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Pre-diabetes and Continuous Glucose Monitoring

J

Johnianna

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi,

My husband had a blood test in March this year and was contacted last week (August 2025) by a pre diabetes advisor to explain his level was 42 over 5 months ago.

The chat with the advisor was helpful but we are concerned that the result is 5 months old.

Would the forum recommend a CGM, so that we understand his current level and then gain an understanding of how food, drink and a revised diet impact him over the next 3 months?

We would really appreciate hearing from the forum community.

It is something we are seriously committing to doing but thought it wise to ask for input here and also recommendations for CGMs.

Many thanks in advance for your feedback
 
Hi and welcome to the forum @Johnianna . A 5 month delay , that's not good. At least your husband has now been contacted. D2 members generally use a glucometer (finger prick device) to test their blood sugars. The best way yo get the most out of one is to test just before a meal and then two hours after. If the post mean result is less than 2 mmol/Ls than the first reading your body has coped well with the meal.
If not then one can make adjustments to your meal. Using glucometer s in a systematic way you do get the best out if them
As for a CGM I use both a finger prick device and a CGM. The CGM in my view gives you far more information. You can see what your blood sugars are doing at any given time. The negatives , you can become obsessive with the readings. I know I did, but now I just glance. They are expensive, but very useful, even if you only use them a couple of times. They can help you to figure out what foods raise blood sugars and what foods don't. They show you patterns and trends. They are definitely a nice to have device, but once you have figured out your foods , you don't need them or you can use one from time to time.
 
Melgar said:
Hi and welcome to the forum @Johnianna . A 5 month delay , that's not good. At least your husband has now been contacted. D2 members generally use a glucometer (finger prick device) to test their blood sugars. The best way yo get the most out of one is to test just before a meal and then two hours after. If the post mean result is less than 2 mmol/Ls than the first reading your body has coped well with the meal.
If not then one can make adjustments to your meal. Using glucometer s in a systematic way you do get the best out if them
As for a CGM I use both a finger prick device and a CGM. The CGM in my view gives you far more information. You can see what your blood sugars are doing at any given time. The negatives , you can become obsessive with the readings. I know I did, but now I just glance. They are expensive, but very useful, even if you only use them a couple of times. They can help you to figure out what foods raise blood sugars and what foods don't. They show you patterns and trends. They are definitely a nice to have device, but once you have figured out your foods , you don't need them or you can use one from time to time.
Click to expand...
@Melgar -Thank you for the welcome and the information. really useful and very much appreciated.

Can I ask which CGM you use and if you have a view on its merits / limitations.
Thanks again @Johnianna
 
Johnianna said:
@Melgar -Thank you for the welcome and the information. really useful and very much appreciated.

Can I ask which CGM you use and if you have a view on its merits / limitations.
Thanks again @Johnianna
Click to expand...
I use a Freestyle Libre 2 @Johnianna . I live in Canada so the Libre 2 is actually the Libra 2+ in the UK.
 
Testing has great benefits in fighting against pre diabetes.
A CGM is perhaps the most convenient method of testing .
But you should plan for using one. By this I mean formulate a list of foods you want to test and use this information to base your diet on.
I used a CGM in the summer of . I had two sensors that offered [emoji[emoji6]] days cover. This was enough to eliminate certain foods to my diet and also to include others .
I still use a CGM every few months just to see I’m on track and it feels like a treat
 
I personally use CGM by Dexcom One and find it extremely useful. It gives you direct and continuous information about your glucose level, which is impossible with other methods. Many people say that CGM is the greatest invention helping diabetes since the discovery of an insulin, and I tend to agree. For someone with pre-diabetes, it is perhaps the best investment in your health you can make. It will show you that only food but also your habits (e.g. excercise) can have profound effects on glucose levels. In many cases, CGM changes people's lifestyle and provide great motivation to leave healthy life each day, and hour.

Sent from my SM-G986B using Diabetes Forum mobile app
 
Johnianna said:
Hi,

My husband had a blood test in March this year and was contacted last week (August 2025) by a pre diabetes advisor to explain his level was 42 over 5 months ago.

The chat with the advisor was helpful but we are concerned that the result is 5 months old.

Would the forum recommend a CGM, so that we understand his current level and then gain an understanding of how food, drink and a revised diet impact him over the next 3 months?

We would really appreciate hearing from the forum community.

It is something we are seriously committing to doing but thought it wise to ask for input here and also recommendations for CGMs.

Many thanks in advance for your feedback
Click to expand...
Hi I’m type two and found CGM helped me enormously when trying to workout what foods affected me. I found that eating bread is now a no no, but potatoes don’t affect me that much. It was interesting to see on a graph how each food affected me allowing me to change my eating patterns quite quickly.
A quick tip from my diabetic nurse is to never eat carbs without protein.
 
I must say @Cecs I've not heard " you shouldn't eat carbs with protein" before.
 
@Johnianna If you want long term control then a meter is far more use - you can check your response to a meal a month after the first trial and see if you are seeing progress, then another month on as well.
I was fully type 2 diabetic at diagnosis, but never thought of getting a CGM as it is so short term and I'm in this for the foreseeable future.
 
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