I'm very new to this lark, so could be very wrong in what I say. But, I'm already annoying my practise nurse team by dancing to my own tune!
I had a stupidly high hba1c on diagnosis, with many people on here telling me to go directly to hospital to seek help, do not pass go.
2 months later I have been 100% in range (4- 10) according to my dexcom (paid for by myself and very much not approved of by the less experienced of the practise nurses), for the last three days having adjusted my own tablets and worked out how my body reacts to the tablets and carbs by continuous monitoring and trial and error. They couldn't argue with my dose adjustments as the results spoke for themselves, I used NICE guidelines and followed BNF guidelines to do it. No hypos and an average bs of 6 - 7 - at its worse 8ish weeks ago it was 31.4 on a finger prick.
I lost all faith in the practise nurse when she said that without the dexcom I wouldn't have known the extent of it and that would have been better. I'm sure I would have agreed right up to the point where my legs fell off and I went blind.
This isn't something I would advise someone else to do, but my point is that the advice I've been given was rubbish, and I've done it my way. I shall go to my booked dietician appointment but not follow it verbatim, take what will help and politely ignore the rest. Being able to afford to get the dexcom was a game changed in terms of learning for me, but I appreciate that this is a luxury that not everyone can afford
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I know nothing (seriously! nothing!) This is not medical advice.
I'm extremely impressed if I'm honest. Going from a HbA1c of 116 in May to an average BG level of 6 to 7 mmol/L two months later is an epic achievement! Seriously, 'epic' is the word! You are entirely correct that this is not something that is advisable for someone else to attempt. To achieve what you have achieved, accurately, and safely, in such a short a space of time takes extraordinary capability, learning and commitment. I won't even ask what meds you're on as providing an answer might result in attempts at emulation by others, perhaps with very much less-favourable results.
My (amateur) advice would be first: stay safe. Learn as much as you can about the meds you're using and how that relates to meal-by-meal carb intake. Once checked, and double checked, once entirely confident that you know how to control your BG levels extremely well, and in the event that you might wish to adjust your diet for the purpose of weight loss, watch this video (if you're not already familiar):
Link
That's a long interview with Prof Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, a professor of medicine, diabetologist, and a diabetes researcher. He has several theories on the subject of Type 2 diabetes. Some of them are very well proven, some not quite so much in my opinion. He's both a hero to me and a minor menace. I have an email from him which includes a sentence which begins with the words: 'As you no longer have Type 2 diabetes....' The email I sent was in relation to a query about cholesterol medications and their secondary effects, and I most definitely am still diabetic. I've watched maybe three or four interview videos from him and have read his book. The other videos and the book provide additional information in the form of anecdotes, small details and graphs/images from studies, but they add nothing critical to the video I linked other than context and confirmation of very many of his claims.
If you have weight to lose, if overweight or obese, I would recommend taking Taylor's advice seriously. His approach works wonders for many a Type 2. Not all - Type 2 is extremely complex with myriad genetic factors involved. If you're not especially overweight there is some indication his advice might still be useful your case -
Link
The practise nurse spends her days dealing with people who just want to take some pills and go home. The typical advice is heavily influenced by what a typical person might be willing to do following a typical diagnosis. Don't judge her too harshly - in her experience, a person like you might be a once in a year, or maybe even a once in a decade experience.
Very best of luck!
