New T2 On one blood test

[Moburt]

Hi I’ve been told today I’m T2 diabetic on an
H1bac of 49.
I’ve been told to repeat test in 5 weeks , is it possible to reduce the 49 to a lower level. My Dr has said highly unlikely I can which I don’t understand .
Very confusing trying to know what’s happening.

Hi
It is defo possible to reduce it i was diagnosed with a HBA1C level of 59 that was in Jan 22 and then on my next checkup on 5th April 22 i was 38. I was determined to get into remission and lucky my DN nurse was happy for me to try. I cut out most carbs and followed a low calorie diet 4 stone weight lost so far and levels checked again end of July and they are down a little more to 33. It can be done and and you will do it too i am sure but these boards are amazing and very helpful with all the knowledge people have.
Regards
Michele

 

[March]

Hi
It is defo possible to reduce it i was diagnosed with a HBA1C level of 59 that was in Jan 22 and then on my next checkup on 5th April 22 i was 38. I was determined to get into remission and lucky my DN nurse was happy for me to try. I cut out most carbs and followed a low calorie diet 4 stone weight lost so far and levels checked again end of July and they are down a little more to 33. It can be done and and you will do it too i am sure but these boards are amazing and very helpful with all the knowledge people have.
Regards
Michele

Hi
Out of interest what was your calories per day. I’m going for 900 with it seems from all the lovely people on here with a reduced carb intake should help me. I’m now thinking I might delay the Dr and get 8 weeks under my belt before I redo the test. I’m guessing at HBA1C of 49 that I’m not doing any significant damage and extra time might help me. Originally Dr wanted to redo test in 2 weeks but then agreed 5.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Yes that’s what I’m going to do and by tracking food on app it makes life easier for me.
I’ve also started trying minimum of 10.000 steps per day although this is more challenging as I work and am behind a desk all day on laptop.
If I do the diet and in 5 weeks the dr was right then so be it.

The hba1c doesn't really matter to be honest.
You've made major lifestyle improvements, losing weight, better diet, so you've got the ground running.
Either way, 5 weeks, 8 weeks, 52 weeks, it won't be changing for the worse anymore.

You have the support of a doctor who is retesting you in five weeks he must think something is going to happen though.

 

[Moburt]

Hi
Out of interest what was your calories per day. I’m going for 900 with it seems from all the lovely people on here with a reduced carb intake should help me. I’m now thinking I might delay the Dr and get 8 weeks under my belt before I redo the test. I’m guessing at HBA1C of 49 that I’m not doing any significant damage and extra time might help me. Originally Dr wanted to redo test in 2 weeks but then agreed 5.

Hi
When i first started i was on 800 cals a day i did this for about 10 weeks and to be honest i found that fairly easy as my head was right i need to to this mode and dropped weight fairly quick. I bought the cals & Carbs book and kept a food diary i also was given a testing machine from my DN nurse and tracked my blood levels before food and then two hours after to determine what foods triggered my levels and i cut them out. Now i am eating around 1000/1100 cals a day and still losing weight only around a 1lb a week. I also started cycling as my husband brought me an e-bike and i love it so we tend to go out for a 10-12 mile ride a couple of times a week if we can. i must admit i have let things slip a bit in recent weeks as i have had a few holidays and covid. And this is the thing don't be hard on yourself some weeks are good weeks and some are bad but you are trying your best and no one can ask anymore of you.
Regards
Michele

 

[42istheanswer]

I'm averaging 1100-1200 calories a day, and 80-100g carbs (with 130g set in head as max limit, but some days I've only happened to have 50g) and losing weight and blood glucose seemingly under control with that. I considered doing a dietary 800 cal for 12 weeks but I think I'm happier with keeping it down to the current average (some days only having 900 ish but some days more if I want a treat meal) over a longer term as I have quite a bit of weight to lose if I want to not be obese. (I had tipped slightly over go morbidly obese earlier in the year so at least I have already come below that!)

My practice nurse gave me a meter so I'm checking new meals to see if they raise BG especially the ones with slightly more carbs (I know that if I'm having eggs & a little veg/meat for breakfast that will be fine!) to try to keep levels as steady as I can overall, but although I'm testing more often than the nurse wants me to I'm sure I will reduce it soon as I'm feeling I do have a pretty good handle now on how much carbs, plus what proportion of the calories they are, will be OK.

 

[Kitch]

Hi I’ve been told today I’m T2 diabetic on an
H1bac of 49.
I’ve been told to repeat test in 5 weeks , is it possible to reduce the 49 to a lower level. My Dr has said highly unlikely I can which I don’t understand .
Very confusing trying to know what’s happening.

Hi welcome

I was diagnosed in July with H1b at 89, it only took me 2 month to get down to 49, I found it relatively easy diet wise, I just cut out the high sugar content, fortunately for me I can still process the carbs quite well. Example, I ate a full 12in pizza 4.8 before 5.9 2 hours after. I just don’t the first month finger testing with all different foods.

 

[March]

I’ve no idea what my BG is as I’m hopeful I can turn things back.

Dr etc has. It told me I need to test so I’m not. Maybe he’s waiting to do the second test ?
It’s encouraging to see so many of you getting things sorted and under control.
Any tips on the weekend trip to pub or has that gone out the window ?

 

[Leadinglights]

I’ve no idea what my BG is as I’m hopeful I can turn things back.

Dr etc has. It told me I need to test so I’m not. Maybe he’s waiting to do the second test ?
It’s encouraging to see so many of you getting things sorted and under control.
Any tips on the weekend trip to pub or has that gone out the window ?

Just drinking or eating as well?
Dry wines or spirits with diet mixers are not bad on carbs, it is beer and cider that can be high carb but some pubs are serving low carb beers now.
As far as food, steak and salad, Caesar salad, ask for extra veg or coleslaw rather than chips or potatoes or rice and avoid the pasta dishes.

 

[42istheanswer]

I’ve no idea what my BG is as I’m hopeful I can turn things back.

Dr etc has. It told me I need to test so I’m not. Maybe he’s waiting to do the second test ?
It’s encouraging to see so many of you getting things sorted and under control.
Any tips on the weekend trip to pub or has that gone out the window ?

Beer contains more carbohydrates that wine (especially dry wine) or gin/ vodka if drunk with a sugar free tonic/soda.

Alcohol can also drop BG (probably because your liver switches to focusing on clearing the alcohol out rather than releasing glucose). I did an experiment a couple of weeks ago with having a glass of red wine and a chocolate muffin, and my BG stayed nice and stable! But I don't plan to drink every day to be able to eat cake daily .

Obviously alcohol can still be used as fuel (calories) by our bodies, so if part of your planned strategy is weight loss then you'll need to consider that in terms of your overall calorie intake planning.

 

[March]

Beer contains more carbohydrates that wine (especially dry wine) or gin/ vodka if drunk with a sugar free tonic/soda.

Alcohol can also drop BG (probably because your liver switches to focusing on clearing the alcohol out rather than releasing glucose). I did an experiment a couple of weeks ago with having a glass of red wine and a chocolate muffin, and my BG stayed nice and stable! But I don't plan to drink every day to be able to eat cake daily .

Obviously alcohol can still be used as fuel (calories) by our bodies, so if part of your planned strategy is weight loss then you'll need to consider that in terms of your overall calorie intake planning.

Yes I think a glass of red wine and a little more exercise that day to try and gain some calories.
Been a busy two days taking everything on board.
Everyone’s help appreciated.

 

[harbottle]

I usually have a JD and diet coke.
Maybe some single malts.
Gin and tonic doesn't affect me at all. In fact, alcohol causes blood sugar to drop.
I usually have a bag of crisps. After a walk home my BG is sometimes as low as 3.

I have some low carb at home (Michelob) but it's disgusting!
Quite often have a glass of white wine.

As mentioned, alcohol can make your BG drop anyway, so next time I might try a pint of something or a bottle of beer.

 

[Drummer]

Testing to see what you can and can't eat is so very useful though.
I could see that my blood glucose level was right down as soon as I got a meter, so I was not worried about anything - which is actually a very good thing.
You are only just into diabetic numbers, with over a month to the next test you might be able to drop into normal numbers in that time.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Ok I’m starting to get some of it

You are all so helpful

For folks that have been members of the forum for a few weeks / months / years(!) do tend to start abbreviating things.

There’s a list of common ones here:

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Here is an alphabetical list of acronyms and abbreviations you may come across on the forum: Health-related A1c - Shortened version of HbA1c the blood test that checks average BG over previous 6-12 weeks ADA - American Diabetic Association Basal - 'Background', long acting insulin (eg Lantus...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Welcome to the forum! And glad you’ve found the suggestions and shared experiences helpful 🙂

 

[March]

For folks that have been members of the forum for a few weeks / months / years(!) do tend to start abbreviating things.

There’s a list of common ones here:

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Here is an alphabetical list of acronyms and abbreviations you may come across on the forum: Health-related A1c - Shortened version of HbA1c the blood test that checks average BG over previous 6-12 weeks ADA - American Diabetic Association Basal - 'Background', long acting insulin (eg Lantus...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Welcome to the forum! And glad you’ve found the suggestions and shared experiences helpful 🙂

Everyone has been so helpful and encouraging. Only 5 days in but I’ve learnt so much and stuck religiously to my diet plan.
Not managed the exercise as much as I wanted but with work that’s hard to do.
Hopefully do better next week

 

[notmez]

You'll smash it based on reading your comments so far. To go from 49 to "normal" the changes you have already made will hopefully be great for you. I'm having my next test in Nov and I hope it will have a significant drop but even even if it's only a slight drop I've lost near 10kg, I feel better, I have more energy and I'm eating less junk. I have more stamina and have shaved minutes off the amount of time it take to walk a mile.

Stick to what you are doing and at the next test you can decide to stick to it or change it based on the data from your test results.

 

[Barrowman]

Hi @March and welcome to the forum.

Five months ago when I was diagnosed with T2, I had an A1c of 89, in that time I reduced it to 42 just by exercising and cutting out things like potatoes, pasta, pastries and just generally all junk food.

I'm no expert on this subject, but if my doctor had said that to me I would have been devastated as I would imagine you were at the time.

Keep following the forum, there are lots of knowledgeable members here with lots of good advice.

 

[Dave_Z1a]

I was almost spherical following the diet my GP insisted was healthy.
Just eating fewer carbs resulted in a weight loss of over 50lb - I had stopped weighing myself some time before diagnosis as I could not stop the weight gain on the amount of carbs I was to eat, and low fat too.
Simply lowering the carb intake and eating the fats which came naturally with the protein was enough to resolve my diabetes in 6 months, but I was no longer diabetic in 80 days, so you could confound your GP at the next test.

"I was almost spherical"...oh that comment , made my day! for some reason it made me laugh so much, don't mean to be rude but can't get image of space hopper out of my mind, am going to bed now, take care. Apologies.😳

 

[March]

"I was almost spherical"...oh that comment , made my day! for some reason it made me laugh so much, don't mean to be rude but can't get image of space hopper out of my mind, am going to bed now, take care. Apologies.😳

Morning
I was hoping someone might help me with the following. I am following my diet and whilst it’s tough I am doing ok. I’ve got in my head the following thought from somewhere.
When looking at carbs and the value of suger per 100g that figure always needs to be 4% or under ?
Is this correct and should I be following this .
My muesli this morning was a new packet bought before I got my “news” and it reads
Carbs per 100 g suger = 16% so I’m about to throw away.
Hopefully what I’ve written makes some sense to you guys!!!

 

[Spathiphyllum]

For folks that have been members of the forum for a few weeks / months / years(!) do tend to start abbreviating things.

There’s a list of common ones here:

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Here is an alphabetical list of acronyms and abbreviations you may come across on the forum: Health-related A1c - Shortened version of HbA1c the blood test that checks average BG over previous 6-12 weeks ADA - American Diabetic Association Basal - 'Background', long acting insulin (eg Lantus...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Welcome to the forum! And glad you’ve found the suggestions and shared experiences helpful 🙂

Thanks very much for this list!! ... Might it be a good idea to 'pin' it? On both the General and the Newbies boards? ...

(I think I've worked 'em out by now, but a lot of things were a little puzzling at first!)

 

[Leadinglights]

Morning
I was hoping someone might help me with the following. I am following my diet and whilst it’s tough I am doing ok. I’ve got in my head the following thought from somewhere.
When looking at carbs and the value of suger per 100g that figure always needs to be 4% or under ?
Is this correct and should I be following this .
My muesli this morning was a new packet bought before I got my “news” and it reads
Carbs per 100 g suger = 16% so I’m about to throw away.
Hopefully what I’ve written makes some sense to you guys!!!

You are confusing yourself by looking at the sugar rather than the Total carbs as that is the important number.
For example, it might say Total carbs per 100g is 45g and sugar 3.8g for something like a granola so a 20g portion would be 9g total carbs, this would be a better option than say puffed wheat which is 70g total carb per 100g but sugar is only 0.6g so for a 20g portion the total carbs would be 14g carb but 0.1g sugar.
On that basis the granola is the better option.
I hope I haven't confused you even more.