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Prediabetes diagnosis

AndBreathe said:
One thing I might comment is that if you were taking steroids at the time of your test last year, your doctor may have attributed your pre-diabetic level to your steroid use. Just trying to be fair to him, and perhaps ease your mind?
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She might well have done. As she has since retired, I can't ask!
 
AndBreathe said:
It'll be easier on yourself if you can give her the benefit of the doubt?
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No problem in doing that. She had been our family doctor for 31 years. Now what will be, will be. I will do my utmost to head it off, if possible..
 
Lynn1 said:
No problem in doing that. She had been our family doctor for 31 years. Now what will be, will be. I will do my utmost to head it off, if possible..
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That's the way.....

:happy::happy::happy:
 
Porridge is one of those things some people can and others can't eat. I eat uncooked rolled oats, with milk, and I'm fine with that. Realistically, only testing will help you with that sort of information.

But, as a pre-diabetic, you need to be careful not to go fast forward to sledge hammer, if you have a nut to crack.

Are you going to have a meter?
 
AndBreathe said:
Porridge is one of those things some people can and others can't eat. I eat uncooked rolled oats, with milk, and I'm fine with that. Realistically, only testing will help you with that sort of information.

But, as a pre-diabetic, you need to be careful not to go fast forward to sledge hammer, if you have a nut to crack.

Are you going to have a meter?
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Yes, I have one on order.
 
Lynn1 said:
Yes, I have one on order.
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In which case, I would suggest you eat as you normally would have done, so that you get some proper readings when your meter arrives. A few days delay in adopting an amended diet could give you a huge amount of info. Nobody wants to be giving up loads of stuff they don't need to. And you are at the lower end of the pre-diabetic range.

That would be my guidance anyway.
 
Yes, I agree with @AndBreathe .

One of the most helpful things you can do when your meter arrives, is to test your normal foods, in normal portions and combinations (including the choc bar or the extra spud you treat yourself to occasionally).

A few days of that might well identify a particular habit, snack or food, which could be causing the problem.

Which would be great news. :D (Personally, I find that wheat products send my blood glucose higher than anything else. Just by cutting out bread, cake, pastry, pasta, etc. I made a HUGE improvement in my readings. Other people find it with rice, or sugar, or...)

Those few days will give you a baseline comparison, so if you need to start reducing portions , you will see the changes.
 
AndBreathe said:
In which case, I would suggest you eat as you normally would have done, so that you get some proper readings when your meter arrives. A few days delay in adopting an amended diet could give you a huge amount of info. Nobody wants to be giving up loads of stuff they don't need to. And you are at the lower end of the pre-diabetic range.

That would be my guidance anyway.
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OK. Will do. Sorry for fussing, but it has been so difficult having been told this by my doctor with no follow-up advice.

Have a good evening.
 
You may well find that steel cuts oats are more acceptable than rolled oats. The crushing breaks down some of the structure. That is what makes them cook faster but also digest easier as well. I actually like ready brek. Should be very bad but find it doesn't have much effect on me. The only way to know is to test. You have determined what levels you are looking for I presume.
 
Lynn1 said:
OK. Will do. Sorry for fussing, but it has been so difficult having been told this by my doctor with no follow-up advice.

Have a good evening.
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Don't feel uncomfortable asking lots of questions. It's exactly what we all did when we were diagnosed.
 
Andrew Colvin said:
You may well find that steel cuts oats are more acceptable than rolled oats. The crushing breaks down some of the structure. That is what makes them cook faster but also digest easier as well. I actually like ready brek. Should be very bad but find it doesn't have much effect on me. The only way to know is to test. You have determined what levels you are looking for I presume.
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Haven't got a clue what my levels should be!
 
These numbers are taken from this site:

NICE recommended target blood glucose level ranges
Target Levels
by TypeBefore meals
(pre prandial)2 hours after meals
(post prandial)
Non-diabetic4.0 to 5.9 mmol/Lunder 7.8 mmol/L
Type 2 diabetes4 to 7 mmol/Lunder 8.5 mmol/L
Type 1 diabetes4 to 7 mmol/Lunder 9 mmol/L
Children w/ type 1 diabetes4 to 8 mmol/Lunder 10 mmol/L
NB: There are differing opinions about the ideal blood glucose level range.

As suggested by Brunneria, do "normal" diet testing and see how you go before cutting stuff out. As she rightly says, you may just need to trim down the odd spud, or piece of toast. You should be targeting the non-diabetic levels, although you may have some higher numbers to start with.

You need to test just before you eat, then 2 hours after your first mouthful to establish your pre and post prandial readings. It will vary from meal to meal depending on what you've eaten, drunk, if you're stressed, tired, have exercised and what will feel like a million other factors.

Just take your numbers and keep asking back on here if you need help with interpretation of either the numbers or what to do if you see a horrid score.

One final thing. You will note there are no scores up there under 4. For T1 diabetics and T2s taking certain drugs, going below 4 needs some attention to bring it up again. For most T2s and non-diabetics, seeing a figure under 4, provided we feel fine is absolutely no cause for concern. Lots of non-diabetics would see those figures often, if they tested.

Yet again, lots of info to take on board.
 
Hi, I was told that my HBA1c was
39 and my fasting blood was 6.8 four weeks ago. I have been testing my bloods regularly, chanced my diet and exercised more. I've lost almost 1 stone. My daytime bloods have been normal and my fasting reading for the last week have been less than 5.5 until this morning and it was 6.4, my before bed time reading was 6.2! I've read about the Dawn Phenomenon, and have found if I eat a snack before bed, my morning bloods are normal. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
LizFrog said:
Hi, I was told that my HBA1c was
39 and my fasting blood was 6.8 four weeks ago. I have been testing my bloods regularly, chanced my diet and exercised more. I've lost almost 1 stone. My daytime bloods have been normal and my fasting reading for the last week have been less than 5.5 until this morning and it was 6.4, my before bed time reading was 6.2! I've read about the Dawn Phenomenon, and have found if I eat a snack before bed, my morning bloods are normal. Has anyone else experienced this?
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Yes. There have been quite a few discussions about raised blood glucose in the morning, and I get it myself.

As I understand it, there can be different things that combine to create the dawn phenomenon, from stress hormones to BG dropping during the night, and the liver releasing 'dumping' glucose into the blood to bring the BG back up again.

Lots of people find different answers to reducing the dawn phenomenon (because the answer depends on why it is happening in the first place).

If you want a discussion, with impact and suggestions from lots of people, have a look at this dawn phenomenon thread.

.http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/pesky-dawn-phenomenon.57672/
 
Brunneria said:
Yes. There have been quite a few discussions about raised blood glucose in the morning, and I get it myself.

As I understand it, there can be different things that combine to create the dawn phenomenon, from stress hormones to BG dropping during the night, and the liver releasing 'dumping' glucose into the blood to bring the BG back up again.

Lots of people find different answers to reducing the dawn phenomenon (because the answer depends on why it is happening in the first place).

If you want a discussion, with impact and suggestions from lots of people, have a look at this dawn phenomenon thread.

.http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/pesky-dawn-phenomenon.57672/
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Thank you, I'm new to this and I'll take a look at the link you have given. It so nice to read some real cases on here, my doctor didn't really give me much advice apart from exercising more and cutting out sugar.
 
AndBreathe said:
Being as active as you can certainly helps, but we have a number of members with limited mobility for a range of reasons. You just need to do what you can. Erm,........... Do you carry any excess weight? For many of us trimming up has made a big difference.

Then, it makes sense to have a look at your diet. For most of us, we find that avoiding sugars, and keeping a very close eye on the wider carbohydrates helps immensely. The wider carbohydrates include things like bread, potatoes, pasta and root vegetables. Many of us found that last bit to be a bit of a shocker, but we have mainly bought ourselves blood glucose testing meters (little hand held gizmo that allows us to test regularly) and when we test after we eat some of those things we find our blood sugar levels rise more than is frankly good for us!

For me, the glucose meter has been the most important tool in dealing with thing. It gives me immediate feedback on how I'm doing, and I wouldn't be without it, although after about a year, I now have a pretty decent idea of what I can and can't eat. Most people find this; that after a while they can test less.

In pre-diabetes, it may not be strictly necessary to give up anything, adjusting quantities might be enough.
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Are some if the food things 'fashion In the '80s I was on the Weetabix diet - sponsored of course and monitored by my GP surgery. The big 'no no' in vegetables was peas! - but as much Weetabix as you needed! - and 1 small potato at each meal.
 
SteveBlyton said:
Are some if the food things 'fashion In the '80s I was on the Weetabix diet - sponsored of course and monitored by my GP surgery. The big 'no no' in vegetables was peas! - but as much Weetabix as you needed! - and 1 small potato at each meal.
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It all comes down to what your body does in reaction to each food, and the portion size.

Weetabix is terrible for me - my blood glucose shoots up, then drops like a stone. I never eat it, or any cereal.

Peas are ok for me, so long as I keep to a sensible portion size.

Your meter will tell you all of this when you test, eat, wait 2 hours, and test again.
 
AndBreathe said:
These numbers are taken from this site:

NICE recommended target blood glucose level ranges
Target Levels
by TypeBefore meals
(pre prandial)2 hours after meals
(post prandial)
Non-diabetic4.0 to 5.9 mmol/Lunder 7.8 mmol/L
Type 2 diabetes4 to 7 mmol/Lunder 8.5 mmol/L
Type 1 diabetes4 to 7 mmol/Lunder 9 mmol/L
Children w/ type 1 diabetes4 to 8 mmol/Lunder 10 mmol/L
NB: There are differing opinions about the ideal blood glucose level range.

As suggested by Brunneria, do "normal" diet testing and see how you go before cutting stuff out. As she rightly says, you may just need to trim down the odd spud, or piece of toast. You should be targeting the non-diabetic levels, although you may have some higher numbers to start with.

You need to test just before you eat, then 2 hours after your first mouthful to establish your pre and post prandial readings. It will vary from meal to meal depending on what you've eaten, drunk, if you're stressed, tired, have exercised and what will feel like a million other factors.

Just take your numbers and keep asking back on here if you need help with interpretation of either the numbers or what to do if you see a horrid score.

One final thing. You will note there are no scores up there under 4. For T1 diabetics and T2s taking certain drugs, going below 4 needs some attention to bring it up again. For most T2s and non-diabetics, seeing a figure under 4, provided we feel fine is absolutely no cause for concern. Lots of non-diabetics would see those figures often, if they tested.

Yet again, lots of info to take on board.
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OK. My meter has arrived. How on earth do you use it? Instructions are pretty overwhelming. Scared I'll do something wrong.
 
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