New to prediabetes

Hi @HfxBaz and welcome to the forum

Pre-diabetes or diabetes type 2 and the advice is pretty much the same. Mike has given you the short answer - the key is in what you eat and restricting carbohydrates will be the route to success. I’d recommend checking out the website dietdoctor.com for information on foods, recipes and meal plans and you might find the dietary information in this link useful: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

Additionally, A blood meter is a must. Testing is an important way to understand the impact of food on your blood sugar levels. Test immediately before and 2 hours after you’ve eaten. In that way you’ll understand the impact that meal has on your blood sugars. You’re looking for a ride of no more than 2mmols. Any more and there were too many carbs for you to handle and the meal needs adjusting.

In the UK those with pre-diabetes or type 2 treated with diet or diet and metformin are rarely prescribed a meter and need to self fund. When doing that be aware that the cost of the strips will be the biggest cost over time, so factor that into any purchase. We can recommend some reasonably priced ones if that would be helpful.

Finally it’d be a good idea to ask your surgery what your HbA1c result was - that’s the test usually used to diagnose diabetes and is an estimate of your average blood sugars over the previous 8-12 weeks. It’ll be useful for you to understand this and track your progress over time.

Good luck and keep us posted!

HfxBaz said:

Hi and thanks @Goonergal, I've already got a meter, self funded as gp didn't say anything about keeping tabs on levels. I picked up the accu-chek performa nano. When I ran out of strips I asked our local chemist if they had any in stock, they questioned me about them and said that basically there's no need to be testing my own sugar levels and that it should be done by gp unless told otherwise due to false readings or not doing it properly..
I've to have bloods re done in march due to tests showing something to do with my liver ( I don't drink ) and bloods re done in July on glucose levels but I'd of thought they'd of done both at the same time??
All very confusing ..

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Hi there

I’d beg to differ with your pharmacist. The bloods your GP takes and the daily readings you would take using a meter look at entirely different things.

The GP will be doing an HbA1c which is an estimate of your average blood sugars over the previous 8-12 weeks.

The reason you’d use a meter as an unmedicated type 2 is to see exactly what impact different foods have on your blood sugars so that you can adjust your diet accordingly. Without this information you’d be shooting in the dark.

It’s your decision, but that’s the reasoning.

HfxBaz said:

Hi and thanks @Goonergal, I've already got a meter, self funded as gp didn't say anything about keeping tabs on levels. I picked up the accu-chek performa nano. When I ran out of strips I asked our local chemist if they had any in stock, they questioned me about them and said that basically there's no need to be testing my own sugar levels and that it should be done by gp unless told otherwise due to false readings or not doing it properly..
I've to have bloods re done in march due to tests showing something to do with my liver ( I don't drink ) and bloods re done in July on glucose levels but I'd of thought they'd of done both at the same time??
All very confusing ..

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Yeah, what @Goonergal says is correct. You should test how you react to different foods, eliminate the foods that cause spikes. The only way to know is with a meter.

Having said that, once you’ve made a lifestyle plan, nixed all the foods that cause trouble. You don’t need to test as often, maybe one or two meals a week, when you’re adding a new meal, or making a change.

HfxBaz said:

Hi and thanks @Goonergal, I've already got a meter, self funded as gp didn't say anything about keeping tabs on levels. I picked up the accu-chek performa nano. When I ran out of strips I asked our local chemist if they had any in stock, they questioned me about them and said that basically there's no need to be testing my own sugar levels and that it should be done by gp unless told otherwise due to false readings or not doing it properly..
I've to have bloods re done in march due to tests showing something to do with my liver ( I don't drink ) and bloods re done in July on glucose levels but I'd of thought they'd of done both at the same time??
All very confusing ..

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Just order strips online then. Your pharmacy is giving massively out-dated advice, and if they don't want your custom, (or your good health) take it elsewhere. @Goonergal's absolutely spot-on.

If you cut out bread, pasta, pastry, sweets, potatoes, cereals, and fruit you might find you’re 70% of the way there.

I like the testing because you get immediate feedback. There’s no hiding from what you’ve eaten. Sure if you do the diet perfectly you could just come back in six months and see the results, but with no testing you might find you have today “off”, then tomorrow “off”, etc. Then six months go by and now you’re diabetic.

Do your own research. Read everything here. This is a slow moving emergency.

You’re rewiring your brain. If you can successfully do it this is a lifestyle upgrade. Fit, slim, energetic. Obvs if you were already those things while also eating chips it’s a lifestyle downgrade but there are winners and losers in life.

I went from pre-diabetic to t2 with help from my GP - limited advice such as cut sugar from tea, coffee and cereals (haven't put sugar in hot drinks or on cereal for decades but I put maple syrup on porridge!).
Then I found the low carb program - part of this website. I was lucky and joined when it was in development, so free, but I'd still find it worth the money if I was starting out now.
Apart from that and Diet doctor try looking at Dr Unwin's infographics - they show the link between plain old sugar and carb heavy foods.
https://phcuk.org/sugar/

HfxBaz said:

I do hope you mean white bread and pasta, I've changed to wholemeal pasta and wholemeal/seeded bread. I'm not one for cereals and fruit, I may have the odd bowl or banana once in a while. Why cut out potatoes?? Or is that due to the starch in them?

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Oh dear... White or brown/wholemeal doesn't matter much, it's both bad. Have a read, this'll explain it. About the spuds too. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

I made the analogy of not using a meter to test the blood is like removing the speedometer from your car and relying on the speeding fines to judge your driving.
Staying away from high carb foods, eating a wide variety of low carb foods, keeping meals interesting all contribute to a sustainable way of eating and low blood glucose levels as a permanent feature.

Hi-

I'd recommend a CGM - libre freestyle which you can activate with your phone app. You don't need a reader. I am in the same position as you although labelled insulin resistant but since using the CGM my results would be classed as pre-diabetic. Morning Fasting BG can be as high as 7. The continuous monitoring enables you to really see the details of what you eat and then you can tailor accordingly. I bought 2 CGM which gives me 4 weeks of continuous data (btw I LOVE data so this is perfect for me) and then I plan to return to just testing when I can feel hyper/ hypo.

Using the CGM allowed me to see that despite a normal H1bc of 34 I go hypo - esp at night, and hyper whenever I eat the tiniest amount of carb :-( So my GP's advice of stop testing myself 6 years ago enabled them to keep me 'normal' as per blood tests but in reality I was becoming worse and worse. CGM also allows you to see how you spike. Depending on what I eat I can spike within 30 mins or 3 hrs. It is expensive - 2 CGM = £100 - think I bought from Chemist 4 U or something but it's been so worth it. I will occasionally finger prick just to make sure the machine is accurate and for the most part it is. Although it does become less so towards the end of its life (2 weeks) but then don't we all ;-)

As everyone says on here testing really is key as we're all individual. I have discovered that if I can keep below 5 I feel great but to do that I have to not eat anything. I'm not counting carbs just dropping bread, flour, (and any derivatives), pasta, rice, potatoes and any derivative and I'll eat any veggies I want although I have noticed that carrots, parsnips etc do make me spike as I would expect. It definitely has helped me and being new to all this I feel having ALL the data available at the start of my journey should help, along with this fab site.

[QUOTE="Donought, post: 2352611, member: 533026
I will occasionally finger prick just to make sure the machine is accurate and for the most part it is. Although it does become less so towards the end of its life (2 weeks) but then don't we all ;-).[/QUOTE]

Interesting you mention the deterioration in accuracy towards the end of the 2 weeks, I’ve noticed the same in the 3 Libre sensors I’ve used so far, particularly the last 3 days, some weird short sharp spikes, & a general increase in levels despite no change in routine, noticed it on all 3 at same stage. Is this your experience also? Almost as if it takes longer to pick up changes in BG levels & reacts more violently when it does!

DanW13 said:

[QUOTE="Donought, post: 2352611, member: 533026
I will occasionally finger prick just to make sure the machine is accurate and for the most part it is. Although it does become less so towards the end of its life (2 weeks) but then don't we all ;-).

Click to expand...

Interesting you mention the deterioration in accuracy towards the end of the 2 weeks, I’ve noticed the same in the 3 Libre sensors I’ve used so far, particularly the last 3 days, some weird short sharp spikes, & a general increase in levels despite no change in routine, noticed it on all 3 at same stage. Is this your experience also? Almost as if it takes longer to pick up changes in BG levels & reacts more violently when it does![/QUOTE]

Yes, exactly the same. But strangely when I look at the actual data from libreview (the excel spreadsheet) I don't see the same spike. So I had a 12 reading from the libre, then after downloading the data there was no 12 but a 7.2 reading. And yes, now you come to mention it I was generally higher all last week and then as soon as I changed sensor I was generally lower. Peculiar. I will analyse the spreadsheet data when I get a chance to see if it is giving false readings but recording accurately in the background or whether it's false all around. As a self-funder I think I may 'treat' myself two or three times a year to a couple of CGM's and then just maintain the occasional finger prick.