Diagnosed with prediabetes

have you been given an appointment with the diabetic nurse?
if not then ask to see her/him as that would be the first point of call
any questions, then just ask
i havn,t read any books but i found posting here has helped alot

Probably best not to try to understand it all in one day. Read as much as you can on this forum and come back with questions. There are books available but you won't know which ones you want until you find out a bit more.

Hello and welcome,

It is a lot to take in, so baby steps until you get your head round it.

This may seem daft to you and not what you want to hear, but you are lucky. You have been caught early and if you put a little effort into it by amending your diet and adding a little exercise, plus losing weight if you need to, then you can control it and maybe never even cross the line to being a full blown diabetic.

Do you know what your blood test results were? If not, I suggest you ring the surgery and ask, and also ask for a print out. You are entitled to this, and without all this information you haven't a clue where you are starting from.

marrahb said:

Thank you. I guess I am very lucky and that is why I would like to do everything to stop me from becoming diabetic. I am not sure about reading my dr not at surgery for next week so will phone and ask to make sure.

Click to expand...

As your doctor has seen the results and given you a diagnosis, the surgery receptionist may well tell you over the phone. Mine does. When you ask, also ask what type of test it was, a fasting glucose or an HbA1c, or both.

Hi and welcome!

Take a day or so to wander the forum and get your head round it.
Then come back and ask anything you like.

There's quite a fair bit on this thread here you might find useful: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/prediabetes-diagnosis.65460/. The original poster is just a few days ahead of you in her diagnosis.

Don't be scared. I remember how confusing diabetes was at first. I was worried every time I put food in my mouth that I was going to kill myself. Silly, I know.

My first suggestion is that you buy a blood glucose meter. Because you're only pre-diabetic, your doctor may tell you that you don't need to test your blood sugar at home. Your doctor may also say that you should test, but only once a week or once a month. For your own sake, ignore that advice. A dietitian can recommend a diet, a doctor can recommend a diet, and I can recommend a diet, but the only way you'll ever know if the diet works is if you test your blood sugar after meals. Ideally, you'll stay under 140 mg/dL the entire time after eating. The closer you are to 100 mg/dL by 2 hours, the better - this most closely mimics a non-diabetic's blood sugar. You won't always have to test so much. Eventually you'll get a better sense of how certain foods affect you. Most of your tests will be when you're experimenting with new food, checking in or monitoring your blood sugar when ill.

My second suggestion is reduce your intake of carbohydrates. That would include the nutella, but also the brown bread. Carbohydrates, more than protein and fat, have the biggest impact on blood sugar. Many diabetics also find that they are the least carbohydrate tolerant in the morning, so if you were to eat bread, you may get better blood sugar results by eating a slice for lunch or dinner. You don't have to remove grains, potatoes, rice, corn, beans or sugar from your diet necessarily, but you do need to limit your portions, balance with more protein and fat, and test your blood sugar after eating them. For example, I have found that grains raise my blood sugar much more than I would like, so I don't eat any. My diet is mainly meat, cheese, eggs, non-starchy vegetables with nuts and seeds occasionally.

For breakfast, again, it depends on what your blood sugar after eating is, but many diabetics see great results keeping the carbs as low as possible in the AM - so, eggs, bacon, sausage are the main staples. Some diabetics can get away with plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt or cottage and a handful of low-sugar berries, like raspberries, mixed in, but this is a little too high in carbs for me so early in the morning. Breakfast can be a minefield for a newly diagnosed diabetic because so many breakfast foods--doughnuts, cereal, toast, danishes, waffles, pancakes--are loaded with carbohydrates.

Once you really get into the diet, you might experiment with waffles or pancakes made with whey protein powder, almond flour or flax meal. I'll link you to my favorite recipe website so that you can take a look. In the meantime, go with the old standards like a cheese and broccoli omelet or scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon, and a hot cup of coffee (watch the sugar and creamers).

marrahb said:

Hi there. Thank you so much for your info. I did buy a blood glucose meter a while ago. So I will start testing.

I have been following a lower carb anyway but I haven't tested to see what sertain foods do to my levels. Will start doing that and experiment.

I am also a bit overweight so I need to lose some weight as well. Hopefully once i get the levels right and know what foods to eat I will get there.

It is scary but I know I am lucky and that I can be healthy.

Click to expand...

Hi. I received the same news at the beginning of October and it is very scary.

Thanks to the great advice from this forum I am testing before and after each meal. Can't say I like pricking my finger, but it has already demonstrated that 2 slices of Burgen soya and linseed bread spikes my BS. Only spike I've had so far, but a lesson learnt.

However scary, we are fortunate that we have the chance to nip this in the bud. Good luck.

marrahb said:

I know it is scary. I feel a bit better now after I have taken a deep breath and started looking at a lot of posts on this forum and checking what people's experiences are. I have to say I am not eating a lot if carbs anyway but I will def check sugar before and after meals to see what affects me the most. I also don't like the finger prick idea but I guess it is a small price to pay.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. Worth testing. All a little overwhelming at the moment, but time to put things right.

I don't have much weight to loose. Probably 7lbs would be good to bring me to 8 st 7 lbs. My problem is that I had a knee replacement in June, 2014 and will have the second knee sorted next March. This has made exercising almost impossible which may have been a big contributor to this problem as I have been out of action for maybe 2 years at least.

This site has been invaluable so far. Keep in touch.

marrahb said:

Hi there. I am finding so many usefull things on this forum. It makes the process so much easier. I work in a big manor house so I am fairly active. I will have to do a bit more to lose the extra weight as well. I think I need to check what foods I can have as well and work according to that. Will let you know how I get on. Good luck with your knees!

Click to expand...

Of course, it could be that finding out about all these hidden sugars in potatoes, root veg, rice, pasta etc. will help us with weight loss anyway.

Let's hope so. Enjoy your weekend.