I recently had a fasting glucose test and my sugar was 109. My doctor says I am pre-diabetic. I am in shock since I excercise daily, eat only whole grains, veggies and fruit, nver drink sodas or eat fast food and am actually underwieght(105 lbs). Does anyone know of other reasons for the high level? I have been under stress lately from fear of losing my job. Could this cause the rise?
I wonder what the doctor thinks of someone who has a reading of 126, like me, and I am not diabetic?
109 is not that high.
A better way to check is a A1c test, it ives you a indication of what your sugar levels have been doing over the past 3 months or so. If that reading is over 7.5% then you are diabetic, while under 6% you are not diabetic, and in between you may be pre-diabetic.
I guess your doctor could say the whole world is either diabetic or "Pre-diabetic" in that they all have a chance of getting it some day. I would think a reading over 130 would be considered pre-diabetic, while a reading as low as yours would not be considered diabetic at all (with a supporting normal A1c test).
One test on one morning is not a great indication of your health. Perhaps if they took one test each monday for a month, then you will have an idea of your total health.
I was reading Dr. Barnard’s book about becoming totally vegan and then eating all the good carbs all you want. But everything else seems to indicate you need to eat very few carbs and plenty of lean meats, all in small portions. What’s the deal? I am on the high end of normal, bordering pre-diabetes (after gestational diabetes). Trying to stay "normal."
It’s pretty much a concensus that eating a balanced diet is the most helpful for everyone. Trouble is, that’s hard.
Balanced means eating by the ‘food pyramid’. Not the OLD one, the new one. In order of what you should eat the most, to what you should eat the least, the new one is Vegetables, fruits, complex carbs, meats and dairy, fats/oils/refined sugar.
I find that this diet is what controls my diabetes the best. I’m not a vegan–and don’t think a vegan diet is particularly healthy, to be honest. It can lack certain minerals, and it’s really hard to get complete proteins from a vegan diet. We need some of the nutrients found in meats and fish–and you just can’t get these by taking supplements.
However, I eat more vegetables than anything else, and the only carbs I eat are whole grains, and unrefined rice. I do eat some sugar–(have a sweet tooth) but I keep it to a low level. But I also make sure I get a decent amount of proteins–cheese, soy milk, yogurt and lean meats. I keep red meats and fatty meats very low–and stick to mostly fish and chicken, lean pork and very lean beef. I do not eat fast food or even restaurant food very often anymore. This was a HUGE help in controlling my sugar.
I think you can eat darn near anything as long as you practice sense and moderation. I have dessert with dinner. I have fruit. I have candy once in a while. I don’t binge, I don’t eat lunch at McD’s and I try to keep my portions reasonable, rather than the ones we’ve gotten used to these days.
A good book is called "Eat This, Not That" if you have questions about what you are getting in most commercial food. Otherwise, the best idea is to find out as much information as you can about what foods are and are not good for you–and stick to a sensible, balanced plan.
Specify for each disease the type of diet and exercise which will control it
If you eat right and exercise, your chances of having many health-related illnesses like heart disease, stroke, or Type II adult-onset diabetes go WAY down. Heredity has a lot to do with it too, but even if you’re genetically predisposed toward high blood pressure, cancer, high cholesterol, problems with blood sugar, etc., diet and exercise can still lower your risk. People who are 20 pounds overweight are almost twice as likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so maintaining a healthy weight is also important, and diet and exercise are your two best weapons for busting flab.
If you take it, what side effects have YOU had personally? I know what the side effects are in the package warning, but I am curious to know what side effects people who are taking this medicine are having. Also, if you are taking birth control also, since the medication is only to help with insulin resistance, do you have any added side effects in combining the two medications?
I have been on Metformin for 1 month and the first 2 days of taking it I had diaherria but other than that I am doing great on it, I don’t have an appetite (but I still eat but I eat less) and I have lost 15 lbs. I feel great on it.
My mother is 36 years old, and she has had diabetes since she can remember. She keeps it under control very well. She takes lyrica for the nerve damage, but recently it has stopped working. It is to the point where she can not even walk.
I know she cannot reverse the damage, but is there anything she can do to alleviate the pain?
Sorry to hear about your Mom’s condition. My Father also had diabetes. I suffer from nerve damage but it’s due to a cervical spine injury,,but nerve pain all hurts. She should let her doctor know the Lyrica isn’t working. I think it doesn’t work for a lot of people so he can proably just change her Rx. There are some drugs like Neurontin, which I take that work pretty well but only her doctor can really help her. She may want to think about starting a daily pain journal. Nothing fancy, I use a steno pad. I record:
where I hurt
when I hurt
how badly I hurt on a scale of 1-10
and how the pain is effecting my daily life,,,what I can’t do because it hurts to badly. This is a very important thing to record.
Take it with you the next time she goes to the doctor. It’s hard to communcate all your concerns with a doc when you only have a few minutes with them. The journal eliminates that problem and helps the doctor better understand what your Mom is going through ona a day to day basis.
Believe me, at first it seems like a pain in the butt,,,,but as your Mom’s condition gets worse it will be more and more valuable to her. Good luck and here are a few pain management sites and a few research/clinical trial sites that I use often.
This is the Wake Forest Medical Centers home page. Look to the left side and there is tons of great info
http://www1.wfubmc.edu/neurosurgery/Pain/
This is the UCLA clinical trial site. You can find out about any studies or trials your Mom may be interested in.
http://www.clinicaltrials.ucla.edu/
Here is a great pain management site
http://health.discovery.com/centers/pain/pain.html
This is the National Institute of Health site on neuropathy
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000776.htm
Here is one you should save as a favorite. It will be your Mom’s best source of information.
http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp
Maybe you Mom should ask her doc about a pain management specialist. They can help far more than a regular GP.
Good luck
