Was just diagnosed with prediabetes :-(

[Lm92]

I've known something was off because I've been having episodes of hypoglycemia in the middle of the night, so I somewhat expected it, but I'm still scared. Anyone else dealing with this or diabetes? How do you keep from having hypoglycemia overnight?

[Jeff1943]

Lm92, how do you know you're having hypoglycemia episodes in the middle of the night, are you testing yourself with a finger prick tester? Are you sure your blood glucose levels are low at night, prediabetes means your levels are higher than normal.

[Lm92 in reply to Jeff1943]

At night when I wake with the hypo symptoms, my glucose reading is 68, but during the day my premeal glucose is in the 130s and 2 hours post meal is in the 170s. Bedtime glucose is usually around 100 though and my latest A1C last week was 5.3 which has my doctor stumped since that's an almost perfect A1C. She's placed me on a continuous glucose monitor along with continuing the traditional finger prick monitoring and comparing the 2 results which thus far has been within 15 points of each other.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Lm92]

We use different figures in the U.K. but worth bearing in mind is the fact that anxiety makes your body think it's in a fight or flight situation and releases more glucose for extra enegy to deal with it so it's possible to get a false high reading when anxious. Good luck, your doctor has everything in hand.

[Lm92 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you, Jeff. I really appreciate your responses.

[Nicki1984]

In the long term you can reverse your diagnosis with appropriate diet and exercise, lifestyle choices etc if ask your doctor for advice on the night time issue. X

[Lm92 in reply to Nicki1984]

I'm hoping I'm on the right track. The last 2 nights have been much better. Before bed, she recommended I have a snack of a carbohydrate, protein and healthy fat, so I've been having an apple with some almond butter or some oatmeal with a few raisins and a bit of peanut butter. So far so good. I hope it lasts. Thank you for responding to me. I have a meeting with a nutritionist next week that I'm looking forward to. My struggle is that I'm mostly vegetarian only occasionally having dairy/eggs, chicken or fish and my doctor wants me to focus on a high protein diet.

[Nicki1984 in reply to Lm92]

Sounds positive am sure the nutritionist can help x

[Alice7x]

Hi Lm92, I feel like I have been experiencing similar symptoms I go through phases of weakness/hypoglycaemia both in the day and waking in the night sometimes too, I haven't yet been to the doctors as I'm scared of the outcome. Did you have any other symptoms? And what tests did you have if you don't mind me asking. I hope you feel better soon x

[Lm92 in reply to Alice7x]

Thank you, Alice. I would wake up several hours after going to sleep (usually between 2 and 3AM) shaking so badly my teeth were chattering yet I wasn't cold at all, heart racing, lightheaded. I know those are some symptoms of panic and anxiety, but it just felt different. While I was waiting for my doctor's appointment I started keeping a can of soda or a piece of chocolate by the bed, then later I bought some glucose tablets, and when I woke with those symptoms, I'd have the sugary snack and feel better within about 15 minutes and be able to sleep through the rest of the night. My doctor performed an A1C test to show the average sugar levels for the previous 90 days and gave me a blood sugar monitor to use when I have symptoms. Don't be scared, just think of being able to feel better and not have those awful shaky spells. She told me that the goal is to keep blood glucose levels balanced so she advised eating a mix of protein and carbs in a snack before bed. I usually have an apple with peanut butter or some whole wheat crackers and cheese.