Hba1c results

[MrsBrock]

Hi all,

I am a type 2 diabetic and have been since early 2017. I have been very much in denial about my diagnosis and have done very little to help myself with it. I recently noticed an increase in my symptoms, primarily pain in my feet and have since been given a Hba1c reading of 96 with a diagnosis of Peripheral Neuropathy. I feel devastated and so, so afraid. I've been prescribed a secondary medication to go with my metformin. I feel like I need to start facing this head on but have no idea where to start... Does anyone have any advice?
I have just signed myself up to slimming world, though due to my poor thyroid function I only lost 1lb in my first week (last week). I have also looked at lots of resources and recipes on diabetes.org, too. I hope I haven't left it too late to turn it around.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Good that you have found us as we will do our best to support you with this, now that you are ready to tackle it. The big problem with Type 2 diabetes is that it is all too easy to bury your head in the sand because often there are little if any obvious symptoms.... until you get complications. Hopefully taking control now will prevent those complications from getting any worse and perhaps improve things a little.

Do you have much weight to lose? Slimming World is not something that we particularly recommend because a lot of the recommended food is high carb and low fat. The problem with this is that all carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in your blood stream and raise your BG levels, so high carb foods like bread, pasta rice, couscous, wholegrains, breakfast cereals, potatoes, even low sugar cakes and biscuits etc and porridge and exotic fruits are all high in carbs. It may be possible to adapt the Slimming World diet to avoid the higher carb foods but you will need to start reading labels very carefully and substituting higher carb foods for lower carb alternatives rather than just following a diet plan and with an HbA1c of 96, which is pretty high, you probably can't afford to eat too much wholemeal pasta or baked potatoes or breakfast cereal.

The two most common and successful routes to tackle Type 2 diabetes here on the forum are the Newcastle/Fast 800 diet which is usually a meal replacement short tern very low calorie diet to lose weight rapidly

or

Following a low Carbohydrate way of eating. This usually involves eating full fat products rather than reduced fat, so blue top milk and full fat natural yoghurt, but significantly reducing the amount of sugar and starchy foods you eat. The higher fat provides you with slow release energy keeps you from feeling hungry and doesn't spike your BG levels.

Most people here who are serious (and successful) in managing their diabetes find that a BG meter is an invaluable tool in helping them to "see" the effect their food has on their BG levels on a meal by meal basis and that allows us to make informed choices about which foods cause us the most BG upheaval and are perhaps best avoided or kept as a rare treat and just a small portion and which foods we can get away with on a more frequent basis but perhaps just reduce the portion size.

It is likely that your doctor or nurse may counsel against testing but those of us who live with diabetes strongly recommend it as a means of taking control. For me, it helps to discourage me from eating the naughty stuff because I can see my levels head into orbit after eating them, but it is also really motivating when you see your levels start to come down and know that what you are doing is working.

The two meters we recommend for reliability and economy of use for people who are self funding are the Gluco Navii and the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 and both are available online. You need to tick the box to say you are diabetic in order for the VAT to be removed and you would be well advised to buy at least 2 extra pots of test strips and a box of lancets with your meter kit as you go through a lot of test strips in the first couple of months of testing. The test kit should help you to adjust your SW diet with a little help from forum members for low carb alternatives to the high carb foods if you decide to continue with that.

Most importantly, it is certainly possible to reduce that HbA1c and get down to safer levels, but it will take some effort on your part as regards diet. Including some daily exercise like a brisk walk will also help.
Many of us have found that our diabetes diagnosis was the kick up the backside we needed to make changes that we knew were important but just couldn't find the motivation to achieve. I am now slimmer and fitter and healthier than I have been for maybe 20 years and at the age of nearly 58 that feels good. I can also fit into dresses I bought in my 20s and what's more, look good in them. I feel that in this respect diabetes has added years to my life and quality to those years, so I can actually say that it has probably made me be more healthy rather than ill. I hope you will also find some of these benefits now that you have your head around tackling it. I should also say that I enjoy my food as much if not more now than I did before, it is just that I eat very differently now and mostly it doesn't involve any willpower, although there was certainly a good bit of that in the beginning! It does take thinking and planning though.

Good luck and if you don't understand anything, just ask.

 

[Drummer]

If you have poor thyroid function you should - surely - be on a supplement to counteract it?
As you are type 2 then you need to take control of your intake of carbohydrates, checking that you can cope with the amount you are eating.
That might run counter to the weight loss diet you have embarked on - if you are in contact with an adviser maybe you could ask if they have a suitable for diabetics option.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @MrsBrock 🙂 It’s never too late to make positive changes. The place to start is where you are now. Write down an average day’s food for you and look at how you can improve it. This will be by reducing carbs and adding green veg and other low carb veg as well as possibly increasing your healthy fats and protein.

Do you have a blood glucose meter? If not, that would be a really useful tool to have. Keeping your numbers in range can help the neuropathy.

If you’d like to post your average day’s food here, you’ll get more tailored suggestions. Exercise is good too. It doesn’t have to be at the gym. Walking and keeping generally active will help.

 

[Docb]

Hi @MrsBrock and welcome to the forum. A lot of members have been where you are now and have got their blood glucose back under control from higher levels than yours. An HbA1c of 96 is high and needs to be tackled sharpish so the sooner you get up to speed the better.

You have got past the first hurdle and recognised that you have got to do something about it and that is where we can help. Read around the forum and check out the learning zone and you some general principles will come into focus and you can begin to work out a plan to get your blood glucose under control. Above all ask questions about anything you do not understand and somebody will be along to explain. No question is considered too simple on here.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

have just signed myself up to slimming world, though due to my poor thyroid function I only lost 1lb in my first week (last week).

1lb is a loss so a very good start, well done.
Why is your thyroid function poor? If you were diagnosed with an underactive thyroid then you should be on replacement medication to bring you back into normal range. Thus making no difference to your weight.