Strange blood test results?

Close to 2 weeks ago I took Gavi for bloodwork, his endo. wanted to check his c-peptide level, insulin level, and a few other things. I always ask for the lab to send me a copy of the results and I got them yesterday. SOme of the results are strange, I sent his endo. an e-mail last night with some questions about them, so I will wait to see what she says.

 

WHen the test was taken, he was NOT fasting. His blood sugar was 182. His insulin level was 102 (range is 0.0-24.9). His c-peptide was 2.9 (range is .4-2.9) if it was done while fasting. 

 

I was trying to see if I could find anything online about having high insulin level and high blood sugar at the same time, and the only thing I could find was if they are both high it means too much insulin was taken, which is not the case. He is only on 1.5 units of Lantus daily, taken in the morning. 

 

Any ideas?

I don't think its anything to worry about.  He's an early diabetic and his body is still making lots of its own insulin (as evidenced by his c-peptide result).  He's still honeymooning and therefore his body will overproduce insulin at some times of the day in an attempt to correct higher numbers. Combined with the injected insulin, his level appeared elevated.  Did he go low after having that test done?  If he did, then yes he likely did have too much insulin.  If he didn't, then he took the right amount.  Remember that the 'normal' range on those tests are for non-diabetics.

Another example would be cholesterol tests for diabetics.  My last test showed my result as being within 'normal' range.  I was very happy. Then my endo advised me that the level was too high for a diabetic (booooo).  My point is let the endo interpret the results based on their knowledge of what is normal and not for diabetes.

Let us know what the endo says.

[quote user="spaghettio"] My last test showed my result as being within 'normal' range.  I was very happy. Then my endo advised me that the level was too high for a diabetic (booooo).  My point is let the endo interpret the results based on their knowledge of what is normal and not for diabetes.[/quote]

I believe that this is because they just want to maintain "extra-good" numbers if you're diabetic, because statistically a diabetic is more likely to lay plaque in their arteries.  I don't think diabetes physically changes your cholesterol levels.  Or maybe that's what you meant!  My cholesterol is and always has been very low, yet my doctor is pushing cholesterol meds.  (Not my endo.)  I wonder if this is due to the "diabetes umbrella checklist" which includes T2 that I'm convinced doctors are given in medical school combined with pushy, money-grubbing drug reps.  My sister, (a pHd who works in biomedical research) says these meds are poison and she wouldn't give them to a dog. 

After I took him for the blood test I didn't test him until dinnertime. It was pretty high before dinner (258) but I'm not sure if it went lower after the test. I'm just frustrated. He will have okay days with his blood sugar, then he'll higher days, and other days he will have some okay numbers and some high numbers. They're not consistently high so his endo. is very hesitant to put him on any other type of insulin. One night before dinner his number was in the mid 300's and 2 hours after dinner it went down to just over 100. This is without any rapid acting insulin. Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense.I'm not sure how much of it depends on what he eats. He can eat the same thing 2 days in a row, have great numbers one day and super high numbers the next. Tonight after dinner his number was high (223) but he was acting totally normal, not cranky like he usually is when he's high, not drinking more than normal, not peeing more than normal. And even when his numbers are in the 300's about 98% of the time he does not display symptoms of diabetes, except for being irritable. I just don't get it.

I am a newly diagnosed diabetic (Jan 28, 20011) but I am actually participating in a research trial related to c-peptide to I understand enough that I think I can help you out a little bit.  The purpose of testing for c-peptide in a newly diagnosed T1D is to see how much insulin your body is still producing, which is why they almost always run an insulin level test at the same time.  High levels of C-peptide generally indicate high levels of endogenous insulin production (meaning that it was produced by the body and not injected).  This may be in response to high levels of blood glucose caused by glucose intake and/or insulin resistance.  Since his insulin level was high as well, it seems most likely that the latter is true for you son.  However, since these tests were performed on blood samples when your son was not fasting, these may not be the best numbers for you to be focusing on.

Aside from the test results, I'm 20 and, as stated above, was diagnosed about 2 1/2 months ago.  Even though I'm 20, my mom is really paranoid and worried and I always tell her not to because I have everything under control.  I understand that you're worried and that is definitely normal, but I can assure you that, unfortunately, what you and your son are experiencing are fairly normal.  As someone said before me, your son is currently going through what is called the honeymoon stage.  This means that his body is still trying to produce insulin and trying to function properly as if his body is fine.  Sometimes, the pancreas will succeed and produce the insulin and other times it won't.  That is why after some meals his numbers are good and after others they are bad.  It has nothing to do with what he eats.  Since he isn't on any rapid acting insulin, you guys can't make adjustments to make his blood sugar level drop back to normal after a meal.  Trust me, for a 4 year old it's great that you don't have to use a rapid acting insulin yet, but it makes controlling everything much more difficult.  I use both Lantus and Humalog (rapid acting) and give myself 4 injections per day, and my numbers usually end up too low because my body is still trying to produce insulin.  I think it is much better for your son to be a little on the high side and only take Lantus, than have to take more injections and go too low multiple times.

Also, I've learned noticed that for me, it is much more difficult to tell when my sugar is high because I'm still in the honeymoon stage.  From talking to my diabetic friends, once I'm out of it, it will become much more obvious and it will be the same every time I am high.  It's great that you notice a change in your son sometimes but it in time you should be able to notice every time. 

I know it's frustrating but keep up the good work because it will become much easier in time.  I know it's hard but unfortunately, it's something every diagnosed person goes through.  It's going to get easier and make much more sense, it's just a huge learning process and for young kids, it's much harder to grasp at first.  Best of luck to you and your son.

Chris

By the way, like I said, I'm new at all of this so if my advice and information is a little off, I do apologize.  Maybe other people can help teach me something as well!

Thank you for you post. The last time he had his insulin and c-peptide tested was when he was first diagnosed, and they were much lower than this time around. He was fasting for the test and not on any insulin, so that is most likely why they were much lower at the time. I have a sister in law (brother's wife) who is 34 and has been type 1 since she was 12 years old, and she said even after all this time she still doesn't understand it sometimes! About a month ago his endo. wanted him to go on Novolog because of how high his numbers were going. Every time he gets sick his numbers go higher and higher and don't quite return to what the levels were pre-sickness. He had bronchitis about 2 months ago and also had to use a nebulizer (albuterol, no steroids) and at one point his number went up to 475. But it returned to normal by the morning. SInce then he's had normal morning numbers, but about 85-90% of the time he's in the 200's. SInce his numbers do drop by itself his endo. doesn't want him to go on it yet, but on the other hand there are times when I really think he should be on it because of how miserable he feels.