Pre diabetes diagnosis

[Narny940]

Hi I have been feeling really tired, increased appetite for few months , had bloods taken , my diabetes reading came back at 48? Under active thyroid, doctor wasn't very helpful in explaining, what next , used my father's blood machine and have a reading of 7.8 this morning before eating , advise please

 

[Rachox]

Hi Narny and welcome! Your reading of 48 is officially diabetic though only just. I would recommend asking for a second test of your HbA1c to confirm whether you are in the pre-diabetic or diabetic range. Here is some more info on the HbA1c test to help you understand more:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-test.html
I’ll also tag in @daisy1 incase you have diabetes confirmed.

Edit to add the link!

 

[Prem51]

Welcome to the forum @Narny940 In the UK non-diabetic range is below 42 mmol/L, pre-diabetic is 42-47, and diaetic is 48 and above. So you are just in the diabetic range, but not very high. You should be given a blood HbA1c retest after 3 months to confirm diagnosis.

But you should be able to lower your blood glucose levels to pre-diabetic or even non-diabetic levels by changing what they eat. Many of the Type 2 diabetics on here have reduced their bgs by adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (lchf) approach to eating.
That means avoiding or limiting starchy carbohydrates like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice = these turn to sugar in our bodies quickly so aren't good for T2s.

The energy we would have got from carbs is replaced by increasing consumption of healthy fats like oily fish, full fat dairy products, olive oil, avocados and nuts.

Have a read round the forum to see how this works and ask as many questions as you want. The people on here are friendly and supportive and you will get a lot of good advice.

 

[Prem51]

Your fasting blood glucose of 7.8 is a bit high, NHS advice is that T2s should aim for a fbg of between 4-7. But you should be able to lower it with a changed diet.
It's a good idea to buy your own blood glucose meter to test before, and 2 hours after eating to find out which foods spike your bg readings, so you can avoid them.

 

[Prem51]

The tiredness may be due to the underactive thyroid. I have hypothyroidism too, and used to feel really tired before I was diagnosed and put on meds. It is quite easy to treat. Your gp will prescribe a synthetic thyroid product - I take 1 levothyroxene tablet first thing in the morning . As hypothyroidism is an ongoing condition you will be entitled to free prescriptions - I think you need to ask your gp to get an exemption card issued.

 

[KK123]

I know they have to set a threshold but it always reminds me of being a little bit pregnant.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome,

When an initial HbA1c comes back as borderline diabetic, as yours has, you should have another test within 2 to 3 weeks to confirm matters. Has this been mentioned to you? Have you been told you will be seeing a diabetes nurse at all? What exactly did your GP say?

 

[daisy1]

@Narny940
Hello Narny and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.

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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

 

[KTNIC]

Your fasting blood glucose of 7.8 is a bit high, NHS advice is that T2s should aim for a fbg of between 4-7. But you should be able to lower it with a changed diet.
It's a good idea to buy your own blood glucose meter to test before, and 2 hours after eating to find out which foods spike your bg readings, so you can avoid them.

Hi I'm new to all this! Can you recommend a home blood glucose monitor? Thanks

 

[Spl@]

Code free has cheap, sometimes questionable but useable strips and a cheap meter.

If you get into the diet early your numbers will drop. I was in the same place in October, now im far healthier.

Reducing carbs is your aim, reduce them at a steady rate. I hit it hard and had to suffer the effects (for me luckily mild) of some carb cold turkey. Your body wants the easy life, carbs is easy fuel, fat is a better fuel for the body but it needs to switch over. That can make some people feel pretty rotten.

I now run happily for the most part in Ketosis myself, eating one meal a day, under 20 grammes of carbs a day, I did have a fried bfast today though, 2 eggs,2 high meat sausages and 2 rashers of bacon . My last 1c was 31 and that was just after Christmas. I firmly believe with Christmas (and my daughters birthday, burned fingers) out of the way now I would be lower than that.

Mind, with diabetes it could well go up.

Specific advice, look at the information on the back of the pack, read the carb figure (ignoring the bit about sugars) and aim to keep that low. To start with aim for under 100g/day.
Reduce or remove, Pasta, rice, potatoes,oats and flour avoiding veg that grows in the ground.

Once you have a meter. Test when you get up, then test before you eat, then 2 hrs after. If the number goes up more than 2 you need to look at what you have eaten and adjust. It helps at this stage if you keep the carbs singular (don't eat bread with potatoes for example) on the plate so you can find what you react to.

Its daunting and annoying and a lot of other things at first but you will feel much better in time. The whole forum is behind you.

 

[Prem51]

Hi I'm new to all this! Can you recommend a home blood glucose monitor? Thanks

I use the TEE2+ from Spirit Healthcare. The SD Codefree and the TEE2+ have the cheapest testing strips, which is the main cost - some meters are given free, but the cost of testing strips is higher. This is a post copied from @Rachox, and originally fom @Bluetit1802 :

 

[Grazer]

I wouldn't worry too much about a second test to confirm diabetes/pre-diabetes. To be honest, I don't agree much with differentiating between the two. A normal non-diabetic person would have an HbA1c of about 30, so all our readings are way above that. NICE doesn't like the idea of reducing "target" or diagnostic levels to meaningful figures, because if they did we'd suddenly increase massively the diabetic population which wouldn't look good.
My HbA1c varies from 37 to 41, and by diagnostic standards I'd be considered pretty normal. But if I ate a mars bar, and tested 30 minutes later, you'd see that I was very diabetic. I just manage my BGs to near non-diabetic levels by diet and exercise.
So I think you need to consider yourself diabetic, and start adjusting your diet/lifestyle accordingly in the way that the good people on this forum suggest.
Pre-diabetes is, to me, an early diagnosis of diabetes. Lucky you caught it early, but diabetes it is. It does mean though that you can manage it more easily than you otherwise might.
It takes a while to find a diet that gives you the BGs you need, AND that you can live with for life, but once you have, the old diabetes doesn't have to be too much of a burden for many people.

 

[Listlad]

I wouldn't worry too much about a second test to confirm diabetes/pre-diabetes. To be honest, I don't agree much with differentiating between the two. A normal non-diabetic person would have an HbA1c of about 30, so all our readings are way above that. NICE doesn't like the idea of reducing "target" or diagnostic levels to meaningful figures, because if they did we'd suddenly increase massively the diabetic population which wouldn't look good.
My HbA1c varies from 37 to 41, and by diagnostic standards I'd be considered pretty normal. But if I ate a mars bar, and tested 30 minutes later, you'd see that I was very diabetic. I just manage my BGs to near non-diabetic levels by diet and exercise.
So I think you need to consider yourself diabetic, and start adjusting your diet/lifestyle accordingly in the way that the good people on this forum suggest.
Pre-diabetes is, to me, an early diagnosis of diabetes. Lucky you caught it early, but diabetes it is. It does mean though that you can manage it more easily than you otherwise might.

I like the way you put that. It seems to sum my condition up quite well.