Any guidance on what's gone wrong?

[tesser raggy]

Hi. I'm new on this forum. Sorry if a bit long-winded.

Diagnosed T2 in Mar23, after years of denial (by my gp!)
I'm 72yrs male. Not overweight and have 32" waist.
Mar23 A1c =64 at 74kg
I cut down on the Krispy Kremes and Sticky Toffee puddings and A1c came down to 51 by Nov23 & Apr24
I refused to take Metformin, as I try not to take any meds, and decided to stop sugar intake. Oct24 A1c down to 48.
BP low, weight down to 69kg BMI 22, even though I'm trying NOT to lose any more.
DB nurse very impressed (haha).

So, let's now go for remission. And that's when it's all gone wrong. Why, I ask?
This was my new regime:
- cut out porridge oats and swapped to Greek Yoghurt (real) + berries/nuts
- plenty of fruit and veg
- egg/advocado/fish for lunch
- no 'hidden sugar' checked all labels
- only small amount sourdough bread
- cooked from scratch evening meals
- eat veg first (Glucose Goddess)
- brown rice instead of white
- very little alcohol

Expected new A1c to be in low 40's - but fell off the chair when it came back at 52. Oh no.

What was all that sacrifice for??

Any thoughts, anyone? Does my Pancreas think my throat has been cut and gone on strike wondering where all the glucose has gone

I've signed up for the free trial Freestyle and Dexcom monitors and now consider paying for monthly private A1c tests.

Or give up trying. Desperate.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi. I'm new on this forum. Sorry if a bit long-winded.

Diagnosed T2 in Mar23, after years of denial (by my gp!)
I'm 72yrs male. Not overweight and have 32" waist.
Mar23 A1c =64 at 74kg
I cut down on the Krispy Kremes and Sticky Toffee puddings and A1c came down to 51 by Nov23 & Apr24
I refused to take Metformin, as I try not to take any meds, and decided to stop sugar intake. Oct24 A1c down to 48.
BP low, weight down to 69kg BMI 22, even though I'm trying NOT to lose any more.
DB nurse very impressed (haha).

So, let's now go for remission. And that's when it's all gone wrong. Why, I ask?
This was my new regime:
- cut out porridge oats and swapped to Greek Yoghurt (real) + berries/nuts
- plenty of fruit and veg
- egg/advocado/fish for lunch
- no 'hidden sugar' checked all labels
- only small amount sourdough bread
- cooked from scratch evening meals
- eat veg first (Glucose Goddess)
- brown rice instead of white
- very little alcohol

Expected new A1c to be in low 40's - but fell off the chair when it came back at 52. Oh no.

What was all that sacrifice for??

Any thoughts, anyone? Does my Pancreas think my throat has been cut and gone on strike wondering where all the glucose has gone

I've signed up for the free trial Freestyle and Dexcom monitors and now consider paying for monthly private A1c tests.

Or give up trying. Desperate.

Welcome to the forum
I can't see anything wrong with what you are doing, there are only a couple of high carb foods there so it may be portion size of those. However how your body copes with carbohydrates can change and become less efficient with age. The NICE guidelines are that the acceptable HbA1C should be more lenient for more mature people but that is not to say people shouldn't try to do the best they can but it has to be balanced which what effort would be needed and detriment to your enjoyment of life.
As the HbA1C is an average of the previous 3 months then it is not worth having more often and the CGMs can give useful information as long as you recognise their limitations and understand the information they give. The temptation is to over react and see an issue when there is not one.
The rule of thumb if finger prick testing (which you don't mention you are doing) is 4-7 fasting/morning and before meals and less than 8-8.5 2 hours after meals.
You can check out various meals maybe the ones where you have had rice or bread by testing before you eat and after 2 hours where you want the increase to be less than 3mmol/l
I add this link to see if you can glean anything from that to support what you are doing. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi. I'm new on this forum. Sorry if a bit long-winded.

Diagnosed T2 in Mar23, after years of denial (by my gp!)
I'm 72yrs male. Not overweight and have 32" waist.
Mar23 A1c =64 at 74kg
I cut down on the Krispy Kremes and Sticky Toffee puddings and A1c came down to 51 by Nov23 & Apr24
I refused to take Metformin, as I try not to take any meds, and decided to stop sugar intake. Oct24 A1c down to 48.
BP low, weight down to 69kg BMI 22, even though I'm trying NOT to lose any more.
DB nurse very impressed (haha).

So, let's now go for remission. And that's when it's all gone wrong. Why, I ask?
This was my new regime:
- cut out porridge oats and swapped to Greek Yoghurt (real) + berries/nuts
- plenty of fruit and veg
- egg/advocado/fish for lunch
- no 'hidden sugar' checked all labels
- only small amount sourdough bread
- cooked from scratch evening meals
- eat veg first (Glucose Goddess)
- brown rice instead of white
- very little alcohol

Expected new A1c to be in low 40's - but fell off the chair when it came back at 52. Oh no.

What was all that sacrifice for??

Any thoughts, anyone? Does my Pancreas think my throat has been cut and gone on strike wondering where all the glucose has gone

I've signed up for the free trial Freestyle and Dexcom monitors and now consider paying for monthly private A1c tests.

Or give up trying. Desperate.

I think much depends of on how much of each thing you have eaten, and what they do to your blood sugars.

For instance, you say "lots of fruit and veg". For many, living with T2, lots of fruit could be a problem, unless it very heavily weighted to berries. Citrus, bananas, tropical and many other fruits are just too suag heavy for them.

Brown rice instead of white, for me, is a bit of a nothing really. The brown (fibre) will just slow the blood glucose rise in moost, rather than reduce the amount of the rise., and the same with sourdough.

We're all different, but for me, one of the most surprising foods was pasta. It didn't sky rocket my blood sugars, but raised them a bit, but heck, it took a long time to come back down again.

If you haven't been testing your blood glucose at home, I'd suggest trialing a Freestyle Libre, or Dexcom One+ on tthe trials they offer. They will give you real time information and help you work out your next steps.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

@tesser raggy, I'm T3c (but insulin dependent, as if T1); so I have nothing to add to the previous comments.

But if the cost of monitoring by using CGM is prohibitive, after your free trials, you might find a one-off purchase of 3 x Dexcom One+ could be worthwhile. Each sensor lasts 10 days and rather than using them in tight succession you could use one for 10 days, exploring responses to food and exercise/activity responses; then pause for a fortnight (say), look back and see what your exploring has revealed. Try a 2nd sensor for its 10 days - then pause again. Finally try the 3rd sensor when you feel some different permutations might bring fresh (different) results. Eg during a holiday or travelling period and/or frequent eating out.

Each sensor is independent of the previous or next sensor; and each sensor will have a very long shelf life. So spreading a pack of 3 over 3 or more months will give great economy for beneficial return.

Diabetes can produce quite different behaviour for any one individual and certainly you can't assume what worked for the next person will work for you. There will be a degree of explanation about why your endeavours so far haven't brought the results you hoped for, but trial and learning is often needed to get a better understanding of how your body metabolises different meals. Using CGM does allow you to repeat your meals at different times and get a sense of where repetition reveals consistent results.

Have a look at the limitations of CGM, from a post pinned to the top of the Newbies section. Are you finger pricking? If not that can be useful when done in a structured manner.

 

[chaoticcar]

Rice is quite carby and is usually just eaten with a sauce or spicy food such as curry .My go to is cauliflower chopped up small or grated .Throw into boiling water for a couple of minutes of fry in very hot oil until brown . It tastes better than rice and is better for you.
Carol

 

[tesser raggy]

Thanks for all your replies.

I hope the CGM can identify the problem area, as I've given up a lot of foods for zero return!

Maybe also ask doc for a pancreas CT scan, as NICE recommends for over 60's newly diagnosed and losing weight.

Thanks