone comes into my ER with a blood sugar of 234, no matter what they ate I'm going to tell them they are likely at least pre-diabetic, which is basically early diabetes. Maybe non-diabetics will have it too if they eat just the right thing, but I haven't seen it. Also, with your family history I would err on the side of early diabetes. Sfinn is right that if you really want to know you should check it at 2hrs.

The good news is, type 2 diabetes, although a horrible and potentially deadly disease, is reversible, mainly in its early stages. Many times just losing weight will normalize the blood sugar because fat tissue is a big contributor to the chemical imbalance. Exercising on a regular basis has also been shown to help reverse diabetes. Also as you have seen what you eat matters!

So if i were you I'd start eating more like a diabetic as sfinn suggested. No refined sugar/high fructose corn syrup, and I'd change my mfp settings to 40/30/30 or so (those are actually already my settings). If you do have diabetes at this stage, it can be controlled by your diet, anyway, so i wouldn't worry too much about spending your precious money on a clinic visit just yet.

Hope that helps :flowerforyou:

ivyjbres · August 2010

I was considered pre-diabetic in high school and changed my eating habits completely, and the problem resolved itself, haven't had a problem since, even with 75 lbs of weight gain. At the time I was pretty much living off of little debbies and diet dr pepper, with one "real" meal at night.

I switched my diet to all organic, mostly raw foods, no sodas, no caffeine, nothing fried, I drank a gallon of water a day, no processed sugars (no corn syrup, no white table sugar, not even brown sugar. Turbinado sugar or bust, and limited amounts of it). Lots and lots of fruits and veggies, raw or steamed. Normal amount of meat and less carbs, but not what would be considered low carb. No dairy except yogurt (I broke that rule most often). It was a pretty extreme diet and I lost probably 15 lbs that way. Not sure how recommended it is to go to that (especially cold turkey, the first 3 weeks are awful!).

I'm no where near as strict with my diet now, but I still don't have any symptoms of pre-diabetes. Maybe I just outgrew it, maybe my original eating habits were just that bad; but diet should be able to improve the situation, or at least forestall the inevitable for another few years.

ronnieinfrance16 · July 2014

Sorry, a bit of thread hi-hacking

I am a non-diabetic, bmi18-19, active female. My Fasting tests are around 70-80, so normal. OGTT, even with 75g of glucose only took me to a high of 115mg/dl, no spike or reactive hypo. But food gives me spikes from 175mg/dl for just 1 green banana, 210 mg/dl for 2 small slices of toast and butter, and up in the 230 mg/dl if I dare to have a pudding, even without the main course first ! First, is this normal? Second, why do these foods cause these spikes when 75g of pure glucose causes no rise at all, after all banana is only around 20-30g of carb, 2 slices of toast about the same.

"Non-diabetic" with a reading of 234 half-hour after eating

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