Not a clue and no help

[Morwena]

Hello everyone
I went for a cholesterol test 8 weeks ago as before the first lockdown I was told my cholesterol was high 6.1 During lockdown I changed my diet and lost a stone in weight, down from 10 st to 9st.
The results were a really surprise,my blood pressure was good my weight was good my cholesterol was down to 3.4 also I don’t drink or smoke but I am now diabetic my score was 49 and also have seriously high thyroid levels. The only advise I was given was get your weight down to 8st that might work, eat fish for your diabetes but not for your thyroid problems I had told the doctor I was a vegetarian I was also prescribed 2000mgs of metaformin a day plus tablets to bring down my thyroid levels
I spent a week feeling incredibly ill until I looked up the prescribed tables on the NHS Webb site and cut my doses myself
I am not due to see anyone for a follow up until mid October which will be a 3 months gap between consultations I now weigh 8.7 st
I would also point out that I actually saw a consultant.
At the moment I am trying to get down to 8st and try to change my diet to have less carbs

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi welcome to the forum
I am surprised that with an HbA1C of 49 which is just over the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis and not hugely overweight that you were prescribed metformin rather than being given the opportunity to reduce your blood glucose level by some dietary changes. That would be by reducing your portions of carbohydrates and maybe cutting a few things out.
Metformin is well known for causing stomach issues in some people and normally the dose is increased from 500mg daily over a few weeks. It is better if taken with your meal but still not tolerated by some.
Being vegetarian make the dietary options a bit more difficult but there are plenty of meals which are suitable, there are a few veggie members on here but if you look for low carb or keto veggie recipes on the internet or there are quite a few recipes in the food thread here.
Many people bring their levels down on diet alone even when starting much higher than you so you could push for being 'allowed' to try for say 3 months. Don't forget it is your diabetes and you should have a say in how to manage it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Well done on the terrific weight loss @Morwena

Hopefully the positive changes you have been making will show a beneficial reduction in your HbA1c at your next follow-up.

The HbA1c is usually only checked 3-monthly or 6-monthly, because the red blood cells which measure the general concentrations of glucose in the blood stream tend to live for up to 120 days, so measuring more frequently than 3monthly essentially checks much of the same information twice.

With a starting point of 49, it is likely that even fairly modest tweaks and changes to your diet, along with the effects of the weight loss, should give you a very good start.

If you’d like to see what is going on in the meantime, and check how you respond to particular meals or sources of carbs, you might consider getting a home BG meter and using Alan S’s
Test, Review, Adjust framework.

If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50. Some other brands can be as much as £30 for a pot of 50 strips!

Good luck, and keep asking questions 🙂