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Recently diagnosed pre diabetes.trying to figure it all out!

donnadonna33

donnadonna33

Member
Messages
16
Location
Wales
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People who can't think for themselves.
Hi folks.
I was diagnosed pre in December with an A1c of 44 ...range 42-47 .it wasn't a massive surprise as I had been very unwell and immobile for the previous 2 1/2 years.plus an 8 month stint on a low dose of prednisone (a huge struggle to get off of)
I have several conditions incl ..O/A R/A hyperurecemia anemia of inflamation fibro and other bits and bobs relating to autoimmune.
I had been vegetarian ,pescetarian gluten free and finally vegan for a few years in my quest to try and heal some of the pain and illness before the mother of all flair ups happened in 20020 and a diagnosis of RA. I now believe these faddy diet changes all culminated to make me severely unwell.
I had slowly reintroduced some "normal" food again after the mother of flairs..such as non gluten free bread pasta etc..and some chicken etc and saw basically very little healing at all.
Anyways long story short as possible.
As soon as I learned of the A1C I started making more drastic changes and changes I hadn't tried before..I introduce red meat into my diet (a scary thing because of the hyperurecemia).
I chucked all sugar out (never ate loads and loads of sugary things anyway)
And started cutting carbs wherever possible.
I started educating myself watching and reading whatever I could about diabetes and low carb etc.
As the weeks have gone on I've found myself going lower and lower on the carbs and higher on fats and meat etc.
I have not had a flair up since and more than that, I have seen some significant reductions in pain levels and swelling
There are still some things I'm confused about .. so much info to take in!
I have bought a BS moniter and have been doing that for the last couple of weeks or so and still so confused about numbers and things.
I wondered if anyone would be able to answer some of my questions?

So in the last couple of weeks the highest I've seen my BS ever is about 7.8 after eating but that's only been a couple of times.

My numbers seem to fluctuate all day in the late 4s occasionaly the 5,s and early to mid 6's before food.(I'm testing alot)
My BS is usually higher in the mornings (around the 6's) untill I eat ...when they will often drop to much less.
I wonder could this be to do with IF 16-8 that I do most days?

Other times I can rise to a 7 or so and that can take longer than two hours to come back down to so called normal ranges..
But I seem to also have a delayed "peak"sometimes which makes it hard to decipher where I am,since from what I understand blood sugar should return to normal levels two hours after food.
Is this weird?or just my body doing Its thing?
Another thing is that after several weeks of IF and low carb I have seen zero weight loss.
Infact I have put on according to my lovely scales!
I had lost alot of muscle mass due to awful diet and lack of mobility so could the up-surge in protien be doing this?
What is odd is that I look much slimmer ..my face has cheekbones my shoulders and even waist look much smaller?but still no budge in Weight ?huh?
I'm always reading of people doing what I'm doing who have lost stones and stones but not me :-/
I do believe potentially my higher uric acid levels could be contributing.
It's very frustrating as when I first got very ill 3 years ago now I lost two stone purely because I was so unwell and had no appetite.
I wonder if others may have had this problem.

Also I am wondering if the average levels you get on the glucometer are worth anything ?
Or are they mostly unimportant.

What should I be looking for in my meters information in terms of getting into non diabetic ranges.?

I am extremely motivated to get rid of this pre diabetes diagnosis and would hugely appreciate any thoughts.

Thankyou :-)
 
Hi Donnadonna, I will leave it to someone more experienced to answer your questions as I also got diagnosed 2 months ago. I recently went on a diabetes course its for anyone with type 2 (DAFNE course available for T1) it's called Desmond here is the link to it. https://www.desmond.nhs.uk/
It's a FREE full day course with a diabetes nurse and a dietician going through everything I've attached a pic of one of the booklets they give you. You can self refer or I asked my Dr's to refer me.
 
..... It only took a couple of weeks and I was on the course. It's really helpful and will answer all your questions and probably a few more besides. The course I did there was 6 of us and it was nice to hear different experiences. The diabetic nurse also had our latest blood test and cholesterol results and there was time to talk about them if u wanted to.
I really hope that helps I really recommend doing it it made me feel more confident knowing how to go about managing it. All the best
 
Sorry pic won't post but all the stuff you need is on the Desmond website
 
Ahh thankyou :-) really appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Is this an NHS course?
I'm feeling extremely jaded by the NHS after years of misdiagnosis mis treatment and fob offs tbh.I avoid as much as possible now as i find they raise my stress levels too much!lol
My doctor was very nonchalant about the pre diabetes diagnosis and I was sent away with a shrug of the shoulders and the obligatory "leaflets".
I'm doing sort of OK working it out so far just a few questions that are still outstanding in my mind.
There does also seem to be contradicting advice re optimal numbers etc ..bit of a minefield isn't it.:-)
 
Welcome @donnadonna33
Our blood sugar levels fluctuate all the time depending on many factors, when we eat, what we eat, our activities even reacting to our emotions.
The glucose meter accuracy also has to be taken into account, the standard for all meters is +/-15% in other words a result of say 5 just means that your actual level is somewhere between 4.1 and 5.8. your meter just gives an idea of what range your blood sugar is in.
The 2hr test is roughly based on the idea that a non diabetic would usually have processed the glucose from a meal and be back at pre meal levels within the 2hrs. So this is what we aim for, although we allow a 2mmol margin mainly because of the meter accuracy issues.
Of course the rate of digestion varies depending on the food eaten, protein,carbs and fat all digest at different rates, and usually a meal contains a mixture of all three, something like pizza, which is high in carbs and fat can cause sugar levels to remain high for some time, even for non diabetic people .
 
donnadonna33 said:
contradicting advice re optimal numbers
Click to expand...
Don't get too hung up on the numbers as I mentioned ,the meters are just not accurate enough.
The actual number is less important than the difference between the pre and post meal results.
It's this difference that tells you if your meal was suitable.
Here's a couple of links that should help
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose-meters/blood-glucose-meter-accuracy.html
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/ and the one for the nutritional thingy below my post
 
Thankyou catinahat
It makes sense about the slower digestion since I have drastically cut carbs for several weeks.
I guess what you may be saying is that you cannot really determine whether you have got rid of pre diabetes via the meter?
Unless maybe could general trends of sugars becoming lower over time indicate an improvement?
My doctor says no A1C retest for a year so that leaves me in a bit of limbo unless I pay for one I guess.
When saying a 2mmol margin does this mean no more than a 2 mmol "spike" after food no matter what you're pre-meal readings are?
Sorry, I will get this eventually!
 
Ahh you answered part of my question while I was typing out my post ..I see ..Thankyou !
 
donnadonna33 said:
Unless maybe could general trends of sugars becoming lower over time indicate an improvement
Click to expand...
Yes your meter average over time will give you an idea if things are improving or getting worse

donnadonna33 said:
When saying a 2mmol margin does this mean no more than a 2 mmol "spike" after food no matter what you're pre-meal readings are?
Click to expand...
Your blood sugar level is whatever it is, knowing that level will not help you to lower it.
But knowing how a certain meal affects your levels gives you the opportunity to either avoid that meal in the future or change it so it's less carby or eat less of it.
The whole point of testing for someone not using insulin or some other hypo inducing drugs, it to design a diet that you can stick to that gives you normal blood sugar levels.
donnadonna33 said:
I guess what you may be saying is that you cannot really determine whether you have got rid of pre diabetes via the meter?
Click to expand...
You don't really get rid of T2 or pre D for that matter. For whatever reason, and there are several different theories as to the cause, you have developed insulin resistance.
Although we have no trouble making insulin, our insulin no longer works as effectively as it should.
After a meal our pancreas produces insulin that should take the glucose out of the blood to feed our cells.
Because the insulin is not as efficient as it was our sugar levels remain high ,so more insulin is needed. Meanwhile because a good part of our meal is still in our blood we get hungry and eat something else, so even more insulin is produced.
Eventually because of the high level of insulin our bodies become less sensitive to it.
So in a nutshell
high carb meals = high blood sugar= high insulin= less insulin sensitivity
Low carb meals. = Lower blood sugar= lower insulin= greater sensitivity to insulin
Suppose what I'm trying to say is you can use your diet to get into normal blood sugar ranges, that should help you avoid the complications and other health issues caused by high blood sugar.
But it is not really fixed, if you let your diet slip and go back to a higher carb way of eating, it will return.
 
Hi catinthehat

Thanks again I'm sure you're busy and I had alot of questions.
I guess I mean that I intend to get into normal ranges ie the ranges of a non prediabetic.
I believe that will have an impact on my other conditions too which is so important.
Totally get that I can never eat a large bag of crisps again :-/
That's a kind of joke but I completely accept that I probably can't eat pasta rice etc again and that's OK.
It's well worth the sacrifice for feeling better and hopefully avoid all the nasties that many sadly have to deal with.
I very much appreciate your time.
Thanks very much.
 
donnadonna33 said:
Totally get that I can never eat a large bag of crisps again :-/
Click to expand...
Crisps and good bread are the things I found hardest to give up.
I find pork scratchings a pretty acceptable alternative, but they may not appeal to you that much with your vegetarian history.

Another very tasty alternative is cheese crisps:
Grate or very thinly slice a hard cheese of choice.
Spread on parchment paper.
Put in microwave for a couple of minutes.

They should be completely crispy after cooling, if they're still chewy they needed a little longer.
Experimenting with different spices is worth it as well.
You can also make these in the oven, takes a little longer. :)

A good trick to find low carb versions of whatever it is you are craving is to simply google the thing and add 'low carb' or 'keto' to your search.
 
Ahh great thankyou...
I definitely need a few more ideas for food ..I really don't find low carb a massive sacrifice but I am starting to get a little bit bored.
You're a crisp feind too then!it's also the only thing and decent bread like yourself ,that I truly miss to be honest.
And yup when I stopped being vegie/vegan I went full on back into the meat thing.
It was upsetting at first but I realised i had to put myself and my family first and veganism was making me very unwell and deficient.
So yes I do love a pork scratching as well as the crackling from the roast.!
Cooking can sometimes be a little difficult because of chronic pain and fatigue but these are slightly improving now ..I've made some chia pudding and will experiment with other things.
It sounds weird but I feel like one of the lucky ones really to have found out this stuff while I still have time, and in this day and age with all the information out there i /we probably have a better chance than many years ago.
Thankyou for your advice and suggestions I am appreciative!
 
donnadonna33 said:
I definitely need a few more ideas for food ..I really don't find low carb a massive sacrifice but I am starting to get a little bit bored.
Click to expand...
You might like this thread where we share what we eat, it's a good thread for finding new ideas for food. :)

What have you eaten today? (Low carb forum)

Couple of days yesterday kefir plus put dinner in slow cooker before heading out for very busy day Two boiled eggs and a 30g pack of keto seeded bites eaten while out Dinner hm pasatta and venison meatballs with glass of red wine Today kefir Lunchtime a tuna salad with kimchi and olives I also...
www.diabetes.co.uk www.diabetes.co.uk
 
@donnadonna33
You're off to a good start. It has taken years for your body to get into this mess, and it will take lots of time to get out of it and recover fully. Your body is healing as shown by the lessening of symptoms and changes in your face. Ignore the scales for a while. Use a belt and see the notches tighten, as they will.

Ignore most NHS advice. They are slow and patchy coming to understand the benefits of low carbing and may well tell you to eat carbs. You are already seeing results in your body so do what your body needs.

To find food ideas simply search for any recipe/food you fancy but with the word keto in front of it and Internet will give you options. Or ask on here :)

B patient, kind and gentle to yourself while learning and adapting. I'm just 3 years in and still learn something everyday. Your numbers are good!
 
OK so this is what I learnt on the nhs desmonds course.
Your blood cells live for 3 months so unless you have transfusion you have completely 'different' blood in you every 3 months therefore there should be no reason why you have to wait a year to get another HBA1C test. Tell the DR that you have made changes and you want to see if you have improved your situation. I find that being persistent but also armed with facts means that you generally get what you want and if this dr doesnt agree see another one.
Read this https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/hba1c
 
@donnadonna33 Do not be too concerned about numbers up to 8mmol/l after eating - once I got to that point I saw a change begin and I stuck to the same meals which did not cause above 8s as it felt right. Over time I reduced down to normal Hba1c - just, but lost weight regained energy and generally felt that I was back being me again.
Once you settle into the way of eating you might find that things which seem tempting prove to be more like chewing cardboard than some sort of treat. Things bought in shops might well seem just too sickly sweet to enjoy.
There are lots of alternatives to high starch or sugar foods. I have taken some dishes along to gatherings of morris dancers and having set them on the table I go to take my coat off and find the dish is empty by the time I get back.
 
MrsA2 said:
@donnadonna33
You're off to a good start. It has taken years for your body to get into this mess, and it will take lots of time to get out of it and recover fully. Your body is healing as shown by the lessening of symptoms and changes in your face. Ignore the scales for a while. Use a belt and see the notches tighten, as they will.

Ignore most NHS advice. They are slow and patchy coming to understand the benefits of low carbing and may well tell you to eat carbs. You are already seeing results in your body so do what your body needs.

To find food ideas simply search for any recipe/food you fancy but with the word keto in front of it and Internet will give you options. Or ask on here :)

B patient, kind and gentle to yourself while learning and adapting. I'm just 3 years in and still learn something everyday. Your numbers are good!
Click to expand...
I love that reply thankyou so much
yep I'm being kind to myself probably for the first time in my life.And DW I rarely listen to much the standard health care system have to say regarding my conditions anymore ..I've been left hanging for the last few years and have found my own way.And yes you're exactly right about feeling better...that surely has to be the proof in the pudding right there doesn't it ;-).
 
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