When does pre-diabetic change to diabetic?

mamacat01 · 07-01-2008, 12:34 AM

I think besides possibly having PCOS I might be dealing with diabetes. My lab results showed I was pre-diabetic (in Feb) and that I had fat in my blood as she stated. I saw a new doc 2 weeks ago for anxiety and depression that seems to follow my menstrual cycles to a T. She did lab work and my DHEA was raised more than it was 1 year ago and ordered a ultrasound of everything and I went and got the results early and it said I have a fatty liver infiltration. The anxiety, depression, all of this could be related to PCOS- I have acne, weight issues, hair loss but regular periods that are very heavy. Also, she found my Vitamin D was low. The more I've dug on the net, diabetes can trigger the same symptoms (depression, anxiety, fatty liver, Vitamin D) and I see a lot people on here have insulin issues. My mom had Ovarian Cancer, at 56 and diabetes since age 40.

When do you know you have diabetes full blown? I am curious if I should be on the main med everyone talks about that begins with an M?

tina_d · 07-01-2008, 10:07 AM

The drug is called Metformin. And you probably should've been put on the Met after your previous dr dx-ed the prediabetes to prevent it from going to full blown diabetes. There is no set timeline on when pre turns to full. I've lived with the pre for over 13 years, only being treated for it for almost 2.

The anxiety and depression sounds like it could be part of PMDD, and is easily treated.

Not everyone with PCOS shows all of the symptoms. I've never had the polycystic ovaries and my periods have always been regular.

Why was there so much time in between dr visits?

Hezzer · 07-01-2008, 10:32 AM

My doctor doesn't "believe in" the fasting tests where you drink the sugary stuff and test your sugars for the next three hours, though I gone through that a couple of times. Each time it did show insulin resistance.

She says that the best way of telling what's going on with your insulin is to test yourself regularly to see how your body is responding to sugars and carbs.

For a while, my doctor had me testing three to four time per day: when I wake, two hours after breakfast, two hours after lunch, and two hours after dinner. The goal was that my sugars should return to between 70 and 100. Mine were usually between 110 and 125, which was considered insulin resistant.

Within the last year, my sugars started reaching well into the 130s and 140s. Back in November, I developed a horrendous vaginal yeast infection that would not go away. I've had yeast infections before, but nothing like that. I have never experienced itching and burning like that in my life. It was painful to have to go to the bathroom. I went through numerous 1 day and 3 day over-the-counter yeast medications with no success. I also developed some yeast in the corners of my mouth, which had never happened before.

I finally went to see my doctor and she explained that the high sugars were feeding the yeast. She put me on the oral medication, diflucan, which started to get rid of it, but then it came back as soon as I stopped taking it.

So I started using colloidal silver as a douche, which seemed to help, but still wouldn't completely knock it out. It wasn't until I started on Metformin this past April that I can finally say it's gone.

So long story short, you know your diabetic when your sugars stay at high levels (beyond 130 or so), two to three hours after eating. Granted, that would be considered mild diabetes, but diabetes nonetheless.

I got my blood glucose monitor for free. One of the cysters on this board directed me to this website https://www.onetouchgold.com/simples...0Sugar%20Meter and I answered the questions and mine came in the mail about two weeks later. You can even choose which style and color monitor you want. I then got a prescription from my doctor for the lancets and test strips that go with it.

Testing your sugars regularly is really the best way to know.

Even if you're only in the insulin resistant or pre-diabetic phase, you should be on metformin to halt it. I still can't figure out why my doctor waiting soooo long to put me on it when my tests came back as insulin resistant five years ago.