Non diabetic

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Those are a bit high for fasting numbers but in the end we can't diagnose you. I will tag @daisy1 to send you some basic welcoming information on diabetes and diet. If you would like to lose some weight and see those fasting numbers come down a bit lower than you might want to investigate a low carb way of eating. I will post a link here to the low carb program and urge you to read daisy's post thoroughly when she gets it to you. You already have a meter and that is the best way to tell where you are at. Also 5.8 and low 6's are good numbers.

Sorry forgot the link (I just woke up) Low Carb Program - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/

Hi @Leeroygunn

Did your doctor do an HbA1C test? It sounds like they might not have. That would give an idea of yoyr blood sugar over the last two or three months and is commonly used to check for diabetes and prediabetes.

Did you mention your symptoms to the doctor?

Are any of those resukts you've listed after meal tests and if so, did you also record what you ate at that meal?

You might want to try replacing your rice with veggies and maybe skip the pizza for a bit. If you test before eating and at 1 and then 2 hours after you will see what effect a particular food has on you.

Stress, either mental or physical, can certainly affect blood sugar.

Leeroygunn said:

Doctor did a HbA1c test bout 4 months ago when we got my first abnormal reading 7.2 but HbA1c came back fine and havent been keen to re look at it since ? Also i have problems with my bladder self catheterise and have ibs and diverticular disease could this be effecting my sugar levels

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Ok - that's good about the HbA1C test. I'd ask about a follow up test in the future to see how things are going.

I don't know whether your other conditions would have an effect on your blood sugar. Infection, stress, illness - all those can put blood sugar up - so possibly they might be contributing. You could check with your doctor next time you see them.

Did your doctor suggest what might be causing the tingling you're getting?

Leeroygunn said:

No thats whats bothering me it comes and goes suggested my temptature could be causing blured vision but its the numbness and tingling i also get tingling in my feet and my hands and feet are always really cold forgot to mention in last 4 months iv went from having low blood pressure to high sometimes as high as 184

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Hmm...Well if it was me, I'd be wanting more investigation as to what could be causing it. There are a number of things it could be, and if I was concerned about something like that, I'd be asking for further checks to eliminate possible causes.

Sadly, sometimes we have to,push to get the answers we want.

Are you on treatment for your high blood pressure? Could it be related to that?

Leeroygunn said:

Also would that be classed as prediabetes

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Mostly those diagnoses are made using the HbA1c result so I would suggest you book yourself in for another one at the surgery. At least then you'll know where you stand and can take action. Otherwise you're a bit in the dark as will we be. If you let us know the result (don't let the doc fob you off with an "Its ok") then we would be in a better position to give you some tips.

Leeroygunn said:

I beleve im on somthing for high blood pressure somthing called beta blocker (propranolol) just seems funny that when i feel weird my sugar levels are above 8 but how do i push the doctors to get to the bottom of it

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Ok - well, some medications can increase your blood sugar. I'd ask if that medication could be causing your higher sugars.

If your tingling started around the same time you began those meds, I'd also ask if that could be connected.

How do you push the doctors? Politely but firmly, I suggest. Explain you have concerns and would like some answers. If it was me, I'd write down my questions and concerns beforehand so I didn't forget anything.

It's your health and you're entitled to get answers.

@Leeroygunn

Hello and welcome to the forum To help you, here is the information we give to new members and I hope this will be useful to you. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to answer.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 210,000 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.

If you have a meter then you can test whether your body has a diabetic response to food by doing a week of intensive testing and recording. You need a notebook in which you record your fasting BG and then test before each meal and at one and two hours after each meal. You also record exactly what you ate and if possible how much (it can be approximate but as long as you understand how much it is e.g.. a bowl of rice or half a bowl of rice so that in future you can test smaller portions or eliminating that food).

This gives you your base levels and if you find your BG spikes after a meal that includes carbohydrates, (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, pastry, fruits and anything sugary of course) then whether or not your doctor diagnoses you, you will know you have a diabetic response and you can look at following a low carb higher fat diet and increasing your exercise levels (weight training is good as it builds muscle which uses up more glycogen - but a brisk walk after meals is also helpful).

Stress and medicines can also cause higher blood sugars so if you can identify meals which cause you to spike and then test items within those meals you will find out if it is food or if it is some other cause. It is good to record in the notebook things like whether you felt happy or stressed and whether you slept well or badly and any medicines you took and when. Over time you can hope to find patterns which will show you what you need to change to improve.

Be aware that the diagnostic cut off points for diabetes are pretty arbitrary (based on a level which allowed most Americans to obtain health insurance apparently and therefore the bar was set quite high for a diabetic diagnosis) and of course it is the fact your body responds in a diabetic way to carbohydrate that causes your BG levels to start to rise. When they reach a certain level you will be diagnosed pre-diabetic and when they reach a certain, higher, level you will be diagnosed diabetic but those are just points on the scale. Your aim is to prevent your blood sugar getting to those points on the scale by changing your diet.

I did intensive testing and recording for a couple of months until I felt I had a handle on what I could and couldn't eat and what helped to lower BG readings too.

The above applies to type 2 diabetes not type 1 which I know little about how that is diagnosed.