Pre Diabetes HELP!!

Hopefully, your dr can give you advice and/or refer you to a dietician. The American diabetes association website has info. You can cut back on starchy/sugary carbs without doing keto. It is good you are taking this seriously now,

I don’t know that keto is out for you, but it is not the only option.

You don’t have to do keto. Especially if it’s something that seems like it will be difficult for you to follow.

There is a type 2 diabetes group here that you may wish to join.

You’ve gotten good advice from others.
Exercise is going to help. If that is difficult due to disability, there are ways to make exercise easier. But do exercise if you are at all able.

My husband is a physician and had a lot of patients with insulin resistance or pre-diabetic conditions. His first suggestion to them was always limit your carbohydrate intake to no more than 25 g of carbs in a 4-hour period. It's the spacing out of your carbs into smaller portions throughout the day that does the trick for most. Any more than that & it's like overfilling a glass of water. Your body can't handle the excess.

He had quite a few patients reverse their condition within 2-3 months of limiting their carb intake this way. I wish I could post a link to the studies he has referenced, but I have no idea where they are. So as anything in forums like this, take my undocumented comment and do your own trial and error or research. Hope that helps.

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

pamperedlinny wrote: »

I have had pre-diabetes for about 15 years and just last year crossed into Type 2 diabetic as a complication to PCOS. I would not recommend Keto. However, I would recommend contacting an endocrinologist and/or dietician to go over new meal plans and ideas. Also, I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive blood sugar monitor (CVS store brand has super inexpensive strips for checking). Learn your body and what effects a spike. Some people eat certain things without any spikes and other people have immediate reactions. Also, if you ever want to keep your own monitor over where you stand on the diabetes spectrum you can purchase an at home A1C kit. Since it is an average over 3 months it is just nice if you are only getting labs every year or so to check it yourself at 6 months to kind of verify nothing major has changed.

I personally found Keto actually made my numbers worse. Having some carbs spread throughout the day while keeping them from being too high was helpful. Learning which carbs spike my blood sugar by checking 2 hours after meals was super helpful too. Sometimes a salad dressing will kill me. Sometimes eating a golden potato as a side with lean protein won't do anything negative.

My personal plan includes trying to keep calories between 1200-1700 per day (average about 1500) and keeping my total carbs between 80-150 most days. Plenty of walking and a couple Zumba classes a week also help. I definitely notice on mine that if I have had things I KNOW will cause a spike going for a walk after eating helps tons.

Remember every person is different and what works for some won't work for all.

This is excellent advice and really should be included as part of every new pre-diabetic and new diabetic’s first post-diagnosis dr office visit.

To whomever hit “dislike” on my comment above, I would love to know which part of the highlighted portion you disagree with, and why.

See if your prediabetic diagnosis would qualify you for your insurance to pay for classes/meeting with a dietitian. Your insurance might pay for it (bc that's less expensive than you getting diabetes and needing insulin, etc.). Or you may qualify for some sort of assistance for paying for it through the hospital or whatever. That would be very helpful.

I know a few people in my life with Type I diabetes who simply didn't do any of those educational classes and either did them later and wished they did them sooner or wished they'd done them at all....if it's covered take advantage of it.

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

pamperedlinny wrote: »

I have had pre-diabetes for about 15 years and just last year crossed into Type 2 diabetic as a complication to PCOS. I would not recommend Keto. However, I would recommend contacting an endocrinologist and/or dietician to go over new meal plans and ideas. Also, I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive blood sugar monitor (CVS store brand has super inexpensive strips for checking). Learn your body and what effects a spike. Some people eat certain things without any spikes and other people have immediate reactions. Also, if you ever want to keep your own monitor over where you stand on the diabetes spectrum you can purchase an at home A1C kit. Since it is an average over 3 months it is just nice if you are only getting labs every year or so to check it yourself at 6 months to kind of verify nothing major has changed.

I personally found Keto actually made my numbers worse. Having some carbs spread throughout the day while keeping them from being too high was helpful. Learning which carbs spike my blood sugar by checking 2 hours after meals was super helpful too. Sometimes a salad dressing will kill me. Sometimes eating a golden potato as a side with lean protein won't do anything negative.

My personal plan includes trying to keep calories between 1200-1700 per day (average about 1500) and keeping my total carbs between 80-150 most days. Plenty of walking and a couple Zumba classes a week also help. I definitely notice on mine that if I have had things I KNOW will cause a spike going for a walk after eating helps tons.

Remember every person is different and what works for some won't work for all.

This is excellent advice and really should be included as part of every new pre-diabetic and new diabetic’s first post-diagnosis dr office visit.

To whomever hit “dislike” on my comment above, I would love to know which part of the highlighted portion you disagree with, and why.

My question remains.

What is the issue? I am genuinely curious.

I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive blood sugar monitor (CVS store brand has super inexpensive strips for checking). Learn your body and what effects a spike.

And

Learning which carbs spike my blood sugar by checking 2 hours after meals was super helpful too.

These statements are excellent advice for any newly diagnosed pre-diabetic or diabetic person.

Please tell me why you think that I’m wrong. I would love to discuss this.

I was diagnosed with CHF, due to a bad heart valve back in 2001, and the next year, full-blown diabetic.. 526 first reading.

I would suggest some form of low carb. I tend to eat 30-60 g of carbs a day. I agree with several ideas posted. Get a BG monitor, and use the numbers to determine what is OK for you to eat. You will find that many foods on the " diabetic diet ", spike BG a lot.

Over the years, I have settled on eggs, butter/olive oil, meats, non-starchy vegetables, legume. and nuts. Some people can handle fruits such as berries, or cheese, but these are a problem for me. I will have olive oil & vinegar dressing on salads, mayo with tomato or tuna.. I eat high fat, low carb, moderate protein. I don't go crazy eating meat. Fat doesn't really affect your BG levels, protein a little, but carbs are what spikes you the most.

The goal is carbs which do not spike it too much. You want BG reading under 125 mg/dL.. and above 70. That is possible. If what you eat does not push you over 125.. test 2 hours after meal.. then you simply test before the next meal, and see how close you are to 70.. and figure out spacing of meals.

The goal is to space them out, and try to s[lit carbs evenly, but I tend to eat more carbs at dinner, and then I fast for about 12 hours until breakfast, so that works for me. My 3 meals spaced every 6 hours after.

The doctors will tell you that below 7.0 is a good A1C.. but I would shoot for under 6.0.. which is why some people end up doing keto.. I did it for a while. 6.0 is equivalent to 126 mg/dL average btw.. that's diabetic. I know they call people pre-diabetic now, but back when I was diagnosed.. ONE reading over 125 mg/dL meant you were diabetic. High BG causes damage, even if you feel OK.

I wouldn't worry about what you are called.. look at BG readings.. if they are 150, that's bad, and you have 2 choices.. lower carbs in diet, or go on medication.. obviously, diet is better.

I have been off meds for years now, and lost right around 100 lbs., despite setbacks. Low carb works, but if you eat a trigger food, you can easily fall off the wagon.. if it was easy, we could all just eat right, and be 160 lbs. I was 361, and now 268, after a decade of mostly low carb. My A1C is usually 5-6.

I have a pacemaker defibrillator, due to my heart condition. Born with a faulty heart valve, limited my exercise, starting when I was a teenager, causing weight gain.. diagnosed at 27, got the machine in my chest at 30 ( 2004 ).. on my 3rd one now. My cardiologist said if I walked in today, I would not qualify for one.. my ejection fraction has gone up from 16% to 45%. My tests are all improving. Being 47 helps.

Last is exercise. Still get short of breath when I do too much, so light weightlifting, lots of walking, some biking, shooting baskets, and wading in pools, but nothing strenuous ( for me ). IF, you are a more serious exerciser, then note how it affects your BG.

Water intake is an issue for heart patients, so low carb will have a diuretic effect for at least 2 weeks.. at the start, I would recommend drinking a couple extra glasses of water, especially if you are losing weight rapidly. It's water weight, mostly. This is a problem, because it can cause dehydration, which leads to headaches ( carb flu symptom ), but in a heart patient, could lead to rapid heat beats. I have A-Fib, but by not going too low, or losing too fast, I avoid getting it to where I feel it.

I find that by moving the number of carbs per day, I can control what my BG readings are, as well as how much I lose in a day.. which is kind of what you want.. to lose steadily, and have consistently good BG numbers. Then just work to stay on the plan. The plan may take a while to get down, but in the end, you know what works for YOU, and I hope for you, it isn't Keto.. but I find that for most people to use diet for strict control, they won't be able to eat over 75g a day.. if they can't stay that strict, they work with their doctor on a pill regimen to help. I take enough pills for my heart condition, and I have control of my BG, so my doctors don't yell at me about my choice of diet, because of good results.

IF you do NOT get good result though, don't be afraid to follow doctor's advice. I think you WILL, but whatever makes you the healthiest is what is most important. Hopefully, lower carb is that answer. Good Luck!