Diagnosed 4 months ago. Questions.

[andcol]

there is a converter here HbA1c http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-converter.html You 6.4% is 46 mmol/mol and the range 4.5-5.6% is what they say someone with normal BG levels will obtain

With other test such as finger pricks they are given in mmol/l or mg/dl to convert these you multiply/divide by 18 (rough and ready) or you can use this converter http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

 

[gotsomeold]

Since you are in the US, if there is a convenient Walmart I encourage you to purchase a relion prime BG meter, lancet, and test strips (these are the least expensive, easily accessible test strips I have found in the US). Last time I saw my doctor, we compared my relion BG reading against the meter he uses - they were within a couple of mg/dl of each other which is great.

As far as converting from mg/dl to mmol/l goes, you get used to it (I keep an online converter open on another tab in case I want to get precise).

There is a web site, blood sugar 101, that explains a lot about what is going on. I encourage you to spend some time reading there. In the 'how to lower your blood sugar' section, she describes testing BG just before a meal, then 1 and 2 hours after. By keeping a log of food eaten and BG test results, I was able to isolate (and eliminate) the foods that were causing my reactive hypos (and I do not miss them a bit). At first, while in a discovery/learning curve, if you can afford to test frequently I think it is good. As you get to know your body and how it reacts to various foods, testing frequency can go way down.

Because I am very small, in theory I should not need to eat more than 45 g/protein a day. But if I don't eat over 55g/protein, I get weak and feel terrible. So, I eat more. Most of my calories come from fat (whipping/double cream, butter, olive oil, lard, cream cheese, I make my own tallow...not many PUFAs, but that is me).

 

[Rillum]

Here's a link for converting the blood sugar values: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

 

[Rillum]

It does sound like you're not eating a lot of protein, but it does calculate as about 15 % of your energy intake that comes from protein which is the recommendation.
But how large are you? This is a very low amount of calories, so maybe not enough protein for your body.

 

[rosserk]

Hi again your making the same mistake I was making and looking at the sugars part of the nutritional information you need to be looking at whole Carbohydrate. I think the drinks your describing are 1 g of per ml. So a 60 ml drink would have 60g of Carbs which is way to much and would be similar to doing an oral glucose test. I think most on the forum limit their carbs to between 20 and 30 a day and your having three times that amount in a small drink. Glycerine drinks are used by body builders to retain fluid it's a bulking agent to keep them hydrated. Not a good idea for a diabetic who is flushing excess glucose out of the body in urine.

 

[rosserk]

I've discarded the drink. It has 6g of added sugar. I don't really feel bad after drinking it, but think I'm better focusing on protein and more healthy fats.
When I was on Atkins I ate a lot of red meat and never felt bad. Now I feel so bad I can't get to my exercise, and I never miss exercising.
I printed out a copy of my tests from 4 months ago. I'm not sure how to read my blood glucose. I've perused the forum and looked at other's readings. However, I'm in the U.S.and my readings are in mg/dl and other readings that don't seem to coordinate with other's results. Can someone help me? My HGBA1C is 6.4%. The range shows 4.5-5.6%. I am totally confused with my pre-diabetic diagnosis.

Hi use the attached link it's an easy conversion chart for blood sugars

http://www.joslin.org/info/conversion_table_for_blood_glucose_monitoring.html

 

[Indy51]

Hi again your making the same mistake I was making and looking at the sugars part of the nutritional information you need to be looking at whole Carbohydrate. I think the drinks your describing are 1 g of per ml. So a 60 ml drink would have 60g of Carbs which is way to much and would be similar to doing an oral glucose test. I think most on the forum limit their carbs to between 20 and 30 a day and your having three times that amount in a small drink. Glycerine drinks are used by body builders to retain fluid it's a bulking agent to keep them hydrated. Not a good idea for a diabetic who is flushing excess glucose out of the body in urine.

The "Glucerna" drinks mentioned by the OP are not a body builders drink - they are in fact a meal replacement shake made by Abbott and supposedly of slow release carbohydrate and are aimed at the diabetic market. However when I tried the stuff, it raised my BG by exactly the amount of carbs listed and there was nothing "slow" or "delayed" or "extended" release about them.

http://glucerna.com/

 

[rosserk]

Opps sorry misread it as glycerine drink! Still if it has 6 g of sugar the total carbs must be high?

 

[mshumph]

Thank you all for the helpful advice and information. I can not begin to tell you how helpful you are and how you've made this journey I'm on a little less frightening.
Per your advice, I sent a list of questions to my doctor. She is now ordering me a glucometer. @gotsomeold, I don't know which device she's ordered, so I will check Walmart for the region prime.
I added more fats to my diet---avocados, nuts and butter---and increased my caloric intake. Since I lift weights, I think my caloric intake was too low. I also eliminated berries and melons from my diet. I must say that I feel much better today.
I am still confused about eating cottage cheese. I read that cottage cheese was bad for diabetics, something to do with how it converts to sugar.
I have also enrolled in a pre-diabetes class.

 

[mshumph]

BTW. I am now using the Atkins tracker to track my carbs, fat & protein. You are right Rillum, I was also not consuming enough protein. I've been using the My Fitness Pal free app which wouldn't allow me to adjust my fat and carb intake to coordinate with my daily calories. Also, it doesn't measure net carbs.

 

[Rillum]

I use My Fitness Pal too. You can change the percentages of different macronutrients you aim for under Goal. You find it under the heading More. Mine counts carbs along with fat and protein? I'm doing a moderate low carb, with 20 % of the energy from carbs, 20 % from protein and 60% from fat. But that's what I found out I could tolerate using my meter. I aim for my blood sugar to stay under 6.7 one hour after meals.

 

[mshumph]

Rillum, i think my problem was that I wanted to keep my carbs at 30-40g. So that meant 10% of my calories. However, I didn't know how much protein and fat I needed. So I had my fat set too low. I now have it set pretty close to what Atkins says I need. I felt great today. So, by golly, I think I got it.

 

[mshumph]

Hi everyone. I am looking for a healthy satisfying snack. I do quite well at keeping my calories at 1000-1400 daily. My carbs are kept between 30-50, most often at 38. I eat no red meat and chicken maybe once weekly. I'm not a huge chicken fan. I eat salmon about 3-4 times weekly. This is my favorite. However, I am always hungry. Most of my carb intake is from munching on nuts. I do count everyone I eat and the track cals & carbs in them. In the past, nuts were my snacks. Now with watching carbs and cals, can't eat as many as I use to. Popcorn was also one of my snacks. Now I eat about 1 cup of popped corn monthly.
So I really need something tasty and filling to snack on. Oh yes. Apples and cheese or natural almond butter was my all time favorite late night watch movies snack. Had to eliminate apples because so high in carbs.
Any suggestions please?
Thanks.

 

[Hedonista]

Cheese, cucumber chunks and olives is my favourite tv snack. Or celery filled with cream cheese.

 

[Rillum]

You really need to eat more, of course I don't know your size, but 1000-1400 cal is very little. Have you used the meter to check how many carbs are too many?
I eat just enough carbs so that my blood sugar goes to no more than 6.7 one hour after the meal.
I eat sugar free chocolate mousse as a snack, small portions of cheese, nuts, Italian ham (prosciutto crudo), peanut butter dip with vegetable sticks.

 

[mshumph]

Hi Rillium, I am picking up my meter tomorrow. Hopefully, that helps me. I have no weight to lose. But I'm not a big eater. I have trouble reaching 1000 cals. But my carbs are always high. I eat lots of red kidney beans and lots of collard greens which are high in carbs and lots of nuts. However, they keep me satisfied. Lately, I've taken to drinking a Glucerma drink to ease the hunger pains. That is 19 net carbs right there. Just took the Atkins assessment test that suggested 18-20 carbs daily. Don't know how I'll do that without starving. Guess I'll be returning to making my own green protein smoothies with salmon and a little broccoli for dinner. This is the only way I can maintain 18-20 carbs daily. But this will not keep me full.
Looking forward to getting that meter to help me through this. Thanks.

 

[mshumph]

I can do almond butter dip with celery. Completely forgot about that. I'll look for sugar free chocolate mousse. Didn't know I could do sugar free stuff. That sounds delicious.

 

[mshumph]

Thanks Hedonista. The celery with cream cheese sounds like a winner. Planning my shopping list.
Thanks all.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Hi Rillium, I am picking up my meter tomorrow. Hopefully, that helps me. I have no weight to lose. But I'm not a big eater. I have trouble reaching 1000 cals. But my carbs are always high. I eat lots of red kidney beans and lots of collard greens which are high in carbs and lots of nuts. However, they keep me satisfied. Lately, I've taken to drinking a Glucerma drink to ease the hunger pains. That is 19 net carbs right there. Just took the Atkins assessment test that suggested 18-20 carbs daily. Don't know how I'll do that without starving. Guess I'll be returning to making my own green protein smoothies with salmon and a little broccoli for dinner. This is the only way I can maintain 18-20 carbs daily. But this will not keep me full.
Looking forward to getting that meter to help me through this. Thanks.

Personally I don't think it matters if you can't get down to 20g carbs per day. If you can manage 50g, that's fine. Or even 100g. It's all better than the usual amount of carbs most people eat, or what I used to eat, which was up to 400g a day. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured. I could not cope with 20g a day, I'd be miserable.

 

[mehhh2015]

Hi Rillium, I am picking up my meter tomorrow. Hopefully, that helps me. I have no weight to lose. But I'm not a big eater. I have trouble reaching 1000 cals. But my carbs are always high. I eat lots of red kidney beans and lots of collard greens which are high in carbs and lots of nuts. However, they keep me satisfied. Lately, I've taken to drinking a Glucerma drink to ease the hunger pains. That is 19 net carbs right there. Just took the Atkins assessment test that suggested 18-20 carbs daily. Don't know how I'll do that without starving. Guess I'll be returning to making my own green protein smoothies with salmon and a little broccoli for dinner. This is the only way I can maintain 18-20 carbs daily. But this will not keep me full.
Looking forward to getting that meter to help me through this. Thanks.

Hi there,

A few comments:

why are you counting calories while low carbing? It isn't necessary.

If you are feeling hungry your fat intake most likely is very low for your energy needs, particularly if you do weight training. If you increase your fat intake a little you might not experience as much hunger.

Why you don't like chicken or red meat, I'm not judging, just thinking that you are narrowing your choices dramatically, and that maybe by experimenting with seasoning you could enjoy some more chicken sometimes.

I'm not a big fan of them, but maybe protein shakes could help you increase your protein intake.

What about bacon? I don't feel fish is as satisfying (hunger wise) as other protein forms. I don't eat much beef but I do eat pork sausages (good quality ones with no breadcrumbs in them), I eat bacon. Tuna mayo, eggs, ham, parma ham, gammon, prawns, pork chops.

You could also add flax and chia seeds to your diet, they are high in fat and protein and low in carbs.

I don't eat much cream, but I use olive oil, avocados (lots of it), and nuts.