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Prediabetes Newly diagnosed, confused.

mischevous

Newbie
Messages
2
Location
Bristol
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
I am quite a relaxed person, no particular dislikes.
Hi all.
I needed a routine blood test for an existing condition. When I phoned for the results the receptionist told me that I had pre- diabetes and that I needed to see a practice nurse to discuss lifestyle changes. Immediately I walked into her foom she said that she was expecting to see someone who was over weight and as I am not there was nothing that she could do, I needed to see the diabetic nurse. I am still waiting for my appointment so am somewhat confused and do not know if there is anything that I should do whilst waiting. My confusion is mainly around what I have read (perhaps unwisely) about what can be done to prevent pre-diabetes from becoming type 2. I am not overweight, BMI 20.2, Visit the gym twice a week, swim once a week and go dancing twice a week. I think that my diet is reasonable although I do like cakes and sweet puddings. That leads me to wonder if I will be able to prevent the problem increasing. I have just stopped taking Prednisolone after four years and was warned that it can lead to diabetes. So can I do anything about diet or lifestyle whilst I am awaiting my appointment, any suggestions as to what is good and what to avoid would be appreciated.
Oh, by the way, sorry about the mis-spelling of mischievous, I cannot find a way to correct it.
 
A lot of us find that cutting carbs out of our diet has a very beneficial effect o our blood sugar levels. I will tag @daisy1 who can provide you with an intro to low carb eating.
I would also suggest you have a good look around this site especially the low-carb diet forum.
There is a 10 week intro to low carb as well as lots of recipes here
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
Hope thats helpful
best regards
Mark
 
Hello @mischevous and welcome to the forum. To be in the prediabetic range, your recent blood test will have shown up an HbA1c result in the region of 42-47, and the aim would be to reduce this number to below 42 - which is regarded as "normal". At the moment, we don't know what is causing you to be in the prediabetic range, it could be any number of things, so until you have info about this, it's difficult to know what action you could take. Bulkbiker has suggested a good initial start, and daisy1 will be along shortly to give you lots of very useful info and links to further guides.

Meantime, you might want to think about the kinds of starchy carbohydrates & sugars that you eat - breads, pasta, rice, cereals, and such like, including the cakes & sweet puddings, and how (or whether) you can reduce your consumption of these. It may be that lower carbs is not the right diet for you, but it's only by testing and trials and suitable adjustments, that we can find out what is right for each of us individually. Sorry, I don't know anything about Prednisolone and its potential effects one way or the other, obviously that's something you'll discuss with the diabetic nurse and/or medic.

BTW: Don't worry about the spelling - people will think that's what you intended in the first place ..... :D
 
Hi and welcome.

Try not to get hung up on the weight thing. And the fitness thing. A lot of people do, and it seems to get in the way of their acceptance of the situation. The reality is that a while the majority of people who get type 2 diabetes are over weight, there is a chunk of people who aren't. Explanations vary as to why this is, age, genetics, environment and diet being some of them. :)

However, it is what it is. If you have been identified as pre-D, then you are at greater risk of going on to develop type 2 diabetes. Doesn't mean that you will. Just an increased risk.

The reason that your nurse said that she couldn't help, is because the general thinking in the NHS is that type 2 diabetes is self inflicted - by a bad diet and a sedentary lifestyle.

However, lots of people WITH type 2 are discovering that the NHS idea of a good diet (lots of grains and carbs and low fat) seems to set people up for type 2 almost as if it were a training program! It would be funny if it were not so tragic.

The truth is such a simple idea, yet they consistently fail to grasp it; blood glucose is affected by what we eat. The more sugar, potato, rice, pasta, bread, cakes, biscuits, breakfast cereal, porridge and sweet fruit that we eat, the more our blood glucose rises.
In contrast, the more non-starchy veg, salad and non-sweet fruit, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, tofu and lentils we eat, the more stable our blood glucose stays.

And yet they persist in telling us to eat all those whole grains and base half our diet around them.
Bonkers.

Since you are pre-D, and not yet T2, you can probably make a big difference by changing a few things in your diet rather than going the whole 9 yards like a T2 might have to.

Things like swapping breakfast porridge or weetabix for a less carby meal. Eggs, bacon, yogurt with berries.
Removing potatoes and bread from your diet, and having more veg or salad instead.
Often just cutting the carb portions is enough, rather than removing them from your plate entirely.

:)
 
Last edited:
@mischevous

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It contains a link to the Low Carb Program which you could try. Ask questions when you need to 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 well over 220,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.
 
I was diagnosed with full blown diabetes on the 15th November, and went on a low carb regime at once. I was given metformin - but I have been unable to face taking it a couple of days - it does a number on my guts.

After a couple of wobbles - feeling hypo, I now feel rejuvenated and from an initial reading of 17.1mmol/l I am below 11 all the time, as far as I can tell - I only just got a meter, the last reading was 8.2.
I think that isn't a bad result in just over 2 weeks.
 
Hi all.
I needed a routine blood test for an existing condition. When I phoned for the results the receptionist told me that I had pre- diabetes and that I needed to see a practice nurse to discuss lifestyle changes. Immediately I walked into her foom she said that she was expecting to see someone who was over weight and as I am not there was nothing that she could do, I needed to see the diabetic nurse. I am still waiting for my appointment so am somewhat confused and do not know if there is anything that I should do whilst waiting. My confusion is mainly around what I have read (perhaps unwisely) about what can be done to prevent pre-diabetes from becoming type 2. I am not overweight, BMI 20.2, Visit the gym twice a week, swim once a week and go dancing twice a week. I think that my diet is reasonable although I do like cakes and sweet puddings. That leads me to wonder if I will be able to prevent the problem increasing. I have just stopped taking Prednisolone after four years and was warned that it can lead to diabetes. So can I do anything about diet or lifestyle whilst I am awaiting my appointment, any suggestions as to what is good and what to avoid would be appreciated.
Oh, by the way, sorry about the mis-spelling of mischievous, I cannot find a way to correct it.

Hi and welcome,

Prednisolone is a steroid, and you have been taking it for 4 years, so it may well be you are on the verge of what is known as steroid induced diabetes. It is lucky you have stopped taking them, and lucky you have been found to be pre-diabetic rather than a full blown diabetic.. You may well find that your blood sugar levels return to normal once the steroids are out of your system. There are plenty of others on this forum with steroid induced diabetes - and it is nothing to do with weight or lifestyle.

There is no harm in tweaking your diet to reduce carbs a bit, but as you are already very slim you would need to replace any lost calories from extra fats and/or protein or you may find yourself losing too much weight.

If you buy yourself a blood glucose meter you can keep an eye on your sugar levels, and if there is no improvement you will have to change your diet. The cheapest meter and strips is the Codefree, which many of us here use.

https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
 
Many thanks to all who have replied with advice and encouragement. I am going to try to reduce my carbs. intake as a start and now have an appointment with the diabetic nurse on Wednesday o hope that will prove to be helpful. Will update result of appointment late plus any questions that arise.
 
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