I had a GTT and after 2 hours my glucose was 180 and my A1C was 6.2
I was put on Metformin and my A1C is now at 5.7 and my blood sugars range from 85-130.
If I have PRE-DIABETES is the Metformin, exercise and wt. loss enough to fend of getting Type II Diabetes?
You can control your disease with good diet and exercise, and taking your meds as directed. Many pre diabetics end up developing type 2, and there is nothing they can do to prevent it. Personally, I consider a pre diabetic a type 2 diabetic. If it is going to develop, there is no preventive measures you can take other than what you are doing. It all depends on your body. My pancreas went from making too much insulin, to barely making any at all. I had good control, and exercised , but sometimes you just can keep it from happening. Diabetes is all about the pancreas….we can do some things to help it, but when it comes down to it, it all depends on whats going on inside. You have done a great job in your management and should be commended. It takes good self control to stick to a diet and exercise regiment. Many times type 2 can be controlled for many years with just diet and exercise, but much of the time will require medication later in life.
Lot’s of docs are finding this Pre-Diabetes state after conducting glucose tolerance tests.
I had a similiar situation and went to an Endocrinologist who was pretty up front. He said if I continued on the path I was on, I would develop Type II diabetes. He said why not nip it now—-lose weight, eat better and increase exercise as well as use a drug like Metformin.
With these combined factors, you CAN prevent developing Type II Diabetes. But, you have to make a concerted effort to change your life-style.
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Pre diabetes IS impaired glucose tolerance or insulin resistance!
It is much better if the doctors just go ahead and tell you that you are diabetic from an insurance standpoint. Then the insurance company will pay for the meter, test strips and metformin as well as diabetes education and dietetics education classes. As a "pre-diabetic" most insurance companies won’t pay for any of the above.
You may be able to lose the excess pounds and therefore be able to quit taking the metformin if you are very very conscientious about your foods and exercise. But this takes a lot of dedication to achieve.
But you may not even if you lose the weight be able to fend off the full diagnosis. Each of us is an unique individual and this diabetes thing is very individual in how it treats each of us.
On diagnosis I weighed 120!! I looked like a skeleton draped with skin! I never was more than about 15 pounds overweight in my life. I am not by nature a couch potato and have spent my life educating others on proper nutrition. Why me?? And why is my diabetes rampant in going to insulin dependence??
See!! Each is individual and no one can say exactly how your condition will develop or what will be in the next year! Just work as hard as you can at the weight loss and maybe you can be one of the lucky ones who can control this with just diet and exercise.
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You can control your disease with good diet and exercise, and taking your meds as directed. Many pre diabetics end up developing type 2, and there is nothing they can do to prevent it. Personally, I consider a pre diabetic a type 2 diabetic. If it is going to develop, there is no preventive measures you can take other than what you are doing. It all depends on your body. My pancreas went from making too much insulin, to barely making any at all. I had good control, and exercised , but sometimes you just can keep it from happening. Diabetes is all about the pancreas….we can do some things to help it, but when it comes down to it, it all depends on whats going on inside. You have done a great job in your management and should be commended. It takes good self control to stick to a diet and exercise regiment. Many times type 2 can be controlled for many years with just diet and exercise, but much of the time will require medication later in life.
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diabetic 15 years
A previous answer was correct, there really is no difference between pre-diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. Your test results show that your body is not processing glucose as effectively as it should, although the numbers are not bad at all. Normal A1C for non-diabetics is below 6.0. The goal for diabetics is to be below 7.0, so your numbers are great.
As for ‘fending off Type II diabetes’ – it is hard to tell the future, but…. if you eat a healthy (non-junk food) diet, get regular exercise, keep your weight at a reasonable level it is very likely that you will be able to keep your glucose levels where they should be. You may even be able to stop taking the metformin. Or, as time goes by, you may need to up the dose of metformin, add additional medications, etc.
Unlike another answerer I hope you are NOT diagnosed as Type II – once that label is on you it is impossible to get off and can have a major effect on your ever qualifying for health or life insurance, or paying a reasonable amount for either. Metformin is available as a generic for $4 so having insurance pay for it shouldn’t be an issue. If your periodic A1Cs stay where they are, you should be able to do random BG testing – you don’t have to test 8 times a day – so even that shouldn’t be too expensive. Test strips are about $1 each and the meters are free. But avoid the label if you can.
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Pre-diabetes is having a fasting blood sugar >100
I think you’re past that.
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