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Hba1c

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
A

annealex1

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, everyone. I am trying not to get overly stressed butId like to get my blood sugar down.
My readings have been as follows. I am type 2

HBA1c
Jul 17 70
Nov 17 48
May 18 59
Oct 18 51
Oct 19 60
Mar 20 69. My target is 48 - 59 I am 68 year old female with a BMI of 39

I asked my Drs surgery two weeks ago if I could re start on Metaformin SR as I had noticed my left foot felt as if I was walking on a sponge. It had been given to me in 2018 but the dose was 1000 mg and I had a bad reaction to it as I have IBS. I could not leave the house.
The Dr put me on 500mg once a day to be taken with largest meal.
I suffered again with bowel pains etc. I am hoping my body gets used to it.
I am now on the third week of Metaformin SR and have started to take one 500mg in morning with a meal and one with evening meal.
I bought a blood sugar meter and testing strips and my blood sugar.
On waking my sugar is between 8 and 9. I note if I take plain oats with water for breakfast, even after four hours my blood sugar is approx 11.4.

At my last Hba1c testing the diabetic nurse gave e recommendations re meals but I was doing that anyway and cook fresh produce with no bottled sauces . I wondered then why I was not been offered any medication. Has anyone else had similar problems and managed to resolve them and get sugar under control?

Anne
 
Did anyone explain that type two diabetes is an inability to deal with carbohydrate in the diet?
I just wondered why you are eating oats.
 
Drummer said:
Did anyone explain that type two diabetes is an inability to deal with carbohydrate in the diet?
I just wondered why you are eating oats.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the post.
I read that oats release the sugar slowly and can help regulate blood sugar because they are high fibre ands low G.I.
I am concerned that I can't get my sugar below 8 - 9
 
To be brutally honest, knocking 10 points or more off your BMI is probably the best thing you can do. You can do this in two ways. Grow a lot taller or lose some weight. Sorry, that is a bit silly, there is only one way, lose some weight.

There is a lot of evidence linking diabetes to being overweight, there are some who say that is the reason why the prevalence of diabetes is increasing.

I know getting your weight right is not straightforward, but really getting to grips with it and figuring out what will work for you is the way to go in my opinion. If you can get your BMI right and still have diabetic levels of HbA1c, that's the time to turn to medication.
 
Docb said:
To be brutally honest, knocking 10 points or more off your BMI is probably the best thing you can do. You can do this in two ways. Grow a lot taller or lose some weight. Sorry, that is a bit silly, there is only one way, lose some weight.

There is a lot of evidence linking diabetes to being overweight, there are some who say that is the reason why the prevalence of diabetes is increasing.

I know getting your weight right is not straightforward, but really getting to grips with it and figuring out what will work for you is the way to go in my opinion. If you can get your BMI right and still have diabetic levels of HbA1c, that's the time to turn to medication.
Click to expand...
Docb said:
To be brutally honest, knocking 10 points or more off your BMI is probably the best thing you can do. You can do this in two ways. Grow a lot taller or lose some weight. Sorry, that is a bit silly, there is only one way, lose some weight.

There is a lot of evidence linking diabetes to being overweight, there are some who say that is the reason why the prevalence of diabetes is increasing.

I know getting your weight right is not straightforward, but really getting to grips with it and figuring out what will work for you is the way to go in my opinion. If you can get your BMI right and still have diabetic levels of HbA1c, that's the time to turn to medication.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I am trying to do that.
 
grovesy said:
Some people seem to tolerate oats and some don't. Oats obviously don't suit you.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I was thinking that myself. I walked around Asda and then took my sugar read and it was 6.8. How strange that a short dash with a trolley could almost halve the sugar.
 
Annalex1, glad you took my comment as support rather than criticism. Fundamentally you have got to take in fewer calories and one thing you might look at is ways of cutting the amount of carbohydrate you take in. This gives you a two pronged attack since there can be a lot of calories in carbohydrate and carbohydrate leads to blood glucose.

The way I would go about things would be to start with a food diary writing down everything, yes everything, you take in, even doing some weighing to get your portion sizes. Then start looking at labels and the web to find out how many calories and grams of carbohydrate you are taking in with everything you eat and drink and work your total intake for each day. Do a bit of research to find out what would be a sensible intake for somebody of your age and lifestyle. Set yourself a target below that and start looking in your diary for the big hitters...things that are high in both carbs and cals, and work out how you can cut them down. Take it slowly and methodically and readjust your diet until you get a new way of eating that you can cope with and gets you where you want to be. That approach might suit you, it might not. Suited me, but then I trust the numbers rather than listen to opinions and am very wary of those who say they have a perfect solution for anything that is right for everybody.
 
Docb said:
Annalex1, glad you took my comment as support rather than criticism. Fundamentally you have got to take in fewer calories and one thing you might look at is ways of cutting the amount of carbohydrate you take in. This gives you a two pronged attack since there can be a lot of calories in carbohydrate and carbohydrate leads to blood glucose.

The way I would go about things would be to start with a food diary writing down everything, yes everything, you take in, even doing some weighing to get your portion sizes. Then start looking at labels and the web to find out how many calories and grams of carbohydrate you are taking in with everything you eat and drink and work your total intake for each day. Do a bit of research to find out what would be a sensible intake for somebody of your age and lifestyle. Set yourself a target below that and start looking in your diary for the big hitters...things that are high in both carbs and cals, and work out how you can cut them down. Take it slowly and methodically and readjust your diet until you get a new way of eating that you can cope with and gets you where you want to be. That approach might suit you, it might not. Suited me, but then I trust the numbers rather than listen to opinions and am very wary of those who say they have a perfect solution for anything that is right for everybody.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate your comments truly I do and I will certainly get back to you when I have taken 10 off the BMI. I am now logging everything.
 
annealex1 said:
I really appreciate your comments truly I do and I will certainly get back to you when I have taken 10 off the BMI. I am now logging everything.
Click to expand...


That's a post I'm looking forward to!! 🙂
 
Hi and welcome.

Please don't wait until you reach that goal before you come back to us.... we are here to support you the whole journey, not just to share your success.
Cutting your carbs really can make a big difference.
There is conflicting dietary advice for diabetics, and the NHS may be somewhat behind the curve because they still recommend moderate wholemeal carbs and low fat. This will often not reduce your BG levels and leave you feeling hungry which will make sticking to it difficult long term and we need to make this a lifestyle change not a short term diet, so enjoying what you eat is important to success.
Eating some dietary fat like creamy Greek natural yoghurt rather than low fat (which is higher in carbs) will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer because fat is slower to digest than carbs, provides slow release energy and it tastes good. I have it for breakfast with a few berries and a tablespoon of mixed seeds and another of chopped nuts.... again the nuts contain fat to help keep you full. Berries like rasps, strawberries, blackberries, black and red currants (not the dried fruit currants) or some stewed rhubarb (with a little sweetener) are the lowest carb fruits This yoghurt, fruit, seeds and nut mix makes a great breakfast. Eggs are another great choice for breakfast. I like to have a 2 egg omelette with a variety of fillings including any combination of mushrooms, onion, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, ham and cheese. I have it with a large leafy salad and some creamy coleslaw (not reduced fat coleslaw). That usually lasts me until tea time without the need for any lunch or I have a chunk of cheese or a handful of nuts or some olives if I feel peckish.

You are really looking to reduce your consumption of bread, pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes and anything made with grains/flour and also fruit, which is of course normally considered healthy, but often contains lots of natural sugars.

Cauliflower is a great low carb alternative to use. It can be cooked and mashed with a dollop of cream cheese and a spoon of mustard or grated and used as a rice or couscous replacement. And who doesn't love cauliflower cheese..... but instead of making a sauce using flour and milk you par boil and then coat in cream cheese and then grated cheese and brown off in the oven. I mix a spoon of wholegrain mustard into the cream cheese and some sour cream and chive dip which gives the cream cheese a softer consistency for coating and more depth of flavour and then a mixture of Red Leicester, Mature Cheddar and Parmesan to top it. Some people experiment with other herbs and spices. It tastes great with gammon or high meat content sausages or pork chops/steaks. You can use the cauli mash to top a cottage or shepherds or fish pie instead of potato. Cauli can even be used to make a pastry alternative together with parmesan cheese to make a quiche base instead of flour, resulting in a very low carb quiche.

It is also helps to increase your activity levels and it doesn't have to be anything overly energetic. A brisk walk is one of the best ways of reducing your BG levels and with this wonderful weather, it's a real pleasure to get out and "swing your legs" in the fresh air. Even with very limited mobility, doing some seated exercises with your arms and legs each day will be beneficial.

Hope this gives you some idea of how to move forward with this. There are plenty of other food and recipe ideas here on the forum. Learning what to buy and how to cook it is key and reading nutritional information on the back of food packaging is key to not buying the wrong things.... you need to look at the total carbohydrate content not the sugars and take your specs as it is usually in tiny print on the back or side.... not the traffic light info on the front which is always easy to see but not helpful to us diabetics.

If you don't understand anything just ask and we will do our best to explain.
Good luck!
 
annealex1 said:
Thanks for the post.
I read that oats release the sugar slowly and can help regulate blood sugar because they are high fibre ands low G.I.
I am concerned that I can't get my sugar below 8 - 9
Click to expand...
For many diabetics GI is simply irrelevant - carbs are carbs and slow or fast, the glucose just builds up and up. Oats helping to regulate blood glucose is against all logic.
By reducing the carbs eaten you reduce the loading of your metabolism with glucose it cannot cope with. To me that is perfect sense.
 
annealex1 said:
Thanks for the post.
I read that oats release the sugar slowly and can help regulate blood sugar because they are high fibre ands low G.I.
I am concerned that I can't get my sugar below 8 - 9
Click to expand...
Drummer said:
For many diabetics GI is simply irrelevant - carbs are carbs and slow or fast, the glucose just builds up and up. Oats helping to regulate blood glucose is against all logic.
By reducing the carbs eaten you reduce the loading of your metabolism with glucose it cannot cope with. To me that is perfect sense.
Click to expand...

Anne may not have your level of intolerance to carbohydrate though @Drummer - and for others GI is a useful guide and starting point when trying to find their way through the maze in the beginning. Not everyone needs to avoid carbs as stringently as you have always had to - even before your diabetes diagnosis!

But I agree that official GI values are no guarantee. Responses to different types of carbohydrate are highly individual (depending on metabolism, genes, gut biome and multiple other factors), and sometimes really ‘obvious’ ones can defy expectations.

One way of directly assessing responses to food that you might consider @annealex1 is checking BG before and again 2 hours after different meals to see which raise your blood glucose dramatically, and which have less effect.

This ‘test review adjust’ framework has been used by many members of the forum.

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.
loraldiabetes.blogspot.com loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Do keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on 🙂
 
annealex1 said:
On waking my sugar is between 8 and 9. I note if I take plain oats with water for breakfast, even after four hours my blood sugar is approx 11.4.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest trying something else for breakfast, see what you get then. It can be helpful to keep a food diary along with a record of your levels. It can help in spotting patterns.
Also, try testing 1 - 2 hours after eating as well.
 
Thanks, That is exactly what I am doing now. On waking I tested and BS was 8.3 at 6 a.m. I had tested prior to sleep at midnight and it was 8.8. I moved onto breakfast and had 2 grilled small sausage - 1.1gm total carbs
a hard boiled egg .6 carbs and coffee made with 100ml of oat milk - 6.5 carbs. I realised if I switch to whole full fat milk I can save 2 carbs. Total for breakfast was 8.2. I took BS at 9 a.m. approx 3 hours later and it was 9.7. To test out the walking I went to the garden centre for a stroll walk and then back to Asda to whizz a trolly round ( bought 2 items) back home at 11.29 I tested blood sugar and it was 6.2. Seems I have to walk round with a trolley for 10 mins to get BS down. Thanks for all the help. Back to reading and research.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Anne may not have your level of intolerance to carbohydrate though @Drummer - and for others GI is a useful guide and starting point when trying to find their way through the maze in the beginning. Not everyone needs to avoid carbs as stringently as you have always had to - even before your diabetes diagnosis!

But I agree that official GI values are no guarantee. Responses to different types of carbohydrate are highly individual (depending on metabolism, genes, gut biome and multiple other factors), and sometimes really ‘obvious’ ones can defy expectations.

One way of directly assessing responses to food that you might consider @annealex1 is checking BG before and again 2 hours after different meals to see which raise your blood glucose dramatically, and which have less effect.

This ‘test review adjust’ framework has been used by many members of the forum.

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.
loraldiabetes.blogspot.com loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Do keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on 🙂
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply I am doing the tests now as you mention and keeping full records. Most important to me is to get the blood sugar down. I need to read up on gut biome too .
 
Sounds like you are making a great start annealex1 but don't forget to think about the calories as well as the carbs. 😉
 
Thanks. Yes I counted all the calories too. 245 in total inc milk in coffee. One problem I have is understanding how many carbs to have at one meal.
 
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