- Messages
- 147
- Type of diabetes
- Prediabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hello,
I've been looking at this forum for a while as a source of support after being told about a month ago that I'm prediabetic.
To put this in context - and apologies ahead that this will be quite a long post - I thought I might be at risk (because I have the body type and do have some knowledge of nutrition from work and study experience). However, because I wasn't showing up as diabetic on previous tests specifically for that, I had assumed I was in the clear. Unfortunately not!
The diagnosis would have worried me less if I had not been exhibiting some symptoms that are associated with blood sugar issues - eg vision problems, near-fainting episodes, feeling very tired, having whole days of no energy, feeling irritable, gaining a lot of fat around the middle - and more. Including a frozen shoulder for about a year, which reduced the amount of exercise I usually did. Result: more tiredness and weight gain! And before that I was told I might have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) or chronic fatigue - I'd have days where I just couldn't get out of bed and felt pretty low. I'm now thinking it may have been more related to blood sugar and diet issues!
I have done quite a lot of research on PD and diabetes generally in the past month, whilst waiting for an appointment with a diabetic clinic nurse (prior to starting a course that's intended to help educate people with prediabetes). I'm guessing that I might have found some of the information they're going to give me, already - which is fine. 3-4 weeks felt like a long time to wait for 'guidance'!
So I've done some 'homework', and have followed guidelines for cutting out added sugar foods, then moving to swapping out white carbs for wholemeal ones, and adding in many more vegetables in daily dishes. I've also looked into various low carb diets, including Keto - working on understanding the scale from a healthy approach to one that might be a bit problematic. I'm not someone who naturally eats a lot of fruit, so finding that a bit hard to fathom - as it seems to be the only ok 'dessert' type food for diabetics, but doesn't agree with anyone. I've read that bananas can be too high carb and melon has a lot of sugar in it, but berries are good. Part of the reason why I've kept away from fruit (and acidic foods like tomatoes and citrus fruits, in quantity) is that I tend to get a 'geographic tongue' problem (ie oral soreness). So I probably can only manage small amounts anyway - and tend to eat fruit with other foods. I wonder if other people here have problems with fruit...?
The good news is that the research has helped me calm down! And the food swaps are working, I would say - at least in terms of feeling more level within myself. But at first it felt like things were really hard to manage and I'd be sensitive to even the smallest amount of the 'wrong' food type. I imagine this is because my blood sugar was starting to adjust. Hard to explain all of this - but I suspect other people may know what I mean.
The bad news is that, recently I've been getting pain in my other shoulder, ie not the one that has recently healed after being frozen for a year. This seems like a red flag, confirming I need to keep taking this Type 2 diabetes threat seriously. From what I can gather, from records covering my family history, this might well be hereditary. And I might be predisposed in others ways, too, to Diabetes (Type 2), eg being born prematurely.
I now feel that I want more information on what's really happening with my blood sugar reactions to various foods and to when I don't eat for a while (which can sometimes happen due to quite a busy lifestyle). I have understood that stress can affect blood sugar, too. So I'm trying to reduce that. And to take more exercise again. But it's a bit tricky as the yoga I reintroduced, once I got the PD diagnosis, seems to be what has triggered another shoulder problem. I wonder if there's a better form of exercise that I can do at home (trying to drag myself out to go running or even walking in the morning feels too challenging!)
I am thinking about getting a blood sugar monitor - actually, it was advised by the chiropractor I've been seeing who has helped heal the previous shoulder problem, and who also spotted a chromium deficiency and told me about ALA as a more natural alternative to Metformin (which I'm not keen to take).
It would be great to hear from anyone who can recommend an up to date glucose monitor/meter, which is relatively pain free to use (I'm a cissy!) and ideally lets you know if BS level is too high or too low. I gather only Types 1 injecting insulin may be at risk of hypos? But my occasional episodes of near-fainting (which I used to put down to low blood pressure, as it was in the past, although is generally more normal now) make me wonder if my BS is dipping too low in my dietary and exercise efforts to ensure it's not too high!
Hope I can offer useful info to this forum at some point, too. But for now I'm a newbie more in need. And I'm nervous about my clinic visit on Friday. I want to be able to ask the right questions and hopefully get some useful information. I suspect getting a BS home testing kit might be pushing my luck there, but you never know....
My doctor was quite laid back about the diagnosis, based on my 43 mmol reading (I think its equivalent of 6.1 or 6.2), but I don't feel that way. It strikes me as a bit too close to Type 2 for comfort! She said that the NHS is rolling out more testing for prediabetes - maybe that is partly why I happened to get my HbA1c done now - which was suggested because I'd seen several doctors about eye problems and mentioned that I'd been told I might be in danger of diabetes (when I'd been for a general check up where they work out BMI, take body measurements, etc). My GP also said that the plan of action is a course offered to patients. So I gather that's going to be the next step, after visiting the nurse...
I would really welcome any advice, experience etc that you all may be able to share!
Many thanks - Diana
I've been looking at this forum for a while as a source of support after being told about a month ago that I'm prediabetic.
To put this in context - and apologies ahead that this will be quite a long post - I thought I might be at risk (because I have the body type and do have some knowledge of nutrition from work and study experience). However, because I wasn't showing up as diabetic on previous tests specifically for that, I had assumed I was in the clear. Unfortunately not!
The diagnosis would have worried me less if I had not been exhibiting some symptoms that are associated with blood sugar issues - eg vision problems, near-fainting episodes, feeling very tired, having whole days of no energy, feeling irritable, gaining a lot of fat around the middle - and more. Including a frozen shoulder for about a year, which reduced the amount of exercise I usually did. Result: more tiredness and weight gain! And before that I was told I might have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) or chronic fatigue - I'd have days where I just couldn't get out of bed and felt pretty low. I'm now thinking it may have been more related to blood sugar and diet issues!
I have done quite a lot of research on PD and diabetes generally in the past month, whilst waiting for an appointment with a diabetic clinic nurse (prior to starting a course that's intended to help educate people with prediabetes). I'm guessing that I might have found some of the information they're going to give me, already - which is fine. 3-4 weeks felt like a long time to wait for 'guidance'!
So I've done some 'homework', and have followed guidelines for cutting out added sugar foods, then moving to swapping out white carbs for wholemeal ones, and adding in many more vegetables in daily dishes. I've also looked into various low carb diets, including Keto - working on understanding the scale from a healthy approach to one that might be a bit problematic. I'm not someone who naturally eats a lot of fruit, so finding that a bit hard to fathom - as it seems to be the only ok 'dessert' type food for diabetics, but doesn't agree with anyone. I've read that bananas can be too high carb and melon has a lot of sugar in it, but berries are good. Part of the reason why I've kept away from fruit (and acidic foods like tomatoes and citrus fruits, in quantity) is that I tend to get a 'geographic tongue' problem (ie oral soreness). So I probably can only manage small amounts anyway - and tend to eat fruit with other foods. I wonder if other people here have problems with fruit...?
The good news is that the research has helped me calm down! And the food swaps are working, I would say - at least in terms of feeling more level within myself. But at first it felt like things were really hard to manage and I'd be sensitive to even the smallest amount of the 'wrong' food type. I imagine this is because my blood sugar was starting to adjust. Hard to explain all of this - but I suspect other people may know what I mean.
The bad news is that, recently I've been getting pain in my other shoulder, ie not the one that has recently healed after being frozen for a year. This seems like a red flag, confirming I need to keep taking this Type 2 diabetes threat seriously. From what I can gather, from records covering my family history, this might well be hereditary. And I might be predisposed in others ways, too, to Diabetes (Type 2), eg being born prematurely.
I now feel that I want more information on what's really happening with my blood sugar reactions to various foods and to when I don't eat for a while (which can sometimes happen due to quite a busy lifestyle). I have understood that stress can affect blood sugar, too. So I'm trying to reduce that. And to take more exercise again. But it's a bit tricky as the yoga I reintroduced, once I got the PD diagnosis, seems to be what has triggered another shoulder problem. I wonder if there's a better form of exercise that I can do at home (trying to drag myself out to go running or even walking in the morning feels too challenging!)
I am thinking about getting a blood sugar monitor - actually, it was advised by the chiropractor I've been seeing who has helped heal the previous shoulder problem, and who also spotted a chromium deficiency and told me about ALA as a more natural alternative to Metformin (which I'm not keen to take).
It would be great to hear from anyone who can recommend an up to date glucose monitor/meter, which is relatively pain free to use (I'm a cissy!) and ideally lets you know if BS level is too high or too low. I gather only Types 1 injecting insulin may be at risk of hypos? But my occasional episodes of near-fainting (which I used to put down to low blood pressure, as it was in the past, although is generally more normal now) make me wonder if my BS is dipping too low in my dietary and exercise efforts to ensure it's not too high!
Hope I can offer useful info to this forum at some point, too. But for now I'm a newbie more in need. And I'm nervous about my clinic visit on Friday. I want to be able to ask the right questions and hopefully get some useful information. I suspect getting a BS home testing kit might be pushing my luck there, but you never know....
My doctor was quite laid back about the diagnosis, based on my 43 mmol reading (I think its equivalent of 6.1 or 6.2), but I don't feel that way. It strikes me as a bit too close to Type 2 for comfort! She said that the NHS is rolling out more testing for prediabetes - maybe that is partly why I happened to get my HbA1c done now - which was suggested because I'd seen several doctors about eye problems and mentioned that I'd been told I might be in danger of diabetes (when I'd been for a general check up where they work out BMI, take body measurements, etc). My GP also said that the plan of action is a course offered to patients. So I gather that's going to be the next step, after visiting the nurse...
I would really welcome any advice, experience etc that you all may be able to share!
Many thanks - Diana