Question from Sagamore Hills, Ohio, USA:

I am 22 years old with no history of diabetes. I am 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weigh 145 pounds and am active. Currently, I have increased urination, once during the night and about 10 to14 times when I am awake. What is a better way to know if this is “excessive?”

Last August, I used someone’s monitor to test my own blood sugar. I had a high reading, 210 mg/dl [11.7 mmol/L]. I decided to talk to my doctor about it. He did an Accu-Chek in the office and it was 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L] one to two hours after eating lunch. He decided to send me for blood work. My fasting blood sugar was 92 mg/l [5.1 mmol/L] and my A1c was 4.6. This was all back in August 2004. I pretty much thought nothing of it since I had normal blood work from the laboratory.

On April 22, 2005, I went to the doctor for something else when he brought up the blood sugars, to see if I’ve taken them in a while, which I have not. He checked with a glucometer and it was 140 mg/dl [7.8 mmol/L], about one and a half hours after eating breakfast, which comprised of about 40 grams of carbohydrates. He was concerned. He wants me to stop by the office two times next week before work to get my fasting blood sugars before he does anything. If they are high (100 mg/dl [5.6 mmol/L] or above) he wants to send me for an OGTT. I realize that these home machines are not always accurate. But, I am worried and would like to cover all tracks. He is a general physician and, if I do not get my questions answered, I plan to speak to a specialist.

Also, could these high numbers be simply caused by a side effect of a medication I am on? I take Nexium 40 mg, Allegra 180, Yasmin, Nasonex, and Effexor XR 75mg.