Newbie, diagnosed with Type 2 a week back

[Boyai]

Hello All,

First post here, diagnosed with Type 2 a week back. HbA1c is 49, strong family history of diabetes and blood pressure irregularities, on metformin 500 once a day currently, to be increased to twice a day in a weeks time.

Went to GP to discuss work related stress and high blood pressure which resulted in an overall health check which led to the diagnosis.

Have been working on changing lifestyle for the 2-3 weeks now - no or minimal alcohol from daily since the corona pandemic started, carb heavy diets to minimal carb diet, very less exercise to regular walking and running.

Seeing some benefits already - starting to lose some weight and blood pressure back to next to normal.

Not sure if possible but I aim to get off metformin and manage it through diet and exercise, will need all the support and guidance this forum has to provide.

Thank You,
Boyai

 

[adrian1der]

Hi @Boyai and welcome. At 49 you are only just diabetic so with a reduction in carbs and some exercise you should be able to control things. The cut off is 48 and above for diabetes diagnosis

If you have any questions please ask away. There are lots of helpful and knowledgeable people on the forum who are always willing to help

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.
Well done on the changes you have made. As @adrian1der said, you are only just over the diabetes threshold, so what you are doing should make a massive difference to your next blood test result. The Metformin has a minimal impact so you have every right to be hopeful of coming off it at some point and in fact it is a little surprising that you were started on it in the first place with that HbA1c. Some people here on the forum manage to negotiate a 3 month hiatus on medication with their Health Care Professionals, particularly when their readings are just over the line like yours, to give diet and exercise a chance.
To give you some idea of scale, 48 is the HbA1c diagnostic number for diabetes but it can go all the way up into triple figures and we have members who have come down from 100+ to normal range (below 42) mostly through diet and exercise, although initial medication with numbers that high is recommended.

It should be pointed out that diabetes is very individual and there are no guarantees of anything.... all you can do is your best.... but with the right information about diet in particular, there is a good chance that many Type 2s can come off medication and push it into remission. Finding a way of eating which can be maintained for the rest of your life to keep it in remission is where people fall down. Eating more fat is the answer for me and many others and keeping carbs low. Fat keeps you feeling full for longer so you don't feel hungry and be tempted to eat too much and provides slow release energy as oppose to carbs which are like rocket fuel.

anyway, I have rambled on enough. Good luck with your diabetes journey. You have made a great start and look forward to following your progress. Any questions, just ask and keep us posted with how you get on. We are here to support people through the difficult times but we love to celebrate success stories too.

 

[Drummer]

As you are low carbing watch out for your blood pressure medication becoming too much - on another forum, dedicated just to low carb eating several people reported they had falls - one quite serious - due to continuing to take medication they no longer required.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Boyai

Hopefully with a few tweaks and changes you will be able to make good progress on reducing your HbA1c to lower than 48

You might find this approach helpful:
Test, Review, Adjust by Alan S

Members here also frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book, as very helpful starting points.