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Imagine this for prediabetes

SJC

SJC

Well-Known Member
Messages
683
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diets!
I totted up my 20 day reading averages last night. My average FBG is 4.3 and my average 2hour post meal reading is 5.6.
I also read several articles last night on how sometimes the H1aC test can be wrong. From the shape of blood cells to instrument/human error. This set me thinking since I was diagnosed with prediabetes a few weeks ago.

Can you imagine this scenario? You are told you are prediabetic. You are shocked and then concerned. You go off into the abyss of unknowns because little advice is forthcoming. You research and change diet. You start taking readings but never see a truly bad BG reading ( I have had 1 reading at 7.00 and 5 at 6 point something, the rest all in 5s and 4s).

Now imagine that you have spent all year avoiding so many foods and your yearly follow up test has just been found to be within normal range - not prediabetes. How would you ever know if that first test result was a false positive result? You would have a hard time persuading your GP that it was because it's known as the gold standard test. You might live the rest of your life having to presume you are prediabetic when it was based on an error.
Just a thought.
I realise that the truth is in the BG readings at home. I suppose the only way you would truly know is to eat all the worst nasties and see how your BG reacted.
 
the oral glucose tolerance test is the gold standard, the A1c can be in error.
If you have been watching what you eat, your BG may have come down or you may be a normal BG with a faulty A1c test.
if you get an OGTT, you need to eat more than 150g of carbs a day for 3 to 4 days before the test or it will be wrong
 
jack412 said:
the oral glucose tolerance test is the gold standard, the A1c can be in error.
If you have been watching what you eat, your BG may have come down or you may be a normal BG with a faulty A1c test.
if you get an OGTT, you need to eat more than 150g of carbs a day for 3 to 4 days before the test or it will be wrong
Click to expand...

There can be other reasons for a false reading though Jack. For example, some people have odd shaped cells (something like that) and that interferes with results. It's just a taken that it's right and you are offered a follow up A1c a year later.
 
jack412 said:
yes and some meds will throw off an A1c test too.
Click to expand...

It's just my personal opinion, but when you don't seem to fit a typical picture of someone who might be predisposed to diabetes, and you get a bad result, I think a follow up test should be done at least 6 months later, not a year. I also hear that extreme stress can alter results. I had lost my dad and my dog in the six months prior to this test.
 
Sorry to hear that, the main thing is you look after yourself and a diabetic diet doesn't have the junk in it. It has to be a better way to eat even for non diabetics.
 
jack412 said:
Sorry to hear that, the main thing is you look after yourself and a diabetic diet doesn't have the junk in it. It has to be a better way to eat even for non diabetics.
Click to expand...

This of course is true. Only problem is I had lost some weight when I was tested and the change in diet has lost me even more weight. I am not very big and can't afford to lose weight.
 
jack412 said:
put some carbs back or eat more fat/oil, you need your total calories to be enough.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jack. I have managed to reach my first goal of 1000 calories a day. I am now working on my second goal of 1500 calories a day. :)
 
SJC said:
I totted up my 20 day reading averages last night. My average FBG is 4.3 and my average 2hour post meal reading is 5.6.
I also read several articles last night on how sometimes the H1aC test can be wrong. From the shape of blood cells to instrument/human error. This set me thinking since I was diagnosed with a few weeks ago.

Can you imagine this scenario? You are told you are prediabetic. You are shocked and then concerned. You go off into the abyss of unknowns because little advice is forthcoming. You research and change diet. You start taking readings but never see a truly bad BG reading ( I have had 1 reading at 7.00 and 5 at 6 point something, the rest all in 5s and 4s).

Now imagine that you have spent all year avoiding so many foods and your yearly follow up test has just been found to be within normal range - not prediabetes. How would you ever know if that first test result was a false positive result? You would have a hard time persuading your GP that it was because it's known as the gold standard test. You might live the rest of your life having to presume you are prediabetic when it was based on an error.
Just a thought.
I realise that the truth is in the BG readings at home. I suppose the only way you would truly know is to eat all the worst nasties and see how your BG reacted.
Click to expand...

SJC - I appreciate you are having a tough time currently, with a basket of issues, and I am thankful every single day to be fit, healthy and able to live an active and fun life, so we are very different. But. Going on from there, I think everyone who is unexpectedly diagnosed goes through a phase like yours. I certainly did, and I think my first ever thread reflects that. I was shell shocked and in a decent denial.

However, moving forward.

The readings you have been achieving have been on a modified diet, I believe? If that modified diet is reduced in carbs, you would likely see a reduction in your blood scores, irrelevant of any diagnosis. If you want to have an interim HBa1c test, ask your doctor, stating your reasons, in a rational, non-emotional manner. He may of course refuse your request, based on costs and protocols, and his confidence in the original test result. In UK, the HBA1c is considered the gold standard for diagnosis. If you want an OGTT, you could ask your doctor for that too. Again, he could well decline. When I mention in passing that I would be interested in an OGTT myself, my GP said he wouldn't support my request, but that I could easily run one for myself, using my meter and strips. (There are a few threads on here by people who have done these home tests themselves with interesting results.). I haven't done the test myself, as, in reality, I doubt I would do anything meaningful with the information it gave me.

With all you have going on, I might be inclined to eat a moderate diet, with reduced carbs; probably eating what I could, but keeping carb portions down in size. For all you know, you could remain prediabetic for years, if not forever anyway,

If you continue to eat as you are now, with your lower scores, and you return a normal test next time, it doesn't mean that the first test was erroneous. It means the second test has come back within the normal bands, unlike the first. My first HBa1c was at diabetic levels, but the two subsequent tests have been in normal (not diabetic or prediabetic) ranges, but it doesn't mean the first test was wrong.

Finally, if you really want to have another H ba1c now, there are various places offering these privately for a few pounds. I replied to a thread by @Mud Island Dweller where I mentioned this, and costs etc are in there.

Personally, I would urge you to settle into a plan of eating, which is adequate, but not too carb heavy, and focus on the other issues you have, which appear to be impairing your quality of life more than prediabetes is likely to be doing. Others may well strongly disagree with my comments, which is fine, but we all have to pick our way through these challenges. Life is for living, not to be watched go past as others have all the fun.

Good luck with it all.
 
AndBreathe said:
SJC - I appreciate you are having a tough time currently, with a basket of issues, and I am thankful every single day to be fit, healthy and able to live an active and fun life, so we are very different. But. Going on from there, I think everyone who is unexpectedly diagnosed goes through a phase like yours. I certainly did, and I think my first ever thread reflects that. I was shell shocked and in a decent denial.



However, moving forward.

The readings you have been achieving have been on a modified diet, I believe? If that modified diet is reduced in carbs, you would likely see a reduction in your blood scores, irrelevant of any diagnosis. If you want to have an interim HBa1c test, ask your doctor, stating your reasons, in a rational, non-emotional manner. He may of course refuse your request, based on costs and protocols, and his confidence in the original test result. In UK, the HBA1c is considered the gold standard for diagnosis. If you want an OGTT, you could ask your doctor for that too. Again, he could well decline. When I mention in passing that I would be interested in an OGTT myself, my GP said he wouldn't support my request, but that I could easily run one for myself, using my meter and strips. (There are a few threads on here by people who have done these home tests themselves with interesting results.). I haven't done the test myself, as, in reality, I doubt I would do anything meaningful with the information it gave me.

With all you have going on, I might be inclined to eat a moderate diet, with reduced carbs; probably eating what I could, but keeping carb portions down in size. For all you know, you could remain prediabetic for years, if not forever anyway,

If you continue to eat as you are now, with your lower scores, and you return a normal test next time, it doesn't mean that the first test was erroneous. It means the second test has come back within the normal bands, unlike the first. My first HBa1c was at diabetic levels, but the two subsequent tests have been in normal (not diabetic or prediabetic) ranges, but it doesn't mean the first test was wrong.

Finally, if you really want to have another H ba1c now, there are various places offering these privately for a few pounds. I replied to a thread by @Mud Island Dweller where I mentioned this, and costs etc are in there.

Personally, I would urge you to settle into a plan of eating, which is adequate, but not too carb heavy, and focus on the other issues you have, which appear to be impairing your quality of life more than prediabetes is likely to be doing. Others may well strongly disagree with my comments, which is fine, but we all have to pick our way through these challenges. Life is for living, not to be watched go past as others have all the fun.

Good luck with it all.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that long response. :)
I have just seen a dietician and she said my readings don't indicate prediabetes. You could be right of course that they are change of diet induced readings. She has told me to stop the high fats ( as she would), because of the chance of raising my cholesterol more. She has told me to drink milky hot chocolate drinks and increase my carbs considerably. I feel like my head is mashed in right now. Top that up with battling through daily nausea and it all seems like an uphill battle. She has also told me to resume eating my bowl of porridge every morning.

I told her about LCHF and she said that might be okay for someone who is overweight and needs to lose weight, but it's very bad for someone like me who isn't very big and is trying not to lose any weight. She said that my body is simply feeding off the fat, the few carbs and the result is it's not enough so it's taking energy from my muscles (something like that)...hence I am losing even more weight.

I have some serious thinking to do. The dietician is checking my original blood test.
 
@SJC - "The dietician is checking my original blood test."

What is she going to check? Is the test to be re-run, or does she feel she can check it by some other means?

I can understand how bewildering the differing guidance will be. You need to decide on your path and follow it. In this, you will not be able to please everyone, so you have to do what is comfortable to you. You have to decide if you want to be on the rock or in the hard place.
 
We didn't have the levels though she had a letter to say I was borderline. She just wants to see the results for herself I think. I showed her everything I had logged...the foods I have been eating, and the BG results. She was taken aback I think. I feel in a no win situation. Damned if I do and damned if I don't. All this prediabetic stuff fell on me whilst I was already feeling very poorly. I feel more confused since seeing the dietician.
 
Edit. Just had a phone call. I have actually had two Ha1c test done since March. My first in March was 44. My second at the beginning of May was 37. At least I know that much now. :)
 
jack412 said:
time I asked you for advice, you're 1 less than me
Click to expand...

Lol Jack. I am not considered prediabetic at the moment she said. Oh well, I thought being poorly actually raised BG...and stress! Bang goes that theory! :(
 
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