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Prediabetes This is my first post.

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Beebeelady

Active Member
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27
Hi. Last year I was told my HBA1c was 43. I was told to avoid sugar and processed food and to watch my weight. That was it.
My older sister is type 2 diabetic and manages her diabetes well without drugs. I set out very determinedly to not become diabetic. I have read a lot and decided that LCHF was the way to go. Having tried it I am now confused. Recently my blood sugar levels have gone up to 7.7 fasting. Then yesterday late afternooon I suddenly felt so tired that I wanted to go to bed. My blood sugar was 4.2. Today the same thing happened, late afternoon I felt desperately tired and a bit "wobbly" . My bs was 3.1 . I had eaten a cooked breakfast and a cooked lunch. What does this all mean? The GPS advice was to eat a mars bar!!?? The very thing I have been avoiding doing. Confused? I am at a loss as to where to go from here. Have I now got diabetes? I understand that "hypos" are very unusual in non diabetics. If anyone can shed any light on this I would be grateful. Many thanks.
 
Hi @Beebeelady ,

Welcome to the forum.
Prolonged high blood sugars is a primary symptom of diabetes. (Of any type.)
So dropping to "3.1" in any case would be worthy of a couple of jelly babies & a test 20 minutes later to bring the level back in safe range. Sounds like you have a meter which is great news.
I'm insulin dependant, so the chances of hypoglycemia is always a risk on my meds.

I'll tag in @daisy1 & @AM1874 for some info.

I'll also tag in @Brunneria @Lamont D along with @Bluetit1802 who might help regarding your specific question..

Good luck!
 
Thank you for taking the time to reply and for offering to tag in others to help. I do appreciate it.
 
Beebeelady said:
Thank you for taking the time to reply and for offering to tag in others to help. I do appreciate it.
Click to expand...

No problem. Give the gang a little time & they will be along.

I'm no doctor. But for what it's worth, sounds like you're doing pretty well from what I see.?!

Tagging in the attention of @JohnEGreen also..
 
Hi Beebeelady, try to assimilate what you read and are told gradually. Give yourself time to think. Your symptoms sound similar to some of us who have Reactive Hypogyceamia but I'm no medic. You could try looking at the RH section of this site. best wishes Derek
 
Hi @Beebeelady and welcome,

Your 3.1 was very low and that is why you felt rotten. The advice to eat a Marsbar was to bring your blood sugars up to a safer level. As @Jaylee said, a few Jelly Babies or similar might have done the trick and then test again a little bit later to see if you are rising to a safer level. Under 4 is considered a hypo.

There are lots of different types of blood sugar conditions, not just diabetes Type 2 or Type 1. You could well have one of the other types. I would agree you should have a look at the Reactive Hypoglycemia forum and see if anything rings any bells. Then hang on for some of the tagged experts in this field to add their advice.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/reactive-hypoglycemia.70/
 
That's good advice
Jaylee said:
No problem. Give the gang a little time & they will be along.

I'm no doctor. But for what it's worth, sounds like you're doing pretty well from what I see.?!

Tagging in the attention of @JohnEGreen also..
Click to expand...
Thank you again for the reply and the tags
 
thank you that is good advice.
Thank you blue tit.
 
Hi @Beebeelady .. and welcome
You have certainly made a good move coming here .. whether or not you have been diagnosed. It sounds as though you may be borderline. Your low readings will probably have been brought about by your low-carb and since you are not on any meds, the sugar-boost that has been recommended should sort this out. For your info, I was diagnosed T2 in early Feb and, like yourself and many others, I was somewhat shocked with no information and no real idea of what was happening to me. Since joining this forum, though, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need. It's still early for me but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly.

You seem to have already taken on board the strategy that managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing your Blood Glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..

I see that @Jaylee has already tagged @ daisy1 for you and I suggest that you read up on the Low Carb Program in the information that she will soon be sending you. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. and the following Diet Doctor websites ...
Low Carb Intro and Information
Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

It sounds as though you already have a meter and that you are testing your BG levels .. but, if not, it is a top priority that you get your own test meter and, for this, the following websites might help:
https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
for the SD Codefree meter, which costs £12.98 (you don't pay VAT) or:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free.
I have both for comparative purposes and I have never found any significant difference between them. Unless you are prescribed test strips by your doctor (unlikely), the costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. I'm testing 3-5 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for either of the two packages above but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them
Hope this helps
 
I used to get similar feelings at similar times in my teens and twenties, and suspect I had some sort of RH back then, just never diagnosed. I did Atkins and all was well for a long time.
Recently the same symptoms reappeared, as I was regressing down to normal readings of Hba1c.
I find that I need to eat mid morning rather than later in the day, and have about 5gm of carb, not much more but not much less, and that sorts it. If you can sort out the trigger for the over reaction you get then it should hopefully settle down quickly as long as you can keep to the routine.
I found that a few grapes sorted out the slumps better than anything with sucrose or glucose. I come round a lot faster, and with a lot less sugar. Why fructose should do the trick I do not know.
Do try out various strategies and remedies to see if you can find one to suit you.
 
WELL- I saw a GP this morning. I came out of the surgery feeling very small, but am now a bit angry. In summary she told me that I should NOT be testing my BS, but should rely on an anuual HBa1c. When I asked for dietry advice she told me to carry on doing what I have been doing, without even asking me what that was. When I asked her how would I otherwise know whether what I was doing was working she just reitterated the HBa1c mantra. She told me BS of 7.7 was normal until I pressed the point that it was a fasting BS, but still she dismissed it as nothing important. She completely dismissed the 3.1 reading as irrelevant despite the fact I felt unwell with it. She considered the feeling unwell to be coincidental. She repeated that "you are NOT diabetic" 3 times, and I said "I hope I'm not and that is why I am here, to do whatever I can to NOT become diabetic".
It is depressing how she talked to me, how it made me feel and her complete disregard of my efforts to prevent myself becoming diabetic, i.e. if i am not already diabetic. Is this a common response? I am having blood tests next Tuesday after which I will decide whether to change Drs. (not so easy in a rural area). Any comments would be welcomed. Thank you for reading my rant!
 
Thank you for the encouragement and advice
 
ok, thank you, that's good advice. I really would prefer to avoid sugar as it triggers my desire for more! Grapes I will try!
 
Sadly @Beebeelady .. that's exactly the sort of nonsense that many folks on here have experienced from their HCPs .. you might be interested in two of my earlier posts ..
# Taking the Driving Seat
# Taking the Driving Seat and now going Full Throttle
Hope this helps
 
Your doctor is poor. If nothing else she should have discussed the low you had.

You need to keep a food diary including everything that passes your lips. Test before you eat and again at half hourly intervals after the meal for at least 3 hours. Record these levels alongside the food. You may notice some patterns, and especially look at the food if you go so low again. This may seem a lot of testing, but you can do it just after a main meal or one with carbs in it. If you are short of strips I suggest you abandon the morning fasting reading as that is the least important at the moment and can be affected by so many variables outside your control. You can then take these to your next appointment as evidence.
 
Thank you bluetit. I do keep a food diary of sorts but I will make it accurate from now on! I will also try the testing half hourly as i have not done it that often before (only after 1 hour then 2 hours) and see if I can notice any patterns. Good idea!
 

Hi, @Beebeelady
Welcome to our forum.
Using your monitor to see what food does to your blood sugar levels is very important and keeping the food diary is just as important.
Even if you don't have any condition, it will give you the information to make your mind up about what foods you should avoid or reduce in portion size, to help you avoid problems in the future

Do have a read around the RH forum, it could give you an idea what battles we have to face with health care providers who don't have the necessary knowledge to either diagnose or treat Hypoglycaemia.

There is a reason for low blood sugar levels and only tests can give you a proper diagnosis.

Best wishes
 
@Beebeelady

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.


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 245,000 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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all 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
 
Hi and welcome!

You have had great advice above, so i won't repeat it, except to say that you do need to keep a food diary and keep testing your blood glucose. That will help you to work out what is going on.

Can you remember exactly what you ate/drank (and the timings) on the day you got the 3.1 reading?
Also did you have any stress/unusual exercise or similar, because they can sometimes affect our blood glucose.
 
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