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Hello all and should he go onto medication?

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Hellybelly17

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Hello everyone. My husband was diagnosed prediabetic 10 years ago. He has managed this with diet and exercise alone since then but his last 2 hb1ac readings have come out at 7.2 (12 months apart) . He has always put off going onto medication because he reads about the side effects, etc... But now that it is lingering higher he is wondering what to do. The doctor always say he should, any advice please. Thank you.
 
Welcome to be forum.
It is easy to become complacent with diet and gradually the carbs you are having are creeping up and it is possible that over time the body becomes more sensitive to things that were previously tolerated.
A good idea would be to keep an honest food diary of everything he is eating and drinking and tot up the amount of carbs he is having as there may be foods that could be substituted to save on the amount he is having, or portion size of some of the higher carb foods could be reduced. This may be all that is needed to keep off the medication.
Getting a blood glucose monitor would help identify any meals which are pushing up the blood glucose levels and make some better choices possible. Remember it is all those pesky carbohydrates which are the problem.
If you give some examples of the meals he is having then a few people could offer some suggestions of where you/he could make some changes.
Have a look at the thread What did you eat Yesterday for ideas of the sort of meals Type 2 folk have.
 
Hi @Hellybelly17 . Welcome to the forum , going by this conversion chart for the old % and the not so new mmol/mol measurement fir the Hb1ac, your husband is still in the good range thoughit’s not in the best range .
If your husband isn’t already, it may help if he starts self testing , just before eating then two hours after the first bite , just to find out how the various carbohydrates are affecting him , as their may be a few surprises , both good and bad.
It’s wirth asking the go/nurse fir a glucose meter and test strips but it’s very likely they will say no , it’s not necessary, it will only make you worry etc etc.
If that’s the case many here use this meter https://homehealth-uk.com/?s=Gluco+navii&product_cat=0&post_type=product as the strips are far more economical £8 for 50 When other meters use strips that start at £15 .

We use the mmol /l measurement in the uk
You’ll need to buy more pots of strips and lancets .

Yes many people do suffer tummy upsets with Metformin it’s ysu temporary
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to be forum.
It is easy to become complacent with diet and gradually the carbs you are having are creeping up and it is possible that over time the body becomes more sensitive to things that were previously tolerated.
A good idea would be to keep an honest food diary of everything he is eating and drinking and tot up the amount of carbs he is having as there may be foods that could be substituted to save on the amount he is having, or portion size of some of the higher carb foods could be reduced. This may be all that is needed to keep off the medication.
Getting a blood glucose monitor would help identify any meals which are pushing up the blood glucose levels and make some better choices possible. Remember it is all those pesky carbohydrates which are the problem.
If you give some examples of the meals he is having then a few people could offer some suggestions of where you/he could make some changes.
Have a look at the thread What did you eat Yesterday for ideas of the sort of meals Type 2 folk have.
Click to expand...
I must learn to type faster lol.
 
Hellybelly17 said:
Hello everyone. My husband was diagnosed prediabetic 10 years ago. He has managed this with diet and exercise alone since then but his last 2 hb1ac readings have come out at 7.2 (12 months apart) . He has always put off going onto medication because he reads about the side effects, etc... But now that it is lingering higher he is wondering what to do. The doctor always say he should, any advice please. Thank you.
Click to expand...
He might be able to get away with just reducing his carbs intake but he'll need to gt to work on this today if he wants to avoid medication or a more serious low carb diet.
 
Not everyone has a bad reaction to medication, and mine was quite extreme, but if it can be avoided I really would recommend it. The difference I felt at 6 months from diagnosis, having lost weight and got normal blood glucose levels was like two decades of aging falling off me.
It was all down to avoiding high carb foods - which are so often put forward as healthy, but are, in fact unnecessary and detrimental for type twos.
I am mot advising that medication which is essential be avoided - just that if there is an alternative method of control which brings the benefits I have experienced from eating low carb, I heartily recommend giving it a trial.
 
Thank you all. Yes, we have had a chat and think we have become complacent again. He has started retesting (something he hasn't done properly for a while now), and I think his food tolerances have changed. Looks like we are gong back to square one with working out what he can eat and cutting the carbs right back.
What should his maximum carb level be either per meal or per day?
 
Last edited:
Hellybelly17 said:
Thank you all. Yes, we have had a chat and think we have become complacent again. He has started retesting (something he hasn't done properly for a while now), and I think his food tolerances have changed. Looks like we are gong back to square one with working out what he can eat and cutting the carbs right back.
What should his maximum carb level be either per meal or per day?
Click to expand...
The trouble is that as everybody is different to say what the max carb limit should be is tricky. The best way is to try to work out roughly what he is having now by keeping your food diary for a few days and then look to reducing the amount gradually so say if at the moment it is 250g per day then look to cutting down to 200g for a few days then 150g to see how that is affecting the levels. you can use your monitor to test particular meals so before you eat and after 2hrs, no more than 2-3mmol/l increase would be good. Obviously it is better to spread the carbs between different meals and allow for drinks as well.
Some people do go low carb which would be less than 130g per day, some a lot less than that but it is a judgement you can only make by looking at blood glucose results.
Slow and steady is the best way as is finding a regime which is sustainable and you are having foods you enjoy.
 
Hope your renewed focus begins to show positive effects @Hellybelly17

Let us know how you get on. 🙂
 
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