Is this indicative of prediabetes?

Hello cariala
Your numbers at 3hrs do seem to be quite high. You should make an appointment to see your gp, take a record of your meals and readings with you and let him/her know about the frequent bathroom visits. Only your gp can tell you if are pre diabetic. I will tag @daisy1 she will give you some useful information

Hello and welcome!

I think the cola had an effect on top of the carbs. It would be better to experiment with just the food and water, no cola or caffeine, testing before and after.

As @catinahat said, we can't diagnose you. You need to pay a visit to your doctor, tell him your readings, and ask for a diagnostic test.

Pre-diabetes glucose is when you have sugar levels that are around 10.0-12.0. That is where you'd be walking on thin ice when it comes to possibly getting full blown diabetes. Those testing results you gave seem normal, as no matter what, sugar levels rise and fall in your body, especially after eating processed foods like nuggets or having over-sweetened soft drinks like Cola. Still, book an appointment with your doctor and see for sure what's going on. You might have a digestion issue than anything else.

@cariala

Hello Cariala and welcome to the forum

I agree with what catinahat said in her reply - you must see your GP as only he can tell you if you are pre-diabetic after blood tests. In the meantime, start reducing the carbs you eat. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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.

Hi. I would have thought those levels were reasonably normal but go to the GP, not urgent, to discuss.

TPhoenix said:

Pre-diabetes glucose is when you have sugar levels that are around 10.0-12.0. That is where you'd be walking on thin ice when it comes to possibly getting full blown diabetes. Those testing results you gave seem normal, as no matter what, sugar levels rise and fall in your body, especially after eating processed foods like nuggets or having over-sweetened soft drinks like Cola. Still, book an appointment with your doctor and see for sure what's going on. You might have a digestion issue than anything else.

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Please can you tell me where you get those figures of 10 to 12 being pre-diabetic levels? They seem very high to me for pre-diabetes.

Bluetit1802 said:

Please can you tell me where you get those figures of 10 to 12 being pre-diabetic levels? They seem very high to me for pre-diabetes.

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It's not really that high. 20's is what you call very high. A few years ago, my stepfather was borderline diabetic and his glucose levels ranged from 10.0-15.0. His doctor said he was in the pre-diabetes range and if he didn't watch his intake, exercise and keep himself healthier, he would fully have diabetes. So he took care of himself and has reversed the onset of it.

TPhoenix said:

It's not really that high. 20's is what you call very high. A few years ago, my stepfather was borderline diabetic and his glucose levels ranged from 10.0-15.0. His doctor said he was in the pre-diabetes range and if he didn't watch his intake, exercise and keep himself healthier, he would fully have diabetes. So he took care of himself and has reversed the onset of it.

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Yes, the 20's are very high, but so is running in any double figures if you want to avoid complications down the line. Even the NHS in its wisdom says 8.5 is the maximum a type 2 should be after meals, let alone a pre-diabetic. (NHS says 4 to 7 fasting or before meals, under 8.5 after meals at 2 hours for Type 2's). So I really don't understand where your step father's doctor was coming from.

Bluetit1802 said:

Yes, the 20's are very high, but so is running in any double figures if you want to avoid complications down the line. Even the NHS in its wisdom says 8.5 is the maximum a type 2 should be after meals, let alone a pre-diabetic. (NHS says 4 to 7 fasting or before meals, under 8.5 after meals at 2 hours for Type 2's). So I really don't understand where your step father's doctor was coming from.

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Agreed. NICE Guidlines of staying below 10 or lower make sense. I treat double digits as too high. No way is double digits pre-diabetic and any GP who says that needs to read-up on the NICE guidelines.

cariala said:

Hi all,

As someone who seems to go to the toilet more often than everyone else lol, and how l sometimes felt after eating some foods, with the "slump" feeling hitting me l decided to self check my blood sugars. I did fasting tests and they varied from 5 to 5.5, which l believe are right within the normal range. I then decided to do some testing after meals that were high carb based and have made me feel the slump feeling before. Those results are more interesting.

One meal l had chips, sausages and beans and a cola and my readings were:
Pre dinner: 5.2 , 2 hours 7 and 3 hours 8.7

After a chicken nugget and chips takeaway meal with a can of cola, my blood sugar went from a 5.4 to 8.4. This 8.4 reading was about 2.5/3 hours after the meal as l forgot to do it at the 2 hour mark and remembered l was experimenting as l started to feel sleepy.

I know the can of coke could raise sugars a bit but am right to think l no longer tolerate carbs that well based on the numbers seeming to raise a bit more after the 2 hour mark? Rather than starting to go back down to the numbers l see fasting? Is this indicative of pre diabetes?

I am already trying to make changes to my diet including giving up my love of cola. I am only slightly over weight but have not exercised recently so need to get back in to that
Hopefully these changes will help, as l read if you are showing signs of prediabetes lifestyle changes can help a lot. l was just baffled that the sugar numbers seemed to carry on going up after the 2 hour mark after what l read that they should be heading more to pre meal value at that mark.

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It sounds like you have the start of insulin resistance. I'd definitely think about going on a LC diet, & visit to the doc.

None of your readings alone are high, but it is kind of high for being after 3 hours. It should be less than 7.8 after 2 hour and back to 6 mmol after 3 hours.

You should check your blood sugar after 30 min and 1 hour to see if you ever spike above 11.2 mmol.

Just pointing out that this thread is 3 years old, and the OP only made the one post.