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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Hi
- Thread starter darthbaz
- Start date
- Status
Pine Marten
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi darthbaz, welcome to the forum - it's a great place to be! Tell us a bit more about yourself and how you were diagnosed, feel free to ask any questions and we'll do our best to help 🙂
Diagnosis was out of the blue! Had been suffering from constant headache for 5 days, saw GP who did some tests and sent me for a CT scan and blood test, CT scan was clear (yay!) blood test showed me diabetic (boo!) Offered me medication or the option to control it with my diet. I knew I needed to lose weight so chose diet, always try to avoid medication unless absolutely necessary. In the time since diagnosis not touched choc, crisps, sugary fizzy drinks or booze.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The HBA1c is the only test that actually displays the state of your blood glucose. 48 is the cut-off point where anything above that triggers a definite diagnosis of diabetes.
It doesn't give you the actual state of the blood glucose at that second in time - it tells the story of how much glucose has affixed itself to your red blood cells of the last 12-ish weeks - the lifespan of a red blood cell is around 120-130 days, so in your current blood stream some of them are elderly/about to pop their clogs, and at the other end of the scale, some were only born this morning.
If your body was performing perfectly - the answer would be nearer 40 or a bit below.
Your body converts virtually every single gram of carbohydrate you eat into glucose, Some of it remains attached to the blood for a bit until it can proceed round to every other cell in your body in veins and arteries, where the insulin you produce enables those cells to absorb the glucose as 'fuel' in order to actually work. If you imagine every cell has a locked door, and insulin is the key which opens the door when the glucose come knocking - it makes it easy to understand. Obviously a bit of glucose has to stay stuck in the blood for a bit in case your cells need a bit more cos you've decided to mow the lawn or anything other than just stay alive, before you eat again. If you haven't used all the glucose then there's a storage area in your liver where emergency supplies are kept but when that's full - some of it converts to fat - not only visible flab stays stuck in the blood, but nasty 'brown fat' stuck around internal organs which means they have to work harder to do their job - and the rest of the extra stays stuck, cos it has nowhere else to go.
There are of course more technical explanations but I prefer to be able to picture it when attempting to understand stuff.
Anyway - if you cut down on carbs - and obviously sugar itself is a carb and it's the first one everybody thinks of to cut down on - we all have to look at what was originally termed 'starchy' carb - flour products (bread, pasta, cake, pastry, biscuits etc) potatoes, root veg, and also fruits. The sweeter and juicier the fruit, the more fructose and therefore carb, it contains, you can get mega juicy lemons, but since they aren't normally very sweet they don't contain much at all, whereas no banana could ever be juicy but it's very high carb! LOL Berries are a good option for us since they contain so many seeds there is less flesh.
We each have to test before and after meals, to discover which particular elements affect us worse and need to be cut down on at least, if not entirely eliminated - everyone's tolerance for anything, is different.
Nobody said it was easy mate - but as long as you use common sense you should be OK. Also lowering carb will see you losing weight, reducing your BP and also reduce the amount of LDL in your cholesterol - so even if people don't have diabetes - it's a blooming good thing to do!
It doesn't give you the actual state of the blood glucose at that second in time - it tells the story of how much glucose has affixed itself to your red blood cells of the last 12-ish weeks - the lifespan of a red blood cell is around 120-130 days, so in your current blood stream some of them are elderly/about to pop their clogs, and at the other end of the scale, some were only born this morning.
If your body was performing perfectly - the answer would be nearer 40 or a bit below.
Your body converts virtually every single gram of carbohydrate you eat into glucose, Some of it remains attached to the blood for a bit until it can proceed round to every other cell in your body in veins and arteries, where the insulin you produce enables those cells to absorb the glucose as 'fuel' in order to actually work. If you imagine every cell has a locked door, and insulin is the key which opens the door when the glucose come knocking - it makes it easy to understand. Obviously a bit of glucose has to stay stuck in the blood for a bit in case your cells need a bit more cos you've decided to mow the lawn or anything other than just stay alive, before you eat again. If you haven't used all the glucose then there's a storage area in your liver where emergency supplies are kept but when that's full - some of it converts to fat - not only visible flab stays stuck in the blood, but nasty 'brown fat' stuck around internal organs which means they have to work harder to do their job - and the rest of the extra stays stuck, cos it has nowhere else to go.
There are of course more technical explanations but I prefer to be able to picture it when attempting to understand stuff.
Anyway - if you cut down on carbs - and obviously sugar itself is a carb and it's the first one everybody thinks of to cut down on - we all have to look at what was originally termed 'starchy' carb - flour products (bread, pasta, cake, pastry, biscuits etc) potatoes, root veg, and also fruits. The sweeter and juicier the fruit, the more fructose and therefore carb, it contains, you can get mega juicy lemons, but since they aren't normally very sweet they don't contain much at all, whereas no banana could ever be juicy but it's very high carb! LOL Berries are a good option for us since they contain so many seeds there is less flesh.
We each have to test before and after meals, to discover which particular elements affect us worse and need to be cut down on at least, if not entirely eliminated - everyone's tolerance for anything, is different.
Nobody said it was easy mate - but as long as you use common sense you should be OK. Also lowering carb will see you losing weight, reducing your BP and also reduce the amount of LDL in your cholesterol - so even if people don't have diabetes - it's a blooming good thing to do!
scottishlass
Active Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome to the club.
Chappy
Active Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome on board darthbaz. I have been type 2 since 2003, but only this year decided to do something about it when my annual HbA1C level was 69, and the GP uped my medication. I was on 160mg Gliclazide, and it's been increased to 240mg. For the last four weeks I have been keeping a diary of my food intake, fasting BG and 2hrs after meals BG, my HbA1c has dropped to 48.4 in that time. If your 'starting point' is 49, then you should be able to control it by diet. Keep coming on here for tips and support, it's the best thing I've done, and helps me immensely. Good luck.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I wasn't actually saying it was high - merely saying you'd probably see it reducing (and staying there) if you do this that etc! LOL The opposite happens when BG is too high for too long - since it puts extra stress on the body, the BP increases.
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