New Prediabetic diagnosis

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2007
New Prediabetic diagnosis
20
Tue, 08-28-2007 - 11:00pm
Hi everyone! I'm Tammy, mom to 2 boys (8&5) and married for 9 years. Anyway, on to the story :) I had a ton of tests done a couple of weeks ago by my new gyno, and one was a fasting blood test. Well today I went in for my appointment and she told me that I am pre-diabetic, and that my level is a 35, which according to her was the worst she'd seen. I have NO idea what 35 means. She told me that I need to lose weight(I've lost over 30 pounds in the past 6 months), and decide on diet changes that I can make for the rest of my life(said that I need to not eat any carbs for breakfast or dinner), and she had me start taking Glucophage(500 mg once a day for 2 weeks, then twice a day after that)and I'm supposed to get another fasting blood test done and then come back in 2 months for a follow-up appointment. My head is just spinning. I have NO IDEA what to do! Do I need to get a meter and start doing glucose testing? What changes do I do to my diet? (I am a bread and pasta freak) I know that you've probably all answered questions like these a million times, but I couldn't find any info on this board that really helped, and the research that I've done makes me want to give up and eat some Ben & Jerry's. :)

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Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 08-28-2007 - 11:59pm

Hi Tammy,


Welcome to our board. My name is Mary Frances and I am one of the community leaders for this board. I am a type 2 diabetic and a registered nurse. Any advise I may give is not a substitute for seeking medical care from a health care practitioner of your choice.


Let me first say I have absolutely no idea what a 35 reading is. This is the first time I have ever heard of that reading. What country are you located in? Maybe that will give me a clue so that I can translate it into USA speak.


Yes, you need a meter and you need to be testing your blood sugar on a regular basis. You have no idea how you react to certain foods. It is also totally unrealistic to tell you not to have any carbs for breakfast or dinner. If you listen to that advise you won't be able to have even a half a glass of milk for breakfast and you need some milk to protect your bones from osteoporosis.


Here is a very good article that will give basic nutrition information for diabetics. Read it, print it out and save it for future reference. http://health.ivillage.com/diabetesthy/di/0,,pz7h,00.html


A weight loss of 7 to 10% will in most cases be sufficient to get your blood sugar under control. As you cant ell this is a modest amount of weight to lose.


In the matter of metformin. It is a wonderful drug that has nasty side effects when you first start taking it. You need to take it with food already in your stomach. And it would be better to divide the 500mg into two doses and take one in the morning and one at night. It takes about two weeks for your system to become use to it so hang in there. Things will get better.


I don't want to overwhelm you with information. So please pull up a chair and join our conversation. We will try to answer your quests. Ben and Jerry's does make a sugar free version of one of their ice creams!! At least that was the case the last time I checked.





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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2007
Wed, 08-29-2007 - 12:22am
Thanks Mary Frances! I'm in the US, in Utah to be exact. I was so freaked out at the time, maybe I'm remembering wrong. This came completely out of left field, and I know the basics about diabetes, but now I feel like I don't know a darn thing. I guess that I'll just try to lose more weight and start eating more veggies and see what my results are after the next fasting test.
Avatar for spejf
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Wed, 08-29-2007 - 7:54pm

Hi Tammy,


My suggestion is to get your test results from your gyno, go to your family doctor and have a long sit-down and chat.

Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 08-29-2007 - 11:54pm

Last night I was thinking about what the 35 could mean. Perhaps it is BMI which is increased in most diabetics because of increased weight. Does this sound like something that was said to you?


A blood sugar of 35 is pretty dern low and I think you would be needing immediate treatment so it couldn't be that!


This does have me puzzled :-{

Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 08-30-2007 - 7:21am

My thought is, she needs to call and ASK what her glucose was.


Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 08-30-2007 - 11:49pm

Cheryl,


Sounds like when my ophthalmologist told me I borderline diabetic and I was already on three meds. I set him straight so quickly his glasses fogged up!!He has never said that to me again. LOL!!





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Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 08-31-2007 - 7:25am
I don't know, maybe I should have pointed out to him as I have some posters on this board, it isn't like a 'regular' diet where you CAN watch what you eat and cut back on CALORIES for a couple of days in order to NOT gain weight...

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2007
Fri, 08-31-2007 - 9:50pm
Thanks for the advise! I just had another fasting blood draw this morning, so once those results are back I'm going to ask for copies of the tests and take them to my regular Dr. Until then I'm reading everything I can get my hands on, and I'll just see what happens. I'm glad I found this group, it's nice to have someone to help explain stuff! Thanks!
Tammy
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2007
Tue, 09-04-2007 - 9:30am

Hi Tammy,

I think the 35 refers to your lowest blood glucose level from the test, 35 mg/dl (milligrams/deciliter). Here's my story to explain why I think this: A year and a half ago I went in for the fasting test and my blood sugar dropped to 35 mg/dl. This is very low, normal is 65-99 mg/dl. I had been having hypoglycemia (low blod sugar) symptoms for some time and that is why my primary care physician sent me for the glucose test. I now see an endocrinologist who says that I am pre-diabetic. My problem, she says, is that when I eat carbohydrates my body puts out much, much more insulin than it should and that causes the severe blood sugar drop. The reason she says that this is pre-diabetes is that she thinks eventually my pancreas will stop producing insulin and I will become diabetic.

For me now, I am trying to prevent becoming diabetic. I take 25 mg of Precose (Acarborose) with each meal and I've changed my diet. I gave up most carbohydrates and began to eat a lot of protein. When I eat carbs, I eat veggies, some fruit, and a small amount of very high fiber bread (I was a huge bread person before). I never eat carbs for breakfast and I never have sugary desserts. It took about a year for my blood sugar level to stabilize but it has and I just eat carefully. I see my endocrinologist every 3 months.

I suggest that you see an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists are the specialists in the field of diabetes along with other endocrine diseases.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2007
Tue, 09-04-2007 - 3:15pm
35? possibly body mass index. should be under 30 if this is what it is. I had just hit 30 last November and then ballooned up to about 32 or 33....

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