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4K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Shanny 
#1 ·
I've read posts here for about a week, and it seems like a good place to be.

Nutshell background: Pre-diabetes numbers came back in bloodwork in April, 2009. Two doctors were too nice about it. One said "cut out white bread and soda" while the other said "cut back on sweets." *I* made the pre-diabetes connection from researching and reading about it.

I went through a really good weight loss program about five years ago. I learned quite a bit about nutrition. That knowledge has already been very helpful in working on this problem. I also exercised consistently for a few years, including being an outdoor runner for an entire year.

Right now I have four questions. Short answers will work the same as long answers:

1. If you are a consistent exerciser, do you eat before or after exercising? I used to eat after, but have read on the Internet that it's better, from an 'avoiding hyperglycemia' standpoint, that one should eat before working out. The reasoning was that it's a better way to control a spike, because the glucose avoids sitting in the body and contributing to the rise. It is used in the muscles for energy. If the meal choices are good, and probably will not spike the blood, is it still important to eat after exercising, or can the exercise be done at any time.

2. I'm looking for opinions on this sentence: 'It takes 2-3 months to get an HbA1C level down." I really understand that avoiding diabetes is a permanent lifestyle change, but I'm feeling much better after only a few weeks of cutting out bad stuff and eating much healthier foods. I guess my questions are 'Why does it take so long for that number to decline?' and, 'Is it possible that I will I feel a lot better in 2-3 months? (Yes, I realize that I can't go back to the diet I had.)

3. Does anyone know where I can find a diabetes educator? Neither of the 'too nice' doctors mentioned above is an endocrinologist, and sometimes I need to discuss things face-to-face. Until I've made a solid effort and have not brought down my numbers, I don't really want to go through everything involved with seeing an endocrinologist.

Thank you so much,

not yet
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hello "not yet", welcome to our community! There is another member here called "not me". The two of you should get together! Lol!

1. Since you are not using any medicine or insulin like diabetics do, I do not see any reason why you would have hypos while exercising. Very strenuous exercise over a lengthy period of time would be an exception though. Even a non diabetic might have low blood sugar after a lot of swimming or rowing or weight lifting, etc.

I suggest that you buy a glucose meter and test before and after your exercise and see how much it drops. If you are dropping a lot and are feeling dizzy, have blurred vision or are very weak then you need to eat before exercising.

2. It does not always take a long time to lower an A1c. You are obviously very dedicated to eat healthy and exercise to get good control. You should be able to lower your A1c more quickly than most individuals. Another point though is that you should not change your eating and exercising so much and so fast that you force your A1c to drop very quickly. That might be a shock to your system and your heart, blood pressure, etc might react to that. I suggest that you makke changes slowly so your body will adjust more gradually. Be your own judge of how fast you can change and stay healthy. This is a healthier way to proceed. Maybe that is why so many people take a few months to lower their A1c's.

An A1c gives your average blood glucose for the three months preceding the date your blood sample is taken. You should wait three months after you start your new diet and increased exercise before getting an A1c test done. You don't want your test to overlap with the time preceding you increased effort.

3. The hospitals in my area have diabetes education centers. The centers have a CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) and an RD (Registered Dietitian.) Try your hospitals. Your doctors might also give you a reference to a CDE.

ood luck with your control!

Richard
 
#4 ·
Update of the moment:

I'm doing o.k. I'm reading a lot of stuff about diabetes and have figured out the severity of the problem is based on what type of resource I'm reading at the moment. i.e. Good Housekeeping: Diabetes? No problem. Just watch what you eat and get that exercise in, and you'll be just fine. The journal Diabetes Care is quite different. For Type 1 diabetes, it is recommended....For Type 2 diabetes, 'there is no research that shows'...Carbohydrate intake, protein intake, micronutrient intake... The various perspectives are quite interesting.
 
#5 ·
Answers to your questions

1. since you are not taking any medicine affecting the pancreas, you don't need to eat before exercise unless you will do it for over an hour.

2. The HbA1C test reflects the blood glucose level during the two-three months prior to the test. This is due to the life cycle of the A1C. Fructosamine test reflects the blood sugar level during two to three weeks prior to the test rather than for two to three months prior to the test.

3. I am an expert personal coach and as a diabetic for over thirty years, I can now impart on other diabetics the fruit of my personal experience and assist them to reach the balanced state. look for me over the internet by my name. Sorry I can't add URLs

Iris
 
#6 ·
1. since you are not taking any medicine affecting the pancreas, you don't need to eat before exercise unless you will do it for over an hour.

2. The HbA1C test reflects the blood glucose level during the two-three months prior to the test. This is due to the life cycle of the A1C. Fructosamine test reflects the blood sugar level during two to three weeks prior to the test rather than for two to three months prior to the test.

3. I am an expert personal coach and as a diabetic for over thirty years, I can now impart on other diabetics the fruit of my personal experience and assist them to reach the balanced state. look for me over the internet by my name. Sorry I can't add URLs

Iris

My personal experience has me running up to 1 hour and 45 minutes, after fasting all night, with no hypo. I usually start off in the 90's and my BG will rise a little with running, until I make it over about 4 miles, then it slowly comes back down, but the BG has never crashed. On my 8.2 mile run it was 91 after completing the run.

If you are not on meds, it shoudn't be a problem. I can only speak for my own experience though. I usually eat within about 10-30 minutes of completing my run and exercise session.
 
#7 ·
To warrenh: Thanks for your reply. If I decide to get a meter, it would be to check while running. I run out of energy and want to know if BG has anything to do with it.

To Iris: Thanks for your offer of a personal coach. My employer has registered dietiticians and certified diabetes educators. I am in the process of getting a referral from my doctor. With the economy approaching depression levels in my area, I'd prefer to spend my dollars locally.

To Richard: I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Diabetes-wise, I didn't do as well as I'd planned. I did, however, avoid a few foods that I like but have absolutely no good value for a diabetic. And I don't miss the stuff I passed up.

As soon as I can swing it, I want to work with an RD to see what & how I need to be eating in relation to the pre-diabetes. I know this is what I need to do, and part of me feels good about it. (Yeah!) The other part is slightly scared. (Irrational thought; taking care of it now is the better way to go.)

Take care everyone!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Wow! Things have changed.

Hi Everyone! I can't believe it's been 3.5 months since I've read posts here.

Update of the moment: I lost my 2nd job (of 3) on 01.05.10 and have, for financial reasons, reduced my pre-diabetic state. I've almost completely cut out all desserts and sweets, and I feel a lot(!) better. I no longer feel extremely fatigued; I am no longer irritable and no longer feel a tiring pressure behind my eyes. I'm trying hard to eat a balanced, plant based diet. I am avoiding all breads, pastas, and rices. I am trying to not eat after 6:00 pm, and not overeat. Although my weight is not coming down as fast as I would like, the changes have helped.

I also lost my health care coverage shortly after losing the job , which is bad and well...
Yes, I need the coverage, but one of my doctors refused to believe that I was pre-diabetic. I just don't believe him. There are too many things that all point to pre-diabetes.

I haven't restarted exercising yet; I need to spend more time figuring out other painful health problems like fatigue that's not diabetes related before I get the soreness and pain that come with exercising.

I

'bye for now!
 
#10 ·
I've read posts here for about a week, and it seems like a good place to be.

2. I'm looking for opinions on this sentence: 'It takes 2-3 months to get an HbA1C level down." I really understand that avoiding diabetes is a permanent lifestyle change, but I'm feeling much better after only a few weeks of cutting out bad stuff and eating much healthier foods. I guess my questions are 'Why does it take so long for that number to decline?' and, 'Is it possible that I will I feel a lot better in 2-3 months? (Yes, I realize that I can't go back to the diet I had.)
Hemoglobin is part of a red blood cell. Glucose binds with hemoglobin creating glycated hemoglobin. If you have poor control of your diabetes and you blood sugar is high, you will have a higher amount of glycated hemoglobin. The reason it takes 2-3 months to see a "true" reduction of this number is that a red blood cell lives approximately 3 months. For instance, two months ago my A1C was 12.6 (horrible I know). Six weeks later it was down to 10.1. Now my control was much better...but it isnt really a "true reflection" of my progress because some of those older red blood cells are still alive and showing up as high. A true reflection will show up 3 months after that first one, because all the old red blood cells will be gone, so previous damage wont still be showing up. Make sense?

Cheers
Pam
 
#11 ·
Really good to meet you, not yet . . . I'm new here since your last visit.

I hope you have a meter and can be checking your levels as you go along. It's hard to eat the right things and get enough exercise if you don't know where your blood levels are. It's the pits to be without insurance, but Walmart sells a good meter for $9, and strips for it are half the price of most others.

take care,

 
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