Has anyone here developed Pre-Diabetes during Hormone Therapy
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Still no A1C results for me. But my cancer center did a glucose test yesterday from a blood draw - result = 80.
I’m floored because I drank matcha tea blended with coconut water and a handful of fruit about an hour before the test.
I really need the A1C test , to get an accurate picture.
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I was 70s blood sugar (fasting). After 2 years Femara, it crept up to 90s, 4 years crept up to 100s, now I am 114. My AIC crept up to 5s, now just over 6.
I am skinny, eat healthy and exercise. It's definitely the Femara. My cholesterol has jumped at the same rste
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Thanks for posting. Sounds so similar to what I’m experiencing. Guess this just comes with the territory. Be well
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Well I got the home test results today. A1C is 5.6 - they describe that as suboptimal, but it seems to be just under the pre diabetic range. Their suggestion is a whole food diet. The only thing I think I'm lacking is exercise, my carb and processed food intake is pretty low and I've reduced carbs to under 75 g most days.
Total cholesterol is okay, LDL is 5 points over normal but HDL is high, triglycerides low and total number is 186 out of 200. This is similar to my past results. They did say based on triglycerides to HDL ratio I am “suboptimal” , possibly insulin resistant and should try strength training. Not a bad idea
C reactive protein and oxidative stress, good, according to the markers they used.
Next, I'll see how these results compare to what I get at the doctors office (soon)
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You may want to check out books by William Shang, MD for the thin diabetic and using strength training to fight insulin resistance. The vast majority of guidance is for people who need to lose weight, and very little for people who are thin on the outside but fat on the inside. I have read both. One takeaway for me is there is some trial and error to finding what works for you, diet and supplement wise. Increasing muscle mass and reducing the number of hours you consume food will definitely help, although it may take time to see results.
Are you using an app to track carbs, protein, etc? My daily carbs range from 80 to 140s, depending on the day. Post prandial glucose is higher with the higher carb meals. If it’s a healthy meal, the blood sugar reading will come down soon enough. I watch the timing of carbs and try to start meals at a low glucose level. Before I knew my readings, I’d snack on fruit and yogurt. That elevates my glucose, so it would be high before dinner. Now I snack on veggies with hummus or nuts. I eat fruit earlier in the day with protein
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Thank you so much for these suggestions, PAKNC I will check out Dr Shang's books
Yes, I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my meals and import my steps from FitBit
I did do intermittent fasting for a while but have slacked off to basically 12/12 - having a protein shake pretty much when I wake up but still cutting out late night snacking.
I can have a phone consult with a doctor from the home test company, I may do that, although I think they're going to try to sell me a plan, coaching or something.
Thanks again for sharing what you've been doing to control blood sugar etc.0 -
Well, as happy as I've been to say that I'm fairing rather well on Lupron/AI, I got the disappointing news last week that I am officially in the pre-diabetes range with an A1C of 5.8. It's been 5.3 my entire adult life, even when I've weighed more, exercised less, and ate and drank with total disregard for my health. Estrogen plays a vital role in glucose metabolism and for some women, blocking all estrogen tips them into diabetic territory. I'm one week into wearing a 14 day glucose monitor so I can understand my trends and adjust my diet accordingly. I cut out processed foods and sugar a year and a half ago at diagnosis, I exercise daily and am not overweight, so there are somewhat limited changes for me to make. Here is what I've noticed so far...
- absolutely no eating past 8:00pm or my blood sugar is in the 180s and doesn't come down to normal ranges for about 5 hours.
- a brisk walk after eating helps bring me back to normal range much quicker than if I eat and don't move
- drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with water before and during meals keeps me from spiking quite as high
- the pure unsweetened cranberry juice that I have been mixing with water daily to prevent the feeling of UTI causes my BG to spike
- even small amounts of healthy carbs like brown rice, garbanzo beans, etc raise my BG significantly
- I make sure I have lean (often, but not always plant-based) protein and healthy fat with every single meal. I eat slowly and drink LOTS of water throughout the day
Even with these changes, I'm still having a hard time keeping my BG from going into the 180s after even a small healthy meal. Definitely not something I ever had a problem with prior to blocking estrogen. GRRRRR!
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thanks for sharing your situation and what you’ve been doing to control glucose levels
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I got my blood drawn at the PCP this week in preparation for the endocrinologist visit. So...my A1C according to this test is 4.6 - not much different than 3 and a half years ago. So much for home testing.
I am going to assume this result must be correct and that I was worried for no reason. I'm beginning to to think those lower end glucose monitors like the one I have are not accurate anymore either.
As far as diet, I will still stick to the low carb macros I set for myself, and continue tracking my food because I do need to watch my weight regardless.
My thyroid panel is also normal which is good, but it doesn't rule out thyroid cancer. Hopefully, the endo visit will also have a positive result. She may want another ultrasound, we will see.
hope you are all doing well!0 -
Hi Jennyjo20.
That's disappointing news for sure. I have read that about AIs. A white paper I read last week said that AIs have a 3x higher rate of tipping someone into pre-diabetes of full-blown diabetes than Tamoxifen.
I'm especially worried about this, as even Tamoxifen has an effect on BS, and I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes 7 years ago. Since then I've done what you have, and eat borderline Keto, and according to my monitor am actually in ketosis, and have lowered my A1C to 5.4 and not had to be put on meds.
To think that all that hard work could be undone with hormone therapy is disturbing. There is some data (I don't think any formal clinical studies as of yet) though that Metformin (the drug my end said he would need to put me on if I got into diabetic territory), has some benefits for cancer.
It seems with meds you "solve" or help one problem, and develop other problems that then require their own meds, and pretty soon you're taking bottle after bottle of meds. Ugh...
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breast cancer treatment is a tightrope walk between side effects and control of the disease itself
Definitely no walk in the park for any of us
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I am beyond annoyed….after only four months on tamoxifen I am now officially type two diabetic.! Seriously, wtf. I eat very low carb (less than 20 grams a day), exercise every day, have a normal weight (if not low). I have dropped this drug like a hot potato. So not worth it to me, I will be retested in six months to see if it really was the drug…but it’s the only thing different in my life.
My doctor is fully supportive (family doctor) There are studies that show tamoxifen increase chances of diabetes over 20%….why, after all my questions to the oncologist was I NEVER told this…
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