Question from Salinas, California, USA:

I have been a pretty healthy person up until now. It all started when I suspected that my two and a half year old daughter had diabetes (both of her tests came back normal: 85 mg/dl [4.7 mmol/L] fasting; 5.3% A1c; two months later: 82 mg/dl [4.6 mmol/L] fasting; 5.3% A1c). I started to get really stressed out, not eating right, not exercising, etc. had some blood work done on myself during this time and was surprised that I had an A1c of 5.8%, which seems rather high to me. My random blood sugar was 93 mg/dl [5.2 mmol/L]. Per the advice of your web site, I had a fasting test and an A1c done one month and a week after my first test. My fasting blood sugar was 82 mg/dl [4.6 mmol/L} and my A1c was 5.1%.

Could the stress I was under produce such high results in my first test? Do I have some glucose intolerance? Since my first test, I started running four to six miles almost everyday and cutting back on sweets. I have had three children in the past four years with no gestational diabetes; all tests were perfect. Could having so many kids in such a short time cause my pancreas to burn out? There is no history of type 1 in my family. My grandmother had type 2. I don’t fit the profile of type 2. I’m 31, 5 feet, 2 inches and weigh 104. I have always been this weight. Am I worrying over nothing?