Another newbie

[Karlisa66]

Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed as type 2 in August after having a routine health check. I have learnt a lot from this site and have finally got around to joining the forum.

just for info, my HB1AC was 82. Since then I have lost 24lbs in weight ( another 18lb to go to get into the middle of my healthy bmi range) . I have also overhauled my diet, reducing carbs and increasing exercise. I’m currently taking 4 metformin a day and my goal is reduce this and hopefully eventually be in remission and med free. Clearly I have some way to go to achieve this so any support and advice would be great.

 

[Docb]

Hi @Karlisa66 and welcome to the forum. Looks like you have got a pretty good grip on the things you can do to get things under control, and, almost as important, the bit of dogged determination necessary to make it all work. Keep going and you will get there!!

 

[harbottle]

Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed as type 2 in August after having a routine health check. I have learnt a lot from this site and have finally got around to joining the forum.

just for info, my HB1AC was 82. Since then I have lost 24lbs in weight ( another 18lb to go to get into the middle of my healthy bmi range) . I have also overhauled my diet, reducing carbs and increasing exercise. I’m currently taking 4 metformin a day and my goal is reduce this and hopefully eventually be in remission and med free. Clearly I have some way to go to achieve this so any support and advice would be great.

Well I was 83 at diagnosis and did exactly the same as you. (Although I was already getting a lot of exercise.)

You're definitely off to a good start!

It seemed to work, as it's been normal for two years and I'm only on 1 tablet of Metformin - which I was told I could stop taking if I wanted.

 

[Barrowman]

And welcome to the forum from me too @Karlisa66 and congratulations on your achievements
so far, keep up the good work....

 

[Martin.A]

Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed as type 2 in August after having a routine health check. I have learnt a lot from this site and have finally got around to joining the forum.

just for info, my HB1AC was 82. Since then I have lost 24lbs in weight ( another 18lb to go to get into the middle of my healthy bmi range) . I have also overhauled my diet, reducing carbs and increasing exercise. I’m currently taking 4 metformin a day and my goal is reduce this and hopefully eventually be in remission and med free. Clearly I have some way to go to achieve this so any support and advice would be great.

You're doing all the right things and your journey is on pretty much the same track as mine was, hopefully with the same outcome.

Are you testing your BG at home?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Karlisa66

Well done on the positive changes you’ve made so far. And congratulations on your weight loss!

Hope you get encouraging results when you get a follow-up HbA1c.

 

[Karlisa66]

Thank you for the welcome everyone, it’s really appreciated. My 3 month blood tests are next week so fingers crossed.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I bought a testing kit to try and help me to understand what food spikes me and I’m a little confused. I’ve only been testing a week but my readings seem ok most of the time.
Before bed they are between 5.4 and 6.2
before main meal between 5.6 and 6.5
2 hours after main meal between 6.8 and 7.2

all the above i am pleased with as showing an improvement from diagnosis, but the first thing in the morning test is between 7.6 and 8 and I’m not sure why this is, pretty sure I dont sleepwalk to the biscuit tin and not sure what I can do to get this lower?

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you for the welcome everyone, it’s really appreciated. My 3 month blood tests are next week so fingers crossed.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I bought a testing kit to try and help me to understand what food spikes me and I’m a little confused. I’ve only been testing a week but my readings seem ok most of the time.
Before bed they are between 5.4 and 6.2
before main meal between 5.6 and 6.5
2 hours after main meal between 6.8 and 7.2

all the above i am pleased with as showing an improvement from diagnosis, but the first thing in the morning test is between 7.6 and 8 and I’m not sure why this is, pretty sure I dont sleepwalk to the biscuit tin and not sure what I can do to get this lower?

It is quite usual for some people to get higher readings in the morning if they get what is referred to as foot on the floor phenomenon where the liver releases glucose to give you energy for organs to function and to give you energy until you get breakfast. Some find testing in bed can help to show lower result.
Your other readings look spectacular.

 

[rebrascora]

Your waking readings are usually the last to come down, so try not to be too disheartened by them at the moment, over weeks and months, you should see them come down too.
Can I ask when you test in the morning? I find that my levels rise the moment I set foot out of bed and they can rise very quickly after that so I test as soon as I wake up and you may find you get a significantly lower reading that 20 mins later when you have washed and dressed and are making a coffee or whatever.
Things you can try to help reduce this rise are...
1. To have a small low carb snack as soon as you wake up. Something like a few nuts that you can keep by the bed. This can switch the liver off from releasing extra glucose which is what causes the morning rise.
2. Exercise in the evening. I find this can help my insulin sensitivity overnight and the next morning and my muscles will suck glucose out of my blood whilst I sleep. I have recently started running up and down stairs when the weather is bad. I can manage 25 on the trot now but looking to build it up further. You could also do an aerobics workout. I believe there are plenty of You Tube videos if you don't feel like going out in the dark for a walk.
3. Sometimes eating something like a bit of cheese before bed can help keep the liver a bit quieter.
4. Probably shouldn't say this but alcohol will also lessen this effect of the liver churning out glucose in the morning. The odd glass of red or dry white or perhaps a G&slimlineT but not suggesting you make it a regular strategy. 🙄

 

[harbottle]

There's a good review here of the current knowledge of morning hyperglycemia here:

Thirty Years of Research on the Dawn Phenomenon: Lessons to Optimize Blood Glucose Control in Diabetes

More than 30 years ago in Diabetes Care, Schmidt et al. (1) defined “dawn phenomenon,” the night-to-morning elevation of blood glucose (BG) before and, to

diabetesjournals.org

Some of the papers it links to are interesting. For T2s the cause seems to be caused by a broken circadian rhythm that means the liver produces glucose way beyond the time when it should slow down and muscles are insulin resistant. It seems unclear why this happens. I'm not sure any of the strategies for trying to stop it will work - studies have shown that Metformin, for example, which does lower hepatic glucose production, doesn't prevent DP and other drugs are similarly ineffective.

The values you are seeing are not actually bad, considering a hba1c of 82. One of the papers referenced above (https://diabetesjournals.org/care/a...oss-of-Postprandial-Glycemic-Control-Precedes) showed some research in which morning levels were > 10 when hba1c was at that level and were also high during the whole night.

 

[Karlisa66]

There's a good review here of the current knowledge of morning hyperglycemia here:

Thirty Years of Research on the Dawn Phenomenon: Lessons to Optimize Blood Glucose Control in Diabetes

More than 30 years ago in Diabetes Care, Schmidt et al. (1) defined “dawn phenomenon,” the night-to-morning elevation of blood glucose (BG) before and, to

diabetesjournals.org

Some of the papers it links to are interesting. For T2s the cause seems to be caused by a broken circadian rhythm that means the liver produces glucose way beyond the time when it should slow down and muscles are insulin resistant. It seems unclear why this happens. I'm not sure any of the strategies for trying to stop it will work - studies have shown that Metformin, for example, which does lower hepatic glucose production, doesn't prevent DP and other drugs are similarly ineffective.

The values you are seeing are not actually bad, considering a hba1c of 82. One of the papers referenced above (https://diabetesjournals.org/care/a...oss-of-Postprandial-Glycemic-Control-Precedes) showed some research in which morning levels were > 10 when hba1c was at that level and were also high during the whole night.

Thank you, really interesting reading.