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

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Xela

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
How much can anyone hope to lower their HbA1c in 12 weeks if they work hard at it?
 
Xela said:
How much can anyone hope to lower their HbA1c in 12 weeks if they work hard at it?
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It all depends on how much you change your lifestyle and how your individual metabolism responds.
Personally I went down from 50mmolmol to 42mmolmol in 3 months by following low carb sticking with about 70g carbs per day, but other people will be different.
 
It's very individual. It took me 4 months to get from 165 to 133. I cut out all sweet stuff and pastries but didn't know about other carb staples in most people's diet until I joined the forum in August. Reduced all my carbs to 130 /150g per day (gliclazide) and in 3 months went from 133 to 77mmol/mol. Exercise levels were broadly the same. Medication and diet changes seem to be the most effective for me. It will depend on how your body responds to the changes you make. Good luck!
 
It took me three months to go from 83 to 36.
 
Everyone is different, there is no one answer IMHO.
But lots of people on here have made significant changes in relatively short timeframes by a variety of methods, eg: dieting, or going low cal, or going low carb or going keto, or lots of exercise, or combinations of those.
I'm on the T2D pathway to remission diet, have lost 30+lb in 11 weeks and have a blood test next week, so hope to see my HbA1c lower (it was 52 last time it was checked). We'll see...
 
I ate no more than 50 gm of carbs a day, which was no effort at all and did 91 to 47 in around 80 days.
Having done Atkins before I knew 50gm was my CCLL - that's my level for losing. Although some people put a lot of emphasis on lifestyle I did not make a conscious effort to change mine - and I had to deal with some ferocious side effect from the Metformin and Atorvastatin which I took for a month or so and which confined me to the house for some time.
 
My HbA1c came down from 117 to 39 on my real food version of the Newcastle diet in 3 months
 
I am blown away by the amazing drop in numbers that you have all achieved! What seemed like a dream to me, is clearly possible if you stick with it.
 
Hi,
I managed to lower mine from 55 to 41 in 12 weeks by giving up alcohol, eating as you should and I walked 400 miles in that time. It was a supreme effort!
My blood test yesterday was 45 so I am not doing so well now!
January of course brings a healthier lifestyle and I should be back on track.
The cause of my 45 score was that I started to eat bread and potatoes again albeit in a small way and I like chocolate and I stopped walking mainly because of the weather and dark evenings.

Seems the diabetic lifestyle should be everyday and all seasons.

I am determined not to take medication and I intend to have a-reading of 40 in May when my next test is due. So its 5 hours walking a week no spuds no bread little alcohol from 1/1/25!
 
lordburnside said:
Hi,
I managed to lower mine from 55 to 41 in 12 weeks by giving up alcohol, eating as you should and I walked 400 miles in that time. It was a supreme effort!
My blood test yesterday was 45 so I am not doing so well now!
January of course brings a healthier lifestyle and I should be back on track.
The cause of my 45 score was that I started to eat bread and potatoes again albeit in a small way and I like chocolate and I stopped walking mainly because of the weather and dark evenings.

Seems the diabetic lifestyle should be everyday and all seasons.

I am determined not to take medication and I intend to have a-reading of 40 in May when my next test is due. So its 5 hours walking a week no spuds no bread little alcohol from 1/1/25!
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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.
 
Xela said:
That seems incredible, you must have been elated :star:
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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.

JITR said:
My HbA1c came down from 117 to 39 on my real food version of the Newcastle diet in 3 months
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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.
 
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I didn't follow any diet, used the Caldesi recipe books, all natural food, or just adapted what I usually ate and removed high-carb items. (Replaced with veg, similar to what David Unwin advises.)

My main aim was losing weight, though. I didn't do any finger testing during the weight loss period. Just a few days before the first hba1c after being diagnosed, I did a finger prick after tea and the result was in the 5s, so I figured the result was going to be good.
 
harbottle said:
I didn't do any finger testing during the weight loss period. Just a few days before the first hba1c after being diagnosed, I did a finger prick after tea and the result was in the 5s, so I figured the result was going to be good.
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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.
 
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Xela said:
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.
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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.
 
Mine went from 51 to 46 in 3 months (no medication) I was hoping for better, but I guess we are all different.
 
JITR said:
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 a low calorie real food diet without medication is likely to succeed.
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I did a few tests after diagnosis, but before I changed diet, and the results were in the 6s and 7s, which I thought was odd, in retrospect, given a hba1c of 83.
 
helli said:
There are some very inspirational examples.
However, for many it is advised to reduce your BG slowly. If you reduce it too fast you risk damage to eyes and neuropathy.
It is often mentioned that this is a marathon not a sprint so don't rush it
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Is that fact? I'm wanted to lose quickly but have had some damage to eyes so don't want to make it worse or not recover
 
guybrush said:
Is that fact? I'm wanted to lose quickly but have had some damage to eyes so don't want to make it worse or not recover
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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.
 
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