How worried should I be?

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PricklyPear

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Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
Hello everyone!

I had a letter in December saying my HbA1C was 48 and I should have it repeated to confirm a diabetes diagnosis and then start on medication. I then had a bad accident and have only just got round to booking that repeat blood test.

I hate dieting and weight loss with a white hot intensity and the idea of monitoring what I eat or going low carb fills me with dread. I do eat a healthy, balanced diet and because of all the rehab and physio since the accident the amount of exercise I do has increased a lot to over an hour a day over the last few months. I had been pretty ill for a while when the first blood test was done so this is a big improvement since then.

Is that likely to be enough? I feel well at the moment for the first time in years and I’m very worried any new drugs or lifestyle changes will mess that up.

Thanks ever so much for your help!
 
PricklyPear said:
Hello everyone!

I had a letter in December saying my HbA1C was 48 and I should have it repeated to confirm a diabetes diagnosis and then start on medication. I then had a bad accident and have only just got round to booking that repeat blood test.

I hate dieting and weight loss with a white hot intensity and the idea of monitoring what I eat or going low carb fills me with dread. I do eat a healthy, balanced diet and because of all the rehab and physio since the accident the amount of exercise I do has increased a lot to over an hour a day over the last few months. I had been pretty ill for a while when the first blood test was done so this is a big improvement since then.

Is that likely to be enough? I feel well at the moment for the first time in years and I’m very worried any new drugs or lifestyle changes will mess that up.

Thanks ever so much for your help!
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Hi, and welcome to the Forum. Sorry to hear about your accident but pleased to hear that you're recovering.

An HbA1c of 48 is the start point for diabetes but I would be surprised if you were prescribed medication if you are still there or thereabouts as some simple lifestyle changes, mainly around diet, would normally be enough to drop you back into the pre-diabetes zone (42-47) or even back into normal range. Many members who've had an HbA1c result that's put them just over the line have persuaded their GP to give them a chance to turn things around through lifestyle changes first and have been successful. Hopefully you can join them. Please keep us posted.
 
I find eating a low carb diet very easy and it is nothing much to do with dieting or weightloss, though I have lost quite a bit of weight and even regained a bit of a waist - only downside is finding my clothes too big yet again as the years pass.
It was the GP dictated definition of healthy diet which got me there in the first place, practically spherical, and feeling very old.
Some of the dishes I have developed for myself have been declared really good by others, non diabetic even, and when I take food for social events I need to eat before I go as it is simply gone as soon as it is on the table.
An additional benefit is feeling ten years younger than I was six years ago.
 
PricklyPear said:
Thanks but I’ve tried it and hated it, each to their own!
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Your choice but if your diagnosis is confirmed please make sure that you understand the longer term complications of poor blood sugar control.
 
PricklyPear said:
Thanks but I’ve tried it and hated it, each to their own!
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I'm not sure why people think low carb is a horrible approach. Yes it needs some change of mind set that you can actually have enjoyable meals without having big portions of potatoes, rice, pasta, bread and not having cakes or biscuits unless you make low carb ones yourself.
Meals based on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, dairy, vegetables, salads, fruit like berries give plenty of options for tasty filling meals.
Check this link out and you may be surprised at the meals you can have and focus on that rather than foods you shouldn't have because they will be doing you no good. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Of course you can carry on as you are and risk the various complications which can occur if blood glucose goes high.
You are at a stage where you can pull it back with some dietary measures rather than medication.
 
You ask
Is that likely to be enough?
Nobody can know whether it is likely to be enough unless they know what you are eating and how your body is tolerating the carbohydrates you are eating.
Only you can know if it is enough if you are testing your blood glucose with a home blood glucose monitor and your readings are in range for making sure your blood glucose is not in the diabetic zone.
People can only say what their own experience is.
 
PricklyPear said:
Wow, you guys really don’t know how to take no for an answer!
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No, just concerned that you appear to be reluctant to do what would become necessary to manage your diabetes, if the original diagnosis is confirmed.
 
Well! we haven't the vaguest clue whether that's likely to be enough and the only way of possibly finding out, is to have the other blood test the doc is suggesting and seeing what the test result is.

THEN you'll know for a fact, one way or the other, rather than asking the random other people on here to take stabs in the dark.

Nobody ever wanted to have to stick hypodermic needles in themselves to manage Type 1 diabetes either - but when push came to shove, turns out most of us would much rather survive and stab ourselves,than die a pretty miserable death of it within the next few months, like people had to before they discovered insulin jabs helped. I am actually pleased that you feel well at the moment, BUT if you do actually land up having diabetes, if you decide to ignore it, I also know very well that when (NB not 'if') the complications set in - you'll have lived to regret the choice to not bother trying to delay or sometimes completely avoid - those.
 
PricklyPear said:
Wow, you guys really don’t know how to take no for an answer!
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Well, you asked for help!

I think I understand your prickliness over "dieting" and "monitoring" and "low carb" and the implication that this means wholesale changes in lifestyle. I'm a bit that way myself.

My thought is to take all the ideas and pick from them the things that you can work with.

When I first joined the forum I was struck by the logic of cutting down on carbs and the success that many had had from using that approach. I was also struck by the observation that there seemed to me to be as many ways of going about it as there were members on the forum.

For various reasons which I will not go into here, wholesale changes in my diet were not really an option so I set about my normal diet and implemented a few nudges and changes which bought the carbs down to a level my system could cope with. Still have granola, toast and marmalade for my breakfast but the granola has no fruit or added sugar, the bread for toast is a low carb bread the marmalade I make myself - you don't need a tablespoonful to taste it. I still have chips... but go for French fries where a big heap contains less carbs than a chip shop chips portion. My pasta dishes contain less pasta and more sauce. And so on.... small changes everywhere eventually turn into sufficient change overall. OK, some carb heavy things I have got rid of - pizza and "shop" cakes - for example but don't miss them.

Anyway, this approach worked for me and you could spend a couple of days with me without realising that I am on a carb controlled diet unless I told you. In my world, a bit of understanding and application of common sense based on that understanding beats all the internet stuff with its labels and magic cures.
 
I’m with @Docb - any changes you make @PricklyPear have to be realistic and sustainable for you. 🙂 But get that blood test done first. Then you’ll know whether any lifestyle tweaks are necessary. 🙂 And remember to let us all know the result. Good luck!
 
PricklyPear said:
Is that likely to be enough? I feel well at the moment for the first time in years and I’m very worried any new drugs or lifestyle changes will mess that up.
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Welcome to the forum @PricklyPear

Great that you are feeling well, and that you’ve found ways to incorporate exercise and activity into your routine in a way that works for you - and helps you to feel fitter and more energised.

I can completely understand why you might want to guard that quite jealously - especially after a period of injury and recovery.

Sounds like a follow-up HbA1c is likely to be requested sooner or later, so I half wonder if it would be prudent to get it done as soon as is convenient, so that you are dealing with information, rather than guesswork.

There’s no need to leap into meds or major changes immediately - but at least you’ll know where you stand, and that might inform a way forward?
 
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