Confused Newbie

[e9508686]

Hi,

I was diagnosed last week with Type 2 diabetes. My HbA1c level test returned 58 which performed due to me having constant pins and needles in my feet.

I'm a 5"11, 75 kg, 35 year old man who generally eats well, doesn't drink much and is very active. I play top club level squash and generally feel very fit. I don't have a family history of diabetes. I wouldn't say I'm ripped to shreds but I'm not fat and fairly toned (basically I'm implying I'm not "skinny fat" which I know many diabetics might be).

I've spoken to some family and they have concerns that I could have other issues (e.g. pancreatic cancer) as I really don't fit the normal demographic of a diabetic. Should I be pressing my GP to do additional testing or should I just accept the diagnosis and make the necessary dietary improvements?

Looking at this newbie board, most people are a few stone overweight or in their 50s etc. Which I'm not so I feel very lost.

I don't need to lose a significant amount of weight maybe 5 Kgs but what can I do after that? How strict do I need to be? Can I have a couple of pints still? I'm happy to cut carbs and make improvements to my diet but I'll really miss a social drink (I probably average about 5 pints a week).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[harbottle]

You may have to lower your carb intake to get blood sugar down or use some medication - have you been prescribed anything?

T2 can happen to people in their 30s without being overweight, but it appears to be a bit of a mystery why (It's more prevalent in certain ethnic communities, apparently, and may not have its roots in the insulin resistance that is common with T2s who are overweight). I know someone who was in a similar boat and similarly shocked to be diagnosed at a similar age.

The work in Newcastle recently showed some T2s with a healthy BMI can lose a bit of weight and reverse it:

Type 2 diabetes remission is possible for people with lower BMIs

A new ‘game-changing’ study by Professor Roy Taylor and his team shows remission from type 2 diabetes is possible for people with lower BMIs.

www.ncl.ac.uk

While obesity increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, 10% of people with type 2 diabetes have a BMI that is not in the obesity or overweight category.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi,

I was diagnosed last week with Type 2 diabetes. My HbA1c level test returned 58 which performed due to me having constant pins and needles in my feet.

I'm a 5"11, 75 kg, 35 year old man who generally eats well, doesn't drink much and is very active. I play top club level squash and generally feel very fit. I don't have a family history of diabetes. I wouldn't say I'm ripped to shreds but I'm not fat and fairly toned (basically I'm implying I'm not "skinny fat" which I know many diabetics might be).

I've spoken to some family and they have concerns that I could have other issues (e.g. pancreatic cancer) as I really don't fit the normal demographic of a diabetic. Should I be pressing my GP to do additional testing or should I just accept the diagnosis and make the necessary dietary improvements?

Looking at this newbie board, most people are a few stone overweight or in their 50s etc. Which I'm not so I feel very lost.

I don't need to lose a significant amount of weight maybe 5 Kgs but what can I do after that? How strict do I need to be? Can I have a couple of pints still? I'm happy to cut carbs and make improvements to my diet but I'll really miss a social drink (I probably average about 5 pints a week).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum, there are many people who don't quite fit the profile of a typical Type 2 but with an HbA1C of 58 which is not desperately high and perhaps needing to lose a bit of weight then reducing your carbohydrate intake should help.
Beers are quite high in carbs so moderation would be the best, but dry wines, spirits with diet mixers are much lower so a better option.
Some changes to your dietary regime would hopefully see some improvement. This link may help you to find a way of reducing carbs while still having tasty filling meals. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/. It is a low carb approach which generally means less that 130g total carbs per day.
The blood glucose level you are at is certainly high enough to take seriously especially as you have been noticing some symptoms, hopefully other causes have been ruled out.

 

[Tdm]

Hi,

I was diagnosed last week with Type 2 diabetes. My HbA1c level test returned 58 which performed due to me having constant pins and needles in my feet.

I'm a 5"11, 75 kg, 35 year old man who generally eats well, doesn't drink much and is very active. I play top club level squash and generally feel very fit. I don't have a family history of diabetes. I wouldn't say I'm ripped to shreds but I'm not fat and fairly toned (basically I'm implying I'm not "skinny fat" which I know many diabetics might be).

I've spoken to some family and they have concerns that I could have other issues (e.g. pancreatic cancer) as I really don't fit the normal demographic of a diabetic. Should I be pressing my GP to do additional testing or should I just accept the diagnosis and make the necessary dietary improvements?

Looking at this newbie board, most people are a few stone overweight or in their 50s etc. Which I'm not so I feel very lost.

I don't need to lose a significant amount of weight maybe 5 Kgs but what can I do after that? How strict do I need to be? Can I have a couple of pints still? I'm happy to cut carbs and make improvements to my diet but I'll really miss a social drink (I probably average about 5 pints a week).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Often people can be misdiagnosed though i would have thought being young, fit, and not overweight the natural inclinstion would be T1 so they may have other factors that make then think T2 - it wouldn't hurt to ask about antibody tests.

 

[e9508686]

You may have to lower your carb intake to get blood sugar down or use some medication - have you been prescribed anything?

T2 can happen to people in their 30s without being overweight, but it appears to be a bit of a mystery why (It's more prevalent in certain ethnic communities, apparently, and may not have its roots in the insulin resistance that is common with T2s who are overweight). I know someone who was in a similar boat and similarly shocked to be diagnosed at a similar age.

The work in Newcastle recently showed some T2s with a healthy BMI can lose a bit of weight and reverse it:

Type 2 diabetes remission is possible for people with lower BMIs

A new ‘game-changing’ study by Professor Roy Taylor and his team shows remission from type 2 diabetes is possible for people with lower BMIs.

www.ncl.ac.uk

That's a great article thanks. I really hope that I'm just like the patients in this trial. This particular paragraph was reassuring:

About three quarters (70%, or 14/20) of participants went into remission from type 2 diabetes during the study, with 50% (10/20) of these going into remission after the first weight loss cycle.

And that was only losing on average 8%. So if I aim to get down to 68kgs or something like that, that should be a good start.

Appreciate you sending that!

 

[Inka]

@e9508686 I’d ask them why they assume you’re Type 2 and not in the early stages of Type 1 (Type 1 comes on more slowly in adults) and ask for a Type 1 antibodies test and a C Peptide test.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @e9508686

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and I can completely understand why you are confused, especially with the media portrayal of T2 diabetes, which is all most people have to go on at diagnosis.

Diabetes classification is part science, but quite a lot of it seems to be art and intuition too. And you certainly wouldn’t be the first forum member to have an atypical classification changed over the first few years after diagnosis. There are forms of autoimmune diabetes like LADA that can come on much more slowly than the classic childhood T1 crash, so if picked up in a routine screening for something else, it may be that your diabetes is being caused by beta-cell loss (T1) rather than insulin resistance (T2).

But we also have forum members who are ‘TOFI’ (thin outside, fat inside) who have a predisposition to building up visceral fat around their abdomen and liver/pancreas even though they aren’t particularly overweight.

So I’d keep an open mind about your diabetes classification, and maybe request other checks like cPeptide / GAD antibody if the changes you make to menu and lifestyle don’t have the effect you are expecting.

 

[e9508686]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

It's been 5 weeks since my HbA1C test which returned 58 but due to my confusion I visited a private doctor who performed the HbA1C test again. The result came back as 43, which I understand is still not good and within the prediabetic range but it's drastically different to 58.

Any advice why I might have these big differences between the test results? I have been watching my diet over the last month or so but I've also been told by both GPs that this HbA1C result won't shift due to lifestyle changes until 3 months or more.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

It's been 5 weeks since my HbA1C test which returned 58 but due to my confusion I visited a private doctor who performed the HbA1C test again. The result came back as 43, which I understand is still not good and within the prediabetic range but it's drastically different to 58.

Any advice why I might have these big differences between the test results? I have been watching my diet over the last month or so but I've also been told by both GPs that this HbA1C result won't shift due to lifestyle changes until 3 months or more.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Thanks in advance.

4 weeks is quite a short time to see such a difference but if you made substantial changes to your diet then I would think it is not impossible.
If you look at peoples profiles then you will see that some reduced their HbA1C from as much as 80mmol/mol to 50mmol/mol in 3 months so not too different.
If you keep up what you have been doing and then have another test 3 months after the first then that will make sure you are on track.

 

[Drummer]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

It's been 5 weeks since my HbA1C test which returned 58 but due to my confusion I visited a private doctor who performed the HbA1C test again. The result came back as 43, which I understand is still not good and within the prediabetic range but it's drastically different to 58.

Any advice why I might have these big differences between the test results? I have been watching my diet over the last month or so but I've also been told by both GPs that this HbA1C result won't shift due to lifestyle changes until 3 months or more.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Thanks in advance.

My Hba1c went from 91 to 47 in 80 days when I was diagnosed and went straight onto a low carb diet.

 

[harbottle]

50% of the hba1c is from the last month’s blood sugar levels, so it is possible to see a decrease after 4 weeks with lifestyle changes.

 

[e9508686]

Lots of interesting replies there. Thanks all once again!

One thing I would say that even though my HbA1c level has dropped, my symptoms remain. Those symptoms are frequent urination and pins and needles in my feet. I understand that it's possible my pins and needles will never recover? Does anyone have any experience with that?

Also regarding the symptoms in general, should I expect to see them disappear in line with the HbA1c result? Or does that take time to recover? Or should I be concerned that I'm still needing to go to the loo roughly every 1h30 during the day even though my HbA1c is 43.

(I'm sure that's the whole point of this forum, but it's so nice to ask people about their real world experiences rather than the GPs just giving the general advice.)

 

[Tdm]

I'd be concerned about your need for the loo...i had that but it stopped quickly when my blood sugars went down. Do you have a blood sugar monitor? A1c can hide a multitude of sins. May be worth buying a libre 2 (you may get free trial from abbot) to see what is going on?

 

[Leadinglights]

There are other things which can be the cause of frequent loo visits, sensitivity of the bladder to caffeine, a urinary tract infection and if you are male and maybe a bit older prostate problems.
But a blood glucose monitor would tell you if you are having high level from particular meals which may be the reason your symptoms are slow to recede.

 

[e9508686]

There are other things which can be the cause of frequent loo visits, sensitivity of the bladder to caffeine, a urinary tract infection and if you are male and maybe a bit older prostate problems.
But a blood glucose monitor would tell you if you are having high level from particular meals which may be the reason your symptoms are slow to recede.

Very interesting you say about sensitivity to caffeine. Basically, we had our first child who is now 9 months old. Prior to her arrival, I probably drank coffee 4/5 times a year. After her arrival, I started drinking coffee regularly. Would decaffeinated coffee have the same effect? I'll leave off the coffee for a week or so and see if I get any consistent improvements with that. I have had days where the need to go to the loo is normal but some days it's back to every 1h30 but maybe it's just the days I've had coffee (because I have cut back recently and am no longer drinking it every day).

What about pins and needles - anyone got any experience with that? I'm definitely not seeing any improvements with that. Is there a decent chance I'll have that indefinitely as the damage is already done? Probably a stupid question, but could the cold weather make that worse? I also find that during and after intense exercise, the pins and needles is worse.

 

[e9508686]

I'd be concerned about your need for the loo...i had that but it stopped quickly when my blood sugars went down. Do you have a blood sugar monitor? A1c can hide a multitude of sins. May be worth buying a libre 2 (you may get free trial from abbot) to see what is going on?

Is it the 14 day free trial you are referring to?

 

[Leadinglights]

Very interesting you say about sensitivity to caffeine. Basically, we had our first child who is now 9 months old. Prior to her arrival, I probably drank coffee 4/5 times a year. After her arrival, I started drinking coffee regularly. Would decaffeinated coffee have the same effect? I'll leave off the coffee for a week or so and see if I get any consistent improvements with that. I have had days where the need to go to the loo is normal but some days it's back to every 1h30 but maybe it's just the days I've had coffee (because I have cut back recently and am no longer drinking it every day).

What about pins and needles - anyone got any experience with that? I'm definitely not seeing any improvements with that. Is there a decent chance I'll have that indefinitely as the damage is already done? Probably a stupid question, but could the cold weather make that worse? I also find that during and after intense exercise, the pins and needles is worse.

Don't forget there is also caffeine in tea and coke as well so decaf might be worth a try. If the weather is cold I certainly find I need the loo more.

 

[e9508686]

Can caffeine have any impact on HbA1c results?

 

[Ivostas66]

Can caffeine have any impact on HbA1c results?

As far as I am aware there is conflicting advice here, with some studies suggesting it does and other suggesting it doesn't. Not helpful I know, but people on here have had differing experiences with caffeine. I'm type 1 and have a coffee each morning, but have gone without caffeine for several days before now and seen no difference in levels.

 

[harbottle]

I don't see any difference either, but then again.
I sometimes have some blood in my coffee stream.