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Borderline Diabetes Diagnosis

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J

Jennibambi

Active Member
I have been diagnosed wiyh borderline diabetes and dobnt know what to do - does this mean I am diabetic? thanks to nurse I am none the wiser just that I have to go back to have blood test repeated in 2 weeks - help in the meantime what can/do I do to improve?
 
Hi Jennibambi
Welcome aboard. I hope you don't mind but I moved your post to its own thread so your questions didn't get lost. Borderline diabetes could mean one of two things, either you're just in the range, or very close to it. Doctors don't all use the same terminology which can be confusing. They will have taken a measure called a HBA1c, which sounds complicated buts it's essentially how much sugar is attached to your blood cells. Those of us with diabetes have more sugar floating around in our blood so there's a range considered normal and then a range considered diabetic.

The good news is there's lots of things you can do to improve the situation, and it doesn't mean you will definitely develop diabetes. There's a link here to some information on the DUK website https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Prediabetes-whats-it-all-about/ that explains it better than I can, but we have lots of members here who have direct experience so I'm sure some of them will come along with some practical tips soon 🙂.
 
KookyCat said:
Hi Jennibambi
Welcome aboard. I hope you don't mind but I moved your post to its own thread so your questions didn't get lost. Borderline diabetes could mean one of two things, either you're just in the range, or very close to it. Doctors don't all use the same terminology which can be confusing. They will have taken a measure called a HBA1c, which sounds complicated buts it's essentially how much sugar is attached to your blood cells. Those of us with diabetes have more sugar floating around in our blood so there's a range considered normal and then a range considered diabetic.

The good news is there's lots of things you can do to improve the situation, and it doesn't mean you will definitely develop diabetes. There's a link here to some information on the DUK website https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Prediabetes-whats-it-all-about/ that explains it better than I can, but we have lots of members here who have direct experience so I'm sure some of them will come along with some practical tips soon 🙂.
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Thanks so much I was soo worried - don't know what I can eat, nurse was no help at all she said exercise and diet - I am about 10st 8lbs and 5foot 5 inches. do I need the "prick" test?? so many questions but no one to answer - I am hoping they will send me to dietician I am just really unsure of what to eat so hardly eating anything! Thanks for any replies would be appreciated. Oh and might be worth mentioning it was not a fasting test sont know if that makes any difference!
 
Jennibambi said:
Thanks so much I was soo worried - don't know what I can eat, nurse was no help at all she said exercise and diet - I am about 10st 8lbs and 5foot 5 inches. do I need the "prick" test?? so many questions but no one to answer - I am hoping they will send me to dietician I am just really unsure of what to eat so hardly eating anything! Thanks for any replies would be appreciated. Oh and might be worth mentioning it was not a fasting test sont know if that makes any difference!
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Welcome.
A HBA1c does not have to be fasting.
 
Hi & welcome to the forum. It's best to treat this if you have diabetes. The food types to be careful of are carbohydrates. This includes sugary foods, bread, potatoes, pasta & rice. These can all raise your blood sugar levels. Getting a meter to test yourself is advisable, even though most GP's say it's not necessary. It's the best way to see how foods affect you. Test before & 2 hours after food. You are looking for an increase of no more than 3 mmols/l. Any more & you can try a smaller portion or avoid alltogether.
 
Hi. Yes, do get a meter. Be careful if seeing the dietician as some of them have no understanding of our need to have low carbs to keep blood sugar down. You sound quite slim? Do you mind me asking what your BMI is as it can sometimes influence the detailed diagnosis?
 
DaveB said:
Hi. Yes, do get a meter. Be careful if seeing the dietician as some of them have no understanding of our need to have low carbs to keep blood sugar down. You sound quite slim? Do you mind me asking what your BMI is as it can sometimes influence the detailed diagnosis?
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according to I think it was this site it is 25. sometimes i'm ok then today had 4oz roast chicken breast and half plate of boiled cabbage so now going to loo every 2 hours, not that very thirsty but I don't know what to do - the doc said my reading was 48 that's the first one I have ever had and have to go back and get checked in 2 weeks. I am scared cos this is new to me and I want to see if I can get back myself. does that take a while? it is only a weejk for me. i didn't fast for test but did have 4 ferarro rocher sweets not 15 mins to half hour before i had it - would that have made a difference. which meter would you advise as you have done brilliantly well - are you on tablets or diet? sorry for all the questions!
 
Mark Parrott said:
Hi & welcome to the forum. It's best to treat this if you have diabetes. The food types to be careful of are carbohydrates. This includes sugary foods, bread, potatoes, pasta & rice. These can all raise your blood sugar levels. Getting a meter to test yourself is advisable, even though most GP's say it's not necessary. It's the best way to see how foods affect you. Test before & 2 hours after food. You are looking for an increase of no more than 3 mmols/l. Any more & you can try a smaller portion or avoid alltogether.
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what carbs - total or ones that turn to sugar?/ i am very unsure of bread - i read wholemeal can be ok but i am not too sure about that. Which meter would you recommend i will buy it. can i really delay or avoid type 2 if i eat properly? i don't understand it all sorry for all the questions!
 
There is a lot to take in for a newbie.🙂 Look at total carbs. All carbs turn to sugar in the body. Wholemeal bread is slower release but can still spike. The breads recommend on here are Burgen soya & linseed or Lidl high protein rolls (from the fresh bakery section). These are much lower carbs thsn most other bread. I use the SD Codefree meter from Amazon or Home Health. It has the cheapest test strips & does the job fine.
 
Mark Parrott said:
There is a lot to take in for a newbie.🙂 Look at total carbs. All carbs turn to sugar in the body. Wholemeal bread is slower release but can still spike. The breads recommend on here are Burgen soya & linseed or Lidl high protein rolls (from the fresh bakery section). These are much lower carbs thsn most other bread. I use the SD Codefree meter from Amazon or Home Health. It has the cheapest test strips & does the job fine.
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sometimes i'm ok then today had 4oz roast chicken breast and half plate of boiled cabbage and small galss of red wine so now going to loo every 2 hours, not that very thirsty but do need a drink but I don't know what to do - the doc said my reading was 48 that's the first one I have ever had and have to go back and get checked in 2 weeks. I am scared cos this is new to me does this thirst/peeing mean I could go into a coma?? I want to see if I can do it myself. does it take a while? it is only a week for me. i didn't fast for test but did have 4 ferarro rocher sweets not 15 mins to half hour before i had it - would that have made a difference. which meter would you advise as you have done brilliantly well - are you on tablets or diet? sorry for all the questions!
 
I'm only on diet & exercise, though I'm not very good at the latter.🙄 Never been put on tablets. I follow a low carb diet that seems to suit me well. It takes a while to get to grips with it all. This is a marathon, not a sprint.🙂
 
Hi Jennibambi. Welcome. How did you come to be diagnosed. Try not to panic, diabetes is a condition that can be managed well !
That 48 figure sounds like the Hb1ac blood test.
It's an average of our BG ( blood glucose) during the past 12 or so weeks.
The 48 shows you are just only over the lowest threshold for being diagnosed with diabetes. 42 to 47 is pre diabetes.
I know it's a shock and very scarey. However it sounds like you have discovered it in the early stages , which is good !! You have also found us early too , which is great as You'll get info and support from the horses mouth, us who live with it daily.
As has already been said, One of the best things you can do for yourself, is to find out which carbohydrates affect you and which don't . The only way is by self testing, tbph, unless your gp practice is very enlightened, you will be told it's not necessary to test, the Hb1ac is all that's needed etc. We think it's a cost cutting measure which in the long term is going to cost the NHS more.
If they won't provide you with one and you can afford It ,The cheapest one to self fundis the SD Codefree meter available from Amazon or directly from Homehealth. We use the mmol/l measurement in the uk, don't forget to claim VAT relief
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

It's the ongoing cost of the test strips you have to watch out for, meters that you can buy in chemists have testing strips that cost between £15 -£25 for 50 the Codefree ones are around £8
It's a perfectly good meter .
Feel free to ask questions, we will do our best to help.
 
Thanks so much for replying. I have looked at diet doctor online about low carb foods but u can have the likes of butter cheese and other fats do u think i could follw that or wud u not be able to take fats etc as a diabetic. Have to go for anothe test next monday so does the 48 mean i am diabetic? Yes this site is fabulous to have found thank you
 
A lot of people (not me) follow the LCHF (low carb high fat) way of eating, so things like butter, cheese and cream are all on the menu. You have to find what works for you in the long run. I personally have reduced the amount of carbs I eat in a day and eat lower fat foods, but thats me.
 
Hi, unless you need to lose weight or have other health problems needing a low fat diet, good fats are not our problem butter , cream , cheese yum.
Personally I don't buy anything that is not naturally low fat, ie I don't buy low fat yogurts.
It's carbs that our bodies can't deal with too well especially the starchy carbs, potatoes, rice, pasta and bread esp white.
Most of us have to be careful with fruit, berries are often tolerated better. Grapes are little sugar bombs, me being on insulin I find fruit juice is a wonderful treatmeant for hypo's ( low blood sugar)
New potatoes, just have a couple are better than mash. Rice either have a tiny amount one or two desertspoons or something like cauliflower rice. Bread, I've switched to wholemeal, many here have Bergen (sp?) bread , Lidle high protein rolls .

Just to give you a few ideas Good stuff for us, meat of all colours, high meat content sausages and burgers ( I buy heck sausages), bacon, eggs cooked anyway you like)
We have a few good and very inventive cooks on here, so have a look in the food/carb queries and recipe forum.
 
Meant to say, I'm more of a medium carb person, what we mean by high fat is just a normal amount of fat. , not half a pound of lard 🙂
 
Ljc said:
Meant to say, I'm more of a medium carb person, what we mean by high fat is just a normal amount of fat. , not half a pound of lard 🙂
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Thanks so much i do think its the carbs for me but dont need to lose a lot of weight. Thanks to everyone for replying to me i really appreciate it. Could i reverse this being 48, without tablets i am having another blood test next week but dont kno if that will make a huge difference as long as it hasnt gone up as i have cut right down on the carbs. I went to give blood snd they just said my haemaglobin (sp) was low so went to docs and he did few tests. Then i found out. I feel a bit annoyed and think i should have been tested before now.
 
I'm still losing weight on LCHF. I don't restrict my fat intake, though i'm still probably eating less fat than I was before diagnosis. I always have real butter on toast, make truffles with 85% choc & double cream & have full fat yoghurt & mayo & cook using butter or coconut oil. It's the combination of high carbs & high fat that's dangerous. Trans fats should always be avoided. I've also made a lot of recipes on the Diet Doctor site. I highly recommend the pesto chicken casserole with olives & feta, which I am having tonight🙂
 
O my goodness i love this site i am actually starting to relax about this. Cant thank you all enough 🙂🙂 i felt so doomed at first but u really can eat. Ordered the meter so when it arrives i will have to ask what i should be looking for. Can i just ask is it possible to use olive oil and can you eat onions or are they too sweet. 🙄 and if so can i fry them thanks
 
If it helps, I've just had onions fried in olive oil with my sausages for dinner
 
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