Prediabetes

I was recently told by my doctor that I have prediabetes. I bought a machine to test my sugar at home, even though I was not required to at this point, but I am very concerened. I am only 32 and diabetes run in my family.

Anyway, can anyone tell me what is normal blood sugar and what is getting too high and what is way too high? What should it be in the morning when I first wake up after fasting all night and what should it be during the day when I have been eating? Also, when is the best time to check?

 I want to keep track of it so I can notify my doctor if it starts getting very high on a regular basis.

 

The most common recommendation is

80 - 120 mg/dl before a meal

less then <180 mg/dl  2 hours after a meal

100 -140 before bed

Eating right and exercise can also help keep your blood sugar levels controlled.

Hope this helps.

Here is a link to the Joslin Diabetes Center's goals. 

Even though I have Type II diabetes, I aim for the goals for people without diabetes.  My doctor gave me those as the "ideal" goal and the ones listed above as the "okay" goal.  

If you're a reader, there is a great book about prediabetes by Gretchen Becker called Prediabetes:  What you need to know to keep Diabetes Away

Also, they don't often tell you but two hours after a meal means two hours after your first bite, not two hours after the last bite.

Thank you. I am a reader and I will look for that book.

try this site  http://www.mendosa.com/diabetes.htm

I appreciate the feedback I have been given. I had an A1C test yesterday and learned that I am actually a diabetic already. The doctor's office called and said they have diagnosed me with diabetes and called in a prescription for medication. They said to come back in a week or two for a checkup. They didn't give me any information on what to do, such as how many times to check my sugar or what times to do so, what to eat or not eat....

I'm totally lost. What do I do now? Any suggestions on that?

Gretchen Becker also has a book for newly diagnosed people called Type II Diabetes:  The First Year.   The American Diabetes Association has lots of good info on their website (the gray bar on the left) and will send you pamphlets in the mail if you call them (1-800-DIABETES).   You need to call the doctor's office back and ask about testing and diabetes education classes.  Your insurance will probably pay some of the costs for both of them.  My diabetes education classes were individual and included an appointment with a dietitian.   Here's the "standard" advice for meals - (I read a great book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy by Hope Warshaw that helped me create my own plan - I don't use that awful four letter d word).   Eat 3 small meals and 2-3 snacks daily, schedule it so you're eating every 3-4 hours, don't ever wait longer than 5 hours to have a meal or snack.   Controlling blood sugar is all about carbs.... you need to find the right amount for you..... too few can cause as many problems as too few..... The usual starting point is 30-45 grams of carbohydrate at each meal and 15-20 grams of carbohydrate at each snack....  Also, balance your carbs with some protein and healthy fat...For example, an apple alone is not a good snack.... a small apple and a piece of string cheese  or 1tbsp peanut butter are two of my favorites.   Since they said prediabetes then diabetes so quickly, you're probably in the very beginnings and can get it under control.  I've managed over the past year to bring ALL of my blood tests (glucose and cholesterol) into normal non-diabetic ranges.  You can do it. 

 I got the following from a diabetes education program, and did not really find this aspect about diabeties clearly written out elsewhere. Most stuff was the problems of out of control diabetes- not about the long term effects of poor control as compared to what happens when very out of control. 

 

  The why of diabetes long term problems.   In long term problems, the problem is the damage to the blood vessels - the smaller they are they more likely the damage. (Blood vessels provide transportation-capillaries are the term for the smallest diameter blood vessels.)  Red blood cells that flow along the blood vessels along with the glucose are what causes the long term damage to the capillaries. Because red blood cells carry oxygen to cells and remove carbon-dioxide they go all over the body is why diabetes damage is so wide spread throughout the body. When glucose levels are high, glucose can “stick" to the exterior of red blood cells. The higher the glucose levels, the more glucose floating around in blood vessels that can attach to red cell walls.  This attachment makes the red cells stiffer, harder etc. and more damaging when they hit blood vessel walls (which they do all the time with the heart's pressure moving the blood flow). Over time the capillary walls can get so scarred (narrowed) they slow down or even block passage of red cells. The blocked blood vessels cause poor transportation of cellular needs.  The cells start function poorly and may even die (starve). If enough cells die, the organs cannot function well.  The more the damage - the greater the "illness' of the organ, and the more complications that arise from diabetes. Finally one dies an early death because out of control glucose levels have damaged too many essential organs in the diabetic's body.   This is a simplified explanation.

 For a slightly more complicated one that explains nerve damage- nerves do run next to blood vessels. It is felt that the damage to the blood vessel walls is sometimes so extensive that the myelin sheath cells that surround the nerves also get damaged when they lie next to the badly damaged blood vessel.

 There are other things that can happen to make things worse- high blood pressure for example will make the stiff glucose studded red cells that hit and damage cell walls hit more often and harder, than would happen with a normal blood pressure.   There is high cholesterol - cholesterol tends to stick to damaged blood vessel walls-so a combination of high cholesterol and high glucose means damaged walls will get blood vessels blocked faster. There is problems associated with heavy abdominal fat that seem to stress the function of the pancreas. No explanation for this but since one cannot spot reduce, one has to lose fat all over the body in order that the pancreas start to function better. And so on.

 

Now a quick going over of the basics.

Diabetes is high levels of glucose in the blood.

The higher the amount of glucose floating around red cells in the bloodstream, the more likely they will attach to a red cell.

The more glucose attached, the "stiffer" and "rougher" the red cell becomes.

This stiffer Red blood cells impact on the blood vessel wall can cause damage of the blood vessel walls.

Too many such impacts and the damage cannot be easily repaired

These rough up areas can collect debris and in the smallest capillaries can easily block off transport to cells causing cell death.

Enough cell deaths and organs cannot function well 

Some organs cannot replace the damaged cells (or cannot replace them fast enough).

Over time the organ (eyes, kidney, etc) "fails".

If enough organs fail the result is early death for the diabetic.

 

Having the "mechanics" of the problem explained is great.  All of a sudden eating smaller amounts of foods that raise blood sugars makes sense (you can carefully spread the eating of that delicious slice of cake over 2 days instead of at one sitting) Eating every 4 to 6 hours to keep sugar levels steady makes sense, especially useful idea if you NEED to modify calories for an high activity lifestyle.  Having A1C test done ever 3 to 4 months makes sense, and if the A1C levels DO NOT match your records of your sugar levels you KNOW something is wrong. Etc.    The "good" thing that researchers have found is that if you can keep a good control the complications will "never" happen to you. (Never means you will die of something else!). If you can keep the sugar levels to “normal" it is possible the body may have a chance to heal. So some parts of your body may become as functional as they were before getting damaged by the consequences of a high glucose levels.  This means for the type 2 diabetic - one day’s lack of control will result in about 120 days of damaging red blood cells floating around. (And one's A1C levels revealing that lack of control for 120 days)

.  By the way the A1C tests for the amount of glucose that attaches to red cells. Since red blood cells only have a life span of 120 days at the most, having the test done gives your doctor an idea of how well you have managed to keep your sugars close to a healthy normal in the last three, four months.  This is a very important way to judge the possible long term damage. You should check to find out, (I forget) but there is an incredibly large link between having the A1C levels normal and avoiding long term complications. It may be an excellent way for you to find if your diabetes is becoming worse if you find you do not really need the finger prick test that often. Checking the glucose levels is more important the worse your sugar level control. At prediabetic levels, continuous finger pricks may not be that very useful if you are also getting regular A1C tests done. 

 

The facts everyone just gave you is right but if you want to talk to someone with diabetes then you can message me. I have had type 1 diabetes for 10 years next month. So message me if you have any specific question. I will help.

Good luck. Diabetes is a hard disease to have but it can be easy if you control yourself.