12 months after my first diagnosis of type 2 diabetes I got the latest HbA1c number today and it was a very encouraging 49 . This is down from the 117 that I had 12 months ago on diagnosis. Hopefully this will reassure some of the newbies on here who (like me ) are perhaps in a state of shock and a bit of panic at a sudden diagnosis of Type 2 . You can get control of it and make big improvements in your own numbers !!
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
12 month update
- Thread starter Justin
- Start date
- Status
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wow! You must be delighted with your progress so far.
Hopefully you can continue with the positive changes you have made, and consolidate those improvements.
Well done!
Hopefully you can continue with the positive changes you have made, and consolidate those improvements.
Well done!
Thanks.i am very relieved that the numbers have come down so dramatically . To get here i did have to change my diet complelty going as near to zero carb as possible and upping the exercise . the only downside is the weight loss which was pretty dramatic and as i wasn't overweight ( on the outside at least ) when diagnosed that has been a slight worry . I'm now bringing some carbs back into the diet on a very controlled basis and trying to up the volume of good food i eat to get a bit more body mass . It all takes time and a fair bit of discipline but it can be done. What was interesting was after a few weeks I didnt miss sugar at all and even the hint of it in anything tasted foul after a couple of months . wasn't expecting that
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wow! Many congratulations on a fantastic achievement. Eating more fat should help prevent further weight loss without impacting your BG levels rather than having to increase carbs but can appreciate that very low carb can be difficult to maintain long term so can understand your wanting to increase that a bit.
If you were slim to start with, then it is always worth keeping in the back of your mind that you might actually be a slow onset Type 1 diabetic rather than Type 2, particularly with that very high HbA1c at diagnosis. Cutting back on carbs can allow the remaining beta cells to cope better and enable your body to show signs of recovery, but if you are actually Type 1 rather than Type 2 then your immune system could kill off a few more beta cells at some point in the future and cause your levels to start to rise again. An infection or virus or even a vaccine could trigger that, so be aware that it is a possibility and keep an eye on your levels, particularly if/when you are ill and for a couple of months afterwards.
Do you use a BG meter to test your levels at home?
If you were slim to start with, then it is always worth keeping in the back of your mind that you might actually be a slow onset Type 1 diabetic rather than Type 2, particularly with that very high HbA1c at diagnosis. Cutting back on carbs can allow the remaining beta cells to cope better and enable your body to show signs of recovery, but if you are actually Type 1 rather than Type 2 then your immune system could kill off a few more beta cells at some point in the future and cause your levels to start to rise again. An infection or virus or even a vaccine could trigger that, so be aware that it is a possibility and keep an eye on your levels, particularly if/when you are ill and for a couple of months afterwards.
Do you use a BG meter to test your levels at home?
All really good points and I am going to get a proper c peptide test in the next month as I have voiced this Type 1 or type 2 ? concern to my GP and she agrees a test is needed to confirm . will update you when I get the results . Its a difficult area because the basic stats of weight and BMI have me in the ideal range but this doesn't reflect the dramatic loss of muscle mass i've gone through in the last year and change in appearance (which everyone I know comments on) . Happy that the BS levels are back to a manageable state but agree I do need a proper diagnosis for long term management
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Make sure to ask for a Blood C-peptide rather than a urine test. The blood test is more expensive because the sample has to be frozen within 20 mins of sampling and sent off to the lab in that frozen state so most GP practices don't have facilities for that, but the urine test is less accurate and there are pretest procedures for the patient which are often not followed or not informed to follow which can mean that the results of the test are not particularly reliable. It would also be helpful to have the GAD antibody test done as the 2 results are best looked at together to help make the diagnosis. One or the other can be inconclusive. I think it is best to have such tests sanctioned and evaluated by an experienced consultant in conjunction with other clinical symptoms and initial presentation so it might be best to push for a referral BUT the diabetes clinics are particularly snowed under with work due to Covid so that could take some time to get an appointment. The difficulty is that you might only get one chance at these tests for the foreseeable future so you really want to have the optimum chance of accuracy in testing and interpretation. Not wanting to be detrimental to your GP in saying that but they aren't always straightforward results to interpret and sometimes consultants struggle to draw conclusions from them judging by some of the posts we get here on the forum. Just some things to consider and perhaps discuss with your GP in advance of the testing.
Thanks for the advice !
Thanks
- Status