Fasting Glucose & Celiac

[Seeschell]

I am new here. I am so frustrated because I have being eating gluten free, low carb and excerising and still my fasting glucose is in the "prediabetes" zone and my A1c is high. Has anyone had expeirence with this? How long did it take to start seeing results?

[ravenwoodglass]

How often are you checking your blood sugar levels? Something I found really helpful was to keep a diet and bs log. I would test before I ate, an hour after and then again 2 hours after eating as well as my morning stick. That helped me see how what I was eating was effecting my blood sugar. I had it under control in a couple months.

I also got a book on the glycemic index of foods and ate as much on the low glycemic end as I could.

Increasing the amount of excersize you get may help also if you haven't done that already.

[missy'smom]

Good for you for keeping an eye on it. Keep it up. It would be good to check after meals from time to time. Good for you for following a low-carb diet. That really goes a long way. It can take a good long while for us to heal-even a year or two so hang in there and keep up the good work. For some, like myself, gluten-free didn't cure my diabetes. I went undiagnosed a long time and it seems that I am very insulin deficient. There's nothing to about that now, but keep my BG well contolled to preserve what insulin producing capacity I have left. Not to go on about me, but my main point is to just keep up the good work and keep a close eye on it. There is a lot we can do but there also comes a point where we can't contol everything. Stay well hydrated, don't snack before bedtime or inbetween meals. For some, there comes a point where certain amounts of protein(meat) or fat at the evening meal can cause elevated fasting numbers. I don't have that problem but have met some who do. Depending on how much meat you eat at dinner, maybe just cut back by an ounce and see what happens. If you are eating close to bedtime, try moving your dinner up earlier to give it more time to digest. For me, exercize elevates, rather than lowers my BG, so doing it in the late afternoon or evening could possibly cause elevated BG that would carry over to the a.m. However we are on the opposite ends of the spectrum so that might not be a problem for you, but you could test and find out.

[Seeschell]

I exercise almost daily for 40 min. I don't check my blood sugars daily though. I did when I was a gestational diabetic. Maybe I should again? My fasting glucose was 111, A1c was 6.6 and fasting insulin was >2. I found out I was a pre-diabetic three months before I found out I was a Celiac. I was so diligent about my carb counts at first but then I became consumed with finding all the hidden gluten in my life that I got relaxed on the carbs. I am trying to do this "naturally" without meds, but I am starting to feel like it is useless! Maybe I should give in and go on Metformin?

[psawyer]

I wish my A1C was only 6.6. Yours is in the uncertain zone, with 6.0 or less considered "normal" and 7.0 being considered "optimal control" for a type 1 diabetic. Mine runs around 7.6 to 7.8.

Tighten up on your carb counts, and remember that many gluten-free substitute foods are higher in carbohydrates than the gluten-loaded ones that they replace.

From day one of being a diabetic celiac, I was told one rule to follow at all times: If your diabetic diet and celiac diet are in conflict, FOLLOW THE CELIAC DIET. A few extra carbs will do a lot less damage in the long run than some gluten will.

[missy'smom]

I exercise almost daily for 40 min. I don't check my blood sugars daily though. I did when I was a gestational diabetic. Maybe I should again? My fasting glucose was 111, A1c was 6.6 and fasting insulin was >2. I found out I was a pre-diabetic three months before I found out I was a Celiac. I was so diligent about my carb counts at first but then I became consumed with finding all the hidden gluten in my life that I got relaxed on the carbs. I am trying to do this "naturally" without meds, but I am starting to feel like it is useless! Maybe I should give in and go on Metformin?

Forgive me but, Yikes guys! Please don't let gluten-free and diabetes be in conflict. You shouldn't have to choose! Please, you can get both in line, you shouldn't have to choose! My A1c was 5.4 a year ago and I am VERY insulin deficient. Yes, do check often. It can give you valuable info. I don't venture into the land of "what if's", these days but if I did, my greatest regret is that I believed and totally trusted and believed the doc. that my GD(gestational diabetes) would and did go away. I VERY regretfully retired my meter and now(12 years later) find that I am VERY restricted and VERY insulin deficient. Please do check daily. Info. is power. The more data we can collect, the better off we are. It CAN be done naturally and without meds for some. However, insulin is not the last resort, nor are SOME meds. If you are really interested in dietary management, I STRONGLY recommend Dr. Bernstein's methods. There is a book and a forum set up for those who follow his methods. He is a long standing and very healthy T1 diabetic and a doctor, completely dedicated to diabetes. Very inspirational story. Don't give up hope! You can also check blood sugar 101 website for some good info.

[ravenwoodglass]

I exercise almost daily for 40 min. I don't check my blood sugars daily though. I did when I was a gestational diabetic. Maybe I should again? My fasting glucose was 111, A1c was 6.6 and fasting insulin was >2. I found out I was a pre-diabetic three months before I found out I was a Celiac. I was so diligent about my carb counts at first but then I became consumed with finding all the hidden gluten in my life that I got relaxed on the carbs. I am trying to do this "naturally" without meds, but I am starting to feel like it is useless! Maybe I should give in and go on Metformin?

Your numbers are not really too bad and I do think you can get it under control with diet. Do start checking your BS levels daily and do check after meals for a while. Before you give in and take metformin do check the side effects and adverse reactions. Pay particular attenition to the black box warning. I have very severe reactions from gluten and the side effects and black box warning are so similiar to the effects from gluten that I didn't think I would be able to tell the difference between the two. That is why I turned it down and chose to go with frequent BS checks and diet change instead. My doctor thought I had adult onset type 1 due to effects that being an undiagnosed celiac had on my body and told me that when the time came he would just give me insulin. That day looks like it won't be here anytime soon thankfully. Go back to being strict about carbs and do check out glycemic indexes and that should help you out a lot. Becoming more relaxed about checking and your carb intake is what is most likely leading to your difficulty in control.

[4mom]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease about 6 months ago at the tender age of 53. Explains so much of my past medical history. I know the diet and have stuck to it religiously. I am not over weight, exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet but am still feeling sickly and tired sometimes. After my most recent blood test I was upset and surprised to find that although my celiac disease is under control, I am prediabetic. Will this explain why I still feel unwell? I'm going to meet with a dietician to hopefully find what I can do to change and improve. Any advice will be gratefully received.

[missy'smom]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease about 6 months ago at the tender age of 53. Explains so much of my past medical history. I know the diet and have stuck to it religiously. I am not over weight, exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet but am still feeling sickly and tired sometimes. After my most recent blood test I was upset and surprised to find that although my celiac disease is under control, I am prediabetic. Will this explain why I still feel unwell? I'm going to meet with a dietician to hopefully find what I can do to change and improve. Any advice will be gratefully received.

It could very well be contributing to feeling unwell. I went in and asked to be tetsed for diabetes 2 years ago because after 2 years gluten-free, I felt that I had had quite enough time to heal and still felt more fatigued than I wanted to be. Managing my blood sugar has given me back that energy that I was looking for. Be sure to test often and after meals and record your meal contents and blood sugar readings on a chart for a while. It will give you valuable information. This does not have to be a progressive disease. You can stop it where it's at with careful dietary control. Carbs raise blood sugar. period. so controlling them is your key to management. And not all carbs are created equal, some are fast acting(rice, anything made with flour, sugar, things easily digested etc.) and some are slow(non-starchy vegetables and such). Slow acting carbs will have the least immediate and long-term effect on blood sugar.