All normal here

Is anyone able to confirm whether I have to fast or not prior to have the following tested: creat & elecs, LFT, CRP, full blood count and plasma viscosity. I presume I don't as I'm not have lipids or glucose, but confirmation would be nice. medical surgery is being a touch useless.

No.

Food raises cholesterol and blood sugars but rest should be fine. They still don't have plasma viscosity here.

Edd is special

Well the results are in and the votes verified and the winner is diabetes. So I now have a supply of metformin to ingest.

It could be worse, I guess. Just watch your sugar intake from the food you eat.

Are you expected to monitor your own blood sugar levels? I don't think they make it compulsory, but Best Beloved decided he wanted to and bought a blood test kit from Boots or somewhere. He makes a reading every morning before breakfast, and logs it all in a spreadsheet. He takes printouts with him to checkups, so everyone can see the trend. He's a bit OTT about, if I'm honest, but it makes him happy.

Awesome! Breakfast for me then! (8-D)

Have you been advised to cut glucides or glucide and carbs? I've been on a low carb low glucide for over a month and you get used to it (good news : Snickers are low glucides!)

Are glucides french for glucose or carbohydrates? At any rate, I'd advise the low GI diet.

Unlucky about the diagnosis of diabetes. Make sure you take metformin once a day for at least five days. Standard treatment is three times a day and you build it up from once a day.

Taking blood sugars etc are okay but HbA1c shows your trend over the last 3-4 months and I'd rely more on this as an indicator. Charts are useful if you are on insulin.

Risk factors are far more important as you're at higher risk of strokes, heart attacks etc. make sure blood pressure and cholesterol are under control. Depending on your age, general health, and your blood test results, you could come off metformin if you lose enough body fat, exercise and ear properly.

Seems like an appropriate place to ask - on Sunday night and again last night, I suddenly felt drunk. My balance was so badly off, it was like I was about 5 pints worse.
Worth getting a diabetes check at the GP? Didn't feel like a blood sugar crash/high, which I have had in the past.

Do you feel drowsy after meals? that's also a good sign

Nope. Unless it's been some huge feast, but normally, no.

Walking drunk/balance could be anything. Go get it checked out.

Lupus!

I don't remember getting any symptoms like that when I was an undiagnosed diabetic. I had a couple of minor 'crashes' due to not being aware of what I should and shouldn't eat but it never affected my balance and, given what I know about it, I can't see an obvious mechanism whereby it would affect the inner ear and thus disrupt your balance.

Twice in short succession is worth checking out, agreed. You'll feel a fool for worrying if it turns out to be an ear infection, but not as much of a fool as you'd feel for not worrying enough to get it checked if it turning out to be something more serious.

Jon