Have just been diagnosed with prediabetes.
Determined to nip this in the bud and would like to hear from anyone who has achieved this.
Have already taken steps to reduce carbohydrates and have a vlood glucose monitor on order.
Check the Diabetes.co.uk website as lots of tips there
Hi not knowing any of your back ground, one bit of advice i would give, if you are over weight,one of the best ways i found to getting your levals down, is by loseing any of the exsess weight you may be carrying,i know it works for me,just a thought.
jim
Really don't think that is part of my problem as I only weight 9 stone. Have been suffering with knee problems resulting in knee replacement last June, hence I have been unable to exercise, or even walk, at all.
I had been on steroids for 6 and half years, and think this may have caused steroid induced prediabetes. Stopped taking them in May and will never take them again. The side effects are awful.
Best of luck, you've obviously got the right attitude. I was told the same thing almost a year ago. Actually I only found out by asking for [and getting] my medical notes online. I discovered that nearly a year before that when I'd had an NHS health check and hypertension was discovered they never mentioned the HbA1c number, so I was rather shocked to see it just on the borderline. i contacted the dr and had another test done which turned out to be exactly the same result a year down the line. As I'd lost a load of weight and turned my lifestyle around to try and sort the hypertension he said I had prediabetes.
He just said to 'watch your diet' - no details of what to do - and come back in a year for another test. Your numbers will rise he added and I'll have metformin ready when they do. No thank you I thought, I will research this myself so with Mr Google I did so. Diabetes UK is a very useful site. There is a wealth of info out there.
As you say low carbing is good, regular exercise, brisk walking in my case daily, and losing weight if you need to.LCHF is good way of eating for all diabetics and don't listen to the NHS and other sites that tell you to eat 1/3 carbs [NHS eatwell plate]. Not good for diabetics or pre-diabetics.
Hope it all works for you.
My sister was on steroids for 8yrs and developed type 2 diabetes as a result, now she has stopped taking them it is stable. There is a good possibility that now you have stopped taking them that there will be no further progression
Sorry I forgot to mention that I've no idea whether I've beaten it yet. I have another HbA1c test in the new year.
Even though being overweight is a known risk for T2 my dr says thin people can get it too.
Thanks for your reply. My story is exactly the same! Was prediabetic a year ago and nobody thought to tell me! I am furious.
have already received excellent advice from a diabetic website. Absolutely no help from my GP other than waiting to hear about a workshop. I want to get started on this immediately so have cut out carbs to a great extent, sugar in tea and coffee etc. I know everyone spikes differently, hence my order for a BG monitor.
Good luck with your test results. All pretty scary.
I really hope so. Determined to keep the diagnosis as prediabetes or better.
Thanks for being in touch.
Jane, out of interest, do you use a monitor and are they clear to read?
Scary it certainly is Lynn. What is a workshop I wonder? My GP said they don't do anything for prediabetes. That's not much help really is it? That's when he said 'Watch your diet'.. rather a daft remark I thought. Like you I also bought a BG monitor and did a home made OGTT test, only a guide I think from something I found on google, i think it was an American site. . I bought some Lucozade and drank it, having tested [fasting] beforehand then I sat around doing not a lot and tested again after 2 hrs. A bit higher than I'd have liked so who knows where I'm going but I am working on it. I do think the exercise helps, makes the beta cells, the ones that are left anyway, work overtime perhaps
I've just looked on this website and on the 'related info' I clicked on 'healthy eating' and there is the usual [IMHO] rubbish about eating carbs, including pasta, rice potatoes etc and cutting down on fats, especially saturated. I don't go with that myself and neither do full blown diabetics who wish to control their BG according to what I read. Doesn't everyone know that all carbs turn to glucose in the blood so how can they possibly be good. I learnt that in biology when I was at school an awful long time ago!!
It is a prediabetic workshop at our surgery. The diabetic website I've contacted has said that most NHS advice is light years away from current thinking so I think I'll stick with their advice.
As I had a knee replacement in June and am having the second knee op next March, exercising is almost impossible which is a worry. So, I'll do all I can diet wise. My food bill this week is horrendous, but I am so new to this I need to know I have plenty of healthy choices on offer. One lovely lady from the diabetic website has given me a list of everything that is pretty OK and that has been so helpful. So surprised about fruit and how careful you have to be. Apparently berries are best with double cream so slow things down. Can't complain!
Unfortunately the nhs is light year away from reality. It is true that a lot of advice given is incorrect and way out of date...Doctors are happy to prescribe medicines and not try and help you get your sugar levels down. The proof is in the meters and also in your own ''feeling'' better.Simply test your sugar level before any particular food...then check it again after and you will soon fine out which foods are bad for you. I personally cannot eat rice, bread or potatoes any pasta and white flour in general. Bananas and pineapples are out too. Apples are great and I eat upto 3 a day whenever i feel hungry.All breakfast cereals are bad...check the carbs in them and you will see they are 65% carbs so a no go for diabetics. Hope this helps.
Can you advise what to have for breakfast? Have been eating porridge, but maybe that's not a good idea.
I've read diabetics [on a diabetic forum] say their diabetic nurse gives them all this c**p advice about eating pasta,potatoes etc which the patient then ignores and instead eats bacon and egg for breakfast and on return to the nurse/GP find their glucose levels are much better. Nurse/GP thinks it's all down to the patient obeying their orders when in fact it's all down to ignoring the 'advice',ditching the carbs and eating full fat - saturated for choice!!
As a prediabetic myself, ever since I found out I have had either a boiled or poached egg for breakfast, a slice of brown toast and BUTTER. I've never had any hunger pangs which I often did when I ate cereal. As Milo says, cereals are not at all good, apart from the carbs they are seemingly loaded with salt which is bad for blood pressure.Porridge oats are also carbs of course. Then there is the milk one has with it, lots of sugar in that.
Isn't it extrordinary that despite all the evidence from diabetics saying carbs cause sugar spikes the NHS and this site and to a lesser degree the diabetes sites all seem to be in denial and still tell patients to eat carbs..
How can their advice be so outdated? What a worry.
How many eggs can you safely eat per week?
Would love to know how you get on test-wise in the New Year!
lynn08926, As jane 243 has already answered your question, I can only add to what she has already said. A full english is a great start to the day...bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and ''maybe'' one small toast depending on how good or bad your sugar levels are. I already said you need a test meter which will tell you what's good for you and what isn't. Everyone's diabetes is different so you have to judge your level according to your readings. Best to try out different foods and check the spikes you get then decide what suits you. Cereals are totally out...they have been pushed on to the public for the last 40 years or so and has only created an obesity crisis which even now is being ignored.
The best thing to eat daily is apples...any variety...so make a nice snack in between meals...do not ever go hungry and do not break the low (or no) carbs rule. There is no such thing as low or mild diabetes either...and eating any type of ''sugar'' is bad...even healthy foods like honey are not good for diabetics...follow my guidelines and you will surprise your diabetic nurse or doctor !...and feel free to ask any questions any time and i will try to give you answers...
I would suggest one daily would be fine but you will get to a point where you get tired of eggs !....so to avoid that try a variety of breakfasts and different ways of cooking them...Another wonder addition is avocado...not cheap so i buy them only when on offer or a good deal...