March 5, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada:
Recently, I was not feeling very well (dizzy, difficulty focusing my left eye, numbness in the left arm) so I went to the local hospital. My blood pressure and pin stick test were normal, but nurse decided to do blood sugar testing which was 21.5 mmol/L [387 mg/dl]. A saline intravenous drip was given and another test done resulting in a level of 5.9 mmol/L [106.2 mg/dl]. I did the fasting test the following day which was 6.2 mmol/L (111.9 mg/dl]. I have had this happen before — any ideas? They did tell me that my cholesterol was a bit high. Could this cause my blood sugar to elevate to the high range?
Answer:
My first thought is whether the test showing you had a high blood sugar was accurate. To really get at the idea of whether you have diabetes or not, I would go ahead and do an oral glucose tolerance test as this can tell you whether you have diabetes on the same day it is performed. Please check with your physician about this. If the high reading was correct, that number is very high and very abnormal.
JTL
[Editor’s comment: You may have what is called impaired glucose tolerance or prediabetes. See Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes.
SS]
