Newly diagnosed prediabetic

Hiya, welcome. Sounds like you're in good time to re-think your family diet (for your son as well as yourself). I'll ask @daisy1 to give you her guide to managing diabetes and after you've had a read, ask more questions.

Missy2302 said:

Hello I am new to this forum after being recently diagnosed with pre-diabetes after my son who has type 2 diabetez told me to get tested as I usually fall asleep 10 or 15 minutes after having dinner and a few glasses of wine.

I try to cook healthy meals for me and my family by swapping white rice for brown rice, white bread for seeded bread and white pasta for wholewheat pasta. I like to cook most meals from scratch and the past few meals that I've made have been hunters chicken with chips and peas, spag bol pasta bake, shepherd's pie, lasagne, curry with chips, rice and naan bread.

My son has been type 2 diabetic for 3 years when he was at Derby uni and now he's back home and has lost almost 5 stone, but has been in hospital several times because of following a low carb diet.

I only know a little about diabetes and I'm worried that it can't be reversed.

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http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm

This is the webpage of Professor Roy Taylor, a specialist at diabetes located at Newcastle University. He used to belive that diabetes type 2 was a chronic progressive disease that never got betterbecause of a large diabetes study in the 90s , but he did some research on his own that convinced him that it is not so. Please read everything on that webpage, and also print out the leaflets he has there so patients can discuss his theories with their doctor. My main point is that you can reverse this and weightloss is alpha and omega. Just remember that bmi and bodyfat is not the same, you can have a low bmi and high bodyfat, and a high bmi and lots of healthy not dangerous fat. Please see this picture as an example, and here a talk from the man with most bodyfat. he has specialized himself on why people with normal bmis can get diabetes.

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v10/n4/images/nm0404-325-I2.jpg here is the picture of the men ,they have the same bmi but the one to the right has twice as much bodyfat!

here is a talk by him

In short diabetes can be reversed especially since you are so early in diagnosis, good luck forward

@Missy2302

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Look particularly at the advice on diet, low carbing in particular. Ask all the questions 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 150,000 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 and welcome to the forum, you are in the right place to learn about diabetes. It can definately be put into remission in a lot of cases but it is worth remembering if you fall back into old habits it will be back so it is important that you realise that the changes you make are.permanent changes. With dietary and lifestyle changes it is possible so have a good look around the forum and if you have any questions just ask.

I never even spoke to a doctor was a nurse who basically told me to eat carbs my advice genuinely would be ask people on here your questions they have experience in it and always on hand

Missy2302 said:

I've got my first appointment with my doctor tomorrow since my diagnosis and I don't know what questions to ask my doctor. I have looked into the low carb diet and I don't understand it.

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Hi and welcome to the forum. If you get a blood glucose (BG) testing meter it will help you learn about the link between carbs and BG.

Most T2s in the UK don't seem to be able to get a meter from their doctor or nurse but it's worth asking to see if you are one of the lucky ones. If not, many of us use the SD Codefree meter, available here:
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

... because they have the cheapest test strips on the market, and you may need a lot initially.

There is a discount code if you buy 5 or 10 boxes, which brings the price down to about £5 for 50 strips.
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

With a meter you can test before a meal and 2 hours after, and see how much your BG rises with different foods. I'm pretty sure you will see larger spikes with high carb meals. You might go from say 6 to 12, when it's better for your health to spike by no more than 2 points, and to stay under 8 points as much as possible.

Diabetes can be reversed but it requires commitment to eating different foods, and to losing excess weight if you have any. Many of us have reversed our diabetes within 3 to 6 months.

Missy2302 said:

Thanks @CatLadyNZ I will ask my doctor for a meter first as I can't afford to buy a meter or test strips, if needs be I will use my sons old wave sense jazz meter.

Why should i test regulalry and what if my blood sugars are higher than 12 and why is it best for spikes to be no more than 2 points? My son who uses this forum gets stressed out when he tests his blood sugars and I told him in August to stop testing for a week as it was driving him crazy.

I am a bit overweight with a bmi of 27.2 and need to lose over 2 stone to get back to a normal bmi. I regularly go to a kick boxing class 3 times a week, but since September I haven't been with back problems and a sprained wrist.

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Research suggests that BGs need to be under about 8.5 to avoid complications like kidney failure, blindness and amputations. There are also less serious effects of high BGs like persistent skin rashes, fatigue and irritability. The longer BGs are over 8.5 the more likely complications are. The target range for most people is 4-8.5. Under 4 is a hypo and will usually make the person feel weak to start with, and worse if it goes lower.

BGs have bad effects when they are too high, and also when they swing around too much or too fast. The ideal state is to keep them fairly stable, between say 5-7 most of the time. If you start at 6 and spike by more than 2, then it's easy to go above 8.5.

A BG of 12 is too high - the person would likely feel fatigue and mood swings in the short term, and they would be slowly doing damage to their body... if it stayed this high for more than a few months they could start getting early signs of complications.

At the moment you have prediabetes but if you keep eating the same types and amounts of foods you could progress to diabetes before too long. Changing what you eat is the key to reducing your risk of getting diabetes and possible complications.

You wouldn't need to test your BGs all the time, just enough at the start to learn about the effect different foods have on your BGs. I tested a lot for the first few weeks and now I only do it once every few weeks. The reason your son has been testing so often is because his BGs have been too high. As he reduces them, he won't need to test as much. Sometimes his BGs were well into the 20s, and at that level the person can get ill and need hospitalisation so it's important for them to keep checking.

Hi and welcome @Missy2302 Using brown rice instead of white doesn't make a meal much healthier. It's still a lot of starch that will turn into glucose once inside you. And bread, regardless of shape and colour, seems to be among the worst for BG. You need to test in order to learn how to manage your BG.

This is a very good site with lots of sensible advice http://www.dietdoctor.com

@Missy2302

How excellent that you have joined the forum.
Sounds as though you may have hereditary factors to your glucose tolerance running in the family. This is often the case. So using this as an opportunity to switch the whole family to a healthier way of eating would be a fantastic move.

The foods you listed seem rather high carb, but it is a simple thing to switch away from emphasising the bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, and moving to higher veg, and lower carb. The whole family would benefit.

You've been given some fantastic links already (the diet doctor site is brilliant), and there is information all over the forum, including great recipes. If you are used to cooking from scratch all the time, then it will give you a head start, and make the transition much easier.

Your son may not feel any different when his BG is over 30, but he is risking a serious medical condition that can occur when BG is that high. This is one reason why self testing is important.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/hyperosmolar-hyperglycemic-nonketotic-syndrome.html

I'm sure your doctor is a good doctor when it comes to diagnosing and treating medical conditions. However, he is wrong about carbs and nutrition, like most doctors and nurses are. Eating more than a very small amount of carbs is not healthy for T2 diabetics and prediabetics. Let's wait and see what your meter says before forming a fixed view of carbs.

Hi @Missy2302

You have joined this forum for advice and you have had already some great advice and links
Have a read around the low carb forum, it has great recipes and ideas in it.
Have a read around the success stories on the forum.
Low carb works!
The doctors recommended diets don't, hence the need for this forum!
I was eating the eat well plate and other diets for over ten years, the only one that worked was low carb. I have lost nearly five stones in under two years and I am fully in control of my condition. I couldn't on my doctors diet. Which is the one your doctor recommends.
Please for your health same take the advice given, these knowledgeable posters are diabetics and know what they are doing.
Best wishes!

We have all been told to eat carbs. Very few type 2 diabetics here follow the advice. It's easy for non-diabetics to say eat carbs, it's not their BG that shoots up. It's not their eyes, kidneys or feet that pack up.

I come from a family of diabetics and I am so very happy to have access to a BG meter. My dad lived in terrible pain and was threatened with amputations just before he passed away at the age of 72. He lived twenty-two years after his diagnosis and had several heart attacks and strokes in the last years of his life and lost most of his kidney function too, all caused by his high BG. But mostly I remember him being in pain.

I keep my BG normal, that is non-diabetic readings, by not eating sugary or starchy stuff. I mean to hang on to my limbs and eyes, kidneys and so on. If you follow your doctors advice about carbs you may be heading for a lot of problems.