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At Risk of being diagnosed

It was 14 on a fast this morning.

I’m trying to do it daily so I can so the nurse on Tuesday and learn more about what I can and cannot have.
 
AnthonyC2025 said:
It was 14 on a fast this morning.

I’m trying to do it daily so I can so the nurse on Tuesday and learn more about what I can and cannot have.
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That is indeed quite high for a fasting level but it is early days and morning readings are often the last to come down as the liver releases glucose in the absence of food to give you energy for your organs to function and for starting the day.
You will only learn what you can and shouldn't have by testing before you eat and after 2 hours. An increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l would indicate your meal is OK, more than that it is too carb heavy so you will need to reduce the portion size of any high carb food or cut out all together.
Keeping a food diary is what people find helpful of an estimate of the carbs in everything they eat and drink together with the blood glucose readings. Eventually you will build up a repertoire of safe meals.
 
Welcome to the forum! Like others have said there's a huge amount of lived experience here and lots of friendly people happy to share.
With regards 14 that sounds quite high after fasting. They should give you a HbA1c reading at your next appointment which is a 3 month rolling average and not on the same scale which will probably give a better idea of where you are. In the meantime maybe have a read about reducing your sugar and carb intake and especially reducing some of the non-sugar carbs if you eat a lot of things like rice, pasta and potatoes and see if that helps.
 
Update……….

I have been diagnosed now with type as my bloods came back as 86.

I’ve just started medication but I’m worried about taking another medication that help with rapid sugar level reductions as I could then start to have hypos.

I’m feeling very nervous about this.
 
Yes, an HbA1c result of 86 ties in with the high readings you were getting with your fasting finger prick test results. there are people on the forum who have brought their levels down from higher than that mostly with a combination of medication and lifestyle changes, but the latter is an important aspect. The medication will not manage things long term on it's own if you continue to eat foods which are causing your body problems and that is why many doctors consider Type 2 diabetes to be progressive, but it doesn't have to be that way. Many people here on the forum have changed their diet and got a bit more active and have even managed to come off medication in some cases and feel much healthier for making those changes. I see my diabetes diagnosis as a turning point in my wellbeing and I am now much healthier and fitter as a result of the changes it forced me to make to my diet. Hopefully you can make some changes and feel better too.

Which medication have they started you on for your diabetes?
 
If it was Metformin that they started you on then that just helps your body use the insulin it produces, taking just that and no other diabetes meds shouldn't give you a higher risk of a hypo then any non-diabetic person. Insulin (mostly but not entirely type 1 sufferers) and some other drugs might increase risk but usually the doctors will start you on Metformin and see if you can get your levels down before trying anything else unless you're high enough to be an emergency.
 
I experienced my first hypo today my sugars went below 4. I had eaten at 10:30am and had a big breakfast. I wasn’t hungry then till around 2:30pm but at this point I was already in a hypo.

I’m so confused, I need to diet to lose weight, cannot have carbs, sugar etc. but then if I do this my sugars go too low or too high.

Only my 2nd week or so and I’m really struggling and getting fed up with it.

I’ve started my metaformin and Glicidae. I’m on 2 metaformin and 1 of the other.

I was hoping to control it by diet and I’m so scared of losing my driving license it’s my job travelling.

Araghhhhhh
 
AnthonyC2025 said:
I experienced my first hypo today my sugars went below 4. I had eaten at 10:30am and had a big breakfast. I wasn’t hungry then till around 2:30pm but at this point I was already in a hypo.

I’m so confused, I need to diet to lose weight, cannot have carbs, sugar etc. but then if I do this my sugars go too low or too high.

Only my 2nd week or so and I’m really struggling and getting fed up with it.

I’ve started my metaformin and Glicidae. I’m on 2 metaformin and 1 of the other.

I was hoping to control it by diet and I’m so scared of losing my driving license it’s my job travelling.

Araghhhhhh
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Did you actually test your blood glucose when you felt hypo as if your blood glucose dropped to lower than you have been used to then the body can feel a bit wobbly even though on your monitor it is not low.
The gliclazide encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin so you do need to eat some carbs to balance that. What was your breakfast?
The symptoms of high blood glucose can be quite similar to low blood glucose hence the need to test when you feel unwell.
 
Leadinglights said:
Did you actually test your blood glucose when you felt hypo as if your blood glucose dropped to lower than you have been used to then the body can feel a bit wobbly even though on your monitor it is not low.
The gliclazide encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin so you do need to eat some carbs to balance that. What was your breakfast?
The symptoms of high blood glucose can be quite similar to low blood glucose hence the need to test when you feel unwell.
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I did test and it was 4 on the monitor and then dropped to 3.9. I then had some glucose sweats etc to bring me back up.

I had a cooked English breakfast and had fruit and natural Greek yogurt. It was a good amount really.
 
AnthonyC2025 said:
I did test and it was 4 on the monitor and then dropped to 3.9. I then had some glucose sweats etc to bring me back up.

I had a cooked English breakfast and had fruit and natural Greek yogurt. It was a good amount really.
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When you are early days it can be useful to make a note of the carbs you are having and blood glucose readings before you eat and after 2 hours which would enable you to get an idea if you are having enough carbs for your gliclazide dose as people would be aiming at 2-3mmol increase or no more than 8-8.5 after 2 hours.
Being at 4 before eating is what some people will be at as the range is 4-7 before meals.
It sounds as if you coped well with it but it is all a learning curve in the early days also allowing your body to adjust.
If this is something that is happening frequently then maybe your gliclazide dose is too high.
 
dannybgoode said:
The op mentioned they're on Gliclazide so hypos are a possibility...
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That will teach me to reply to a post when I am hypo myself.
I think it was their "relationship to diabetes" showing in their profile as "at riak of diabetes" which must have thrown me because someone at risk would not normally be medicated. Apologies for any confusion.
 
Yes it confused me as well however from reading through their a1c was 86 so no longer at risk.

Hope you're recovering from the hypo. They are deeply unpleasant.
 
dannybgoode said:
Yes it confused me as well however from reading through their a1c was 86 so no longer at risk.

Hope you're recovering from the hypo. They are deeply unpleasant.
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I'm fine thanks. To be honest, they really don't bother me that much anymore (not like the early days when they really wiped me out) unless they are really bad ones but this wasn't, as it was just a minor basal downward drift and not having Libre on at the moment, I didn't spot it until I had that funny "isolated", heady feeling and tinnitus suddenly seemed louder than usual. Obviously it affected me enough to miss seeing a very important part of that post though! 🙄
 
AnthonyC2025 said:
I experienced my first hypo today my sugars went below 4. I had eaten at 10:30am and had a big breakfast. I wasn’t hungry then till around 2:30pm but at this point I was already in a hypo.

I’m so confused, I need to diet to lose weight, cannot have carbs, sugar etc. but then if I do this my sugars go too low or too high.

Only my 2nd week or so and I’m really struggling and getting fed up with it.

I’ve started my metaformin and Glicidae. I’m on 2 metaformin and 1 of the other.

I was hoping to control it by diet and I’m so scared of losing my driving license it’s my job travelling.

Araghhhhhh
Click to expand...
I am also on metformin and gliclazide. You do need to eat some carbs with gliclazide and should have been prescribed a blood glucose monitor with lancets to check your levels.
My nurse advised me to check daily when I wake. Also before driving and if I felt unwell. After getting good advice on this forum I also tested before and 2 hours after meals and kept a food diary for several weeks. This helped me manage my carb intake.
I eat 130 to 150g carb per day but I take 160mg gliclazide daily and I am not trying to lose weight.
My advice is to eat at regular times as far as possible and split your carb intake evenly across your meals. Have a hypo kit with you just in case, but avoid snacking. It helps if your blood glucose levels rise and fall in gentle curves rather than steep swings from one extreme to the other.
Changes to your diet and regular exercise really do help. A half hour walk a couple of times a day is a good start.
I was horrified at my HbA1c of 165 when diagnosed. The good people on this forum gave me lots of support and advice through those first months when I had so much to learn about living with and managing my diabetes.
You can do this so don't write yourself off.
 
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