Am I pre-diabetic?

[TwinkleStars15]

Hello, I am 34, mummy to two children aged 5 and 2. I am very ashamed to say that my diet is appalling! Anyway, I had some bloods taken a few months ago as I was experiencing some light headed moments. One of the tests was the hba1c test which came back with a result of 38. This has been recorded as ‘normal, no action’ on my file, however doing some reading it appears I am very close to the cut off for being pre-diabetic/diabetic (40 I believe?)

I guess I am after some info about whether I need to be concerned with this result, or not? Would it be beneficial for me to get a finger prick test (sorry, I am unsure of the right terminology) or do I not need to worry?

Thank you so much 😊

38 is fine.

38 would be considered normal range, however if you feel you are symptomatic it would be worth retesting.

A finger prick test alone would not be diagnostic as it's looking at the 'here and now' values. A proper blood test with HBA1C would be your best option.

Your blood test result is in normal range.

There is no reason for other tests.

It would be beneficial for you to improve your diet for many reasons if you feel it is 'appalling'.

Your HbA1C is fine. Not pre diabetic.

However if your diet is admittedly appalling then start making changes now - don’t wait for your bloods to change!

42 - 47 is the pre-diabetes range. Mine is 43.

You are within the normal range, so it would make sense to improve your eating habits anyway. Just eat more fruit and veg, and ease up on the carbs and sugary stuff. Just serve yourself slightly less than you would normally, you don't have to cut anything out. If you drink a lot of fruit juice or fizzy stuff, reduce that a bit as well, as it is addictive. That includes the ones with artificial sweeteners too, funnily enough. Your body's insulin resistance response can't tell the difference.

You need to get your A1C tested. They should draw blood for this.

Regardless of the result, you need to cut out the junk and start on a healthy diet or you will have problems in ten years and onwards.

Mine 47 and I’ve just been advised to modify my diet, even though mine is at the top end of the range for pre-diabetes I don’t need treatment.
If you are worried then look at ways to lower your hba1c through
diet but at 38 you are within normal range.

@hashbrownsandwich @mathanxiety the result the op has posted is her HbA1c. Are you in the US or Australia? In the uk/Europe it’s recorded as mmol/mol, rather than as a %. The ops result of 38 is equivalent to 5.6%.

The HbA1c is better than a finger prick test op, it’s letting you know how your average glucose level over the past 2-3 months. A finger prick does nothing more than give you a brief snapshot of just that one moment in time.

It’s perfectly fine op, but it’s probably a good time to assess what changes you can make to keep it that way.

I agree.

Now is the time to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Don't wait till your 40s because your bad habits WILL catch up with you sooner or later.

Prevention is always easier than reversing poor health.

Chances are you are used to sugar and refined carbs, which are addictive and make you sluggish. Maybe you also snack too much on things that are convenient rather than healthy.

You'll feel much more energetic if you adopt a Mediterranean style diet and start exercising.

@FatToFitPart3 as a HcP who works with diabetics, I can tell you that we use both systems/ranges in the Uk depending on trusts.

And as some one who worked as a DSN for around 15 years, I am sure all trusts will now report in mmol/mol. Some may also put on the %, but we all work with the mmol/mol. It took ages to get my head around it (and many patients too I’m sure). I carried a printed chart of it to convert, and had a converter app on my phone for ages, but we did all swap. I worked in three different trusts, and all used mmol/mol. It’s been a long time now since the swap, it’s not helpful to patients if different professionals are using different methods of reporting, it could potentially lead to confusion or mistakes.

It’s also much better to say working with people with diabetes, not diabetics. A person isn’t defined by their medical condition.

Thank you everyone, I really do appreciate all your responses. Yes I do need to change my diet, absolutely! I will be focusing on making healthier choices for sure.

You are not pre diabetic.

Hi, my HBA1C result in August was 41 & had been 41 for 4 years! I'm 46 now and it was a wake up call. No one told me I was on the brink of pre diabetes until I went for a smear recently and happened to ask about my bloods.
I get them tested each year as I'm on anti psychotics and other medications.
So on Thursday I've just had another HBA1C taken. Will find out the results next week.

I think 38 is ok but the higher end of normal.. just a warning to watch your diet basically.
The nurse on Thursday said to avoid food items high in sugary carbs such as cakes & biscuits, white bread & white rice, look at the sugar content in foods such as fruit etc.