Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes last Tuesday with a fasting glucose of 8.7 and HbA1c of 59. I had consumed a lot of carbs for a long time and had a family history too. The nurse at my surgery wanted me to get on with meds straightaway, but I refused saying I wanted to give diet and exercise a chance. I bought a glucose meter and have been testing myself for the last few days and, surprisingly, my fasting glucose is between 6.7 and 7, which is in the pre-diabetic range. I am confused if sugar levels can drop so much in 3-4 days due to change in diet and some exercise, and if there was an issue with the hospital testing. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks!
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Newly diagnosed and confused
- Thread starter SJ2019
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Eddy Edson
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- In remission from Type 2
Were you stressed when you had yr fasting glucose test? I know I was when I had my first one. Stress can certainly screw up yr BG levels.
Anyway, the HbA1c is more reliable as an indicator of diabetes - fasting levels can vary a lot depending on a bunch of different things, and you can be "diabetic" without having very elevated fasting BG etc etc.
Anyway, the HbA1c is more reliable as an indicator of diabetes - fasting levels can vary a lot depending on a bunch of different things, and you can be "diabetic" without having very elevated fasting BG etc etc.
Thanks for your response, Eddy. I was a little stressed not knowing what the outcome would be. I have also been checking my levels at the different times of the day and they are consistently in the pre-diabetic range. So, was confused. I guess the long-term aim should be to get the HbA1c reduced...
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
HbA1c of 59 corresponds to avg daily BG of about 9.5 on the normal translation. You can't really tell much from a single fasting test, but anyway yr 8.7 is broadly consistent with that.
Suggest you keep testing, keep a record of the numbers in relation to when you tested, when & what you ate and exercise. If over a couple of weeks the numbers don't really look like HbA1c 59'ish kinds of numbers, talk with yr nurse/doc and show them the record.
In any case, keeping a record is v. useful when you're trying to work out what's what.
Should also say that 59 isn't super-high and getting things under control with diet/exercise, and meds if you need them, is likely to be very doable.
Ljc
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- Type 1.5 LADA
Hello @SJ2019 welcome to the forum. Ah I see why you are confused .the Hb1ac of 59 and your finger pricks are measuring different things and is a totally different measurement to a fingerpick
Hb1ac is mmol/mol and most confusingly is often given as a % which looks like the results of a finger prick but is actually totally different.
Finger prick is mmol/L
The Hb1ac is an average of you blood glucose (BG) over the past 12 or so weeks where your finger pricks are an on the spot test, which fluctuate throughout the day also the changes you have made affect this test very quickly .
What I am trying to say is that it’s the Hb1ac which says whether or not you are in the ore diabrange or not, our finger pricks tests cant do that .
Hb1ac is mmol/mol and most confusingly is often given as a % which looks like the results of a finger prick but is actually totally different.
Finger prick is mmol/L
The Hb1ac is an average of you blood glucose (BG) over the past 12 or so weeks where your finger pricks are an on the spot test, which fluctuate throughout the day also the changes you have made affect this test very quickly .
What I am trying to say is that it’s the Hb1ac which says whether or not you are in the ore diabrange or not, our finger pricks tests cant do that .
Thanks very much. I will keep a record and see the GP/nurse in a couple of weeks.
Drummer
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
If you have changed your diet then the after meal readings will be altered at once, there is no time lag.
The fasting level is reportedly the last to alter as it is more to do with how your liver is acting.
As you are seeing lower levels consistently it does look as though you have an excellent chance of getting back to normal quite quickly - I started with a Hba1c of 91 and was at the top end of normal in 6 months, and my metabolism is still getting better and better.
The fasting level is reportedly the last to alter as it is more to do with how your liver is acting.
As you are seeing lower levels consistently it does look as though you have an excellent chance of getting back to normal quite quickly - I started with a Hba1c of 91 and was at the top end of normal in 6 months, and my metabolism is still getting better and better.
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
Just to illustrate the point Martin and I are making, this was my avg daily BG for part of last year:
Diagnosed in late March. I didn't start really focusing on things or testing regularly until early June, but I would have started with avg daily levels of 12+. Up until early June, I just cut out obvious c**p like sugar in coffee and croissants, which was enough to get me down to around where you seem to be now.
With testing, I discovered two main things:
- How much the day to day avgs varied. You really have to focus on the trend rather than the often discouraging day-to-day.
- How much I was affected by bread! That varies hugely between different people, but it's quite common for both diabetics and non-diabetics to have big reactions to grain. Anyway, they're my nemesis and I suspect that eating bread was a big contributor to my T2D.
So from June to July I cut down on bread a lot, and that was enough to get me to generally "pre diabetic" levels in a month.
After that, things plateaued for a bit but I was continuing to steadily grinding off weight at about half a kilo per week. A couple of months of that was enough to get me over a threshhold and to a step-change in BG down to "non-diabetic" levels. HbA1c went from 89 in March to 40 in September, 36 in November. In May it was 27, but I think that was a bit of an anomaly, and I'm expecting something in the lower 30's when I do my next test in November.
Anyway, all the best!
Diagnosed in late March. I didn't start really focusing on things or testing regularly until early June, but I would have started with avg daily levels of 12+. Up until early June, I just cut out obvious c**p like sugar in coffee and croissants, which was enough to get me down to around where you seem to be now.
With testing, I discovered two main things:
- How much the day to day avgs varied. You really have to focus on the trend rather than the often discouraging day-to-day.
- How much I was affected by bread! That varies hugely between different people, but it's quite common for both diabetics and non-diabetics to have big reactions to grain. Anyway, they're my nemesis and I suspect that eating bread was a big contributor to my T2D.
So from June to July I cut down on bread a lot, and that was enough to get me to generally "pre diabetic" levels in a month.
After that, things plateaued for a bit but I was continuing to steadily grinding off weight at about half a kilo per week. A couple of months of that was enough to get me over a threshhold and to a step-change in BG down to "non-diabetic" levels. HbA1c went from 89 in March to 40 in September, 36 in November. In May it was 27, but I think that was a bit of an anomaly, and I'm expecting something in the lower 30's when I do my next test in November.
Anyway, all the best!
Thank you all very much for your responses! I have subjected my body to years of abuse -- mainly due to stress eating. I am really encouraged that I can get back to normal numbers by cutting all the unhealthy stuff and through exercise. Thanks also for the useful tips; I will use them to monitor my levels closely. The ongoing readings are encouraging, and as @Eddy Edson suggested, I will focus on the trends instead of day-to-day fluctuations.
Hi and welcome from me too. As the others have said, tracking your bg readings will help you,my advice would be to track them against a food diary for a month, that way you get too see how you react to different foods, tweak, adapt and repeat until you work out what works best for you 
Thanks for the advice! That's helpful! 🙂Hi and welcome from me too. As the others have said, tracking your bg readings will help you,my advice would be to track them against a food diary for a month, that way you get too see how you react to different foods, tweak, adapt and repeat until you work out what works best for you
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