Diabetes remission

S

Sandy321

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Pronouns
She/Her
Hi I am trying to put my diabetes into remission. At the moment my finger prick glucose test is averaging 8 each morning before any food. Does anyone know if this is acceptable please? I am 68 if that has any bearing?
I was diagnosed in December 2023 and my glucose level was 20.3 or 115. The Gliclazide was giving me hypos and I just felt generally unwell on metformin and I just hate putting meds in my body. Any advice would be welcome. I’m using a combination of low carbs an low calorie diet.
 
Sandy321 said:
Hi I am trying to put my diabetes into remission. At the moment my finger prick glucose test is averaging 8 each morning before any food. Does anyone know if this is acceptable please? I am 68 if that has any bearing?
I was diagnosed in December 2023 and my glucose level was 20.3 or 115. The Gliclazide was giving me hypos and I just felt generally unwell on metformin and I just hate putting meds in my body. Any advice would be welcome. I’m using a combination of low carbs an low calorie diet.
Click to expand...
It is difficult if you are intolerant of the medications but with an HbA1C that was that high the GP was obliged to prescribe medication. Gliclazide encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin so unless you have enough carbohydrate to balance the extra insulin then hypos are more likely. Metformin does cause stomach issues for some people but slow release is generally tolerated better but not always.
Dietary options can be very successful but you may be better to choose either low carb or low calorie rather than both and that can be less sustainable long term.
Your morning readings are still quite high at 8mmol/l as people need to be aiming at 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning and before meals and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours after meals.
You may benefit from doing some strategic testing of your meals, before eating and after 2 hours to see if what you are having is tolerated well.
Have you had a recent HbA1C test to see where you are now as that will help see what your next steps are.
There are a couple of other oral medications which you could try if your HbA1C is still sky high.
Have a look at this link to see if it help find a way forward with your diet but in any case the information is very good. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
Leadinglights said:
It is difficult if you are intolerant of the medications but with an HbA1C that was that high the GP was obliged to prescribe medication. Gliclazide encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin so unless you have enough carbohydrate to balance the extra insulin then hypos are more likely. Metformin does cause stomach issues for some people but slow release is generally tolerated better but not always.
Dietary options can be very successful but you may be better to choose either low carb or low calorie rather than both and that can be less sustainable long term.
Your morning readings are still quite high at 8mmol/l as people need to be aiming at 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning and before meals and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours after meals.
You may benefit from doing some strategic testing of your meals, before eating and after 2 hours to see if what you are having is tolerated well.
Have you had a recent HbA1C test to see where you are now as that will help see what your next steps are.
There are a couple of other oral medications which you could try if your HbA1C is still sky high.
Have a look at this link to see if it help find a way forward with your diet but in any case the information is very good. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help. It’s clarified somethings for me. I last had a HbA1C 3 months ago and the result was 58 so it had practically halved, that was with a Mediterranean diet and Gliclazide, then the nurse introduced metformin as well and the hypos started. I can’t see the point in eating more carbs to combat hypos when it’s the medication causing them? Especially when I’m told to lose weight ( my bmi is 28) this is all very confusing and gets me down. I do not want to be obsessed with food but it’s taken over my life!! Sorry for the rant, I’m having a bad day
 
Sandy321 said:
Thanks for your help. It’s clarified somethings for me. I last had a HbA1C 3 months ago and the result was 58 so it had practically halved, that was with a Mediterranean diet and Gliclazide, then the nurse introduced metformin as well and the hypos started. I can’t see the point in eating more carbs to combat hypos when it’s the medication causing them? Especially when I’m told to lose weight ( my bmi is 28) this is all very confusing and gets me down. I do not want to be obsessed with food but it’s taken over my life!! Sorry for the rant, I’m having a bad day
Click to expand...
That is a significant improvement so you should be pleased with yourself.
Metformin just helps the body use the insulin it produces and reduces the glucose the liver releases but some people just don't tolerate it. If you are prepared to persevere with your dietary changes there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get down a bit more. What is just as important is to have an enjoyable and sustainable way of eating.
I found following the principals in the Freshwell link has just become my new normal way of eating with no meds. I agree that having to eat more carbs because of the medication just because of the meds just doesn't make sense.
 
Thank you for your encouragement. I will spend some time on the Freshwell link 🙂
 
Your numbers almost exactly mirror mine - I was 114 and 20.5 at diagnosis, 56 at my next HbA1c three months down the line. The big difference is the medication - Metformin for me, Gliclazide for you. Once again, no consistency across the NHS.

Encouraged by the drop in my HbA1c I continued with my low carb diet, and 5 months after diagnosis my BG was back in normal range and I had stopped the Metformin. I should add that I started being more active, walking more and swimming twice a week, as well as dropping from 90kg to 72kg. Have you managed anything similar?

As @Leadinglights says, if you persevere with your dietary changes you ought to be able to bring your BG down some more.
 
I only stopped all meds a week ago so it’s early days. I’ve put on 3lbs since being diagnosed which is annoying but hopefully I will lose it again as I persevere. Was thrilled to have a reading of 6.6 before my evening meal tonight and hoping my reading will still be good in a couple of hours time! I definitely need to be more active which as you are saying will help. Thank you so much for your encouragement along with @Leadinglights. The Freshwell App is very helpful and I will be using it a lot. I feel so much more positive tonight 😎 thanks again!
 
Sandy321 said:
Thank you so much for your encouragement along with @Leadinglights. The Freshwell App is very helpful and I will be using it a lot. I feel so much more positive tonight 😎 thanks again!
Click to expand...

That’s great to hear @Sandy321

Keep going! And let us know how you get on at your next check-up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top