Is pre diabetes always caused by lifestyle?

[Notnowbarnaby]

I’m slightly baffled. I’m just 40, my lifestyle is quite healthy, I exercise three times a week and walk a lot.
my diet is quite carb heavy but I don’t drink a lot of alcohol and don’t eat sweets.
Ive just been diagnosed as prediabetic with a reading of 43.5.
I’m a bit concerned that it’s cropped up as a symptom of something else, ie issue with pancreas or thyroid, but I do have health anxiety and maybe I’m just being very naive about my diet?

is 40 young to find yourself in this position? I’ve also never smoked and my main vice is coffee!

No, not always.

I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid and I tested twice as pre-diabetic until I received the correct dose of Levothyroxine.

That was over 2 years ago and I haven't tested as pre-diabetic since.

Also, I hadn't changed anything about my diet when it disappeared.

No not at all, my dad has just had a high reading of 68 and he is slim, non smoker for the past 40 years, doesnt drink, is fairly active for his age (nearly 90) doesnt eat processed or junk food.

He is going to try to low carb to get it down but I wouldnt really describe it as a lifestyle issue as such

The GP wants to review it in 3 months so clearly isnt that concerned anyway

That’s interesting.
i have realised that recently if I eat anything sugary I feel godawful and I keep getting headaches.
Ive also put on weight and struggled to shift it (probably the sugary stuff hey ho… but even when I’ve really tried with low carbing etc which used to work).
I had full bloods done though which flagged this up so I suppose any thyroid issues or anything massively untoward would have been picked up.
Sounds like you managed to get to the root cause and sort it.

I think I’ve just been shocked as I didn’t expect it at 40, not that I expected it at any time. I had it in my head that it was an “older” thing I guess.

It can often be genetic make up if you dont have an unhealthy lifestyle, although sugary stuff is always going to be diffiuclt for a body to manage longer term

My doctor told me recently that in Switzerland they are studying a connection between preeclampsia in non diabetic women developing type 2 in later life.

And of course PCOS often causes insulin resistance which increases the risk.

That’s interesting @Tomatocutwithazigzagedge i haven’t suffered with either of those conditions but good to know these things are being explored.

Yes, they realised the root cause was the thyroid pretty quickly, even though I felt none of the symptoms.

But the result triggered an automatic link to be sent to me, inviting me to a weight loss group, despite the fact I'm 5ft 3" and 8st 9lb.

And 2 years on, I still receive random links via text.

That’s interesting. Was your dose too low or too high?

Stress and lack of sleep are also big factors.

Carb-heavy did stand out for me though (I fluctuate between 42 & 43) so perhaps try reducing those a little and replacing with veg, and also find out about eating low GI.

Too low, but they had to increase it slowly.

It took about 2 years to get it just right.

are you a healthy weight? Do you store fat around your middle? No 40 isn’t too young

@Lighttodark i am a little overweight my bmi is 26.5 and I do carry weight around my abdomen since my c section five years ago but I naively thought that was just because of the c section scar and c section “pouch”

Carb-heavy did stand out for me though (I fluctuate between 42 & 43) so perhaps try reducing those a little and replacing with veg, and also find out about eating low GI.

Or reduce them a lot, especially simple carbs!

DH and I did the Zoe thing last year. His DM was a t2 diabetic, and he's always noticed 'sugar highs and lows'; I've got PCOS but don't. Our HbA1cs were both 39 so neither in the prediabetic range. But the continuous glucose monitors showed that beneath that, which is a sort of average value , our responses to carbs are very different, he'd get much higher peaks and then crashes - sometimes outside the ok range at both ends.
So we've adjusted our diet, not just the more veg/fibre and less simple carbs but also the timing of meals (eg if we're going for a hike don't eat, then drive sitting still in a car - instead drive and then eat directly before or during the walk).

The Zoe trial is expensive and I'm not necessarily recommending it, but wearing a CGM and thinking about what it shows might be quite informative to many people.

Genetics play a role in it as well. I was on a fairly low carb diet with no relatives with T2 when I was diagnosed but my stress levels were through the roof.

Thanks all. I’m a bit overwhelmed with where to go diet wise and how restrictive it needs to be. So much information out there

My doctor is absolutely useless. No guidance or advice. I don’t know where to start.

I've been directed to look at a lower carb, higher protein and reduced sugar diet now. It seems that as long as I can stick to it for the most part the odd Christmas week/meal out etc will be ok and I can live with that.

I'm slightly confused on how much sugar is too much sugar as there seems to be sugar in everything, and as someone who bakes a lot (I don't always eat what I bake but it will be good to know) if that's a complete no no or whether that can be part of the christmas celebrations for example.

The doctor did tell me that sugar wouldn't be gving me any symptoms at this point but for the last six months I've felt awful when I have too much sugar, shaky, dizzy, nauseated and headachey so I know it doesn't agree with me. I should probably cut it entirely but do find it difficult and want to be realistic about what i can reduce so I don't try to do everything all at once.

The trouble is that people are told that a high carb/low fat diet is healthy. Whereas - especially when it comes to T2 diabetes - the absolute opposite is true. And if you're feeling so ill when you're eating sugary things, then absolutely you should be cutting down on carbs.

It's not just the obvious sugar (chocolate, sweets, cakes, etc) but it's also high carb foods, so pasta, rice, bread, pastries etc.

It's a complete change of mindset and can be quite hard to come to terms with. But if you're also gaining weight, definitely something you should be thinking about cutting down.

I had preeclampsia , so did my DM. My DM was type 2 diabetic and i got diagnosed 2 years ago at 59, my Dsis was diagnosed in her 30s. I went straight onto insulin. My consultant said it was definitely genetic in our family.

It’s also hidden sugar in bread, tins of things, readymade sauces. It’s in so much processed food. Better to make your own sourdough and don’t eat any processed food.

Yep, my Dad is a skinny as a rake, eats healthily and runs 3 x a week for several miles at a time.

He just got diagnosed with pre-diabetes and high cholesterol- goodness knows how or where that's come from!

My Mum has told him to stop eating pears off the neighbour's tree when he walks past as excessive pear consumption is the only logical explanation.

You can still be thin but also not eat properly. TOFI - thin on the outside, fat on the inside!

Steve Redgrave was diagnosed with T2 diabetes at the age of 35. I believe that his lifestyle was relatively healthy. 😂

There must be something more to it.