Blood tests for prediabetic newbie

[Lorianna]

Hi, everyone!
I'm new here, happy to find such a supportive community!
I wanted to ask you for an advice. I've not been well for about a year, going through a lot of stress. My GP doesn't know what's going on, no bladder infection, everything is ok in his perspective and all he is advising me are antidepressants and drink less water as my symptoms are, as you have probably already guessed, constant thirst, often urination, lack of energy, blurred vision, constant hunger and feeling faint if I'm out of food for less than an hour. I found a video from Dr. Berg on YouTube and realised I could be developing diabetes type 2. My GP did blood test and said it is normal and he can't help me. I went private with AXA doctors and got the same reply: of your bloods are ok for sugar then we can't help you and refer you anywhere. Meanwhile I started keto diet which helped me for few months until I got bad flu and got the symptoms back.

Could you please advise me which blood test can be useful for me and where can I get them done?
I was looking for the HOMA insulin resistance test as my friend advised me (GP says he can give any advice as he doesn't know much about prediabetes) but I can't find where to do it in UK.

I've called medichecks asking if they do homa IR, they said they don't.

I will be extremely grateful for any advice on blood tests, diet etc.

Thank you very much

 

[Lamont D]

Have you a glucometer?

Hi, everyone!
I'm new here, happy to find such a supportive community!
I wanted to ask you for an advice. I've not been well for about a year, going through a lot of stress. My GP doesn't know what's going on, no bladder infection, everything is ok in his perspective and all he is advising me are antidepressants and drink less water as my symptoms are, as you have probably already guessed, constant thirst, often urination, lack of energy, blurred vision, constant hunger and feeling faint if I'm out of food for less than an hour. I found a video from Dr. Berg on YouTube and realised I could be developing diabetes type 2. My GP did blood test and said it is normal and he can't help me. I went private with AXA doctors and got the same reply: of your bloods are ok for sugar then we can't help you and refer you anywhere. Meanwhile I started keto diet which helped me for few months until I got bad flu and got the symptoms back.

Could you please advise me which blood test can be useful for me and where can I get them done?
I was looking for the HOMA insulin resistance test as my friend advised me (GP says he can give any advice as he doesn't know much about prediabetes) but I can't find where to do it in UK.

I've called medichecks asking if they do homa IR, they said they don't.

I will be extremely grateful for any advice on blood tests, diet etc.

Thank you very much

The reason I ask, is before you pay out a lot of money on blood tests etc.
A month of testing around your meals could give you some answers as to why the symptoms.
A food diary to use to record the results.

It was interesting that you said a keto diet helped.
It helps me as well.

I will tag @Rachox to give you the best glucometer options.

Best wishes

 

[Rachox]

Hi @Lorianna heres the info @Lamont D refers to:

Here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[Lorianna]

Have you a glucometer?

The reason I ask, is before you pay out a lot of money on blood tests etc.
A month of testing around your meals could give you some answers as to why the symptoms.
A food diary to use to record the results.

It was interesting that you said a keto diet helped.
It helps me as well.

I will tag @Rachox to give you the best glucometer options.

Best wishes

Hi, Lamont D, thank you for your reply I don't have a glucometer, I thought if my GP said that the sugar level was ok then it will be pointless for me to measure it ( So thank you very much for the advice! I will wait for the options and get one. What should I look for? I presume I need to do a test first thing in the morning, after breakfast, before lunch and after etc. am I right? Do I need to separate products into one type of food per eating so I can put down the reaction of sugar into a good diary?
What can I do with my observations? Can it be enough information for my GP to help me?
I'm sorry if my message looks a bit of a rambling - English isn't my first language and as well I don't know where to start and which questions to ask, I spent hours, days and months Googling information and still don't understand anything about what's going on with me. So I am very very grateful for all the advice and support!

Did Keto help you straight away? Does it still help you? I hope it does.
I started Keto as I didn't see any other way to help myself and it sounded quite reasonable. But for Dr. Berg's video on symptoms of diabetes I would never know something is wrong with my diet.
The first two months were brilliant!! I was full of energy, all the symptoms were gone! Then I got bad flu, I kept eating keto food but I was constantly unwell with cold and flu for a few months, still not very well. Booked an appointment with my GP to check the vitamins levels. What's your experience with Keto?

 

[Lorianna]

Hi, Rachox!

Thank you very much!
I'll have a look and definitely get one.
Could you please advise me on how many stripes per day do people usually need?

Sometimes I can send a message here or quote a member, sorry(

 

[Antje77]

My GP did blood test and said it is normal and he can't help me. I went private with AXA doctors and got the same reply: of your bloods are ok for sugar

Did you have an hba1c test?
If so, ask for the actual result, 'normal' and 'ok' don't tell you much.

 

[Rachox]

Hi, Rachox!

Thank you very much!
I'll have a look and definitely get one.
Could you please advise me on how many stripes per day do people usually need?

Sometimes I can send a message here or quote a member, sorry(

When I started out I tested as soon as I woke up then before and 2 hours after each meal so quite a lot of tests to get a baseline, so initially used quite a lot of strips, but once I tested how I reacted to certain meals I would only test new meals.

 

[Lamont D]

Did you have an hba1c test?
If so, ask for the actual result, 'normal' and 'ok' don't tell you much.

This is why I replied.
Having the symptoms of hyperglycaemia,
Normal hba1c,
Doing better on low carb.

That is why I suggested testing around meals. Just in case, the doctors missed non diabetic conditions.

 

[Antje77]

This is why I replied.
Having the symptoms of hyperglycaemia,
Normal hba1c,
Doing better on low carb.

That is why I suggested testing around meals. Just in case, the doctors missed non diabetic conditions.

I fully agree.
But some doctors tell you hba1c is normal as long as it's under 48, ignoring prediabetic levels which can be relevant. Hence me always wanting to know the actual numbers for any blood test I get.

 

[Lorianna]

Did you have an hba1c test?
If so, ask for the actual result, 'normal' and 'ok' don't tell you much.

I'll find out tomorrow, there should be records. Thank you for your help

 

[Lorianna]

When I started out I tested as soon as I woke up then before and 2 hours after each meal so quite a lot of tests to get a baseline, so initially used quite a lot of strips, but once I tested how I reacted to certain meals I would only test new meals.

Thank you very much, this is very informative and I can see approximately how many strips I might need in a month)

 

[KennyA]

Hi and welcome - just to be aware that there's nothing particularly magical about the "48 mmol/mol" figure from the HbA1c test. Health systems will automatically diagnose T2 if blood glucose reaches that level.

However, it doesn't mean that people won't have diabetic symptoms at blood glucose values beneath that level. I had quite bad diabetic symptoms for about ten years prior to diagnosis but was firmly told I wasn't diabetic (as, at 43, my blood glucose wasn't high enough). Keto/low carb eventually sorted that out, but I would have preferred not to have had the symptoms in the first place.

 

[Lorianna]

Hi and welcome - just to be aware that there's nothing particularly magical about the "48 mmol/mol" figure from the HbA1c test. Health systems will automatically diagnose T2 if blood glucose reaches that level.

However, it doesn't mean that people won't have diabetic symptoms at blood glucose values beneath that level. I had quite bad diabetic symptoms for about ten years prior to diagnosis but was firmly told I wasn't diabetic (as, at 43, my blood glucose wasn't high enough). Keto/low carb eventually sorted that out, but I would have preferred not to have had the symptoms in the first place.

Hi, KennyA! Thank you for your reply I can relate to getting not much help from doctors, I'm very sorry to here you had to feel like that for 10!! years(
Do you have to be on keto/low carb diet all the while? Does it always work for you? I'm asking because keto helped me for a few months but now I can't get back to the same result(
Did you have any vitamin deficiency on keto/low carb? If yes, how do you deal with it? Thank you for your help

 

[KennyA]

Hi, KennyA! Thank you for your reply I can relate to getting not much help from doctors, I'm very sorry to here you had to feel like that for 10!! years(
Do you have to be on keto/low carb diet all the while? Does it always work for you? I'm asking because keto helped me for a few months but now I can't get back to the same result(
Did you have any vitamin deficiency on keto/low carb? If yes, how do you deal with it? Thank you for your help

Hi

I have been in ketosis for most of the last four years, and this morning (just tested) am somewhere between 1.5 and 4 mmol/l ketones according to the (not all that accurate) weestix.

Keto (at around 20g/day) put me at low normal blood glucose (36) within four months. In the last four years I've lost about 30kgs. Weightloss has slowed because I'm building a bit more muscle but still losing bodyfat. I like the lifestyle and enjoy my food and not being hungry. I did notice that my weightloss tends not to be gradual - I'd lose maybe 5kg in one six month period, next to nothing the following six months, and 5kg the six months after - without changing anything.

So yes, it "works" for me.

Some people do report that getting back into ketosis is harder the second or third time. I've never found that and I can move back into ketosis in two or three days.

I've not been aware of any indications of vitamin deficiency - I use fresh food and cook everything myself. I take Vit D every day but I was doing that long before keto.