Hello - newly diagnosed...and a little worried.

[JimmyBoy]

Hi everyone, I am a newly diagnosed diabetic man with a hbac1 reading of 51 prior to Christmas. I think this may be higher now! (Had a last hurrah...perhaps I shouldn't have done!). I am taking two metformin per day -1 morning and 1 evening. Haven't had much contact from the diabetes nurse since initial contact. However, I am slowly increasing my exercise and am slowly trying to adjust my diet. I lost a stone in 2020. Now just over 14 stone. I am going to try and lose a further stone and a half. If I am honest - I am still in a state of disbelief at my diagnosis.

I did a flash glucose test this morning with a newly purchased Sprint Tee2 and my reading was 9.2 mmol which is quite high on waking up. I had a risotto (medium portion) last night and after eating this 2 hours later I was 14 mmol. This seems extraordinarily high. So overnight my levels have only dropped 5 mmol. Is that normal? Any good diabetic diets out there? I would prefer to stop the metformin.

Any advice?

 

[Docb]

Hi @JimmyBoy, and welcome to the forum. With a HBA1c of 51, you are just over the diabetes diagnosis level and so there is no need to panic! The readings you are getting from your meter are higher than is desirable but are far from extraordinary.

You have got four things you can work on to get your HbA1c down to "normal" levels. These are what you eat, your weight, exercise and medication. Read around the forum and you will find that members have used combinations of these to get their blood glucose under control. You have just got to find the combination that suits you.

At the heart of most people's approach is to reduce carbohydrate in their diet and that is always a good place to start. For example it is a fair bet that it was the rice (lots of carbohydrate) in your risotto that pushed your BG up last night.

So read around and ask questions, nothing is considered too daft on here. After all we have all been where you are now and know what it is like!

 

[Anitram]

I had a risotto (medium portion) last night and after eating this 2 hours later I was 14 mmol.

Any advice?

Hi. Welcome to the Forum.
Once again I don't really understand why a GP would consider that an HbA1c of 51 requires Metformin straight off. Some GPs, the more enlightened ones, would have let you try and bring it down through diet. Having said that, risotto rice is a huge carb hit, as much as 75g carb per 100g of rice, so you might want to think twice about having that again. Even a medium portion would be more carbs than some members have in a whole day.

Martin

 

[trophywench]

Anyone with diabetes (of any type) has a problem with their body dealing with carbohydrates - full stop.

So that's all carbohydrate wherever it comes from and rice has a lot of it !

Sugar itself has the most, followed closely by anything with flour in it - eg bread, pastry, all pasta, cake, biscuits - and rice and potatoes. So has fruit - bananas the most followed by other tropical fruit which includes oranges, pears are quite high too. Fair amount in root veg - parsnips are the worst.

Nobody is expected to instantly pack up eating them - but cut down on them so as not to overload yourself - Oh yes!

 

[Pine Marten]

Hi. Welcome to the Forum.
Once again I don't really understand why a GP would consider that an HbA1c of 51 requires Metformin straight off. Some GPs, the more enlightened ones, would have let you try and bring it down through diet. Having said that, risotto rice is a huge carb hit, as much as 75g carb per 100g of rice, so you might want to think twice about having that again. Even a medium portion would be more carbs than some members have in a whole day.

Martin

I agree with Anitram, @JimmyBoy. I gave up rice, potatoes and pasta for quite a while until my HbA1cs were normal. I can now tolerate small portions of these, so things do change over time! I also don't understand why you were given Metformin.

 

[adrian1der]

Good advice @JimmyBoy

Carbs are quickly broken down by your body into glucose. This causes your blood glucose level to rise. It doesn't matter what type of carbs you eat. Rice, pasta, white bread, brown bread, wholemeal bread - they all contain carbs. So the key is to control your carb intake. At 51 you are only just in the diabetic range (48 and above) so some small adjustments should get your back in range quite quickly. Try reducing the potion size of the carby bit of meals and compensate with increased potions of leafy green veg. Note that potatoes and parsnips are bad for carbs as are sweet tasting tropical fruits such as bananas. Berries are generally a much better choice on the fruit front. I love blueberries and Greek yoghurt.

Note that an HbA1c test (the number that gave you 51) is a measure of the about of glucose bound to red blood cells. Since red blood cells survive for around 3 months in your body you will not have another test for three months.

I would have a discussion with your GP as two Metformin a day seems a bit excessive given your reading. I started at 65 and was only on one!

 

[JimmyBoy]

Hi. Welcome to the Forum.
Once again I don't really understand why a GP would consider that an HbA1c of 51 requires Metformin straight off. Some GPs, the more enlightened ones, would have let you try and bring it down through diet. Having said that, risotto rice is a huge carb hit, as much as 75g carb per 100g of rice, so you might want to think twice about having that again. Even a medium portion would be more carbs than some members have in a whole day.

Martin

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[JimmyBoy]

Good advice @JimmyBoy

Carbs are quickly broken down by your body into glucose. This causes your blood glucose level to rise. It doesn't matter what type of carbs you eat. Rice, pasta, white bread, brown bread, wholemeal bread - they all contain carbs. So the key is to control your carb intake. At 51 you are only just in the diabetic range (48 and above) so some small adjustments should get your back in range quite quickly. Try reducing the potion size of the carby bit of meals and compensate with increased potions of leafy green veg. Note that potatoes and parsnips are bad for carbs as are sweet tasting tropical fruits such as bananas. Berries are generally a much better choice on the fruit front. I love blueberries and Greek yoghurt.

Note that an HbA1c test (the number that gave you 51) is a measure of the about of glucose bound to red blood cells. Since red blood cells survive for around 3 months in your body you will not have another test for three months.

I would have a discussion with your GP as two Metformin a day seems a bit excessive given your reading. I started at 65 and was only on one!

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

Good advice @JimmyBoy

Carbs are quickly broken down by your body into glucose. This causes your blood glucose level to rise. It doesn't matter what type of carbs you eat. Rice, pasta, white bread, brown bread, wholemeal bread - they all contain carbs. So the key is to control your carb intake. At 51 you are only just in the diabetic range (48 and above) so some small adjustments should get your back in range quite quickly. Try reducing the potion size of the carby bit of meals and compensate with increased potions of leafy green veg. Note that potatoes and parsnips are bad for carbs as are sweet tasting tropical fruits such as bananas. Berries are generally a much better choice on the fruit front. I love blueberries and Greek yoghurt.

Note that an HbA1c test (the number that gave you 51) is a measure of the about of glucose bound to red blood cells. Since red blood cells survive for around 3 months in your body you will not have another test for three months.

I would have a discussion with your GP as two Metformin a day seems a bit excessive given your reading. I started at 65 and was only on one!

Hi @JimmyBoy, and welcome to the forum. With a HBA1c of 51, you are just over the diabetes diagnosis level and so there is no need to panic! The readings you are getting from your meter are higher than is desirable but are far from extraordinary.

You have got four things you can work on to get your HbA1c down to "normal" levels. These are what you eat, your weight, exercise and medication. Read around the forum and you will find that members have used combinations of these to get their blood glucose under control. You have just got to find the combination that suits you.

At the heart of most people's approach is to reduce carbohydrate in their diet and that is always a good place to start. For example it is a fair bet that it was the rice (lots of carbohydrate) in your risotto that pushed your BG up last night.

So read around and ask questions, nothing is considered too daft on here. After all we have all been where you are now and know what it is like!

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[JimmyBoy]

Hi. Welcome to the Forum.
Once again I don't really understand why a GP would consider that an HbA1c of 51 requires Metformin straight off. Some GPs, the more enlightened ones, would have let you try and bring it down through diet. Having said that, risotto rice is a huge carb hit, as much as 75g carb per 100g of rice, so you might want to think twice about having that again. Even a medium portion would be more carbs than some members have in a whole day.

Martin

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[JimmyBoy]

Hi @JimmyBoy, and welcome to the forum. With a HBA1c of 51, you are just over the diabetes diagnosis level and so there is no need to panic! The readings you are getting from your meter are higher than is desirable but are far from extraordinary.

You have got four things you can work on to get your HbA1c down to "normal" levels. These are what you eat, your weight, exercise and medication. Read around the forum and you will find that members have used combinations of these to get their blood glucose under control. You have just got to find the combination that suits you.

At the heart of most people's approach is to reduce carbohydrate in their diet and that is always a good place to start. For example it is a fair bet that it was the rice (lots of carbohydrate) in your risotto that pushed your BG up last night.

So read around and ask questions, nothing is considered too daft on here. After all we have all been where you are now and know what it is like!

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[JimmyBoy]

I agree with Anitram, @JimmyBoy. I gave up rice, potatoes and pasta for quite a while until my HbA1cs were normal. I can now tolerate small portions of these, so things do change over time! I also don't understand why you were given Metformin.

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[JimmyBoy]

Anyone with diabetes (of any type) has a problem with their body dealing with carbohydrates - full stop.

So that's all carbohydrate wherever it comes from and rice has a lot of it !

Sugar itself has the most, followed closely by anything with flour in it - eg bread, pastry, all pasta, cake, biscuits - and rice and potatoes. So has fruit - bananas the most followed by other tropical fruit which includes oranges, pears are quite high too. Fair amount in root veg - parsnips are the worst.

Nobody is expected to instantly pack up eating them - but cut down on them so as not to overload yourself - Oh yes!

Thanks for your advice and for taking the time to respond.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @JimmyBoy

Great that you have a BG meter to check your levels. This can be a really direct way of examining your current meal plan, and seeing how your body is coping with the various types and amounts of carbohydrates in different meals.

Many members here find a framework of before and after BG checks gives them direct and actionable information for what to change in their menu

If you are interested in this approach you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S helpful.