Hi. I am a newbie. I am 62 year old female and after a fasting blood test of 4.2 I have been told that I am prediabetic. The blood test also showed up a cholesterol level of 7.2. I am 5ft 4inch and weigh 91/2 stone. After reading this forum I am wondering if I am prediabetic with this low reading. I don't smoke or drink and get my exercise from walking my dog everyday. My doctor does not want to see me for a year for another blood test and told me to pick up some leaflets from the surgery. Should I just alter my diet a little, or should I be more worried with this fasting level. Help would be much appreciated. Just to say as well diabetes does not run in my family.
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Prediabetic.
- Thread starter Devonlady
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Just alter your diet a little. Cut down on sugar/fruit juice/cake/... That will hopefully be enough. If not you can then look at dropping more carbohydrates. As for the fasting numbers these are the last to rise
Daibell
Master
Hi and welcome. A fasting blood test of 4.2 mmol is absolutely fine if a little low and not far from being into hypo teritory. That reading indicates that you are not pre-diabetic so I wonder why you were told this? Are you sure the 4.2 reading is correct? You need more than one fasting test to give some idea of possible diabetes. You would need a few random finger-prick tests or tests 2 hours after a meal to provide more info and there are more formal tests to actually diagnose. Your BMI looks fine so I would continue as you are and if in doubt control the carbs a bit more.
Bluetit1802
Legend
Could your reading have been 42, not 4.2? That would put you in the prediabetic range. Best thing is to ask for a print out of your results (glucose and cholesterol) so you know exactly which tests you had and where you are starting from. These print outs are very useful.
- Messages
- 3,176
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
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- I do not have diabetes
oh sorry I read that as 42 as in HbA1c not 4.2
You need to check with the surgery exactly what the blood test results were and make sure you have the units as well
You need to check with the surgery exactly what the blood test results were and make sure you have the units as well
Bluetit1802
Legend
Up to 41 is non-diabetic
42 to 47 is prediabetic
48 and over is diabetic.
42 to 47 is prediabetic
48 and over is diabetic.
Arab Horse
Well-Known Member
You really need to see what any other results are. No blood test is 100% accurate, it the same sample is measured 10 times you won't get exactly the same result every time; an HbA1c of 42 could be 43 or 41 which puts you pre diabetic or OK!
It would be advisable to cut down on your carbs, especially hi GI carbs such as white bread, rice and pasta and go for the wholegrain ones. Good luck.
It would be advisable to cut down on your carbs, especially hi GI carbs such as white bread, rice and pasta and go for the wholegrain ones. Good luck.
- Messages
- 3,176
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
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- I do not have diabetes
ok that means you are just in the pre-diabetic range. We didnt ask are you taking any medication currently; some can affect your levels? My initial advice stands try and cut down on sweet foods and drinks as a start. This will probably be enough to reverse the upward trend. If you want to go further then reduce your grain products (especially bread, pasta, ...), rice, potatoes
C
catherinecherub
Guest
Hi @Devonlady and welcome to the forum.
Treat yourself as a diabetic and things should improve.
@daisy1 will be along with some basic advice that will help.
Ask any questions you like and someone will always answer.
Treat yourself as a diabetic and things should improve.
@daisy1 will be along with some basic advice that will help.
Ask any questions you like and someone will always answer.
DeejayR
Well-Known Member
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Hello and welcome. I was in your position just over a year ago. Unfortunately although I rigorously stuck to the high-carb-low-fat diet advocated by most doctors, diabetes nurses, the government and Diabetes UK, my blood sugar crept up to 48 and I became Type 2. I also lost a lot of weight despite being quite thin to start with.
So if you aren't going to have another HbA1c for a year you might want to have a look at the low-carb-full-fat diet adopted by many (including me) on this forum. You are in an ideal position to take control of your condition. Have a browse of the forum and do ask if you don't understand something.
Bear in mind when you see your nurse that she will probably want you to eat plenty of carbs. We'll deal with that when it happens!
So if you aren't going to have another HbA1c for a year you might want to have a look at the low-carb-full-fat diet adopted by many (including me) on this forum. You are in an ideal position to take control of your condition. Have a browse of the forum and do ask if you don't understand something.
Bear in mind when you see your nurse that she will probably want you to eat plenty of carbs. We'll deal with that when it happens!
Thanks for all the advice. I take one 20mg Omeprazole tablet a day for reflux. If I go on a low carb high fat diet would that not affect my cholesterol level. I will admit my weakness is chocolate but recently I have not been able to eat it because it aggravates my reflux. To ween my self off of chocolate I understand that a couple of squares of dark chocolate is acceptable, is that ok.
DeejayR
Well-Known Member
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Many people find their cholesterol levels improve on this diet. Don't ask me how, but someone will explain.
Dark (85-90% choc) in moderation should be fine.
daisy1
Legend
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Hello @Devonlady and welcome to the forum 
Here is the information we give to new members. Following this advice on diet could help you either stay in the pre-diabetes category without becoming fully diabetic or even have your levels drop below being pre-diabetic as you are only just pre-diabetic and nearly non-diabetic. Ask as many questions as you need to and more members will be able to help you.
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 130,000 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 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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
Here is the information we give to new members. Following this advice on diet could help you either stay in the pre-diabetes category without becoming fully diabetic or even have your levels drop below being pre-diabetic as you are only just pre-diabetic and nearly non-diabetic. Ask as many questions as you need to and more members will be able to help you.
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 130,000 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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
- Messages
- 3,176
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
- Treatment type
- I do not have diabetes
Very basic explanation - What makes your cholesterol bad is excess fat when you have eaten lots of carbohydrates. If you cut the carbs you do not convert the fat for storage and your triglycerides go down and your HDL rises. Additionally, fructose in your diet. The body really does not like to process it for energy so it just increases those trigs as well. Therefore it is good to limited the amount of fruit/fruit juice
Bluetit1802
Legend
Too many carbs for your insulin to cope with, coupled with insulin resistance, creates excess insulin in the blood stream. This converts to fat for storage, which increases triglycerides and lowers HDL. I think that is the basics of it.
