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Nocturne

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
487
Location
Rhode Island
Age 41: Hypogonadism "approaching castrate level"
Age 42: Premature Calcific Degenerative Aortic Valve Stenosis and Premature Coronary Artery Disease
Age 43: Lp(a) level of 390 nmol/L and accompanying/causal homozygous genotype mutation that raises Lp(a) and causes/accelerates AVS
Age 44: Pre-Diabetes! FBG 104, A1C 5.6, after losing 25% of my body mass and following a regular moderate exercise routine and radically changing diet.

What surprise gift will NEXT year bring? I can't WAIT to find out!
 
I hear you, my friend. I'm sitting here trying to get used to all the noise I hear with my new hearing aids. That was this year's "gift" to myself. Last year it was a new pacemaker and lead, along with some radiation treatment. I really don't want to think of what comes next. . .

Oh, BTW, if I tried to list all my medical "gifts" to-date, I would probably hit the size limit on my post. . .
 
Agian, I'm not sure where you are getting your information because everywhere I look it says that a normal level is below 5.7. 5.7 is the start of pre diabetes. So sure, technically an FBG of 104 and A1c of 5.6 isn't maybe quite pre diabetes, but it sure is flirting heavily with it. Mind you that I lost 60 pounds and FBG went up close to 10 points. That's not normal.
 
I have metabolic syndrom, which comprises a number of factors including high blood sugar. It's another way of saying pre-diabetes. I have been taking Metformin (1000 mg twice a day) and trying to keep sugar out of my diet for years to keep it from going full-blown diabetes. My AC1 has been as high as 6.1 and I'm still considered under the wire. My doctor would be thrilled if I had your numbers. Ask your doc about Metformin and control your sugar intake.
 
Just remember that all carbohydrates convert to glucose (aka sugar) when digested. It can be a good idea to invest in a cheap little blood glucose meter so you can see how various foods affect your levels of glucose. The meters are cheap, the strips expensive, but you can get an excellent idea with just a few tests of how carbohydrates that you might never think of as ‘sugar’ can affect your blood glucose level - test 1 and 2 hours after eating.
 
epstns this:
37312595526_16c7045b76_b.jpg
where there's a will there's a way ... So Noct, that's probably an example of where Agian is getting his data from ...
 
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/glycated-hemoglobin-test-hba1c "For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1c level is between 4% and 5.6%. Hemoglobin A1c levels between 5.7% and 6.4% mean you have a higher change of getting of diabetes. Levels of 6.5% or higher mean you have diabetes." I see this same range listed again and again online. Looks like the UK and the USA disagree on ranges. Whose are more accurate?
 
Having pre-diabetes is simply a wake up call to take action, it doesn't mean that you will inevitably get diabetes. Anyone told they are pre-diabetic is lucky because it means they can do something about it to stop the development of diabetes. My bro-in-law was told he was pre-diabetic. He carried on eating high carb foods, and I don't mean just the obvious sweet foods. He did nothing. He ended up in a coma with extremely high blood glucose levels.
 
OK -- Paleowoman, I agree with you. I'm not sure how I was failing to communicate this, but I'll try again: 1. FBG was 96 or so two years ago when I learned of a hormonal issue and got a battery of tests done. At that time, I thought EXACTLY the way you express above: This isn't good news but it is "lucky" in that it give me a chance to do something about it. 2. And do something I did! Lost 60 pounds, radically changed my diet and exercise regimen, etc. Went from frequent fast food, at least one soda a day, and no exercise to NO fast food, NO soda, mostly whole foods and plant-based diet, and brisk walking once a day for a total of 10,000 steps per day. That's significant! Maybe you have made lifestyle changes like that and lose weight like that and can understand. 3. Two years later, my FBG is 101 and 104 on two separate draws and A1c is flirting heavily with prediabetes. At this point it begins to look less like a lucky opportunity and more like something else. How does one lose 60 pounds, change their diet like that, change their exercise routine from couch potato to fairly active, and see their diabetic markers get WORSE? And how is it not folly to examine that data and conclude -- "Ah, the solution is clear -- MORE dietary restriction and MORE exercise!" ???
 
Hi Nocturne - you say you have radically changed your diet to “mostly whole foods and plant-based diet’. Can you be more specific about the foods you eat ? It is carbohydrates that affect your blood glucose levels and which, if you are pre-diabetic and you eat too much of them, can lead to the development of overt diabetes - those carbohydrates can be from whole foods and from starchy vegetables and from fruit, it's not just the obvious junk and sweet foods. I urge you to get a blood glucose meter, they’re very cheap, and invest in a pack of testing strips which aren’t cheap. By testing 1 and 2 hours after food you should hopefully be able to identify which kinds of foods raise your blood glucose, especially if you only eat one or two foods at a time so that there aren’t too many variables. Fats don’t affect blood glucose other than slowing the rise in a carby meal. Protein foods hardly affect blood glucose. But carbohydrates do. As soon as I was diagnosed with diabetes (ten years ago) I was given a blood glucose meter. The typical advice for diabetics then was to eat a diet high in complex carbohydrates. Using my meter I was able to see very quickly that complex carbs were really bad for my blood glucose. It was those kinds of foods I’d been eating for a long time - I had never eaten fast foods or soda, I’d never eaten processed or ready made foods, I’d eaten homemade wholewheat bread, brown rice, lentils, millet, etc, baked potatoes in their jackets, root vegetables, fruit, hardly any meat and all low fat. You know my username is because I eat a so called ‘paleo’ diet which is what I changed to when I had worked out what foods were making my diabetes worse. My diet is not restricted, I eat extremely well. I also exercise daily, lots of walking particularly which I love, and some weight lifting.
 
Paleowoman, you are right, an accounting of my diet is probably in order. BTW, I will be talking to a teledoc I have started seeing on Wednesday of next week, who ordered the latest battery of tests in the first place, and I know he will be addressing the A1c and FBG issues with me then, as all of my other markers were in the "optimal" range (other than HDL particle size, which was bad). Also worth noting that in addition to my father having developed Type 2 in his 60s, my sister (who is a runner and who has always eaten a good diet, to the point where I used to think she was nuts about it) generally has an FBG of 110 that has stubbornly refused to come down despite her efforts to bring it down. She is not exactly thin but certainly not obese either. So, diet. For me, it's generally the same thing every day except for dinner, which makes this easier. Here goes: 1. Breakfast -- usually a piece of fruit (apple, peach, maybe something else if in season) and a small handful of nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and cashews) 2. 1 cup of tea at work in the morning -- usually with some Stevia and maybe a 1/2 teaspoon squirt of spiced honey. I drink 2-3 cups of tea per day at work, which has done wonders for my hydration (always in the green now). 3. Probably another small handful of nuts, or an Ak-Mak cracker with cashew butter on it, as a snack during the day. 4. Lunch -- half a whole wheat flatbread (Armenian bread) with 2-3 tablespoons of hummus, and a diet soda or another cup of tea. 5. 1 piece of dark chocolate, equivalent to maybe 1/10th of a bar (depending on the bar; I have about 5 favorites), every day when I get home from work. 6. I will sometimes take an Herbalife protein shake after work on a workday, or for breakfast or lunch on a weekend, at a local place I have become a regular at. Over the summer, which is 2 of the 3 months prior to my A1c test, I was having one of these shakes every day for breakfast or lunch. 7. 1 glass of red wine with dinner or shortly after. 8. Dinner itself is variable but some of the more popular ones are a salad of romaine hearts with a few chunks of imitation crab meat and a light vinaigrette drizzle, pan-cooked salmon (I do this about twice a week and it is probably the main meat that I eat) with some sort of veggie like asparagus, a cuban black bean soup my wife makes, rajma (my wife is Indian and likes to cook -- rajma is basically chickpeas and/or lentils). Oh, about once a week I pick up some sushi at the grocery store and have that for dinner -- usually unagi and pan-seared tuna. 9. There is a local guy who bakes whole-grain bread that is amazing, and when I can get to the outdoor market where he sells it once a week, I will buy a loaf or two (6-8 people in my house) and use it as a snack for a few days, cutting a slice or two and dipping in olive oil with a Greek seasoning. That's the basic routine -- oh, now and then I have a little Halo Top ice cream, but ice cream has always been a pretty occasional thing for me. I'd say MAYBE once a week, and a very small dish of it. Of course I occasionally have other stuff come up like a cookout or wedding -- on these occasions I either say "screw it" and eat what there is or (more likely) I limit myself to a nibble of this or that to be polite, and stick mostly to what I can bring or find that isn't that bad. But if it's something huge and rare, like when I went to New Orleans for Jazz Festival last year, I give myself permission to eat some goddamn crawdads and drink a goddamn hurricane. Because the two days I lose to doing that were probably going to be shitty days anyway.
 
Also -- I actually enjoy walking, too -- always have. One of my favorite walks now is the perimeter of the golf course next to my house. The scenery is really nice and there is enough wildlife in the form of wild turkeys, deer, groundhogs, owls, etc. that there is always the chance of seeing something unexpected. Although there are coyotes as well and a few weeks ago I had to walk less than 100 feet past a really huge one that was just laying in the grass at dusk in order to get home - that was a little unnerving. My guess is that it was part dog, because of the size and the fact that it didn't run off like they usually do. I do not weightlift -- does that specifically tend to lower A1c? I've done it before and it wasn't particularly unpleasant, but meh. It's not a thing I really enjoy either.
 
Hi nocturne, if i was pre diabetic i would cull your Bread, soda, honey, make sure if you must eat chocolate is 85% solids, if you mix the protein shakes with Milk ? Lactose then cull those too, limit the fruit but definitely avoid fruit juice if you drink that. your veg has carbs so avoid root veg and stick to greens,..... those sugars are very sneaky. Cashews are ok in small amounts but cut the crackers, I must agree with Paleowoman but Ketowoman would be even better lol. Best of luck with it.......if you get hungry swop the carbs food for good fats, eat more cheese, avocado, cook in grass butter and eat more meats and plenty of eggs
 
Hi Nocturne, I’ll second what leadville wrote ! Absolutely good advice and you won’t go hungry. I don’t know if we can post links yet (as you know the forum is throwing wobblies) but this book: The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes (former athlete and doctor who developed pre-diabetes or diabetes), has the most wonderful low carb meals. It is aimed at people who are overweight and the recipes will not leave you hungry - I bought the book for me and dh, even though I am a thin diabetic, because I saw some of the delicious recipes on the book’s website. The book is available on Amazon. Here is the url for the book’s website but I have written the dot so that my post can be shown: realmealrevolution dot com There are some free recipes in the resources section. I think you might be surprised ! bw’s, Ketowoman lol - love that leadville !
 
Hi Nocturne - Just trying to give you a proper link to the free recipes: https://realmealrevolution.com/recipes#cat_16,p1 What looks like bread in the burger buns is something made from ground almonds ! Same with the flapjacks ! And on page 2 of the recipes there are wraps made from cauliflower. I often make cauliflower rice and courgette/zucchini spaghetti - you get lots of green veggies minus the high carbs !
 

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