So slow at coming down!

[Poppy'sMum]

Hi everyone, I was told I had pre diabetes 5 months ago, the reading being 43 , since then I have worked really hard to bring that number down. I’ve now had another Hba1c test and its 42 - still pre diabetic. I’m really gutted as I was expecting it to be in the normal range. I cook from scratch, don’t have takeaways, or ready meals and rarely eat out. I’m also finding it difficult because I don’t like meat, fish and eggs very much, which seems to be predominantly what a low carb diet is.
During the last few months I have tested my blood sugars once on most days, before and 2 hours after meals and they were always around the late 5’s , never going up much if at all during the 2 hours after eating, never reaching 7
Has anyone got any advice.
Thank you

 

[MrsA2]

I’m also finding it difficult because I don’t like meat, fish and eggs very much, which seems to be predominantly what a low carb diet is.

So what are you eating?

 

[Outlier]

Lots of things affect BG, and the blood test is for what has been going on for the last 3 months. You could have had illness, stress, been taking medication that raises BG, a small infection you'd never have noticed because your body is dealing with it, for instance. We can't always control the world around us, but we can control what we eat. You'll probably find your next test will show improvement as long as you are careful with your food. As asked above - what have you been eating and drinking? We might be able to recommend a few helpful tweaks.

 

[MissMuffett]

I was the same that I thought I was ‘being good’ not eating rice, potatoes, pasta etc my hba1c came back as 97! I burst into tears. When I analysed my diet I came to the conclusion although it was low carb, I was overeating and around 9pm have yogurt and berries and although this sounds a good choice, it isn’t a good choice if you have a cereal bowl full. I’m not saying this is what you’re doing but apart from testing you BG it might be worth getting a carb counter app. I know I keep posting this but have a look at ‘heavenly fan’ on YouTube she does vegan low carb and has great recipes, which might be good if you don’t eat much meat eggs and cheese. Yesterday I watched she did a curry filled roll, I’m definitely doing that this weekend!

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I am probably eating to many carbs, I thought if I cooked from scratch it wouldn’t matter so much regarding carbs.
This is a typical week of what I eat.
Breakfast…same every day and have done for years Lol
Porridge, almond milk, flaxseeds and strawberries.

Lunch…homemade soup, chicken, mixed pulses, lentils, sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli all liquidised up. Or homemade quiche, avacoda and salad.

Evening…typically jacket spud, cheese and beans. Or homemade curry with paneer and rice. Or homemade turkey bolognese and spaghetti. Or chips, halloumi and mushy peas.

During the day…1 black coffee, then just plain water.
3 times a week approximately I’d have a hot chocolate made with coconut milk if I meet friends at costa.
Coconut yogurt in the evening usually and some dark chocolate.
I’ve given up eating cadburys dairy milk chocolate my favorite !
That is typically everything.

 

[MissMuffett]

Yep too many carbs IMO! I love porridge but had to give it up sadly. Pulses, grains, pastry, potatoes, rice and pasta are not for diabetic.
I would definitely get a carb app. I use carb manager, you can set your own parameters be it keto, low carb etc and you can customise it by setting your daily carb levels

 

[KennyA]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I am probably eating to many carbs, I thought if I cooked from scratch it wouldn’t matter so much regarding carbs.
This is a typical week of what I eat.
Breakfast…same every day and have done for years Lol
Porridge, almond milk, flaxseeds and strawberries.

Lunch…homemade soup, chicken, mixed pulses, lentils, sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli all liquidised up. Or homemade quiche, avacoda and salad.

Evening…typically jacket spud, cheese and beans. Or homemade curry with paneer and rice. Or homemade turkey bolognese and spaghetti. Or chips, halloumi and mushy peas.

During the day…1 black coffee, then just plain water.
3 times a week approximately I’d have a hot chocolate made with coconut milk if I meet friends at costa.
Coconut yogurt in the evening usually and some dark chocolate.
I’ve given up eating cadburys dairy milk chocolate my favorite !
That is typically everything.

Hi, that is quite a bit of carb. If I ate that I would expect to see much higher daily bg and a rise in A1c in due course.

It is possible (given what you're reporting about your testing numbers) that your system can almost (?) cope with this level of carb, so you may only need a few relatively minor adjustments to see a fall.

In particular I avoid things (which I really like) like porridge, potatoes (sweet potatoes as well), beans, rice, fruit, pasta, pastry, and lentils. All of these are high carb items. I'm not too bad with a few pulses every so often. It could be worth removing one or more of the carb-heavy items in your diet (and not replacing it with other carb) and seeing what happens.

Incidentally, normal range in the UK is 38-42, although there is allowable error in the test so I wouldn't consider your 43 and 42 results as being substantially different.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thank you both of you. I have now downloaded the carb manager app.
Yes it is a lot of carbs, I think I realised that tbh, but I know I do need to reduce them and I’m determined to get to a normal range. This last few months I have reduced carbs but obviously not enough. So I’ll try a bit harder, like you say its probably is only slight adjustments.
Does anyone know what readings I should be getting with finger prick testing. Mine are typically late 5’s early 6’s
Thank you again

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thank you both of you. I have now downloaded the carb manager app.
Yes it is a lot of carbs, I think I realised that tbh, but I know I do need to reduce them and I’m determined to get to a normal range. This last few months I have reduced carbs but obviously not enough. So I’ll try a bit harder, like you say its probably is only slight adjustments.
Does anyone know what readings I should be getting with finger prick testing. Mine are typically late 5’s early 6’s
Thank you again

This sounds stupid probably, but.... Are you sure your meter is correct? Considering what you're eating (and that really is a massive amount of carbs), I'd expect higher numbers (consistent sevens even) for you to hit the prediabetic range in a HbA1c test. Sometimes they're old or faulty, so it could be worth it to check your meter, or your test strips may be out of date and giving wrong readings. When they're old and from an opened pot, they can be quite unreliable. Something to look into, maybe?

Good luck!
Jo

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thanks Jo, the meter is about 10 years old , but the strips are in date and a new pot.
Could you or anyone recommend a meter to get please,as maybe it’s not working right.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Hi, that is quite a bit of carb. If I ate that I would expect to see much higher daily bg and a rise in A1c in due course.

It is possible (given what you're reporting about your testing numbers) that your system can almost (?) cope with this level of carb, so you may only need a few relatively minor adjustments to see a fall.

In particular I avoid things (which I really like) like porridge, potatoes (sweet potatoes as well), beans, rice, fruit, pasta, pastry, and lentils. All of these are high carb items. I'm not too bad with a few pulses every so often. It could be worth removing one or more of the carb-heavy items in your diet (and not replacing it with other carb) and seeing what happens.

Incidentally, normal range in the UK is 38-42, although there is allowable error in the test so I wouldn't consider your 43 and 42 results as being substantially different.

Hi KennyA, so you say that 42 is in the normal range in the UK? (That will explain why my g.p. Didn’t notify me about 2 years ago) Because everywhere I read it the first number of pre diabetes.
Thank you.

 

[KennyA]

Hi KennyA, so you say that 42 is in the normal range in the UK? (That will explain why my g.p. Didn’t notify me about 2 years ago) Because everywhere I read it the first number of pre diabetes.
Thank you.

Normal range for the UK is 38-42. Almost everyone who is non-diabetic falls into that range - the graph attached might help demonstrate this. Above 42 (and up to 48) is what has been called "pre-diabetes".

Actually - my opinion here - your BG going above 42 is a sign that something is already wrong, not that something might go wrong in future. Unfortunately it seems that no-one (in the UK at least) will get a diabetes diagnosis these days until blood sugar levels have become significantly worse.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thank you.

 

[MrsA2]

Hi KennyA, so you say that 42 is in the normal range in the UK? (That will explain why my g.p. Didn’t notify me about 2 years ago) Because everywhere I read it the first number of pre diabetes.
Thank you.

I only found I'd had prediabetic levels since 2006 because they appeared on my on line medical record. No one had ever mentioned it to me, in 14 years!
I was only tested, and diagnosed in 2020, because a close relatives diagnosis put me in a high risk group and I requested a test

BTW, I'm still standing, no obvious signs of complications, just the (now obvious) weight gain