Constructive support......

I think you will find that most pre-diabetics on the forum treat themselves as a diabetic and eat accordingly. Some are able to keep a diagnosis at bay.

@daisy1 has some basic information that you will find useful. I have tagged her to reply and I am sure that other pre-diabetcs will recount their experiences.

Hi and welcome. Do get hold of a glucose meter for your husband so you can check his blood sugar levels. Your husband needs to have a low carb diet and don't worry about proteins or fats. Exercise is always good. I'm afraid there aren't really any supplements that have been shown to help diabetes. Hopefully your husbands blood sugar number will not be above 20 and will come down from where it is currently with a low-carb diet and the Metformin. Having a good BMI always helps. The target is to stay below a reading of around 10 and preferably 8.5 most of the time when measured 2 hours after a meal. BTW don't follow any NHS advice to have starchy carbs with every meal

Gorseinonboy said:

Hi Daibel and thanks for your advice. It's my wife by the way who is bordering on diabetes......I'm fine............what is Metformin?

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Hi and welcome , to tag Daibell try this @Daibell , by putting the @ symbol in front of someone's name will alert them to your post ..and question ..

Metformin is a drug taken to help lower blood glucose levels ... And other things .. Trying googling the drug ... For more information ... My answer is only the simple response ...
There are many diabetics who take this medication ...
Best wishes .. Kat

Hello and welcome.
You will get plenty of advice here,lots to read.
All the best to you and your wife.

Hi. Apologies for not reading your post correctly! Yes, Metformin is a very common diabetes tablet. It's of most use for those who have excess weight. It's not a miracle cure but does help. I gather it started life in France as a diet pill derived from a plant. If your wife does have excess weight then a low-carb diet will help and if the GP offers Metformin do take it as it's very safe with very few side effects. The Slow Release (SR) version does avoid bowel problems for those who experience that with it.

@Gorseinonboy

Hello and welcome to the forum If you read this basic information below, it will help you to help your wife to keep her levels down thus staving off full diabetes if possible. It is important for her to reduce the carbohydrates in her diet. Some good replies from members so far and there will be more coming soon. Ask more questions 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 over 140,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

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 bloodglucose 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.

Gorseinonboy said:

Thanks Daibel. My wife is very slim so no problems of excess weight. I appreciate your explanation for the drug. We'll look out for that one. Cheers. I'm sure I'll be asking several questions as the weeks go on.....

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HIi again. Be aware that sometimes when someone is diagnosed with diabetes but is very slim (I was) then it may be Late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2. The treatment paths can be similar but LADA is progressive and at widely varying rates. I don't want to worry you but insulin is more likely at the end point of LADA (which I'm now on). The tablets for LADA are different. Do come back if you need more advice if the diabetes progresses. The low-carb diet is always relevant.