GP says I'm pre-diabetic - not entirely sure what blood sugar levels I should be aiming for tho!

[Temm]

I've realised that I'm confused! My blood sugar just spiked to 10.1 about an hour after my tea but it came down again really fast. So is that ok, or is 10.1 too high full stop? My friend doesn't generally spike as high as me, but on the other hand it takes ages for her level to drop. Is one better/worse than the other? Or are both ok/not ok?

Also, am I aiming for a flat blood sugar graph? Or are spikes of a certain size ok? Google hasn't really enlightened me...so if anyone can recommend a website/book etc that explains everything that would be great!

My Sugr app. I'd say 10 is too high ever but I don't really know for sure. It will never be flat. You ideally don't ever stray out of the "normal" range however, and 10 is outside that range.

But I'm not honestly any kind of expert, I do monitor my blood sugars every few months or so for a few days

Ideally it should stay between 4 and 7.

I have recently been told that I am pre-diabetic, but haven’t been told to monitor my blood sugar levels I am just following a low carb diet and avoiding anything with added sugar. The Diabetes U.K. website is very helpful https://www.diabetes.co.uk/

@fortyfour not the OP but mine was diagnosed when I had a few different blood tests to try and see if there was anything going on other than my fibromyalgia.

@fortyfour What a strange comment. I didn't gp to the GP with symptoms that made her say I was pre-diabetic. I had a whole raft of blood tests because I have been unwell recently. GP just mentioned in passing that one showed that I am in the pre-diabetic range. Why do you ask?

@Evenstar Thanks, that looks like a useful website

Your hba1c blood test would show pre diabetes. It shows your average blood sugar over a three month period. A finger prick is just a spot check and less meaningful.
Aim for less than 42.
42-47 is pre diabetic.
48 and over is diabetic.
Lose weight if relevant, cut out refined sugars, low carb. Recheck bloods in 6-12 months.

Following

If you are using a blood glucose monitor you should be aiming between 4-7.

I don’t test all the time but times you can check are

1st thing in the morning before eating or drinking.

Just before eating and then two hours later. After two hours of eating you would want you bg levels to be back within the normal range.

It helps you identify which foods and drinks cause super high spikes. Surprising things that I found were skimmed milk in my coffee, 0% fat fage yogurt. Bg levels much better with unsweetened almond milk and 5% fat fage yogurt.

I limit carb at breakfast and lunch and i’m a bit more relaxed with dinner as it is easier just to fit in with family meals.

Don’t get obsessed though, just make small adjustments.

@fortyfour Apologies if I misinterpreted the tone of your first post. To answer your query, I'm not sure that pre-diabetes is neccesarily symptomatic at all. I wasn't aware. As pp mentioned, you need the hba1c blood test, which tells you if your sugars over time are a bit high. I self monitor with a Librelink sensor (expensive but shows me exactly what makes me spike) Unfortunately, I am a stereotypical diabetes-in-waiting shape and size and my mum has type 2 so I do need to get on top of things.

What did you eat?

Shouldn't really be 8 or above as a general guide .

A spike after eating is fine. That's what happens when you eat. Best not to go too high, in general, but up to 10 really isn't a problem. It should be back down to between 4 and 7 two hours after eating.

Eating lowish carb (plenty of veg and healthy fats for satiety) and cutting out UPF and/or sugary foods wherever possible is the most effective way of tackling pre-diabetes, and there are various dietary approaches that allow you to do this. Find one that suits you. I do Low Carb High Fat as I'm very sensitive to carb intake and get terrible cravings if I go over my threshold (which will be different for everyone).

If you’re on twitter, Dr Nicola Guess (PhD in diabetes) has a useful thread explaining about blood glucose levels. (Locked out of twitter at the moment, but from what I recall, spikes that decline quickly are not so much a problem; persistent high glucose levels are). Worth a look, if you can access it and probably better information than you will get from most mumsnetters.

Leaving aside glucose “spikes”, probably the best thing you can do to stop your pre-diabetes developing into diabetes is to lose weight. How much weight varies between individuals, but maybe 5/10% of your current body weight, if you can manage it. Check out Prof Roy Taylor for better information.

No need to monitor at home just eat a healthy low-GI diet and exercise. Check HbA1c annually.

Actually, just looked again, and Dr Nicola Guess has a sub stack with lots of information about diet. She is an academic dietitian and researcher.

https://drguess.substack.com/p/i-think-my-cgm-readings-are-too-high

@coronabeer Great, thanks for the info and link, will have a good read of that. (And yes, losing weight is definitely on my agenda.)

@PlainOldEmmaJane Boiled unpeeled potatoes

@mycoffeecup It's really informative actually. My supposedly super healthy wholemeal bread spikes my blood sugar, as did green beans last night. It was boiled potatoes that sent me to 10 the other day, even though they had been cooled and then reheated, which I believe is meant to reduce the glucose response. I would have happily carried on eating those things oblivious to the fact they were spiking me, if I hadnt bought myself a CGM.

Bread and potatoes are high GI, I think that's fairly common knowledge isn't it? If you're happy to buy and pay for the meter and strips that's up to you, the risk is getting obsessed with small fluctuations.

A 100g portion of green beans contains 7g of carb and half of that is fibre. Unlikely to cause a glucose spike.

A couple of appointments with a dietician would help you.

@mycoffeecup Well yes it is, but I had absorbed the message that 'healthy' wholegrain bread was ok, and believed Mr Mosley's assertion that chilling high GI food could reduce the glucose response by 50%, so being able to see that this is not the case for me is really useful.

That said, yes, I can see how it could become a bit obsessive! Luckily, the monitors are expensive so it's not something I plan to do very often.

You might find The Glucose Goddess useful. She shows you how to flatten blood sugar spikes using food combinations and sequencing. I am currently doing Zoe (Google it if you don't know) and this has shown that I have poor blood sugar control. My gp blood tests are ok. To keep my blood sugar response in check I have modified my diet to include more healthy fat at each meal, so seeds and Greek yoghurt on muesli, for example. Previously I was eating lower fat but it wasn't good for my body.

Everyone spikes after eating, a flatline is not possible. What really matters is how high your glucose is 2 hours after eating. You want the number to go down to a reasonable number. I am not convinced that staying between 4 and 7 is going to happen for most people. I'm OK with going up to 8 1 hour after eating. I also don't get too worked up about going as high as 10 occasionally as long as the level returns to about 5.

@simbobs Yes, I did Zoe, after my GP commented on my blood sugar. Annoyingly, I also have bad fat control so I have to go careful there too 😫

@LovelaceBiggWither Thanks, that sounds like a balanced way of looking at it. My blood sugar does drop again fairly quickly after a spike, which I am thinking is a good sign.