Newbie: Understanding the Numbers and Managing Symptoms

[farfromhome]

Hello to all. I'm newly diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I've read elsewhere that pre diabetes is largely asymptotic, but that has not been my experience at all. In fact, it was my symptoms (and family history) that led me to eventually getting tested. However, I'm having a bit of trouble understanding my numbers and what they mean moving forward. As I am living abroad and dealing with a bit of a language barrier, getting information from my doctor, who seemed unconcerned about the diagnosis, is a bit tricky. I beg your patience with my questions.

Mostly, my blood tests came back normal. It was a fall in BG in my second test that led to the diagnosis. The only other number out of range were my triglycerides, which were low. Blood pressure, etc. were all normal as well. I should note that I am also a smoker - I plan to quit on the 6th.

BG (fasting) : 83
BG (2 hrs after eating) : 74
HA1c : 5

((**Realized everyone here seems to be using different measurements than the ones heres; I think they would translate as so: BG (fasting) : 4.5 ; BG (AE) : 4.2 ; HbA1c: 31**))

So, my question is this... moving forward, I know I need to lose weight, watch my diet, etc. This I know. But are there any specific strategies you've found for dealing with symptoms along the way? I haven't been tracking my blood sugar, but in the past few months I've had several issues with mental fog, irritability, feeling somewhat unstable, fatigue, etc. I'm suspecting this is related to fluctuations in my blood sugar. At one point, a few months ago, while teaching I had to stop a class because my vision went so foggy I couldn't see- though that only lasted about fifteen minutes (otherwise, my eye sight is pretty much fine). I'm not sure how successful my attempts at weigh loss will be unless I'm able to control the accompanying symptoms, as they start a cycle all their own.

Most of the information I've been reading is for strategies for keeping blood sugar down; do these same things work when dealing with blood sugar falling? Though my numbers weren't extremely low in my second blood test, even then I could feel that something wasn't right. Soon after I began eating I felt lightheaded and a bit uneasy. So it's possible that I'm particularly sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations? Should I be concerned about the symptoms in their own right?

 

[andcol]

Those numbers are not even pre-diabetic. They are firmly in the normal so why have you been told you are pre-diabetic. All I would say is that you probably will not get your numbers lower!

 

[farfromhome]

Thanks for the reply, Andrew.

That was my question also, the diagnosis was due to my blood sugar falling in the second blood test. I've spoken with a doctor-friend back home who has seconded my local doctor's opinion- stating that it was an insulin resistance issue and puts me within the margins of pre-diabetes. My goal is not in getting numbers lower; on the contrary, I need to control the dips in my blood sugar- as I imagine those are what are causing my symptoms.

 

[andcol]

It is probably less pre-diabetic and more reactive hypoglycemia (RH). There are threads and @Brunneria and @nosher8355 may be able to help. They have found what has been the thing that really has worked is to low carb. I will let them explain more. Read up about RH.

 

[Lamont D]

hi @farfromhome
I read your first thread and if you want to have a look at the Reactive Hypoglycaemia thread to read up on the condition on how to control your blood glucose levels.
Tap on forums on the top of the page, then look in the ' Ask a question' forum, tap on that and the thread is a sticky there.
Andrew is right about a low carb diet, read that forum as well.

Hypoglycaemia is a condition that can be controlled by diet. You may want to ask for a referral to a specialist as GPS are not the ideal person to see about the condition.

Eat every 2-3 hours is the best way to stop going low.

Ask any questions, i will be around.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi, and welcome!

Yes, I agree with Andrew that your numbers do not indicate diabetes, or even prediabetes.
But they do suggest reactive hypoglycaemia.

The problem is that none of us are medically qualified, and we can't run further tests on you.


We've had a number of threads on this forum about reactive hypoglycaemia - so many in fact that we've started abbreviating it to RH. Have a rummage through the search function, and you'll see what I mean.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind.

Firstly, most doctors have never heard of it and don't know how to diagnose or treat it. So you may have a struggle (particularly with the language barrier!)

Secondly. If you get a diagnosis, most people (docs) tell you to stuff carbs to keep your blood glucose up, to prevent the horrible symptoms when your blood glucose drops. But I, @nosher8355 and others on here have responded MUCH better to reducing carbs.

The principle is very simple and so blindingly obvious that I can never quite understand why doctors fail to grasp it.
The condition is called REACTIVE hypoglycaemia. It is where your body reacts to eating carbs, by pumping out more insulin than needed, driving blood sugar out of the blood and into your fat deposits (have you been gaining weight lately?). The result is that your BG drops lower than before you ate (sounding familiar?) and you feel awful, wobbly and crave carbs to get your BG back up again.

Only that sets the cycle off again, and you get a roller coaster of feel awful, eat, feel better, then worse again, eat, and so on.

The answer is to avoid foods that trigger insulin release (carbs). Instead, eat foods that release energy steadily, slowly, and don't trigger insulin. Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, non root veg, berries (but not sweet fruit). Even milk is too high carb for me.

Please note that I am not offering a diagnosis! However, if you do have RH, and you eat like this for a day or two, you won't believe how much better you feel.
- that would serve as a non-official diagnosis.

Both nosher and I feel better the fewer carbs we eat.

Nosher likes to eat small amounts in seven or so meals a day.
I eat 2-3 meals a day.
But the main thing is that we avoid carbs.

A typical day for me would be:
Bacon and eggs, or ham and cheese, or a coconut milk yogurt (low carb)
Snacks:nuts, seeds or cheese
Lunch of crustless quiche or salad, or cold meat, or homemade soup
Dinner of meat or fish with lots of veg (no rice, bread, pasta, rice or potato)
I eat deserts, but they are all low carb - berries and cream, rhubarb and cream, dark chocolate, chocolate mousse...

It's a really delicious way of eating, with some fantastic foods, but it takes a bit of a shift in attitude.

But I feel sooooo much better when I stick to it, that provides all the incentive I need.

Ask anything you like.

 

[Lamont D]

Hi, and welcome!

Yes, I agree with Andrew that your numbers do not indicate diabetes, or even prediabetes.
But they do suggest reactive hypoglycaemia.

The problem is that none of us are medically qualified, and we can't run further tests on you.


We've had a number of threads on this forum about reactive hypoglycaemia - so many in fact that we've started abbreviating it to RH. Have a rummage through the search function, and you'll see what I mean.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind.

Firstly, most doctors have never heard of it and don't know how to diagnose or treat it. So you may have a struggle (particularly with the language barrier!)

Secondly. If you get a diagnosis, most people (docs) tell you to stuff carbs to keep your blood glucose up, to prevent the horrible symptoms when your blood glucose drops. But I, @nosher8355 and others on here have responded MUCH better to reducing carbs.

The principle is very simple and so blindingly obvious that in can never quite understand why doctors fail to grasp it.
The condition is called REACTIVE hypoglycaemia. It is where your body reacts to eating carbs, by pumping out more insulin than needed, driving blood sugar out of the blood and into your fat deposits (have you been gaining weight lately?). The result is that your BG drops lower than before you ate (sounding familiar?) and you feel awful, wobbly and crave carbs to get your BG back up again.

Only that sets the cycle off again, and you get a roller coaster of feel awful, eat, feel better, then worse again, eat, and so on.

The answer is to avoid foods that trigger insulin release (carbs). Instead, eat foods that release energy steadily, slowly, and don't trigger insulin. Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, non root veg, berries (but not sweet fruit). Even milk is too high carb for me.

Please note that I am not offering a diagnosis! However, if you do have RH, and you eat like this for a day or two, you won't believe how much better you feel.
- that would serve as a non-official diagnosis.

Both nosher and I feel better the fewer carbs we eat.

Nosher likes to eat small amounts in seven or so meals a day.
I eat 2-3 meals a day.
But the main thing is that we avoid carbs.

A typical day for me would be:
Bacon and eggs, or ham and cheese, or a coconut milk yogurt (low carb)
Snacks:nuts, seeds or cheese
Lunch of crustless quiche or salad, or cold meat, or homemade soup
Dinner of meat or fish with lots of veg (no rice, bread, pasta, rice or potato)
I eat deserts, but they are all low carb - berries and cream, rhubarb and cream, dark chocolate, chocolate mousse...

It's a really delicious way of eating, with some fantastic foods, but it takes a bit of a shift in attitude.

But I feel sooooo much better when I stick to it, that provides all the incentive I need.

Ask anything you like.

Wow! @Brunneria great post!
You should get that into a link techno thingy!
Couldn't have been so articulate about RH!

 

[mekalu2k4]

Hello OP,
your readings are looking good to me. But better to get advise from experienced ppl here. I got my results, not sure how to interpret them. My A1c is 4.9, other are listed below

1.Total cholesterol: 147.23 mg/dl - 8.2 mmol/l [I believe this is normal? doc put a red circle on this too]
2. Triglycerides 82.76 - 4.6 mmol/l
3. LDL-C 92.07 - 5.1 mmol/l
4. HDL-C 55.19 - 3.0 mmol/l
5. Glucose 109.94 mg/dl - 6.1 mmol/l [I believe this is too high? I was on fast for 14 hours or so, had to wait for my turn to give sample]

6. MCH 26.6 pg - not sure how to convert this
7. MCHC 31.5 g/dl - not sure how to convert this
8. PLT 115 - not sure how to convert this
9. mpv 12.4 - not sure how to convert this
10. PCT 0.143%
11. PDW 24.8%

Waiting on seniors to comment