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.

[Super_sally888]

Your body is no longer so good at regulating your blood sugar.

Why doesn't it go down?  You are prediabetic.  Ideally fasting blood sugar will be in the 80s (normal range 70 - 95)

If you want to try to get it lower (ideal), then you could ask your doctor about starting metformin.

[prediabetes]

so my body can still make enough insulin to bring blood sugar down to 110  2-3 hrs after eating but when it gets into 100-110 range it stops making it for some reason?

[prediabetes]

i talked to dr she say if i lost 5% body weight in the 1 month since the bg test, its a good sign, even though i wasnt overweight, still means i was eating too much carbs, should try longer with lower carb more exercise, too early to try the drug, does that make sense? can the fasting blood sugar be reset lower without the drug?

[diabetes86]

every one is different, it also depends on how far down the diabetes path you have come.  try LCHF  and see if it works.

[prediabetes]

yes that another thing, why dr tell me now that i am prediabetic, why not tell me before when i had high fasting glucose but still normal? i didn't know what the number mean then...

[diabetes86]

If your BG is normal how can he tell you your pre-diabetic if you have normal BG?

I dont know how to be any clearer,  Your BG is too high.  if your BG gets higher you will be diabetic and need medication AND or diet and exercise.  Diet and exercise will help now too.

[prediabetes]

no i mean 3 years ago at last test it was 97 which is normal but high, but they didnt say anything. i mean if i started diet 3 years ago would be easier now? why didnt they tell me it was getting high? its not like 97 is normal and suddenly 100 is not?

[diabetes86]

Yes it is because its a line drawn in the sand. under OK over not ok.

for under 100 to be normal then there are a lot of people that have BG under 100

How is the MD suppose to know if your 97 is just you being normal at the high end and not heading for Pre?

Many of us dont believe in Pre-diabetes.  We believe your diabetic as soon as your BG is above normal.  

[prediabetes]

yes i agree with you its a line in the sand.

but maybe prediabetes is like speed limit. you get speeding ticket at 126 but if you are 100-125 they tell you slow down or you are getting a speeding ticket at 126?

  

[prediabetes]

anyway you can ignore me because i am just upset to be told my health is not perfect. i like everything to be normal so at 97 they could at least told me i am at high end of normal and should learn more about diabetes.

[diabetes86]

No, that is what >100 is for, to tell you to slow down.

[prediabetes]

well i used to be competitive athlete so i just dont like hearing my health is not 100% thats why i am upset. maybe i keep eating lots of carbs but dont burn them as much anymore although i only added 20lbs since i stop competing. but exercise is no problem for me body is still in good shape i get back to training and hope to beat this thing. i already lost 6lbs in one month.

[diabetes86]

Good keep it up  I was not happy ether I was DX 12 years after being the First to bicycle up Mt Washington in NH USA in 1971.  (that is what I was told, I find it hard to believe that some other nut didnt beet me to it.)

[prediabetes]

thanks, i am reading a lot about diabetes now. 1 in 3 americans have prediabetes but i wonder how many in 45+ age group have it. maybe 2 out of 3? that crazy! why did you get yours do you know reason?

[GerbyAlan]

Drugs always the solution.......  I love the "pre" thing going on now.  It gives the impression that the person is on the verge of progressing to worse levels, which is often NOT the case.  I look at my old lab reports.  25 years ago, fasting glucose was "normal"  up to 115, period.  Now from 99 to 125 is PRE diabetes.  Better run to the doctor for "treatment!"  I had blood tests yearly for years and my fasting glucose was anywhere from 85 to 107.  It might be 96 one year, and 86 the next.  No progression at all.  Now years later mine is around 100.  No diabetes yet.  They do the same with PRE hypertension.  You could take my bp when I was 25 and say I was in pre hypertension by today's thinking.  30+ years later, it still runs about the same, maybe a wee bit higher.  Big pharma is in control.  I see it all the time.   They own too much of the medical industry.

[prediabetes]

thank hope you are right because i been worried reading about diabetes and checking this forum all the time. all other vitals are good. age 51, bp 124/82, resting heart rate 58, height 5'6 weight 148, bmi is 16 not 24 like the table says because high muscle mass vs little fat. no diabetes in family. dr told me 30 mins brisk walking per day i laugh because i do hard workout for 1.5 hrs. not 3 hrs like when i was competeing but 30 mins walking is nothing to me. i dont understand this

[prediabetes]

so some good news! fasting glucose finally down under 100 last readings were 95! i can say what i change in lifestyle.
1. still eat 400-450 crabs per day but cut all simple carbs like sweets and dessert
2. changed breakfast cereal to kellogs all bran mixed with fruit
3. cut bread for lunch but add more vegie.
4. when running add high intensity sprints
5. increase strength training by 50%
6. drink 3-4 cups black tea a day
7. glass red wine with dinner
8. after lunch at work run up some stairs until heart rate elevates
9. before or after dinner little situps/pushup just to get blood flowing

i feel 8 and 9 get rid of this warm buzz i feel if i eat and just sit down, maybe thats the glucose spike? i hope trend continue. target mid 80 like everybody say is ideal. price of test strip begin to get high so going to test maybe not everyday.

thanks for all advice and maybe what i do can also help someone

[Super_sally888]

400-450 g of carbs is pretty high.

Anyway, the main thing is that you are controlling  your blood sugar.

You may find on the days that you don't work out so much that you may need to cut your carbs a bit.

Read up on fat for fuel exercise.  Tim Noakes writes about this.  Many athletes are beginning to look at high fat, moderate protein, low carb as a valid way of eating.

[diabetes86]

As diabetes progresses the last thing to go bad is the fasting test.  The first thing to go bad id the after eating (PP) BG after your biggest carb meal of the day try testing at 1/2 hour or 1 hour and see how your BG is.  If its going over 140 you are eating more carbs than your pancreas can keep up with.  

[prediabetes]

i read on using fat for fuel and i don't like it. too much metabolism change who know what new thing can go wrong. also fat diet hard to keep nobody cater for it. have to bring your own food with you everywhere. i still lose a little weight even with the 400-450 carb so it must burn somewhere? i don't understand what diabetes86 say about fasting glucose. i read that fasting is baseline so everything go from there no? if my fasting is 110 then glucose spike will be about 30 higher than if fasting was 80 or not? otherwise what the point of having low fasting?

[diabetes86]

Fasting is what MDs use that does NOT mean it is the best test only that it is the most often test used.

[Rincer]

yes but what health significance of fasting? the way i understand from all i read. you are at 80 you eat, blood sugar starts rise. pancreas start release insulin. if you start at 80 by the time you 120 enough insulin is in blood to take it down, if you start at 110 maybe by the time you 150 you start going down, or not? i read about insulin response time pancreas release insulin gradual. so if you start high maybe not enough time to make insulin before it above 140 that why fasting is general important for health and not just for MDs or i am wrong?

[Super_sally888]

Fasting is your background blood sugar level.  This level is important as it is your starting point for average blood sugars and hba1c.

So yes, if a certain amount of carb raises your blood sugar by say 30 points.  If you start at 80 and rise by 30 you are 110 and still within "safe and normal range". But if you start at 110 and rise by 30 you are at 140, which is already higher than is typically ideal.

I agree with diabetes86, that you should check your 1 1 /2 - 2 hours post eating blood sugars to see how high you are actually going.

For many people who are developing diabetes, their fasting blood sugar will remain "normal' much longer than their post eating levels (after all their bodies have 8 - 10 hours overnight to try to correct their sugar levels).

[prediabetes]

i didnt measure since last week, but my fasting was same range 100-110 morning or between meals (8-10 hr break make no difference). 1 1/2 - 2 is very often less than 120 i think my meter like 117 a lot for some reason. sometime less often i see 130 also. at 45 mins is where i can sometime see above 140 but is that realistic target to chase?

this 'idealized' chart from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin#/media/File:Suckale08_fig3_glucose_insulin_day.png

so even 'ideal' can jump 40 points from 75 to 115 until insulin stabilize