Glad to find you guys!

[binnieman]

Hi all,

I read a number of posts here and learned how caring and compassionate every one is. Moreover, the site is very informative and so I joined. I have a feeling this post will end up becoming really long but since it is my first post, I like to lay a little background. Thank you for your patience.

My story goes like this. I am 32 years old with a relatively good lifestyle, meaning I eat healthy in small portions - most of the time I eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits, little meat, no cheeses, no sweet stuff, hardly every any desert. Maybe a little more rice and pasta than I should but not too much in any case. I exercise quite a bit, mainly playing soccer and resistance training, and generally speaking active throughout the day. My BMI has been below 25 as far back as I can remember. Given all this, my FBS came out 106. My doctor said, "lowering the sugar in your diet, maintaining your weight, and regular exercise can keep my BG down" - very trivial stuff but she refused to do further testing or offer any educational resources. After I was almost obsessive, she still refused to do anything but to offer me a BG home use meter. They got me Ultra Mini Touch. I used it this past weekend.

Saturday - first thing in the morning came out 88, exactly two hours after break fast, result came out 98.

Sunday - first thing in the morning 105, two hours after breakfast (oatmeal, milk, protein powder, orange, and banana), result was 107.

Where do I go from here? Am I doomed to be diabetic sooner or later? Is my lower after meal numbers somewhat encouraging? I am sure I need to do much more testing but I am very eager to learn where I am headed with this.

[Dan Gato]

Man,
Welcome to DF. :thumbsup:
Those are good BG's, especially the after meals. you produce a lot of insuline. Good also that you are being proactive.
Maybe you may want to have an A1c test every 6 months or so. normal A1C is 4.2 to 4.6.

[sumi]

I'm sorry to hear of your concern, Binnie. Since you have read some of the threads, I'm sure that you know that your numbers are something 99.9% of us would love to have. It seems that your fbg of over 100 is the only thing of any concern. It sounds as if you already have a healthy lifestyle, so you are limited as to what changes you can make. My advice to you would be simply to continue monitoring in case of a change in your numbers , in my opinion one fbg per week would be enough. Plus, as Dan mentioned, perhaps ask for an hbA1C which is roughly a measurement of your average bg for the last 3 months. Diagnostically, anything over 6.5 is considered diabetic although most of us feel this is too high.

[plattb1]

I would limit my carbs if I had any concern with these numbers, which frankly are very good. Keep an eye on it, though. No need to obsess.

[binnieman]

Thank you all for the encouraging words. I realize I may have been over-reacting but having had no prior baseline numbers, I did not know what to make of an FBS of 106. But the after meal values are helpful. The main reason I was really scared was because there is little room for improvement in my lifestyle. I can still change a few things here and there but losing 5-7% of my body weight would put me in unhealthy situations. That is why I thought I was doomed but I guess my post prandial numbers are encouraging. I will take the advice to maintain my healthy habits and monitor FBS every week or so. I will keep you all posted and I will be on the forum to share ideas. I am really pleased now because I will stop obsessing but I will remain on the look out.

[JHoward]

My fasting numbers are similar.

If you are a woman, make sure you check your numbers before your monthly cycle as many tend to have higher numbers the week or two before.

[xMenace]

Welcome,

A question just about anyone on any diabetic forum is thinking about is the whole relationship between food and health.

I don't know if anyone truly has the right answers, but I think most of us experiencing diabetes will tell you that refined carbs are problematic: they lead to trouble. IMO whole grains are nothing more than refined carbs with some ruffage left in.

One also should question the generally accepted assumptions about fats and meats. Many don't believe they are bad for us. I strongly lean that way at the moment. I am a very evidence based person. I don't make many decisions based on feeling alone. For me the evidence is swinging heavily towards saturated fats being healthy and carbohydrates as being unhealthy.

It's an uphill battle and not an easy one to believe in. Read up!

[binnieman]

The first thing I learned when I started reading about diabetes was that there is no simple dietary formula to combat the disease. There surely are rules of thumb but what works for one person could easily be disastrous for another. I know I am preaching to the choir here but I was completely taken aback by FBG of 106 mg/dl as my other numbers are near optimal, BP 115/66 (little fluctuation) and lipids 174 total, Total:HDL ratio 3.1. I am quite convinced that I am doing most things right but I am proactively searching for a way to lower my FBG or keep it at bay for as long as I can.

So I read here that the A1C instruments from Walmart would work just fine? I would surely like to get one.

[jps]

If you keep monitoring and stay proactive, you can probably avoid it.

I think 106 is a bit high and an indication that someday, odds are you will get it - IF you don't stay on top of it. You are in a very good place. I wouldn't obsess if I were you, but I would be checking every now and again. I prescribe to the lower carb/good carb lifestyle. To me, that means avoiding grains as much as possible, whether whole and especially refined. I try and stick with lower GI foodstuffs too. And I sure as heck ain't afraid of meat and fat! I don't think they do us any great harm as the entire world would lead us to believe. Like XMenace, I am an evidence based person - and I can only speak on behalf of what has happened to me. Decreasing carbs while not worrying about fat and protein totally shook everything upside down, in a good way. I flip flopped all my undesirable labs from liver enzymes, inflammation markers, lipids, A1c, glucose, etc to fantastic numbers. And it was 100% through diet and exercise.

Just keep an eye out, but don't obsess. Good for you to note this so early, you can prevent it IMO.

[Ronin]

Hi Binnieman!

As I often say -- Welcome to the club you never wanted to join.

In case you haven't read my stuff before -- the most important thing to know is that the Pre-D Diagnosis is to be a warning, not a death sentence. There can be a whole range of reasons why your FBG is above 100, most of them have nothing to do with the onset of diabetes. FWIW: When I fast too long (like skip dinner because I'm just not hungry) I'll awaken to an over 100 FBG number every time.

All of us who have been handed this diagnosis have gone through the tortures so don't be ashamed to vent here we all know this problem too well.

This is the time to learn how your body processes carbohydrates. That translates into a lot of pre and post meal (a.k.a., Prandial -- to use the medical terminology) testing. Try keeping a log and you will learn which foods cause you to spike and which ones don't seem to have an effect. You will also learn about your bodily cycles. There will be times of the day when you BG levels are higher than others. Use this information to modify your lifestyle.

By all means get an HbA1c test to determine where you are. Most MD's do the "let's wait and see what it is six months from now" approach. Personally, I like the idea of a baseline reading before that test six months from now.

Tell us more about you. What do you eat, how do you exercise, what kind of work do you do, et cetera? Perhaps you will find people in similar circumstances who have already worked out answers to your questions.

In the mean time, take a deep breath and relax.

[lilituc]

Have you been checked for LADA (i.e. slow-onset Type 1)? Seattle has one of the highest rates (if not the highest) in the country.

[binnieman]

Honestly, I am almost flattered by all the responses I am getting. I hope I am not hijacking the website to myself but I really appreciate everyone's kindness here.

In any case, there is more about me that I should have mentioned. One is that my father was diabetic but I was so young that I can't remember much at all but my older brother tells me that our father got diabetes in his last years. He was alcoholic and he had many other issues so whether he was already pre-disposed to diabetes or his poor lifestyle was largely to blame is not clear to me. His younger brother (my unlce) who is now in his seventies suffers from diabetes as well but he also led a terrible life style with alcoholism and unhealthy diets. I believe he also got the disease probably in his sixties.

Another thing is that my heritage is East African. I have read that people coming from that region when exposed to Western diets have problems with blood sugar control. In fact, a nurse practitioner was the one who urged me to get my BG tested as she has seen a number of people from my region to have had problems.

Some of the things that go in my favor are that I have a very good metabolism and my weight hardly ever changes. I love to exercise just for fun, as in playing soccer or even going to the gym and working out. I end up exercising on most days to some extent. I can't say my diet is perfect but it is much better than most people I know. I hardly ever eat the same thing twice so it would take pages to describe what I eat but generally low fat but I now realized higher carb foods. Because, for example, pad thai is my favorite food. I can eat day and night. I do eat lots of fruits and veggies but the bulk of my carbs come from rice, pasta, and bread (wheat). Not much meat and dairy. But if I am able to control my weight to within 3 or 4 pounds for the last eight years or so, would my diet still have exposed me to a slightly higher BG? I am happy with where I am as it could always be worse but it kind of boggles my mind.

[jps]

Doesn't sound like you need to lose weight, but you've got a meter, why don't you just experiment on yourself.

Eat as you normally do for a week. Take your premeal readings and two hour post meal readings. Log the foods and your numbers. Log your morning and bedtime levels.

Then try cutting back on some of those refined carbs for a couple of weeks. Add meat and dairy in their place. Record the pre and post meal numbers. Compare all the numbers. Are they about the same?

This might give you a pretty good idea as to whether these carbs are having a huge impact on your blood sugars, or if you are processing them like a "normal" person.

Doesn't hurt to try, does it?

And no, you aren't hijacking. I'd be in big trouble if it weren't for this place. I'm being honest. So if I can help anybody at all, I feel I owe it.

[binnieman]

Okay sounds good. I will check every other day or so before and after meals without changing anything in my diet for the time being. Hopefully, I will quickly figure out trouble foods for me. I will also get the a1c sample kit from a local store as my doctor would not do the test for me. I will keep you guys posted. Stay well everybody!