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[ellie]

 I have recently been diagnosed with pre diabetes, so for the last few weeks I have cut out cake , biscuits etc, I am determined not to get full blown diabetes.....I have lost quite a bit of weight and that's good, but today I have felt very weak and light headed. Anyone any ideas as to what this could be ?...

[ellie]

None Sparkle, apart from feeling very tired, but I have a lot of other health problems too.
 Doc said my blood sugar has been creeping up for quite a while ( I wasn't happy about that, as I could have addressed it earlier) .

[coldethyl]

What can happen is that you get what is known as a false hypo- if your blood sugars have been higher , when you make dietary changes and they lower, you can feel as though you are running super low even though they are in fact normal levels. It can take a few weeks to get used to these changes. Also if you've cut out a lot of carbs, you can get what is known as carb flu that can make you feel a bit jittery etc till you adapt to new way of eating. Best thing for this is a cup of bovril or similar and plenty of fluids.
I'm diabetic and found out when I hit peri - losing weight is best thing for you and your bs levels. Also reducing carbs drastically - remember fruit is very carby too and so are a lot of things we have been told are healthy like porridge and whole meal bread and brown rice.
If you want to see what effect foods have on, you can buy a cheap meter from home health called the sd codefeee and test your sugars before and 2 hrs post meal.  Also why not have a look at the various diabetic sites for advice- I know there's a useful pre diabetic thread on the one I look at x

[ellie]

Coldethyl thank you that was all so helpful. I will defenetly buy the meter.. I do find it very confusing what I can and carnt eat and joining the website would help.....what is it called please?
Yesterday after I wrote the post , I was feeling so bad I ate a biscuit because I felt it might help, but it didn't. Still don't feel great today, quess it's going to take a while to adjust. Thanks again for you help.

[coldethyl]

The one I look at is called diabetes.co.uk. Lots of helpful threads on it. have a look at the low carb high fat diet bit of it as that's where most folk have had most success in controlling sugar levels. There's also a diet programme that you can download from the main site that will give you basics of the best way of eating. Another useful book is Michael Moseley!s 8 week hood sugar diet. It's a low cal 8 week lower carb diet to kickstart reversal of diabetes based on work by a professor at Newcastle who has had some success at reversing type 2 diabetes by weight loss. It doesn't really matter whether you lose weigt quickly or more slowly as long as you get enough weight off to defat your liver and pancreas to enable better function.
Also check out the dietdoctor website for interesting recipes and talks on the subject.
You say you have other health problems. Just wondering if you take steroids at al as these can impact on bs as can statins.

[babyjane]

things have certainly changed since my mother was with us as when she was diagnosed with type 1 she was advised that fat was as harmful as sugar so she followed a low sugar low fat diet.  Her blood sugar levels were so stable that her GP told her that she was in better shape than a lot of non diabetics.

[coldethyl]

Ancel Keys has a lot to answer for. I suspect that the problem with fat isn't fat per se but it's calorific content so us fatties can overindulge in it all too easily and it really does seem to be fat around the liver and pancreas that is driver of type 2 diabetes. Also the Western diet has basically become high processed fat and carbs which does no one any favours- when we talk of increasing fat, it should be things like nuts, avocados, good quality dairy products and don't take all fat off meat- not chips, pizzas, buckets of salami and so on.

[ellie]

I don't take statins, but have had MANY steroid injections, although not recently. I am surprised how much weight I have lost in about six weeks, just by cutting out cake, biscuits etc, and only eating brown bread and rice etc. As I said I do have other health problems, the worst being my back, and that won't improve, so Excercise is not going to happen ....Also my stomach is stitched to my diaphram , it had become twisted (aparantly common in horses! )   So controlling my blood sugar is something I can control myself.......with a little help from my friends  .  I really appreciate the help thank you .

[Hurdity]

Ellie - I haven't time to write/read the thread in detail now but you really don't need to buy a meter! You haven't been diagnosed with anything - but your blood sugar levels are higher than normal and if they keep on increasing may ( not necessarily) lead to Type 2 diabetes.  Don't get hung up on your levels - they will decrease if you follow diet  guidelines. You haven't got diabetes! All you need to do is control your diet by reducing/eliminating sugars and most extra carbs, especially refined ones. There are plenty of carbs in foods that aren't pure carbs - like sweet corn, sweet potatoes, lentils, beans, bananas etc. True "low carbers" avoid all these - but this is unnecessary. You can do no harm and a lot of good in drastically reducing extra carbs such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar, cakes, biscuits, pastries etc and let yourself have the occasional (or daily) bowl of muesli or porridge. You must increase your protein though otherwise you will get low blood sugar especially initially. If you are overweight then also drastically reduce fat but in any case no need to go high fat as in fried foods, lots of cream etc - just eat normal food with the fat that's in it - just as coldethyl says. I haven't followed any particular diet but followed suggestions from my son who wanted to build muslce - as i wanted to lose weight. I suffer from reactive hypoglycaemia ( some people have a tendency to this) and it hardly ever happens now because of what I eat. Sorry if this is garbled! A relative also had "pre-diabetes" although she is in her 80's and she reduced blood sugar by diet and exercise - she had hers checked now and again at docs.

We can tell you what to eat and what not to eat - and also it's not a question of absolutes - but quantities! You just need to stop spiking your insulin with too much sugar/carbs - as this leads to insulin resistance (where insulin is less effective at removing sugar from blood). I can tell you what I eat if you want!

Hurdity x

[Hurdity]

Also I remember reading a criticism of the fairly new concept of "Pre-diabetes" as a "condition" and that it was unhelpful and I've now found it on NHS website:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/07July/Pages/Prediabetes-label-unhelpful-experts-argue.aspx

It might help put things into perspective!

Hurdity x

[ellie]

Thank you Hurdity that was extremely helpful, a lot of very good information.  I actually did buy a meter yesterday, if anything it will stop me form worrying and give me an idea of what foods upset my body the most...I am a stone or so overweight, but I dont get any Excercise at all because of all my other health problems. So if anything the doctor kick started me into eating less. It's just getting the right food sorted out.........For a couple of years I was diagnosed with borderline glaucoma  and even thoug I used the drops every day, I still went on to develop glaucoma . So when told I was pre diabetec, I acted straight away and perhaps I over did it.....
      I really do appreciate the help you ladies are giving me, it helps me a LOT......thank you x

[coldethyl]

Not everyone with pre diabetes will go on to be diabetic but if I remember from the NHS talk I went to, most do within the next few years, probably because they ding make nah dietary changes. You are ahead of the game and can hopefully avoid it. I know if I'd been told where I was heading blood sugar wise earlie, I'd have tried my best to not get any worse.
I think a meter helps so well done on getting one. No need to test obsessively as you aren't diabetic , but it will give you a clue as to what really is spiking your blood sugars. And portion size. You might find you are fine with one slice of bread for example, but not two. Or that rice is a no no, but you're ok with a couple of boiled spuds. We are all different. What you are looking for is a rise from ore meal levels to no more than 7.8mmol as per NICE guidelines at 2 hrs though I'd argue that is too high and you want to be heading back down towards base levels by that stage.
What was your hba1c as that gives a guide as to what your average bs levels have been in last few months?

[ellie]

Hba1c? What is that......I just remember by doctor tellinig my  I was 8 , and that was from General blood test.......This morning, before breakfast I was 5.5 , and last night two hours after eating at 5-30, I was 5.9, but we had only had salad and a brown roll then strawberries .     Tonight we are eating at a friends and she is doing a roast lamb dinner. I am going to eat that, and then see what my reading is.

[babyjane]

the hba1c is a test that will determine your average blood sugar levels over the previous 3 months.  Don't ask me how they do it, I don't know and I don't need to know, but it is more comprehensive that a glucose test that just shows the level at the time the test is taken.

All the best with your monitoring.  I would be no good with a meter as I am an obsessive.  I got a blood pressure reader some time ago and sent it back because I got obsessed and anxious which had the opposite effect.  I am best not knowing and leaving the testing to my GP or endocrinologist.

[coldethyl]

they are good readings Ellie. 8 was presumably a spot glucose reading which is a bit high- if it were an hba1c of 8 you'd be diabetic not pre-diabetic as that starts at 6.4 if memory serves me.

The hba1c looks at how much of your haemoglobin has sugar attached to it( glycation) and they use weightings and formula to determine the relationship between this and the average blood sugar over a three month or so period. It doesn't exactly equate to an average spot blood sugar as it isn't actually measuring that, but most people think of it that way- there are online conversion tools that help you work it out either way but your doctor will keep a check on you now- it's worth asking for a hba1c in a few months time just to see how you're going.
No need to test obsessively- I know what you mean babyjane as I have BP monitor and had to put it away at one point in new year after my BP shot up on Sertraline as it was making me worse. Now I take it when I get up and at bedtime as I'm trying to see if the betablockers I take for anxiety are making it too low at times.