Ask the Diabetes Educator Archive


A brother has just been diagnosed as having type II diabetes and has talked me into monitoring my blood glucose as I seem to have some sort of carb intolerance. When I keep my carb intake very low, my blood sugar is within normal limits. However, when I eat carbs like bread or sweets, my glucose reading spikes to way above normal.

I've had the fasting blood sugar tests done yearly with my physical exams, and my blood sugar was normal, but on the high end of normal. I would like to have a more detailed diagnostic test for diabetes. Should I ask for a Glucose Tolerance Test or is there another test that you would recommend?

You can ask for a glucose tolerance test, and also an A1C test, the average measure of blood sugars over a three month period. You want to be around the 5.0 mark, depending on the range your lab is using. However, it looks like you have already found an answer for yourself: abstain from simple carbs.

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