Help I am a bit confused so if anybody can help it would be good.Anyway to cut a long story short I went to my doctor for pre diabetes blood test I checked my blood sugar level before I went it was 6.0 I think is is pre diabetes? I did the test after a shower and I did not eat anything before I had the blood test. Anyway when the blood test came back the HCA 1 level was 51 can not eating, rushing to the doctor and the waiting before the test make the results higher also I am under a lot of stress. I am not displaying any diabetes symptonss. Pleasec help thanks mini24
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Diabete yes or no
- Thread starter Mini24
- Start Date
chalup
Well-Known Member
If you mean the HBA1C then no, nothing you did that morning will affect it. It is a measurement of the average blood sugar for the last 3 months or so and over 48 is diabetic. I will tag @daisy1 who will provide you a welcoming package of information that you should read. Spend some time reading over threads old and new in this forum and please ask any questions that you may have Someone will always be happy to answer. You are just barely in the diabetic range and should be able to get things under control fairly easily just by making a few changes to your diet. The fact that you are not displaying any symptoms is a good thing. Welcom to the forum 
Mep
Well-Known Member
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- Insulin
@Mini24 - welcome
I don't know the levels for UK, but you're over the limit that chalup mentioned so that would mean you'd need to speak with your doc about your treatment.
Also you don't need to have any symptoms to have diabetes. When I was diagnosed it was because I'd gone to the doc with a suspected UTI which they confirmed. I never had any symptoms prior to the UTI... yet my hbA1c result when I was first diagnosed was 8.2% which probably meant I had been a diabetic for a while without knowing.
I wish you the best.
I don't know the levels for UK, but you're over the limit that chalup mentioned so that would mean you'd need to speak with your doc about your treatment.
Also you don't need to have any symptoms to have diabetes. When I was diagnosed it was because I'd gone to the doc with a suspected UTI which they confirmed. I never had any symptoms prior to the UTI... yet my hbA1c result when I was first diagnosed was 8.2% which probably meant I had been a diabetic for a while without knowing.
I wish you the best.
daisy1
Legend
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- Type 2
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- Tablets (oral)
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- Cruelty towards animals.
@Mini24
Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It gives information about blood level ranges and advice about low carb diets with a link to the Low Carb Program. 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 over 150,000 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 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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It gives information about blood level ranges and advice about low carb diets with a link to the Low Carb Program. 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 over 150,000 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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
Prem51
Expert
Hi @Mini24 and welcome to the forum. If your HbA1c result was 51 you are diabetic, But that figure isn't very high and you should be able to lower it before the retest which should be done 3 months after your initial test. A lot of people on here have lowered our HbA1c by adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) approach to eating. Have a read round the threads and ask anything you want.
