Really bloody annoyed with pre diabetes/diabetes!! What am I doing wrong???

[icantwaitforsummer]

I am so pissed off with my pre diabetes diagnosis in November.

Nothing is working and I feel like I am heading toward diabetes and feeling really deflated. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong, feel free to be really honest as I am getting so bloomin sick of it.

Yesterday I had a salad for lunch just chicken and leaves, for dinner made shepherds pie, full of veggies, celery, carrots, peas and made a thin layer of mash on top. With a side of broccoli, peas, cabbage and kale and gravy.

Walked on the treadmill, fast pace for 15mins straight after dinner. At 9pm I had a cup of tea with 1tsp xylitol sugar.

By the morning my blood sugar was 8.1!!

Tonight before dinner my blood sugar was 6:9. Had a roast with mounds of broccoli, kale, cabbage, some roast chicken from the air fryer and 1-2 small roast potatoes. Gravy.
Had 4 squares of chocolate after dinner. Ran on the treadmill for 16 mins. My blood sugar 2 hours after is 8.9!

I cannot get it below 6. I don't eat breakfast, I only drink green tea and water, very occasionally have a cup of tea or coffee with almond milk. Sometimes sourdough with avocado, mushrooms, egg, chia seeds. I feel like I live on salad and vegetables, celery, hummus and occasionally Greek yoghurt with nuts, but nothing is working!!!

I don't drink, don't smoke, since diagnosis I have lost a stone and will try to lost another 5-7lbs. But my weight is in the healthy range now.

After 3 months I feel ready to give up. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Great. I’m even more confused now.

There's no need to be confused. Just look for advice on the Diabetes UK website. They know what's what. Your GP surgery should also have a member of staff called the diabetes nurse. Maybe ask for a consultation with them, and if they don't have one, ask to be referred to somewhere that does. It isn't all about diet anyway, there are other factors including stress, lack of sleep, smoking, alcohol and your exercise level which also contribute.

Sadly isn’t one at my surgery.Two different doctors have told me to fast .

What about the explanation in my post above is confusing?

Me and my DH are looking on various websites right now just trying to find what a non diabetic person's blood sugar should be before and after eating.

NHS Scotland says:

Target blood sugar levels differ for everyone, but generally speaking:
• if you monitor yourself at home – a normal target is 4-7mmol/l before eating
• under 8.5-9mmol/l two hours after a meal

Diabetes UK says:

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood sugar levels are as follows:
• Between 4.0 to 5.4 mmol/L (72 to 99 mg/dL) when fasting [361]
• Up to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) 2 hours after eating

The World Health organisation says:

Rationale:
The expected values for normal fasting blood glucose concentration are between 3.9 mmol/L and 5.6 mmol/L).

NHS Walsall

The usual target range for this test is 4-7 mmol/l before meals and below 9mmol/l when tested 2 hours after meals.

Mayo Clinic says:
Fasting blood sugar test. A blood sample will be taken after you haven't eaten anything the night before (fast). A fasting blood sugar level less than (5.6 mmol/L) is normal.

Just from those 4 websites, if my blood sugar was 5.6 or 5.7 I would be considered different things depending on which website I looked at.

If this is medicine why isn't it more accurate?? How can there be all these different ranges? It's either over 5.4 is bad, or it's not. They need to make their bloomin minds up!

My personal view is that the underfunded and overburdened nhs has a vested interest. Their figures don’t necessarily represent where good health lies but where the line for intervention lies. Also the nhs Scotland figures of “normal” likely include prediabetic, since this could arguably be included in either normal or outside normal range.
Therefore I would be roughly going by the diabetes uk info.

Yep the NHS bar is very low. I saw a Dr in spain about b12 levels, she said ideally we should be about 1000 whatever the measurement is, but the NHS say around 500 is good enough (mine was 180).

But I wonder about your pre-diabetic status op, everything I read says two or more readings above 7.0mmol means you are fully diabetic.

Also, re the levels dropping, it takes time, it won't drop to non pre/diabetic levels overnight after one meal, it can take a few weeks to drop, and then to also be consistently in that range. I get the impression from your posts that you expect it to be <5.6mmol the next morning after one low carb meal. It doesn't work like that, as PP have said, all sorts of things can affect the FBG, how you slept, stress, what temperature you were overnight, if you have a bit of a cold coming, even squeezing your finger to get the blood out can increase your reading, if you are finger testing. You have to be patient and see this as a long term thing, because you have to eat like this for life, too.

I am a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump, have had this for 60 years, I use the carbs and cals book and app, but have just started a ketogenic diet to loose weight. My husband and I are not eating any carbs, so no potatoes, but even some vegetables contain carbs and even some types of protein will escalate blood sugars.

I absolutely agree with you! High blood glucose levels, especially over the long term can cause damage and contribute to other conditions. We need to informed what the optimum levels/spectrums are. I have done the same sort of searches myself and can not find a definitive answer. Personally I'm eating lower carb and lower saturated fat and doing all I can to help myself. Hopefully my blood test in a couple of weeks will reward my efforts 👍. Good luck 🤞

@icantwaitforsummer

I've found this websitee* very useful. GP run! I wished I lived near his surgery!

Hi @icantwaitforsummerhiw are you getting on? I’ve just been diagnosed as prediabetic and am reading your thread with interest. Did you get a follow up HbA1c?

Hi, yes I did get a follow up HBa1c in October 2024 and it had come down to 42!

She said normal is below 42
42-48 prediabetic
48 type 2 diabetes

So I am on the cusp! And almost out of the pre diabetic range.

I also have high cholesterol so had a lipid clinic follow up too and the doctor was really nice he said your genetics are screwing you here, (my whole family had high cholesterol and diabetes) so you are more prone to having these things. It's sucks but you have to be more conscious of it.

It still seems so unfair, my husband wakes up has sugar in his coffee, cereal, big lunch, white bread, biscuits, big dinner, pudding etc and his cholesterol and sugars are fine. Will snack on donuts, cake, sweets, fizzy drinks occasionally and even a beer or two at the weekends. But his job is active and he does 13,000 a day at least, I have an office job and struggle to do 10,000.

But diabetes has made many of my family members very ill and I won't let that happen to me so will keep going with it.

How are you getting on?

I worked with a man who refused his diabetes diagnosis; went pull paleo and reversed it.

My dad, just recently was diagnosed as pre-diabetic at the beginning of the year. He also followed a strict paleo diet and has now reversed his too and all his tests (chronic health issues) have some back completely normal.

I haven’t my own experience so it’s not something I’ve researched to provide any evidence. But after two people I know have reversed it themselves using the same diet it might be something to look into.

Any diet that looses weight will have reversed diabetes, it doesnt matter what type of diet.

Dr Mark Hyman, whose The Blood Sugar Solution I highly recommend, has several recipe books that help with weight loss and insulin regulation…

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sugar-Solution-Cookbook-Ultra-Tasty-ebook/dp/B009V2QZFW

This such nonsence. On many levels.

But just one: "grain based alcohol". All alcohol is the same. It's ethanol. There is no other type of alcohol. There are no "types" of alcohol.

I know someone who used it for chronic fatigue and it really turned her health around. She looked amazing.

Paleo/carnivore isn’t about losing weight. Losing weight can happen as a side effect though.

Op could you take Metformin or mounjaro perhaps if it gets worse? I'm on the latter to manage metabolic side effects from another medication. It's really helping my cholesterol and blood sugars.

@bruffin - well any diet that heavily limits carbs. Some people (me) are slim - ie my BMI is 22 but still prediabetic. I don't need to limit calories

no not necessary. Diabetes UK position statement on low carb diets

" But, there is no consistent evidence that a low carb diet is any more effective than other approaches in the long term. So it shouldn’t be seen as the diet for everyone"

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/for-professionals/supporting-your-patients/clinical-recommendations-for-professionals/low-carb-diets-for-people-with-diabetes

@Orangesandlemons77my body weight is healthy so they won’t give me me monjaro etc.

I think they can prescribe mounjaro for diabetes though if you're a normal weight. That's what I meant if it gets worse. You could ask about Metformin as well. Some of the GPs run a prediabetes programme as well

@bruffin that article relates to Type 1 diabetes which is very different.

If you're interested, Dr Jason Fung (a consultant nephrologist) has produced some excellent videos on Youtube that clearly explains why low carb is the way to go with type 2 diabetes or for prediabetics.

It is about type 2 and type1 , quote

"Together with the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) we have released a report which recommends lower carb diets as a short-term effective option for adults with type 2 diabetes who have obesity or overweight. This includes low carb diets providing 50 – 130g of carbs a day. These diets can help with weight loss, glucose management and reduce the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. So, we can recommend them for some adults with type 2 diabetes. But, there is no consistent evidence that a low carb diet is any more effective than other approaches in the long term"

DR Fung

https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/the-obesity-code-unlocking-the-secrets-of-weight-loss/

https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/the-diabetes-code/

Doesnt look like his books have much scientific accuracy.