Hi I’m new but have been reading everything for weeks.
I am 51 and have suspected I was at least pre-diabetic for over a year, mainly due to family history, being overweight and the symptoms of dry mouth and tiredness. I was just burying my head in the sand, I know it’s not good, but ridiculously I just didn’t want to stop eating sugar and all the carbs I love. Anyway, after my uncle died of Covid in April (he was diabetic), it took a while but I realised I needed to do something, but having tried to see my doctor about something unrelated and it taking weeks of arguing and pushing I just couldn’t face it and so I decided to just buy myself a glucometer and measure my BG myself so at least when I saw the dr I would be armed with data.
I quickly realised I had pre-diabetic levels. Anything between 5.6 mmol and 6.4 FBG then relatively normal before meals (4.9-5.4) but spiking after meals (containing carbs) my highest level was 9.2mmol one evening two hours after a takeaway. Generally it didn’t go over 7, with a handful in the 7’s over a two week period. I then started eating low carb (mild ketosis) I have lost 2 stones in weight which is great, with more to go. After nearly three months my blood sugar readings are pretty good. I only had a few 7’s in all that time, generally I’m mid 6’s 1 hr after eating and 5.6-6.1 2 hrs after eating. Before bed I am always back down to between 5.1 and 5.4. My concern is that I go to bed at say 5.1 and wake up with 6.2, I have tried to take my reading before I get up and that is typically around 5.0, but as soon as I’m upright (literally 10 minutes later) it will be over 6.0 again. I know this is probably dawn phenomenon, but my question is, does this matter? As long as my waking BG is less than 5.4 is that ok? If it was measured at the dr’s it would be in the mid 6’s by the time I was at the surgery.
I have also noticed that if I walk the dogs early my BG rises and is in the mid-6’s all morning, only going back down by lunchtime. So, getting up and exercising raises my blood glucose? Generally I don’t eat until it’s back down to 5. I’m quite comfortable doing 16/8 intermittent fasting so don’t need to eat in the morning but I’m wondering if I should? Would a boiled egg make a difference? Does it matter? We’re obviously not talking huge spikes here. I also think that my average numbers are very slowly dropping over time so I expect that to carry on while I’m still losing weight. We’ll see. The morning numbers are stubbornly high though.
I have not had an HbA1c, my meter shows an estimated 5.1% but I realise I can’t rely on its accuracy at all. I’m planning to go to the dr in the New Year, but I’m guessing with my readings I’ll be sent away and told to just carry on. I don’t want to worry if I don’t need to.
my biggest concern is not now, or even for the next 6 months it’s that I will follow my normal pattern which is to stick to an eating pattern for up to a year and then just stop and then before I know it, I feel rubbish again. How do people stay on this long term? I must admit having a glucometer watching over me does help a lot. I would dearly like to be able to do this. I’m just hoping that because my blood will give me away I won’t be able to regress. I just have to do this for life.
I am 51 and have suspected I was at least pre-diabetic for over a year, mainly due to family history, being overweight and the symptoms of dry mouth and tiredness. I was just burying my head in the sand, I know it’s not good, but ridiculously I just didn’t want to stop eating sugar and all the carbs I love. Anyway, after my uncle died of Covid in April (he was diabetic), it took a while but I realised I needed to do something, but having tried to see my doctor about something unrelated and it taking weeks of arguing and pushing I just couldn’t face it and so I decided to just buy myself a glucometer and measure my BG myself so at least when I saw the dr I would be armed with data.
I quickly realised I had pre-diabetic levels. Anything between 5.6 mmol and 6.4 FBG then relatively normal before meals (4.9-5.4) but spiking after meals (containing carbs) my highest level was 9.2mmol one evening two hours after a takeaway. Generally it didn’t go over 7, with a handful in the 7’s over a two week period. I then started eating low carb (mild ketosis) I have lost 2 stones in weight which is great, with more to go. After nearly three months my blood sugar readings are pretty good. I only had a few 7’s in all that time, generally I’m mid 6’s 1 hr after eating and 5.6-6.1 2 hrs after eating. Before bed I am always back down to between 5.1 and 5.4. My concern is that I go to bed at say 5.1 and wake up with 6.2, I have tried to take my reading before I get up and that is typically around 5.0, but as soon as I’m upright (literally 10 minutes later) it will be over 6.0 again. I know this is probably dawn phenomenon, but my question is, does this matter? As long as my waking BG is less than 5.4 is that ok? If it was measured at the dr’s it would be in the mid 6’s by the time I was at the surgery.
I have also noticed that if I walk the dogs early my BG rises and is in the mid-6’s all morning, only going back down by lunchtime. So, getting up and exercising raises my blood glucose? Generally I don’t eat until it’s back down to 5. I’m quite comfortable doing 16/8 intermittent fasting so don’t need to eat in the morning but I’m wondering if I should? Would a boiled egg make a difference? Does it matter? We’re obviously not talking huge spikes here. I also think that my average numbers are very slowly dropping over time so I expect that to carry on while I’m still losing weight. We’ll see. The morning numbers are stubbornly high though.
I have not had an HbA1c, my meter shows an estimated 5.1% but I realise I can’t rely on its accuracy at all. I’m planning to go to the dr in the New Year, but I’m guessing with my readings I’ll be sent away and told to just carry on. I don’t want to worry if I don’t need to.
my biggest concern is not now, or even for the next 6 months it’s that I will follow my normal pattern which is to stick to an eating pattern for up to a year and then just stop and then before I know it, I feel rubbish again. How do people stay on this long term? I must admit having a glucometer watching over me does help a lot. I would dearly like to be able to do this. I’m just hoping that because my blood will give me away I won’t be able to regress. I just have to do this for life.