• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Is this normal?

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
M

Maupin

New Member
So as a supposedly recently (bear in mind I didn't have a test for years!) diagnosed pre diabetic I've been working on getting a better balance in my diet. Thanks to all who input to my previous posts - huge help. Anyway I've started to get really splitting headaches and pretty bad blurred vision all of a sudden. Seems to be associated with activity (I do lots) and can be relieved if I eat something sugary. My GP is pretty useless at advising me on what to do. I don't fit the usual criteria for T2 Diabetics and he's refusing to consider that I might be a late onset T1 despite my father being one. I haven't lost any weight that seems to be the stumbling block (5ft 9 and 9st 2lbs.) Any advice would as always be welcome. Carole
 
How much carbohydrate are you eating?

Did your GP check your thyroid hormone levels?

And do you have a blood glucose meter to check fasting and pre and post meal blood sugar, to show what your levels are doing at different times? If they're frequently rising more than expected for someone who isn't yet at diabetic levels that may be helpful to discuss with GP
 
If you have cut your carbohydrate level very quickly that can reduce blood glucose level and give you issues with your eyes, blurry and out of focus as the environment in the eye changes from being sugary back to more normal salty which alters the shape of the eye and so the focus changes. This is usually temporary and should settle down. Headaches can also be due to the reduction in carbs as you often lose fluid so can become dehydrated so make sure you drink plenty.
If your body has been used to higher blood glucose levels and they start to come down then the body has to adapt and people can get the feeling of low blood glucose when they are actually not.
If you are only prediabetic then the effect should not be too great, it is usually when people are well into the diabetic zone when it can happen, Having said that I was at 50mmol/mol and did get some eye issues when my level dropped.
 
5'9" and 9st 2lb seems to be well within range to me! It's not far off the top end of the scale for little shorties like me who stand just 5' tall! I don't see why your GP wouldn't consider other types especially since you clearly not overweight. I'd try another discussion with him
 
Leadinglights said:
If you have cut your carbohydrate level very quickly that can reduce blood glucose level and give you issues with your eyes, blurry and out of focus as the environment in the eye changes from being sugary back to more normal salty which alters the shape of the eye and so the focus changes. This is usually temporary and should settle down. Headaches can also be due to the reduction in carbs as you often lose fluid so can become dehydrated so make sure you drink plenty.
If your body has been used to higher blood glucose levels and they start to come down then the body has to adapt and people can get the feeling of low blood glucose when they are actually not.
If you are only prediabetic then the effect should not be too great, it is usually when people are well into the diabetic zone when it can happen, Having said that I was at 50mmol/mol and did get some eye issues when my level dropped.
Click to expand...
Thanks Leadinglights - I'm not v up to speed with all this. And yes, whilst I didn't a very high carb consumption before the diagnosis I've reduced my fruit consumption and stopped the grazing. I must admit this is a bit of a steep learning curve and just when you think you know what you're doing - you realise you've got a long way to go. Carole
 
Maupin said:
Thanks Leadinglights - I'm not v up to speed with all this. And yes, whilst I didn't a very high carb consumption before the diagnosis I've reduced my fruit consumption and stopped the grazing. I must admit this is a bit of a steep learning curve and just when you think you know what you're doing - you realise you've got a long way to go. Carole
Click to expand...
You may have already seen this link but if not it may help you with some ideas for a sensible way of reducing your carbs without going overboard. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Vonny said:
5'9" and 9st 2lb seems to be well within range to me! It's not far off the top end of the scale for little shorties like me who stand just 5' tall! I don't see why your GP wouldn't consider other types especially since you clearly not overweight. I'd try another discussion with him
Click to expand...
I will... I think it's just crazy not to cover all bases. Trying to reduce my carb intake ( wasn's that high anyway) makes me feel quite ill. And that was the only "guidance" I've been given. Thank you. Carole
 
42istheanswer said:
How much carbohydrate are you eating?

Did your GP check your thyroid hormone levels?

And do you have a blood glucose meter to check fasting and pre and post meal blood sugar, to show what your levels are doing at different times? If they're frequently rising more than expected for someone who isn't yet at diabetic levels that may be helpful to discuss with GP
Click to expand...
Hi 42
Current daily carb consumption is 100... and it's normal ( but not sure when the date of that blood test was.)
My OH has a monitor - he doesnt use it these days ( don't go there.) I'm assuming that timing is key like 2 hours after meals? Carole
 
Maupin said:
Hi 42
Current daily carb consumption is 100... and it's normal ( but not sure when the date of that blood test was.)
My OH has a monitor - he doesnt use it these days ( don't go there.) I'm assuming that timing is key like 2 hours after meals? Carole
Click to expand...
It is usual to test before you eat and 2 hours after to see if your meal is tolerated and identify any problem foods. An increase of no more that 2-3mmol/l is Ok and preferably no more than 8mmol/l post meal.
If just prediabetic then 8mmol/l would be a realistic aim.
Then you are aiming at 4-7mmol/l before meals or fasting/morning readings.
100g per day Total carbs sounds to be about a level that should be OK to keep your glucose level where it needs to be.
Does this mean your OH is diabetic as he has a monitor.?
 
Maupin said:
Hi 42
Current daily carb consumption is 100... and it's normal ( but not sure when the date of that blood test was.)
My OH has a monitor - he doesnt use it these days ( don't go there.) I'm assuming that timing is key like 2 hours after meals? Carole
Click to expand...
Ideally before a meal, then again 2 hours after the start of the meal to check the peak increase. For non- diabetic people, if you haven't eaten for a few hours before the pre- meal test it will probably be in the 4-7 range. After the meal you're hoping for the rise to usually be within 3 of the pre-meal number.

If you find it's within range for lower carb meals, you could always check for a higher carb meal as well to see how well your body copes with that.

(And I would suggest you use a new lancet - ideally new lancet pen too - that your OH hasn't used 😉 )
 
Maupin said:
Current daily carb consumption is 100... and it's normal ( but not sure when the date of that blood test was.)
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear you aren‘t getting very clear help and support @Maupin

Were you given the result of your blood check as a number when they said you were at risk of diabetes? This will be a number between 42-47mmol/mol. It can help to know the numbers of your results so that you can get a feel for where you are on the scale - though some surgeries just use phrases like ‘normal’ or ‘no action needed’ as they think people find the numbers confusing - so often you have to ask for the actual results.

If you have the NHS app or Patient Access, you may be able to access your results on there.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry to hear you aren‘t getting very clear help and support @Maupin

Were you given the result of your blood check as a number when they said you were at risk of diabetes? This will be a number between 42-47mmol/mol. It can help to know the numbers of your results so that you can get a feel for where you are on the scale - though some surgeries just use phrases like ‘normal’ or ‘no action needed’ as they think people find the numbers confusing - so often you have to ask for the actual results.

If you have the NHS app or Patient Access, you may be able to access your results on there.
Click to expand...
I had a blood test in December and it was 47. Another one in June and it was the same. How long Ive been at this level no one knows. Because despite the family history I haven't been tested for around 8-10 years.
 
Maupin said:
I had a blood test in December and it was 47. Another one in June and it was the same. How long Ive been at this level no one knows. Because despite the family history I haven't been tested for around 8-10 years.
Click to expand...
At least you have stayed the same so with some tweaks to your diet you should be able to reduce it down from that top rung on the prediabetes ladder. Cutting down on some of the high carb foods and increasing protein and vegetables hopefully will be sufficient.
Maybe if you keep a food diary of everything you eat and drink you may find there are some hidden carbs which you are not counting in your 100g total carbs per day.
You may benefit from testing some specific meals which are higher carb to see if you are tolerating them.
 
Maupin said:
I had a blood test in December and it was 47. Another one in June and it was the same. How long Ive been at this level no one knows. Because despite the family history I haven't been tested for around 8-10 years.
Click to expand...

Glad you’ve had the ‘heads up’ while you are still on the edge.

Hopefully with some tweaks and changes to your menu you can stave off a diagnosis for a while yet.

If you’ve lots of diabetes in your close family, it may be that you have a bit of a genetic predisposition to struggle with the modern western diet - but many here have found ways to make some adjustments to keep their metabolisms (and their tastebuds!) happy.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top