Dear Veronica, It is difficult to be diagnosed with a health condition, especially when it is a “pre” disease…there doesn’t seem to be enough people or information out there to talk about these conditions before they become a “full blown” disease (for lack of a better term). I haven’t been diagnosed with prediabetes, but hope others will share their stories. I realize it is the same lifestyle changes that you have to make with a diagnoses of diabetes, and it is just as difficult! I read that prediabetes can also be called impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), in case that helps you in any of your searches for information. Basically, the difference between prediabetes and diabetes is a number on the health/disease continuum…which is based on the type of screening or diagnostic test you had (both blood tests). For the fasting blood sugar test: Normal blood sugar: <100 mg/dL prediabetes: 100-125 mg/dL diabetes: >126 mg/dL For the oral glucose tolerance test: Normal blood sugar: <140 mg/dL prediabetes: 140-199 mg/dL diabetes: >200 mg/dL Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, if you have prediabetes, the long-term health consequences of diabetes may already be developing. Without intervention, prediabetes is likely to become type 2 diabetes within 10 years, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The good news: you are not predestined for type 2 diabetes! With healthy lifestyle changes, you can control your blood sugar levels and bring them back to the normal range. Diabetes is not inevitable! Check out the ADA website (www.diabetes.org) for information on healthy lifestyle changes that you can make, and visit EmpowHer.com to see what helped other women make the transition. Oh, and I’m not sure if this helps or not, but when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, the only good thing from it was that I was extremely motivated to learn more about the disease, my risk factors, learn how to prevent the disease from becoming worse, and learned how to eat healthy…which really made me feel better! Good luck!

Thanks--it is helpful to know that diabetes isn't "inevitable" as you said. I would love to hear from other women!!