Maintain low HbA1c

[FTW]

Afternoon changed diet in July to counter high HbA1c to get within parameters for a hip replacement ..went from 71in July to 37 on 23/10. Went close to hypo on six occasions with lowest reading 3.2 rest lower than 3.9. Been off Gliclazide since Monday to counter low blood/ sugar but now see a rise in glucose readings using Smart 4Sure. I need to keep HbA1c low and was looking for an effective app to help .. I keep a diary which I find helps by recording readings and use DiabetesM which is helpful but was way off target suggesting HbA1c was around 50 when it was 37! But it did give a good indication that it was going down.

Does anyone have experience of using diet management apps ? … I was looking at … My diabetes iabetes Meal plan

Look forward to hearing some views

 

[rebrascora]

Well done on your excellent HbA1c reduction! Have you had your hip operation yet or are you still waiting for that. Even after the operation it is important to maintain good diabetes management, so I would urge you not to consider this a short term fix but a new healthier way of living for life.

The Freshwell app is well regarded here on the forum for managing Type 2 diabetes through diet and was developed by 2 GPs at an NHS practice to help their patients as the standard NHS dietary advice for diabetics was not effective in many cases.

 

[FTW]

Hi there thanks for your reply .. no not had the hip op yet it as on hold until after the last HbA1c so not w waiting for the process to restart
I’ll have a look at Freshwell. The aim will be to stay in remission but I know it will be hard to resist the temptation of chocolate biscuits and the like . I’m coming to the point where my other hip which was replaced in 2012 will need replaced so staying in remission is key to that op too.

Thanks again

Regards
F

 

[Leadinglights]

You probably need to let your system adjust to not being on the gliclazide for a few days before making any dramatic changes to your diet. The gliclazide would have been encouraging your pancreas to produce more insulin to cope with the carbs you were having and had been effective. Generally people are not going too low on carbs with that medication but now you have stopped taking it you may find the carbs you were having are now a bit too much.
Do you know what you had been having ?
If you levels are looking a bit higher then some strategic meal testing might help you see if there is anything that is a bit too high carb.
Some of the apps are not very accurate predictors and will depend on how much data they are using.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Good luck finding a way of eating that suits you and your levels as you come off Gliclazide @FTW

It seems likely you may need to gradually reduce your overall carbohydrate intake as your body adjusts.

Some members here use a system of ‘eating to their meter’ where they check before and two hours after eating and aim to see a BG rise of 2 to 3mmol/L or less from the starting number - then adjust the meal if they are seeing bigger rises by reducing portions of carbohydrates.

 

[FTW]

You probably need to let your system adjust to not being on the gliclazide for a few days before making any dramatic changes to your diet. The gliclazide would have been encouraging your pancreas to produce more insulin to cope with the carbs you were having and had been effective. Generally people are not going too low on carbs with that medication but now you have stopped taking it you may find the carbs you were having are now a bit too much.
Do you know what you had been having ?
If you levels are looking a bit higher then some strategic meal testing might help you see if there is anything that is a bit too high carb.
Some of the apps are not very accurate predictors and will depend on how much data they are using.

Morning thanks for that .. not been recording carbs but have been on a low carb diet .., bread is a killer some such as sourdough is good others are spiking blood sugar levels including wholemeal / whole grain… but trying avoid anything high carb by reading labels

 

[Leadinglights]

Morning thanks for that .. not been recording carbs but have been on a low carb diet .., bread is a killer some such as sourdough is good others are spiking blood sugar levels including wholemeal / whole grain… but trying avoid anything high carb by reading labels

It would probably help you if you do keep a food diary making a note of the carbs in everything you eat and drink to get an indication of your carb intake, low carb means different things to different people and some foods can be deceptively high in carbs depending on portion size.
You will see that low carb is generally no more than 130g carbs per day but many who are dietary managed that will be too much and people are having somewhere between 50 and 100g to keep them where they need to be.
But if you are able to test then you will see where you need to be to stop increase in blood glucose given you are not taking the gliclazide.

 

[Newbie777]

Morning thanks for that .. not been recording carbs but have been on a low carb diet .., bread is a killer some such as sourdough is good others are spiking blood sugar levels including wholemeal / whole grain… but trying avoid anything high carb by reading labels

Really well down for getting your HBa 1c down. Bread is a killer for me too, did not know more sugar in wholemeal than white bread.

Sourdough has 4 ingredients so it's a great alternative, but you will find it still 16g to 18g per slice of carbs. I use lovelife from Waitrose seeded bread and it is 4.5g per slice and tastes nice, but expensive. Morrisons do a Linseed and
Soya bread which is reasonably priced, but not sure how many carbs per slice it is, I think around 12g, but not sure. There are evenlower carb breads on the Internet like Heylo, but I don't like the taste of them.

I am lazy, otherwise could bake my own bread, already have ultra fine almond flour which could be used

 

[FTW]

Good luck finding a way of eating that suits you and your levels as you come off Gliclazide @FTW

It seems likely you may need to gradually reduce your overall carbohydrate intake as your body adjusts.

Some members here use a system of ‘eating to their meter’ where they check before and two hours after eating and aim to see a BG rise of 2 to 3mmol/L or less from the starting number - then adjust the meal if they are seeing bigger rises by reducing portions of carbohydrates.

Really well down for getting your HBa 1c down. Bread is a killer for me too, did not know more sugar in wholemeal than white bread.

Sourdough has 4 ingredients so it's a great alternative, but you will find it still 16g to 18g per slice of carbs. I use lovelife from Waitrose seeded bread and it is 4.5g per slice and tastes nice, but expensive. Morrisons do a Linseed and
Soya bread which is reasonably priced, but not sure how many carbs per slice it is, I think around 12g, but not sure. There are evenlower carb breads on the Internet like Heylo, but I don't like the taste of them.

I am lazy, otherwise could bake my own bread, already have ultra fine almond flour which could be used

Thanks for that …I’ll have a look for that stuff…. I never thought of looking at sugar content but I will now !

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks for that …I’ll have a look for that stuff…. I never thought of looking at sugar content but I will now !

Please don't get confused, it is total carb content which is important, not sugar, unless you have two items with the same carb content and then the lower "of which sugar" item is probably the better option.

 

[FTW]

Please don't get confused, it is total carb content which is important, not sugar, unless you have two items with the same carb content and then the lower "of which sugar" item is probably the better option.

Thank you ..lt certainly is confusing !

 

[Newbie777]

Please don't get confused, it is total carb content which is important, not sugar, unless you have two items with the same carb content and then the lower "of which sugar" item is probably the better option.

That's correct, most carbs when entered into the mouth turn into sugar, so thatt makes sense.

 

[FTW]

Thank you all for the replies …the shorter term is no longer an issue as I’m now scheduled for the hip replacement on 12 November. Maintaining the low level HbA1c on a long term basis is the primary objective after the operation. The next 10 days will be easy .

 

[rebrascora]

Best of luck with the op and hope your recovery is smooth and speedy.