Newly diagnosed with Prediabetes and totally lost!

Tracy27

Member
Messages
16
Hi,

My name is Tracy, im 54 and newly diagnosed this week with prediabetes. I change my doctor and they did a health check as well as my yearly liver and kidney function blood tests to do with my epilepsy. My blood pressure and cholestrol are pretty much perfect she said but the ha1c was 47 then I was given the diagnosis and pointed to Diabetes.co.uk. Told to cut my sugar down and that was pretty much it. I have to go back for another HA1c test in 3 months. Ive been eating chicken and salad, live yogurt, porridge and cheese for the last two days as i was told these were safe foods. Ive dropped 2lbs, i have a problem with food and find it hard to try new things so im a bit lost and I have no idea of who to turn to. Having epilepsy and eating so little over the last couple of days, i feel so unwell. I just need to know what i should and shouldnt be eating and if i should be checking my blood sugar levels, would it help? I feel so scared, depressed and unwell i dont know where to turn. Really hope that i dont sound like im looking for sympathy i just need to know where i go from here.

Tracy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jo123

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome Tracy
Take a deep breath and relax you are now amongst people who get exactly where you are coming from.
I'll tag @daisy1 for the intro to our odd way of dealing with Type 2 and pre-diabetes.
Its a shock that we have all had... so read daisy's piece and have a dig around the forum especially this section
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/
and see if we can inspire you ...
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome to the forum,

Most of us felt as you do when we were diagnosed, but thankfully you were directed to this website, which is the best place to be for help, advice, and support.

Please, do not starve yourself! You can eat any meat and fish as long as they aren't coated with anything, as much dairy as you want (butter, cheese, cream, full fat yogurts), eggs by the lorry load, bacon, high meat content sausages, salads, peppers, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, avocado, green leafy veggies such as cauliflower, broccoli and so on and lots of lovely things. The foods that will cause you problems are bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals (including porridge), and fruit apart from a few berries.

A wonderful website to help you is dietdoctor.com This page from that website has lists of foods.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodlist

Basically, eat real foods, not highly processed rubbish such as many ready meals. Cooking from scratch is the best way to go.

Yes, you do need to check your blood sugars. You need to buy a meter. With this you can test before and after meals to see how you have reacted, and doing this alongside a detailed food diary will guide you in your choices. When you get a meter we can help you on how best to use it.

Have a good read round the forums, and ask as many questions as you like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Prem51

Expert
Messages
7,393
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
*
Welcome to the forum @Tracy27. At least you found out before you became fully diabetic, which begins at 48. You have the opportunity to avoid becoming fully diabetic.
Well done to your new gp for pointing you to this forum. Many of us on here have found that adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (lchf) approach to eating has lowered our blood glucose levels. Basically you need to avoid or limit sugary and starchy carbohydrate foods like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice, and eat more 'healthy fats' like full fat dairy products, oily fish, olive oil, avocados and nuts. Meat and eggs are good too.

Edit: Porridge and other cereals are high carb. Some people find it doesn't raise their blood glucose, but others find it spikes them. I used to eat it until I tested and found that it raised my bg to 10.4, the highest reading I've had.
It's a good idea to get a Blood Glucose meter so you can self test before eating, and two hours later, to find out which foods affect you most.
 
Last edited:

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi,

My name is Tracy, im 54 and newly diagnosed this week with prediabetes. I change my doctor and they did a health check as well as my yearly liver and kidney function blood tests to do with my epilepsy. My blood pressure and cholestrol are pretty much perfect she said but the ha1c was 47 then I was given the diagnosis and pointed to Diabetes.co.uk. Told to cut my sugar down and that was pretty much it. I have to go back for another HA1c test in 3 months. Ive been eating chicken and salad, live yogurt, porridge and cheese for the last two days as i was told these were safe foods. Ive dropped 2lbs, i have a problem with food and find it hard to try new things so im a bit lost and I have no idea of who to turn to. Having epilepsy and eating so little over the last couple of days, i feel so unwell. I just need to know what i should and shouldnt be eating and if i should be checking my blood sugar levels, would it help? I feel so scared, depressed and unwell i dont know where to turn. Really hope that i dont sound like im looking for sympathy i just need to know where i go from here.

Tracy.


Hey Tracy, and welcome,

By the time I'm done typing, I'm sure someone els will have tagged @daisy1 for her info pack, but that's a good place to start. She'll be along soon, if she hasn't responded already. Another one is this: you'll be okay. I desperately wanted to know if I would be, and no-one could tell me. I got a lot of static on that point, and I was a full-fledged diabetic at the time, in an equally full-fledged panic. Your numbers aren't ideal, but you'll soon be back in the non-diabetic range. Breathe, you'll be fine! It can be done, and through diet only, if you choose to go that route. The perks of tackling through diet: diabetes is a progressive disease if only treated with medication. Diet is the more powerful method that can put T2 into remission, or stave it off in prediabetics. You're at the upper end of prediabetic, but as you seem rather motivated, and I do believe your next HbA1c can be firmly in the non-diabetic range. I'm not a doctor though, but I'm just trying to give you something I didn't have when i started out: some hope. And a bit of empowerment. You can do this.

So, foods. As a prediabetic you're unable to process carbs effectively. All carbs, not just sugar, are turned into glucose once ingested, so the fewer carbs you eat, the better your bloodglucose will be. So yes, I do advise getting a meter. NHS won't fund one, sadly, but it is rather invaluable when trying to figure out how certain foods affect you. (To make things easy: Check before you have a meal, and 2 hours after first bite. If your reading didn't go up more than 2 mmol/l, that meal was perfect for you and can be safely repeated!). So, what to avoid? Anything starchy, sugary... So that includes bread, potatoes, cereal (sorry, porridge too...), rice, pasta, corn and all fruits save for berries, in moderation. More importantly, what can you eat without getting too big a rise in bloodsugars? Eggs, cheese, butter, double cream, full fat greek yoghurt, leafy greens/above ground veggies (save for most beans), avocado, meat, fish, olives, extra dark chocolate and nuts. That doesn't seem like a whole lot, but meals could look like this: Eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms and/or a few cherry tomatoes. Believe me, after 3 eggs, you're full. Or you could go for a handful of berries with walnuts in cream or full fat yoghurt. Or just have a coffee, if you don't like eating in the a.m.. Lunch could be a salad of leafy greens, a can of tuna, mayo, capers, olives and cubed avocado. (I never can figure out when they're ripe, so I get them from the frozen food section. I'm not ashamed of cheating!). Dinner could be meat or fish with cauliflower rice, which is rediculously versatile. Broccoli too. I usually toss some cheese and bacon in there was well.

The porridge you've been having isn't doing you any favors, as that's carb heavy.... And I don't know exactly what live yoghurt means (I'm dutch, don't know the term), but some yoghurts have sugars added or a lot of lactose (milksugars), so do check the packaging to see how many carbs are in there. Keep in mind it is ALL carbs, not just "of which sugars" which you're looking for, because as I said, all carbs are turned into glucose once ingested. The chicken, salad and cheese are perfect, but you're going to need a little more food and variation to keep going.

If you go the diet route, keep in mind that this is for the long haul. If you start eating carbs again, your HbA1c will most likely rise. We're genetically predisposed that way, so keep that in mind. What is also important: Find things that are both low carb, and you LIKE to eat. If you don't enjoy your meals, a diet can feel like a prison, and no-one can last long voluntarily imprisoned. When I just started out it seemed like all food was poison and I was afraid to have a bite. You can eat. Better yet, you can eat a massive plate full if you so choose. Just make sure there's very few carbs in there, and Bob's your uncle. Diets work a lot better if you're not hungry all the time and you're enjoying what's in front of you.

You can do this. You'll be fine.
Good luck,
Jo
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Tracy27

Member
Messages
16
Im so grateful for all your info, felt so low all week and not being at work this morning everything came crashing in. Also hard when you dont have anyone to talk to!! Thank you so much.
I feel like a blood sugar monitor will help me not to panic so much with my eating but i cant afford an expensive one and their are so many on Amazon i dont know where to start. Any pointers would be lovely. Thank you all for taking the time out to help.
Dont feel quite so overwhelmed now.
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Im so grateful for all your info, felt so low all week and not being at work this morning everything came crashing in. Also hard when you dont have anyone to talk to!! Thank you so much.
I feel like a blood sugar monitor will help me not to panic so much with my eating but i cant afford an expensive one and their are so many on Amazon i dont know where to start. Any pointers would be lovely. Thank you all for taking the time out to help.
Dont feel quite so overwhelmed now.
I use the SD Codefree from here
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

Heres how to get it and the strip with the discounts. You will want the one that reads in mmol/l (trust me)

The cost of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets.

For the SD Codefree, the strips are £7.69 for a pack of 50 and there are discount codes available for bulk purchases:

5 packs x 50 use code: 264086 .. cost is £29.49

10 packs x 50 use code: 975833 .. cost is £58.98


Make sure that you tick the appropriate box on the on-line order form and you won't pay VAT on your meter or strips. For the bulk discount on strips for the SD Codefree, you need to complete the order (check the boxes to confirm that you are diabetic and the number of packs that you want). Then click on view basket and on the left hand side of the window you will see two boxes .. Coupon Code and Apply Coupon. Enter the relevant discount code in the first box and then click the Apply Coupon box. This applies the discount and adjusts the price .. and finally, you then proceed to checkout.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello Tracy
I'm glad that you are feeling a bit less panicked now, and just thought that I would add to the advice - when looking at packets of food you can't judge by the traffic light system, as that indicates sugars but not the starches, so you need to find out the full information from the nutritional information, usually far less obvious on the side or back of the pack.
Many prepared dishes are laden with carbs to bulk them up and they work out far more expensive than the basic main ingredient. There is a misconception that eating a low carb diet is expensive - which it could be if you go for steak and salmon and chicken breast fillets every day. More ordinary fare, chicken thighs, tuna etc are far less expensive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Yes, the Codefree is used by many people on this forum that have to self fund. It isn't the meters that cost (some are free) it is the testing strips you have to watch the prices on. They vary so much, even up to £30 for 50, and you need a lot of strips. 50 don't last too long. Even so, your health is too important not to have a meter.
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Im so grateful for all your info, felt so low all week and not being at work this morning everything came crashing in. Also hard when you dont have anyone to talk to!! Thank you so much.
I feel like a blood sugar monitor will help me not to panic so much with my eating but i cant afford an expensive one and their are so many on Amazon i dont know where to start. Any pointers would be lovely. Thank you all for taking the time out to help.
Dont feel quite so overwhelmed now.
I spent 1000 euro's on test strips my first year. (I have four Bayer Contour TS's. With a bunch of purses i don't want to be caught out without one. But they go with expensive strips, alas). But really, once you know which foods are okay, it's just convenient to have in restaurants or when you're ill, to keep an eye on things. For me, a lot of changes went on that year with other issues that indirectly impacted my bloodsugars, so it doesn't have to get that out of hand for you...! It is a bit of an investment at first, but after a while usage tapers off as you get better in guesstimating carbs. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Glennis67

Active Member
Messages
34
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi,

My name is Tracy, im 54 and newly diagnosed this week with prediabetes. I change my doctor and they did a health check as well as my yearly liver and kidney function blood tests to do with my epilepsy. My blood pressure and cholestrol are pretty much perfect she said but the ha1c was 47 then I was given the diagnosis and pointed to Diabetes.co.uk. Told to cut my sugar down and that was pretty much it. I have to go back for another HA1c test in 3 months. Ive been eating chicken and salad, live yogurt, porridge and cheese for the last two days as i was told these were safe foods. Ive dropped 2lbs, i have a problem with food and find it hard to try new things so im a bit lost and I have no idea of who to turn to. Having epilepsy and eating so little over the last couple of days, i feel so unwell. I just need to know what i should and shouldnt be eating and if i should be checking my blood sugar levels, would it help? I feel so scared, depressed and unwell i dont know where to turn. Really hope that i dont sound like im looking for sympathy i just need to know where i go from here.

Tracy.

Hi Tracey

I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic at the end of May so I’ve had my three month HbA1c test. I don’t test my blood - call me a chicken, but my reasoning is that I’m saving my fingers for when I need it!

Anyway, I started a “controlled carb” diet at the beginning of June and my blood glucose went down from 48 to 40.

Basically when you have a meal concentrate on the veggies, then the meat. Don’t eat processed stuff, it’s packed with sugar and carbs.

I keep a food diary and add up the carb values by checking the nutritional info on packets and by googling. I aim at between 60g to 90g per day.

Keep following this site - there is so much support in here.

We’re all different but this works for me. Think of it as a science experiment - sugar and carbs should be limited, but veggies, eggs and meat are my friend!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

SlimLizzy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,212
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
football, both the game and the culture.
hi Tracy,
you sound just like me a few weeks ago - in a total panic. You will find lot of information and suport on here. Remember knowledge is power, as your understanding of diabetes grows you will also learn how to manage it. Dont forget to exercise more as this helps to lower your levels. Good luck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi and welcome. Yes keep the carbs down and I understand this diet can also help some with epilepsy. As other have said be careful with porridge. Everyone believes it's a wonder cereal but it is still a carb despite other benefits. It's best to have it 'raw' with cold milk as in muesli rather than stewed as in porridge to avoid the breakdown of the oat cells releasing sugars. There are many foods you can eat but just look at the ingredients on the back of the pack not the rubbish EU labelling info on the front.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prem51

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Tracy27

Hello Tracy and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able 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 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.