Why isnt my fasting blood glucose going down?

[prediabetes]

my dr told me I might have prediabetes fasting glucose 110, a1c 5.7 so I've been following her advice eating better exercising more. i wasnt overweight but i still lost 6 lbs. i also bought a glucose meter and been recording for the last month. i eat 3 times a day at 6am 12-1pm and 6-7pm. my blood glucose on waking is 100-110, one hour after eating 130-170 depending on what i eat. 2 hrs after eating always < 120 regardless of how high the 1hr was 3 hrs after its back to 100-110. and then it stays at 100-110 until the next meal. why doesnt it drop below 100?

thanks.

[new_prediabetic]

Thanks.
Yeah surely i will do that.
i am more satisfied with my readings because i took a gap of my routine gym workout to check the actual fbg reading without any influence of exercise. So i think its good. I will continue my workout forever as it makes me more energetic and fit.  I lost 10 lbs as well though i am not fatty at all. I induced 40 min morning yoga as well along with 1 hr. evening workout which includes both running and strenght exercise.

[Super_sally888]

Good Job.  You have found what works for you.  Keep up the good effort and make this a long term lifestyle change.

[new_prediabetic]

Hi folks.
finally i took my readings after 1 month.
fasting was 83 (before 108) and PP after 2hrs of lunch 101(before120). I think i am doing good. I didn't changed much in my diet and carb intake. Just reduced direct sugar to almost zero and 1hr exercise daily. All the best.

[prediabetes]

fbs is a good measure. but many diabetic have low fbs because they control bg by eating few carbs. fbs is when your liver make glucose to keep you alive when you not eating. so if your liver healthy and you eat few carbs fbs will be low. i think if your fbs is less than 90 its alraedy good. 80 is not really much better.

[Martiana]

Well, I've only tested PP 2-3 times and only after meals that were pretty low in carb -- have not eaten any mega-carb meals in last 6 weeks. Last time it was 89 1hr And 87 2 hour. I should've checked after some real carbs to see but don't want to eat that just for sake of testing. Next week I have to go to a dinner featuring only loaded baked potatoes, so that might be a time to check if I could lol !

I'm sticking mainly to FBS since That seems sufficient to see if it's going down, which it generally is -- using the graphing on the app it goes up and down a lot of course, but each "up" is a big lower than the previous, and the lower ones keep dipping a bit lower (2 81s in a row this week then 93).  

Keep us posted on how yours goes!  I hope a lot of people on the "edge" can turn things around, even if the official "normal" ranges have given us a false sense of security.

[prediabetes]

thank you. yes i think that how diabetes start. too much carb produce a lot glucose. pancreas make a lot insulin to get rid of glucose. too much insulin make insulin resistance go up. pancreas need to make even more insulin until pancreas start fail then it real hard to stop. so if you catch before insulin resistance too high and pancreas still 100% you can reverse. drs have to go by book and book say 100mg/dl is where line is. is your pp under 120 at 1hr or 2hr? 1hr is peak. 2hr even some diabetics can have 120. i measure 1 hr now.

[Martiana]

Congrats on your improvements! I too had your initial question: with FBS mostly in high 90s for 5 years (earlier high 80s-low 90s), why did doctors (GP and endo for thyroid) never recommend taking preventative action?
Just happened to discover this summer that many say high 90s is not really normal so have been reducing carbs to 80-100/day and in 5 weeks have lost 8 lbs and lowered FBS to mostly in 80s-low 90s (PP under 120 the few times I've checked).  Again, congrats on your progress!

[prediabetes]

sound good to me. one other thing forgot to mention i take chromium and milk thistle supplements. but no idea if they make difference. i think changes to diet and exercise more important.

[new_prediabetic]

Thanks for info.

I had fbg of 95 which made me worried so much that it shoots upto 108 after a week. My PP is 120 after 2 hrs. I started 15 min running (2km), sprinting inbetween as well. I do 15min strength exercise. I cut down all direct sugar and carb intake. Hope it will show good result in my next fbg test. Finger crossed. I am just 29 male with no extra weight to loose.
Suggestions welcome for more improvement.

[prediabetes]

first i have long athletic history so my exercise plan might not be to everyone. but i run 6.5 mile 6 times a week. when run i also incorporate some intervals fast sprinting. then after each run i do 20 - 30 minutes of strength training. my diet is not LC. i avoid refined sugar. also try to avoid any carb for lunch. before i was eating carbs with every meal, now only for breakfast and dinner so reduce carb by 30% overall. lunch is vegetables, meat and nuts. this weekend i was out and ate pad thai noodle for lunch later i found that was 150g carbs. i didn't have meter at restaurant but i measure my bg at home about 1hr 45m after and it was 100 so very good! i am happy with results but keep in mind everyone is different, what work for me maybe not work for you.  

[new_prediabetic]

very encouraging and motivational readings.
keep it up.

please elaborate briefly your exercise plan and LC diet so that we can follow it too.

Thanks in advance.

[diabetes86]

yes it is

[prediabetes]

well yesterday my 1 hr post meal after big bowl spaghetti and meatballs was 107. i think that good even for someone non diabetic.  

[prediabetes]

hi sally. thanks! i think if more people eat lower carb we have less t2 epidemic now. problem is we test blood sugar and not insulin. if we test insulin we detect insulin resistance early because insulin level will be high but blood sugar still normal. then we switch to lower carb and exercise and stop diabetes before pancreas is damage. solution simple. implementation hard because no money in selling insulin testing and low carb diets. drs and industry make more money from high carb and prescriptions. that really the reason why we can not stop t2 epidemic.

[Super_sally888]

Fasting at 87 is perfectly normal.  Long may it continue!

I think lower carb is a much healthier way of eating than the typical SAD (standard American diet).

[prediabetes]

thanks. i hope my pancreas is still healthy. i learn could be many other reason for higher blood sugar. fatty liver or bad signal to pancreas sometime high cortisol level too. unfortunate very complex disease hard to pinpoint. i don't seem to have typical t2 symptom. weight fatigue thirst none of that. but less carb more exercise help so whataver reason i continue. pizza is my homemade OGTT at least taste better than glucose. i hope my 1hr pp go under 130 in future for that pizza test. i am ok with fasting 87.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

Great job.  It is known that the pancreas can recover to some extent if blood sugars are kept 'normal'.  Keep up the good work, and the pizza snacks to rare occasions. :)

[prediabetes]

i think i doing much better now. fasting is 87. most important 1hr pp after digiorno supreme rising crust pizza was 139. i ate half a pizza about 120g carbs. a few months back i was 171 at 1hr pp for same pizza. so prediabetes can reverse.

[prediabetes]

what i trying to say is i expected result too fast from reading other people posts

[prediabetes]

thanks. i think it just take time. i got confuse reading people post where they say they eat a little more carb and next day fasting is high or they do a little more exercise and next day fasting is low. but those people are full diabetic. for them every little thing make huge difference. for me maybe not so fast yet.

[Super_sally888]

Great job.  Keep up your efforts!
It is very nice and motivating when you can see that what  you are doing is working!

[prediabetes]

i think i slowly winning... nothing over 100 fasting in week. all in 90s even one 89. still eat lot of carbs but less than before also make sure they all complex carbs. exercise more too.

[prediabetes]

yes i will watch and wait. finally got hard copy of lab reports. in 2013 glucose was 97 cant find hba1c because was a cbc test. in 2015 glucose 108 but hba1c is 5.3 not 5.7 like i thought. i make mistake saying 5.7 because that what i thought i hear dr say on the phone. so 5.3 equal average glucose 105 which mean it must drop below 100 sometime. i wonder when? this morning my fasting was 98 if i believe the meter. so seem like not much progression in 2 years. that 108 lab reading could be just unlucky day. some mornings i get 109 even. but mostly now in low 100s. also i eat less carbs now and exercise more lost 10 lbs hoping that enough to stop any progression. so watch and wait. good thing caught this still early. i read many people catch it when fasting is already above 200.

[Super_sally888]

Seems that your basal (background insulin) insulin output is the one that is not working so well at this time (if you eat moderately, you are not having a big rise in blood sugar (30 - 40 points)).  IF you were able to get your fasting and background level down by 15 - 20 points (ie. low 80s), then your post eating becomes in range.

If you dr would agree (depends on what your dr. considers is worth treating - some like aggressive management and some are content with hba1c of 7 for all their patients with diabetes), then you could try a drug like Glucophage / metformin, to see if it pulls down your numbers.

In my case, I use insulin.  Not because my numbers without insulin are terrible, but because i want excellent numbers.   My fasting numbers without insulin would be somewhere between 100 and 150.  So I use basal (slow acting) insulin. Depending what I eat, I also use fast acting insulin (very low dose - only 1 - 3 units).  Using this approach I have kept my hba1c in the low to mid- 5s for the past 7 years.

The alternative is to watch and wait, keeping up your excellent efforts with diet and exercise.  If your numbers start to deteriorate, then progress to taking meds....