• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Pre-diabetes and my mother

E

EmilyDoherty

Newbie
Messages
1
Hi all,

First off, this is breaking my heart to write this as I am in such a state about what to do.

My mother has recently (2 days ago) been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. She is a little overweight, smokes heavily and does no exercise. She is a relatively healthy eater, but also had a hysterctomy a few years ago and has been suffering with bladder infections of late - the final prompt for the blood test recently.

I do not want to lose my mum. I do not want this to develop to type 2 diabetes. I am 28 years old and married, but am in pieces as I want to make sure it doesn't happen but do not know how. I realise I am being very pessimistic, but I am so scared. She is 54 years old, and my fatehr and her are seperated. My brother is at University, my sister is in Greece, I am the eldeset and in the same city as her - London.

Can anyone give me concrete advice on the best:

* Type of diet? Is it a low glycemic one? I realise a healthy diet is the key, but want to know for sure what she should avoid/eat lots of

* Form of exercise? I want to take her walking everyday, to/from work for example - but is there a "best" exercise to do to help her body quickly?

Other things that I just NEED to know about this condition? I want to do everything in my power to help her, and will be moving in with her for a month from Sunday.

I am sorry to be so emotional about this, but I am finding it so hard to fathom - my mother may become diabetic.

Any help anyone can give me - books I can get?? Support groups in South East London?? I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you

Emily
 
Welcome to the Forum Emily,

We give the information below to all new Diabetics in the hope that it will help them learn about their Diabetes. Although your mum is not yet Diabetic the information on diet may be useful to her and help her lose some weight. This will reduce her Insulin resistance and bring down her blood sugar levels.

A well controlled diabetic is not the end of the World, Emily. There are many other conditions that are much worse ! I hope the information helps.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking and before meals).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l...(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals........................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals......................... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Emily, and welcome!

Sue is right - Type 2 diabetes is definitely not the end of the world, nor is it a death sentence! If your mother (with your help) takes control now, she may never even get full-blown diabetes, though she will have to be in charge of things for the rest of her life. Your mum and I seem to be about in the same situation - I am Type 2, but was diagnosed very early, and I don't intend to get any worse. The differences - I stopped smoking 10 years ago, and I'm very overweight!

I am confident that I can keep control of the diabetes and fully expect to live a long and (more) active life. The diagnosis can be devastating to begin with, but read round this forum, get as much knowledge as you can, and give your mother as much support as possible while she changes her lifestyle. There are lots of people on here who will give you as much help and support as they can.

The main thing is to cut down on carbs, as the info that Sue gave you says. Get a carb counter book, work out what your mother is eating now, and see where she can make changes. It does work, I promise!

I have a Type 1 friend who became diabetic in her early 40s and is now over 90. She has a better social life than I do! :shock: so you see, there is no need to despair.

Viv :)
 
If she cuts the carbs NOW it will make a huge difference. I was diagnosed 3 years ago and it shook my world into good health.. I am loving life and eating heaps of tasty healthy food and growing an amazing vegetable garden. I will always be diabetic but hopefully my children won't become diabetic (well, maybe two out of three will not as the third is already carb dependent, low income and living in the UK). Celebrate the warning and hopefully she will heed it. The change has to come from her.
 
Back
Top