Hi newbie here

[Shaun1971]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined as I had a routine annual blood test a month ago, and my Dr advised sugar was a bit high, so asked for another test to be done.

I had this Hbc1 test on Tuesday and it was 50 mmol.

GP would now like another test before diagnosing anything. I am hoping 50 is not too bad, but it may still class me as diabetic?

 

[harbottle]

50 isn't too bad, it's just into the diabetic zone (48+). A few changes to diet/exercise may well help get it back under control.

I was diagnosed with a hba1c of 83 (I was also overweight), so switched to a low carb diet and lost 3 stone very quickly - next hba1c was normal. I already did a lot of exercise (Walking daily) so that helped as well. I used low-carb recipes in books by a chef called GIancarlo Caldesi, but there are plenty of other low carb sites now.

I cut out bread, pasta, rice and potato from my diet but do eats carbs if they are in fruit/veg/legumes.

If you want to see how food affects you, you can buy a blood glucose and test before and after meals. A fasting test is also useful (IE after not having eaten for around 4 hours) to see how your metabolism is doing.

 

[Shaun1971]

50 isn't too bad, it's just into the diabetic zone (48+). A few changes to diet/exercise may well help get it back under control.

I was diagnosed with a hba1c of 83 (I was also overweight), so switched to a low carb diet and lost 3 stone very quickly - next hba1c was normal. I already did a lot of exercise (Walking daily) so that helped as well. I used low-carb recipes in books by a chef called GIancarlo Caldesi, but there are plenty of other low carb sites now.

I cut out bread, pasta, rice and potato from my diet but do eats carbs if they are in fruit/veg/legumes.

If you want to see how food affects you, you can buy a blood glucose and test before and after meals. A fasting test is also useful (IE after not having eaten for around 4 hours) to see how your metabolism is doing.

Thank you so much Harbottle. It's all come as a bit of surprise to me, and the information you have given me is a great help.

 

[Martin.A]

. A fasting test is also useful (IE after not having eaten for around 4 hours) to see how your metabolism is doing.

The NHS actually asks for 8-10 hours without any food, and nothing to drink except water, if you're sent for a blood glucose fasting test. Conveniently, by testing on waking, we probably haven't eaten or drunk anything for that length of time (unless we've sleep-walked to the fridge or larder during the night),

 

[Leadinglights]

Getting yourself clued up about Type 2 diabetes and what sort of foods will be the ones to be careful of is a good idea. All carbohydrates convert to glucose not just the sugary ones. It is not helped by calling it blood sugar as then people think that is all they need to cut out.
For some good explanation, some do's and don'ts and some menu ideas check out this link for a low carb approach which many have found successful. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
50mmol/mol is just over the threshold into the diabetic zone so hope fully you will be given the opportunity to make some changes before any medication is prescribed. Even if below that then it would be wise to make some changes to your diet anyway to push you out of the 'danger' zone.

 

[harbottle]

The NHS actually asks for 8-10 hours without any food, and nothing to drink except water, if you're sent for a blood glucose fasting test. Conveniently, by testing on waking, we probably haven't eaten or drunk anything for that length of time (unless we've sleep-walked to the fridge or larder during the night),

They do, but I've seen research that casts doubt on 8 hours and suggest 3-4 hours should be a point at which things should be at normal levels (I can't find the research, but I believe they fed folk different meals with different composition and looked at what happened afterwards - maybe using CGMs.).

I believe morning fasting tests can be too variable (Probably due to the hormones and stuff going on that change insulin resistance and insulin secretion) as well.

I may have 'sleep walked' to the cupboard for a bit of peanut butter in the night when I'm hungry. 🙂

My blood tests are always fasting, but they never put a blood glucose result in them? Thought they would.

 

[harbottle]

Thank you so much Harbottle. It's all come as a bit of surprise to me, and the information you have given me is a great help.

I found these two books very useful:

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook & The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook By Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi 2 Books Collection Set: Amazon.co.uk: Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi, The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857839183, 0857839187, 978085783918

Buy The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook & The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook By Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi 2 Books Collection Set by Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi, The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857839183, 0857839187, 9780857839183, The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857838575...

www.amazon.co.uk

The 30 minute book has a lot of quick recipes that are very simple and easy to prepare - and low in carbs. Mainly Fish, Vegetables and fruit, and whole section on eggs. One I like is a salad made from Chicken, Apple, Celery and a dressing of Greek Yoghurt and olive oil with lemon zest...

I found a lot of recipes in these books that suited my tastes and found that I was craving Salmon with Orange and Fennel rather than a pile of a sweet or bread. 🙂

You might be able to pick them up cheap at The Works or on Kindle.

 

[Shaun1971]

Getting yourself clued up about Type 2 diabetes and what sort of foods will be the ones to be careful of is a good idea. All carbohydrates convert to glucose not just the sugary ones. It is not helped by calling it blood sugar as then people think that is all they need to cut out.
For some good explanation, some do's and don'ts and some menu ideas check out this link for a low carb approach which many have found successful. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
50mmol/mol is just over the threshold into the diabetic zone so hope fully you will be given the opportunity to make some changes before any medication is prescribed. Even if below that then it would be wise to make some changes to your diet anyway to push you out of the 'danger' zone.

Thanks so much leading lights. I'll make sure I read over the site soon. Yes need to make changes soon anyway. Dr will only diagnose Prediabetes/Diabetes after another test.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks so much leading lights. I'll make sure I read over the site soon. Yes need to make changes soon anyway. Dr will only diagnose Prediabetes/Diabetes after another test.

There is no harm is starting to make some changes anyway, why waste time, it is unlikely to change your Hba1C result as that is an average over the previous three months.
Keeping a food diary of what you eat and drink with an estimate of the carbs (not just sugar) as that will help you see where some savings can be made.
Low carb is suggested as being no more than 130g per day it is not NO carbs but the diary will help you see how far you are from that.

 

[Shaun1971]

I found these two books very useful:

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook & The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook By Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi 2 Books Collection Set: Amazon.co.uk: Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi, The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857839183, 0857839187, 978085783918

Buy The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook & The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook By Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi 2 Books Collection Set by Katie Caldesi, Giancarlo Caldesi, The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857839183, 0857839187, 9780857839183, The Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook, 978-0857838575...

www.amazon.co.uk

The 30 minute book has a lot of quick recipes that are very simple and easy to prepare - and low in carbs. Mainly Fish, Vegetables and fruit, and whole section on eggs. One I like is a salad made from Chicken, Apple, Celery and a dressing of Greek Yoghurt and olive oil with lemon zest...

I found a lot of recipes in these books that suited my tastes and found that I was craving Salmon with Orange and Fennel rather than a pile of a sweet or bread. 🙂

You might be able to pick them up cheap at The Works or on Kindle.

All of those sound great Harbottle, and thanks again. Much appreciated.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Shaun1971

When is your next checkup due? HbA1c covers 3-4 months, so if the next check is closer than that there may be some overlap in the period covered, but there is a thought that HbA1c results are skewed towards the most recent weeks, which possibly means that it’s worth starting to make changes to your menu straight away, but that you shouldn’t be disappointed if your follow-up HbA1c doesn't change that much

 

[Shaun1971]

Welcome to the forum @Shaun1971

When is your next checkup due? HbA1c covers 3-4 months, so if the next check is closer than that there may be some overlap in the period covered, but there is a thought that HbA1c results are skewed towards the most recent weeks, which possibly means that it’s worth starting to make changes to your menu straight away, but that you shouldn’t be disappointed if your follow-up HbA1c doesn't change that much

Thank you, I'm not sure when it will be. I got the blood results yesterday (test was 3 days ago) but only after pestering the surgery to give me the results. They had initially told me that they wanted to make a nurses appointment "to discuss the results" on the 27/11/23. I pointed out this is 18 days away and insisted the surgery tell me the result now. GP then messaged to explain the 50 reading. Guess I find out on the 27th when next test is

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you, I'm not sure when it will be. I got the blood results yesterday (test was 3 days ago) but only after pestering the surgery to give me the results. They had initially told me that they wanted to make a nurses appointment "to discuss the results" on the 27/11/23. I pointed out this is 18 days away and insisted the surgery tell me the result now. GP then messaged to explain the 50 reading. Guess I find out on the 27th when next test is

It would be usual to have another test after 3 months to see if the lifestyle changes you have made have been successful, not too helpful to do it to soon as you would have overlapping weeks of before you made changes.
You should also get foot checks and an appointment for retinal eye screening.

 

[Shaun1971]

It would be usual to have another test after 3 months to see if the lifestyle changes you have made have been successful, not too helpful to do it to soon as you would have overlapping weeks of before you made changes.
You should also get foot checks and an appointment for retinal eye screening.

 

[Shaun1971]

Thank you.Yes I expect it to be around February time. 50 mmol is not enough for me to worry excessively, but enough for me to take stock and take action. A wake up call you might say.

 

[Shaun1971]

Hi all, so I'm back at the surgery this Monday having another Ha1c1 blood test (last one was on the 6th November).

I'm told that this to confirm or not whether I have diabetes. I've cut down on carbs and have lost 8lbs since the 6th.

I doubt that three weeks is long enough to see a change in the mmol, but I'll be keeping up with the low carb diet - not calorie counting yet though.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi all, so I'm back at the surgery this Monday having another Ha1c1 blood test (last one was on the 6th November).

I'm told that this to confirm or not whether I have diabetes. I've cut down on carbs and have lost 8lbs since the 6th.

I doubt that three weeks is long enough to see a change in the mmol, but I'll be keeping up with the low carb diet - not calorie counting yet though.

Hopefully it may show a reduction if you have been following a low carb regime but in only 3 weeks it may not be huge but don't get disheartened and keep it up as it is obviously successful for losing weight.
Many who go with low carb don't worry too much about the calories as it adds another level of complexity.

 

[Shaun1971]

Hopefully it may show a reduction if you have been following a low carb regime but in only 3 weeks it may not be huge but don't get disheartened and keep it up as it is obviously successful for losing weight.
Many who go with low carb don't worry too much about the calories as it adds another level of complexity.

Yes I'm not really expecting much change in the blood test; what interests me is that 8 pounds have been lost in 3 weeks without cutting calories. It's an eye-opener to someone who was always taught that calories was the main thing in weight loss.

 

[Leadinglights]

In

Yes I'm not really expecting much change in the blood test; what interests me is that 8 pounds have been lost in 3 weeks without cutting calories. It's an eye-opener to someone who was always taught that calories was the main thing in weight loss.

Initial weight loss is often fluid especially when you cut carbs. It is a new way of thinking that it is carbs that is the problem for many people and weight loss can be achieved by going for a low carb regime and normal fats rather than low fat.
That is why the approach in this link has been successful https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/, it was developed by a GP surgery who found the standard NHS advise for low fat and carbs with every meal as described in the Eatwell Plate did no favours for their diabetic patients who needed to lose weight as well as reduce their blood glucose.

 

[Shaun1971]

Hopefully it may show a reduction if you have been following a low carb regime but in only 3 weeks it may not be huge but don't get disheartened and keep it up as it is obviously successful for losing weight.
Many who go with low carb don't worry too much about the calories as it adds another level of complexity.

So I saw the nurse on Monday and was simply advised to lose weight. They decided against doing the test then, and to do it instead around 7th Feb (which makes more sense as last one was on 7th November). No diagnosis yet, and I'll be sticking to the low carb, without calorie deficit approach - currently at 9lb weight loss since the 7th.