Prediabetes to diabetes?

fit4life_73

Was anyone here diagnosed with prediabetes before the onset of diabetes? How long did it take to before you were diagnosed with diabetes after trying to control it with your lifestyle? I was diagnosed with prediabetes in Dec 2013 but I'm having a hard time accepting this and I think thats why I'm not as focussed as I should be. I've been sticking to the 80/20 rule for about the past three weeks. However, its causing me to gain and lose the same 4lbs. I'm also taking metformin as a "trial". My initial A1C was pretty high. I haven't been retested.

Any insight would be great.

TIA

GlucernaBrand

It's great that you're working to make lifestyle changes along with the metformin. When people agressively change their eating habits and increase exercise, and lose a modest amount of weight (5-10% weight loss), they often are able to prevent developing T2 diabetes from pediabetes by over 50%. Continuing to practice those healthy habits can often delay the onset of T2 for a number of years. There's good information here: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/prediabetes_ES/ ~Lynn /Glucerna

njitaliana

What is the 80/20 rule?

My blood sugar was in the prediabetic range twice, and I want to prevent diabetes. I've lost 40 lbs so far, but I'm not really sure how many grams of carbs to have with each meal/per day.

GlucernaBrand

It's great that you've made changes and have lost 40 pounds! There isn't a set amount of carbohydrate to eat at each meal for people with prediabetes. The guidelines are fairly general: choose a healthier diet that promotes gradual weight loss, and get 30-60 minutes of physical activity every day. This information might be helpful: http://prevention.stanford.edu/word-pdf/Pre-Diabetes Recommendations.pdf When I think of the 80/20 rule, it's choosing healthy, lower calorie foods 80% of the time and limiting less healthy and higher calorie foods to only 20% of the time. How do others interpret this? ~Lynn /Glucerna

albertabeefy

It's great that you've made changes and have lost 40 pounds! There isn't a set amount of carbohydrate to eat at each meal for people with prediabetes. The guidelines are fairly general: choose a healthier diet that promotes gradual weight loss, and get 30-60 minutes of physical activity every day. This information might be helpful: http://prevention.stanford.edu/word-pdf/Pre-Diabetes Recommendations.pdf When I think of the 80/20 rule, it's choosing healthy, lower calorie foods 80% of the time and limiting less healthy and higher calorie foods to only 20% of the time. How do others interpret this? ~Lynn /Glucerna

The stanford sheet is a good start, and makes good recommendations for those that don't have fully diabetic numbers. As I've mentioned before, I hate the fasting glucose to diagnose diabetes... it's the last symptom to show. HbA1c or OGGT are better - and as I understand njitaliana is getting an HbA1c soon, so that's awesome.

If numbers come back fully-diabetic, I personally recommend a VLCKD (very low-carb ketogenic diet) - good information on why this is an excellent choice for diabetics (Type I or Type II) is here; http://www.diabetes-low-carb.org/articles/articles-english/1/3-in-depth.html

On the 80/20 rule - Lynn, I interpret it the same way - and it's fairly common with people in both the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) and Paleo/Primal camps. I personally never cheat (no 80/20% rule for this guy) unless I EARN it. I've learned to view food as fuel - it's not a treat, it's not a reward and it's not a social activity. Keeping that mindset keeps my control excellent.

Oh - And by "earn it" ... I've done things like ride my bicycle 2 hours in order to eat a fresh-baked ooey-gooey cinnamon bun, wait 15 minutes after eating it, then ride two hours back while it digests. I did that once, taking my blood glucose every 15 minutes after eating the cinnamon bun and it never rose above 130mg/dl (7.2 mmol/L) during the 2 hour ride home. It was the best cinnamon bun EVER, because it's completely guilt-free.

I generally do that type of thing at least 3-4 times a year. Cinnamon buns, ice cream, etc - I get to have my occasional "treat" all the while keeping my blood glucose and calories under control with physical activity.

fit4life_73

Thanks everyone. Right now my doc has me on a low cal high protein diet. Its helping with the weight loss when I follow it more diligently. She hasn't mentioned anything about a meter. I have an appt next week. I'm curious to know when she will orderanither a1c. I'm a little nervous that Ive slacked off and allowed myself to eat more sweets. This week so far is much better. I've regained my focus.

Here's to a good week.:flowerforyou:

GlucernaBrand

albertafeefy I love the way you earn a treat like a cinnamon bun! We can get into trouble if we try to exercise away extra calories on a regular basis, but doing this a few times each year for a special occasion sounds like an excellent plan. fit4life I'm so glad to hear you're mentally feeling more positive! ~Lynn /Glucerna

albertabeefy

Thanks everyone. Right now my doc has me on a low cal high protein diet. Its helping with the weight loss when I follow it more diligently. She hasn't mentioned anything about a meter. I have an appt next week. I'm curious to know when she will orderanither a1c. I'm a little nervous that Ive slacked off and allowed myself to eat more sweets. This week so far is much better. I've regained my focus.

Here's to a good week.:flowerforyou:

FYI I'd personally be careful with "high-protein" ... only because EXCESS protein in a diabetics system is converted to blood glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis ... Many have trouble with glycemic control if protein is too high.

As for meter ... If you can afford it and don't want to wait, you can go to Walmart and get an inexpensive "Relion" meter and strips. The meter is about $15 US and strips are about $20 US. It's accuracy is very good for something in it's price range.

Regarding the HbA1c test - feel free to bring it up yourself. Sometimes we need to educate our own physicians (don't tell them THAT, of course) - but feel free to tell them that you've done your homework and that current research indicates elevated fasting blood glucose is quite often the LAST symptom to develop (Heck, in many cases, HbA1c tests diagnose diabetes even when fasting levels haven't risen to minimum diagnostic criteria!), and tell them you'd like to be proactive and ASK them if you can get the A1c test.

With concerns regarding diabetes I recommend being as proactive as you can, and many physicians welcome that kind of informed input.

bdubya55

Great suggestion, In my area I find the Prime brand of Walmart ReliOn test strips to be $9 for 50 and also find its accuracy in my experience to be very good.