When should one start taking medicine?

Question

How much should be the FBS result to start taking medicine for diabetes. In Africa, some doctors take FBS test twice or three times within 10 or so days and if it is in all cases above 160, they advice you to start taking diolin tablet or insulin injection. Still some other doctors insist that you can control it by diet only and they don't advice you to start taking tablets or injection. Which one is the correct procedure or advice. I met a doctor who daringly told me that he does not prescribe tablet or insulin injection unless the FBS is 250 or above. It is a bit perplexing. When should one start taking medicine? Some laymen say if it is 127 or above taking medicine is imperative. Still others say above 110 is not normal.

Answer 1

I can't advise you or second guess your doctor, but here is what I looked up on FBS levels.  

FBS; Blood sugar levels; Fasting blood sugar This test is used to evaluate blood glucose levels. It may be used to diagnose or screen for diabetes and to monitor control in patients who have diabetes.

Most dietary carbohydrates eventually end up as glucose in the blood. Glucose is a major source of energy for most cells of the body, including those in the brain.

Levels up to 100 mg/dL are considered normal.

Levels between 100 and 126 mg/dl are referred to as impaired fasting glucose or pre-diabetes. These levels are considered to be risk factors for type 2 diabetes and its complications.

Diabetes is typically diagnosed when fasting blood glucose levels are 126 mg/dl or higher.

Note: mg/dL = milligrams per deciliter

There are three main types of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes. This type was formerly known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), or juvenile-onset diabetes. A person with this type makes little or no insulin. So he or she needs to take insulin shots each day.

Type 2 diabetes. This type was known as noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), or adult-onset diabetes. In this, by far the most common type, a person might make healthy or even high levels of insulin, but obesity makes his or her body resistant to its effect. Type 2 diabetes was once rare in children. However, with the increase in obesity in children, doctors are now finding that as many as 1 out of each 20 children with diabetes has type 2. Of these children, 85% are obese.

Gestational diabetes or pregnancy-induced diabetes. This type of diabetes develops in a pregnant woman. The mechanism is similar to type 2 except that the insulin resistance is believed to be fueled by the hormones of pregnancy. In most cases, this type of diabetes goes away after the woman's child is born.

Answer 2

At work, most of the diabetics are on a sliding scale for insulin....meaning that if their blood sugar is above a certain number, they get regular insulin. For most of them, their blood sugar (nonfasting) is around 190.