Hello from trying-to-avoid-meds diet-only 55-yr-old type 2

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GillianS

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Hello, I was diagnosed six years ago, quite by accident as I was having other blood tests, requested a cholesterol test and the nurse said "let's do a blood sugar test as well". The result came back with a fasting sugar level of 8.1 and another later at 7.8. I was put on an exercise and diet-only regime initially but the result was that I lost weight but the blood sugar stayed the same. What's wrong with losing weight, you may wonder? Well, I'm 5'9" and at the time of the first test weighed 9st 8lb having lost a stone over the previous year without actually trying (I don't know why I lost weight).

I then went on 500mg Metformin once a day for the next four years until I started getting bad stomach aches. The doctor took me off Metformin as a test and within a week the pain had gone away. So, back to trying to manage with diet and exercise only.

Since the HBA1C scale changed, my level has wavered between 48 and 51 (with and without Metformin) with no signs of going any lower or higher. I'm now down to 8st 13st which takes me right to the bottom of the BMI normal range and I really do not want to get any thinner but I'm trying to avoid medication for as long as possible, too.

I manage to get in at least 10,000 steps a day on average and have a very healthy diet with lots of fruit and veg (which I love) and very little starchy carbs. The exception being two out of three days I have raw jumbo oats for breakfast with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and ground linseed, with one out of three days being egg-based.

If I snack in the evening - I don't snack during the day - it's a handful of nuts.

My diabetes nurse says that if I was 85 years old and had an HBA1C of 50 she wouldn't worry, but as I'm only 55 and it's progressive, I need to get it lower. I'm currently testing a couple of times a day before seing the local diabetes specialist in late May and am noticing higher levels first thing in the morning. Last night, for instance, it was 5.8 but this morning, 8.0. Reading about this dawn phenomenon suggests it's the liver going into overdrive to avoid overnight hypos but not cutting out when it should. Metformin is apparently the best liver controller. But could I take it again without the side effects I had before? I've never had a hypo to my knowledge, although I often wake up very hot at night, but that could be me being female and just 'my age'.

Sorry, this is such a long introduction! Perhaps there's someone out there with a similar story who's managed to get their HBA1C lower than mine and maintain it and could share his/her story with me.

Thank you.
 
Welcome
 
Hi Gillian, Welcome. Just a couple of thoughts. Do you test your BG (blood glucose) just before eating then two hrs afterwards to see how food esp the fruit affects your BG .
I know you're trying to do this without meds ok, but if

My thoughts on your weight loss, is maybe you need to eat more, ie have a snack or two during the day, perhaps not eat low fat foods.
If we don't take enough fuel in we lose weight.
Their is another possibility it is rare but we have a few in here who were at first misdiagnosed as T2

How did you come to be diagnosed.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂 You walk a lot so maybe you need to eat more?
 
Hi Gillian, I was thinking the same as Ljc, that maybe you need to eat more during the day, but perhaps not so much fruit.

I gave up Metformin 15 months ago on my GP's suggestion and really don't want to go back to it, so I understand your wanting to manage on diet & exercise only. Let us know a bit more, and maybe we'll be able to suggest some things. The dawn phenomenon is a pesky thing, and lately my morning numbers have been slightly higher than they were, and it's a difficult thing to control.
 
Hi Gillian. Welcome to the Forum. I am wondering about the fruit. I was diagnosed last year with pre-diabetes. I was in medical research and they noticed high fructose levels. GP did hba1c which came back 42 and, despite losing weight until I was underweight (I was not overweight and the weight loss was not intentional but it just happened through lowering the carbs) the next one 3 months later came back at 43. Anyway, when I first went to see the GP I said I ate lots of fruit and veg. When I told her I had 6 or 7 lots a day as I snacked on it at work rather than eating biscuits and chocs like the rest of the girls and also snacked on fruit in the evening she told me I was eating too much of it and to stick to three per day max. I was also eating lots of dried fruit which is also far too sugary. On my diabetes prevention programme they now say two fruit a day. When I was tested in September and again this month, the levels were lower. It is just a thought. I am not going to say that is a problem with you as we are all different and no one thing suits everyone but I just thought I would mention it. I also gave up fruit yoghurts and just have plain yoghurt and put a few berries in or nuts and seeds.
 
Yes - lots of easily ingested sugar in most fruits other than berries - you think you're having a lot, but actually there's not so much flesh on berries, most of their bulk being the seeds. The rest of your 5 (or however many you want to eat) a day should be veg.

Just a thought about Metfartin - were you on modified release Met or the ordinary sort? cos a lot of folk who can't tolerate the ordinary uncoated tablets cope OK with the MR/SR ones.
 
I am not so sure how rare miss-diagnosis is There is an alarming number of such on the isle of arran, one was even thought to have dieted out of the type 2 condition and was taken off all drugs, and after a year its clear he is a type 1 and they missed it!! there is a test now GAD I think that is now accepted as an indicator of type 1 and LADA individuals.

I was diagnosed type2 in february 2011 and LADA after DKA in september 2016 the test did not exist or was not accepted when I was first diagnosed, my local GP thought I was a misdiagnosis before this but the specialist continued with the type2 diagnosis.
 
Bill Stewart said:
I am not so sure how rare miss-diagnosis is There is an alarming number of such on the isle of arran, one was even thought to have dieted out of the type 2 condition and was taken off all drugs, and after a year its clear he is a type 1 and they missed it!! there is a test now GAD I think that is now accepted as an indicator of type 1 and LADA individuals.

I was diagnosed type2 in february 2011 and LADA after DKA in september 2016 the test did not exist or was not accepted when I was first diagnosed, my local GP thought I was a misdiagnosis before this but the specialist continued with the type2 diagnosis.
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I had the GAD test when I was correctly diagnosed ( eventually!) in 2007, so it existed then. I had it when I was eventually referred to the hospital. My GP was unaware that I might be type 1 at my age, and the first registrar I saw at the hospital didn't consider it either. It was only at the next visit, some 6 months down the line, that I got a correct diagnosis and moved on to insulin.
 
Hi, I'm Barbara, newly pre-diabetic. I was told a couple of years ago that I was on the cusp (HbA1C of 42) so went on the low carb/high fat diet advised and actually lost too much weight, going from 57kg to 49kg (I'm only 5ft 2in tall) but being aged 67 you can imagine how scrawny I looked! Anyway, slight complacency took hold and at my next test my level was 43, I'd put on a couple of kilos but didn't feel too bad. At my most recent test my level had gone to 46. I desperately want to avoid medication so intend to do it with diet again. Luckily enough I don't have a sweet tooth but do get confused with the hidden sugars and enjoy half a banana on my porridge each morning aling with flax seeds and cinnamon. Is this too much sugar with the banana? And are apples ok? Would be grateful for your comments. Many thanks, Barbara
 
Barbara Pope said:
Hi, I'm Barbara, newly pre-diabetic. I was told a couple of years ago that I was on the cusp (HbA1C of 42) so went on the low carb/high fat diet advised and actually lost too much weight, going from 57kg to 49kg (I'm only 5ft 2in tall) but being aged 67 you can imagine how scrawny I looked! Anyway, slight complacency took hold and at my next test my level was 43, I'd put on a couple of kilos but didn't feel too bad. At my most recent test my level had gone to 46. I desperately want to avoid medication so intend to do it with diet again. Luckily enough I don't have a sweet tooth but do get confused with the hidden sugars and enjoy half a banana on my porridge each morning aling with flax seeds and cinnamon. Is this too much sugar with the banana? And are apples ok? Would be grateful for your comments. Many thanks, Barbara
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Some can't eat either porridge or banana without raising blood sugar others can so it is a case of testing to see.
 
Hi Barbara, Welcome.
If your in the uk all sugars are included in the total carbohydrates, often in the back of pack and tins, so you can safely ignore the total of which are sugars just underneath ypthe carbs.
All fruit contains sugar most people get on better with berries.
As @grovesy says, it is a matter of testing as what spikes one person won't spike another,
Have you been provided with a glucose meter?
 
Hi, and thanks for your replies. I do have a glucose meter and when I test before breakfast it's between 5.5 and 6.0. Two hours later it's about 7.0. Maybe I should try berries instead of banana?
 
Barbara Pope said:
Hi, and thanks for your replies. I do have a glucose meter and when I test before breakfast it's between 5.5 and 6.0. Two hours later it's about 7.0. Maybe I should try berries instead of banana?
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That is an acceptable rise , it looks like you can tolerate.
Targets are 4-7 before meals and less than 8-5 2 hours after meals.
 
Thank you for that Grovesy, that makes me feel better! I also want to watch my carb intake and only have low GI carbs so that should help too. Many thanks for all the help.
 
Hi Gillian and Barbara and welcome, Gillian, The first question is really do you self test your blood levels?
 
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