When are you Diabetic

[mjr173010]

Hello all My GP tells me I am pre-Diabetic because of my reading fasting 6.5, 2 hours after eating 6.1 and when she sent me for a GTT 6.6 before and 6.5 after, I have a blood monitor and I have never had a reading lower than 5.8 and the highest was 10.6, 30 mins after a meal. These readings seem to be a constant, would like your remarks please.

 

[daisy1]

Welcome to the forum In my opinion I would agree with what your doctor says. Have you had an HbA1c test done? 30 minutes after a meal is too soon to test - you should test at 2 hours after the meal when your level should be similar to your before meal level. Since you are pre-diabetic some basic information might help you to avoid becoming fully diabetic if you take care of yourself now. Ask as many questions as you like as there is usually someone here to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Patch]

You are diabetic if you have regular readings outside of the range:

4 - 7mmol/L

Super basic rule if thumb, there.

10.6 30 mins AFTER a meal is pretty high. It usually takes 1hr for the sugar/carbs in food to hit yor BG at full whack, so it's possible that your BG rose even more after your +30min reading.

You MIGHT get away with diet only control. Check around this site for ways to modify your diet.

HINT: Bread and pasta is BAD. :wink:

 

[pianoman]

Hi and Welcome.

Good advice above...

There are guidelines which define the numbers used to determine the formal diagnosis criteria BUT I'd say that as you are already showing signs of developing Diabetes it is best to act now, rather than wait to see how bad it gets.

Think of a dam with water pressure building up behind it, and hairline cracks starting to show in the structure... it is far easier to lower the water level and shore up the dam before it bursts.

In the same way you may find it easier to make some changes now, to what you eat and perhaps your activity level (doesn't have to the gym-thing... just get out for a walk regularly... take the stairs etc...) so as to stave off a full-blown diagnosis and possibly the need for medication etc...

As detailed above: I'd focus on BG testing just before and 2 hours after each meal. Keep a food diary and watch for repeatable patterns. Consider changes to meals that have the greatest effect on your BGs... read around the forum and on-line for ideas.

 

[mjr173010]

Hi Again Not sure if I have clicked the right button for replying to you all, if I have thanks for the advice, I did mean to say that these readings and my Doctor telling me I am pre - diabetic have now been going on for 6 years does that sound about right. I would add that I really disagree calling someone pre-diabetic surely that is perfectly obvious after all surely everyone is pre-diabetic forgetting BG readings.

 

[Grazer]

I would add that I really disagree calling someone pre-diabetic surely that is perfectly obvious after all surely everyone is pre-diabetic forgetting BG readings.

Know what you mean, and POTENTIALLY that's true. However, there are specific reasons for this labelling.
Officially, according to your blood test results, there are 3 levels you can be :-
1) Non-diabetic, don't worry, a glucose tolerance test would show that your sugars don't go up too high.
2) Pre-diabetic, originally called borderline diabetic. This means your sugar levels are raised above what is considered "normal", particularly after a Glucose tolerance test, but not so high that you are considered fully diabetic. Sensible diet will control the condition, and CAN result in you returning to a non-diabetic state (whereby you would once again pass a Glucose tolereance test)
3) Diabetic. Your sugar levels are further raised, although you MAY still be able to control those levels on diet alone, without medication. You will not, however, be able to return to a non-diabetic state under current medical knowledge and practice.

Hope this clarifies the definitions. Well done for remaining pre-diabetic for so long without progressing to full diabetes.
Malc

 

[mjr173010]

Hi Again Not sure if I have clicked the right button for replying to you all, if I have thanks for the advice, I did mean to say that these readings and my Doctor telling me I am pre - diabetic have now been going on for 6 years does that sound about right. I would add that I really disagree calling someone pre-diabetic surely that is perfectly obvious after all surely everyone is pre-diabetic forgetting BG readings.

~~

 

[Grazer]

Think you clicked that dang button again....

 

[Pneu]

Non-diabetic blood readings would be 3.6 - 4.5 mmol/l fasting and for the most part under 5.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal.. although up to 7.8 mmol/l can be seen in some circumstances.. You therefore have an impaired response to glucose.. your GTT isn't high enough for them to class you as type 2 and therefore you fall into the 'pre-diabetic' category.

This means that the likelihood of your developing type 2 in the future is reasonably high... the problem is that higher than 'normal' blood glucose levels damage the beta cells that produce insulin.. as this damage increases your blood glucose levels get worse and then you get into a self-perpetuating cycle.

As others have suggested you are probably still at the stage where a reduction in carbohydrates in your diet would have a positive effect and would help to normalise your blood glucose levels.