“Diabetes 2?”
Back in March, they diagnosed me with diabetes 2. I started taking metformin then got retested in June results were 5.4 and on September 5.2. What does it mean that I never had diabetes?
Female | 40 years old
10 Answers
It suggests that the Metformin is doing its job. If you are overweight, & recently lost weight, that could also be responsible for the good results.
No, it means that with medication (metformin), you improved your glucose control.
The diagnosis of diabetes is based on two fasting blood sugars over 126 on 2 separate days, or a random blood sugar above 200. I’m not sure what your initial A1c was. The fact that your current A1cs are so good indicates that whatever you are doing to keep your sugars down, along with taking the metformin, is working. Are you monitoring your blood sugars? Are you having any low blood sugars? Are your blood sugars consistent with your A1c? Sometimes, people can have other coexisting medical conditions (like anemia) that give falsely low A1cs. Talk to your doctor.
No, you did have diabetes, but with your diet, healthy lifestyle, and Metformin, you managed to put it in remission/under control. If you restart high carb intake and drop the diabetic lifestyle, the diabetes will come back.
Dear patient,
You did not state A1c in March, but had great response to treatment with Metformin. I don’t doubt diagnosis but keep up good work with diet, metformin and make sure your blood pressure and cholesterol are also at goal.
Respectfully,
Marvin A. Leder, MD FACP FACE
You did not state A1c in March, but had great response to treatment with Metformin. I don’t doubt diagnosis but keep up good work with diet, metformin and make sure your blood pressure and cholesterol are also at goal.
Respectfully,
Marvin A. Leder, MD FACP FACE
It means Metformin works really well. (Unless you were on steroids in March or had CoVid, both of which can cause high sugars.)
That is a difficult question to answer without knowing more information. To diagnose diabetes, we need two separate tests indicating that you indeed are diabetic. Most commonly we use A1c, but fasting plasma glucose, 2hour oral glucose tolerance testing, and a random blood glucose greater than 200 with classic symptoms (frequent urination, etc) are used to diagnose diabetes. However, there are some circumstances in which your A1c is falsely elevated. For instance, did you get a blood transfusion around that time (90 days prior), was there medication interference (high dose steroids), etc. If your A1c was in the diabetic range 6.5 or greater, metformin has been known to decrease your A1c by one point. This combined with diet modification, I could reasonable see someone who was diagnosed with diabetes start metformin then result in these low A1c values. If the metformin is stopped, it is likely that the A1c will rise.
If your fasting glucose was more than 126 or the Hemoglobin A1c was elevated, then you do have diabetes. If the metformin and lifestyle modifications are controlling the diabetes, this is great.
Diabetes is not cured, but can be controlled, and sometimes without medications. I recommend that you think back to your eating and exercise habits before the diagnosis and what changes you have made to control the glucose levels and keep up the good work. Metformin can be taken even if the glucose levels are "normal," as this medication has been shown to prevent the glucose levels increasing again.
Diabetes is not cured, but can be controlled, and sometimes without medications. I recommend that you think back to your eating and exercise habits before the diagnosis and what changes you have made to control the glucose levels and keep up the good work. Metformin can be taken even if the glucose levels are "normal," as this medication has been shown to prevent the glucose levels increasing again.
It depends on whether criteria for Dx was met. If yes, then diagnosis is maintained, but listed as controlled.
Sreedevi Reddy
Endocrinology, Diabetes
I am presuming the diabetes diagnosis was based on fasting sugar over 126 or Hba1c (reflects 3-month sugar average) at or over 6.5 unless it was a lab error. However, if your Hba1c is now 5.2 with Metformin + controlled diet & regular exercise, that's a good thing. At this stage, your physician has more info to give you, the appropriate advice on the next step.
