How much can anyone hope to lower their HbA1c in 12 weeks?

[guybrush]

It's difficult sometimes to verify such statements as medical fact. It's certainly my understanding that slower changes are better for most people and that does seem to make sense; abrupt changes would be considered by me as contributing to medical trauma. Also rapid changes are all too often more difficult to sustain in the long term.

Whatever you decide to do, @guybrush, my perspective is that changes need to be sustainable in the future. A new, different, lifestyle needs to be something that is enjoyable and not a punishment. Given your current eye damage, they alone would justify to me that a slower transition makes great sense.

Yeah im taking things slow. Cut carbs but still having them. I'm losing about 2lbs a week so not going too fast

 

[Xela]

My HbA1c came down from 117 to 39 on my real food version of the Newcastle diet in 3 months

That is amazing !

 

[Xela]

Mine went from 51 to 46 in 3 months (no medication) I was hoping for better, but I guess we are all different.

Yes, disappointing, but a lower number is still something to celebrate I think.

 

[Xela]

I think it is all about something not being a quick fix but a change which you can enjoy and therefore is sustainable for life. So making the right swaps for the right reasons. A glass of wine is pretty well no carbs so if you still want your bread then you could probably still have that.
The edamame bean or black bean pasta or noodles are gluten free so you can have those as they are also low carb.

That is a good idea to have bean pasta, I have found that I can live without the bread 🙂

 

[Pam123]

I started at 87 went down to 57 in 6 weeks, now recent test is 39.

 

[Drummer]

My only finger prick test was 7 days after starting my less that 800 cal/per day protein and vegetable diet. It showed FBG at 5.8, down from double figures at diagnosis. This was in line with Prof Taylor's prediction for a 'responder' so I didn't take it again.

Not sure why GPs/DNs don't recommend a 7 day shakes test to determine whether their patients are responders. This would show if a low calorie real food diet without medication is likely to succeed.

I did two months of shakes and mini meals with 22 hours of fasting every day before the last annual test I had - my HbA1c went up!!
I suspect that sugars from the milk and carbs from the shake powder are too easy for my gut to absorb so I was getting spikes and I just don't bring down blood glucose levels quickly.
On my normal diet I get carbs from salad, veges, and berries eaten with my evening meal, but low calorie diets never worked at all for me. I had returned to almost normal HbA1c levels so I hoped - but I should have known better after a lifetime of dietary advice never working.

 

[Xela]

I started at 87 went down to 57 in 6 weeks, now recent test is 39.

Fast! I am so impressed with everyone’s numbers

 

[Xela]

Yes, I was delighted but not surprised. I was following Professor Roy Taylor's advice in his book Living without diabetes type 2 and explanation in this video of his 2023 PHC talk.


In 6 months I lost 22 kg (HbA1c 32) and my waist returned to what it was over 50 years ago. That was in response to Roy Taylor's comment that there was no physiological reason your body cannot return to what it was in your twenties.

I am glad I did, but the price of the extreme nature of the Newcastle diet (originally designed for the clinical trial in c.2008 that proved T2D is reversible in many people) was a greater slowing down of my metabolism than I would have wished.

In hindsight, if I were doing it again, I would take a bit more time to reach my targets. I'd follow something like Dr David Unwin's diet sheet, Zoe Harcombe's weight loss and maintenance plan or the Real Meal Revolution food lists and their great recipies.

I just had to go get that book by Roy Taylor

 

[Leadinglights]

Fast! I am so impressed with everyone’s numbers

Don't forget people will be approaching it in different ways, diet, diet and oral meds, or insulin so how quickly they will be able to reduce their blood glucose will be very individual.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It's difficult sometimes to verify such statements as medical fact. It's certainly my understanding that slower changes are better for most people and that does seem to make sense; abrupt changes would be considered by me as contributing to medical trauma. Also rapid changes are all too often more difficult to sustain in the long term.

If you’d like a little background reading into the associations between rapidly improved BG levels and temporary worsening of retinopathy you might find this interesting

Mechanism of worsening diabetic retinopathy with rapid lowering of blood glucose: the synergistic hypothesis - BMC Endocrine Disorders

Insulin treatment has been associated with a paradoxical worsening of diabetes retinopathy since many years in European cohorts. Recently, this issue has been stressed by some studies conducted in other parts of the world. However, the mechanism underlying such evolution is not well understood...

bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com

And Treatment Induced Neuropathy of Diabetes (TIND) - sometimes called Insulin Neuritis here:

Treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes: an acute, iatrogenic complication of diabetes - PubMed

Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes (also referred to as insulin neuritis) is considered a rare iatrogenic small fibre neuropathy caused by an abrupt improvement in glycaemic control in the setting of chronic hyperglycaemia. The prevalence and risk factors of this disorder are not known. In...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[medidia]

Mine went down from 67 in October to 59 in November, and I expect (hope?) to achieve remission (48) by February. I estimate I will be down to about 50 at 12 wks from diagnosis (10.5 wks since starting the new regime with lower carbs and more exercise).
I have to say that the 3 months prior to being diagnosed I was going through a stressful time and was eating LOTS of carbs and sugar, mainly processed food and very little fruit and veggies.

 

[medidia]

Interesting post. I am gluten-free so I was eating highly processed g/f bread, albeit seeded. I gave it up so that I could keep the glass of wine with my lunch. I also gave up my pudding - one dark square of chocolate after lunch. I swapped the g/f sweet biscuits at afternoon tea for a boiled egg or an avocado.

It seems that every little bit helps, either to take you back up the scale or to bring the levels back down.

I found exercise is also very important, as much as diet for me. I'm lucky in a way because I didn't need to go very low with carbs, I'm ok with fruit, in moderation, just today I tried I made some fresh orange juice and it didn't effect by BS. However a few days ago I had two small potatoes and some swede with my roast chicken and BG went over 9. Keeps you on your toes lol.

 

[Welshboy]

How much can anyone hope to lower their HbA1c in 12 weeks if they work hard at it?

I dropped mine from 101 to 53. Pity I can't keep it there, but that's another story

 

[Leadinglights]

I dropped mine from 101 to 53. Pity I can't keep it there, but that's another story

If these medications and low carb are not working you may want to ask your GP to consider that you may be LADA which is a maturity onset Type 1

 

[Welshboy]

If these medications and low carb are not working you may want to ask your GP to consider that you may be LADA which is a maturity onset Type 1

Thanks to the information on this forum I have done exactly that. Tested positive for GAD in early October. As a result, I now have a referral to the consultant. The downside is that my GP is incredibly resistant to any further changes to my meds, with the small exception of doubling my Gliclzide in the morning. This is at least helping keep my fasting blood to around 9-10.

Sorry, don't mean to derail the thread.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks to the information on this forum I have done exactly that. Tested positive for GAD in early October. As a result, I now have a referral to the consultant. The downside is that my GP is incredibly resistant to any further changes to my meds, with the small exception of doubling my Gliclzide in the morning. This is at least helping keep my fasting blood to around 9-10.

Sorry, don't mean to derail the thread.

Hopefully the consultant will put you on a mediation regime that will suit your diagnosis which looks likely to be Type 1 which means that insulin will be the most likely option but that should then entitle you to the Tech on prescription. If your pancreas is incapable of producing insulin then just increasing the gliclazide is unlikely to be a long term solution.
There are many here whose diagnosis is similar to your story. A friend was diagnosed as Type 1 after two years of oral meds not working and suffering weight and muscle loss, she is nearly 80.