Not diagnosed yet but…updated

[Leadinglights]

Thanks both @Inka and @helli. Ok, I’m not going to go overboard here but is it worthwhile going back to definitely rule out type 1 before I go very much further? I don’t have any of the symptoms mentioned above but could type 1 still be potentially a risk?

On the blood test, I knew that the HbA1c was a rolling average type of test but didn’t challenge the doctor who seemed worried that I erroneously took the test after fasting. (Except that I did exactly what the form said to do). But I’m still booked in for a blood test in two weeks time. That should still be ok, shouldn’t it?

It would not make a difference to HbA1C but is often requested to be fasting if the tests are also for a lipid profile.

 

[helli]

I’m not going to go overboard here but is it worthwhile going back to definitely rule out type 1 before I go very much further? I don’t have any of the symptoms mentioned above but could type 1 still be potentially a risk?

The problem is that it is not easy to definitely rule out Type 1. You can request additional antibody tests if your GP will allow. But even then negative antibody test do not necessarily mean you have type 2 just that it is more likely. That said, with 90% of people diagnosed with diabetes having type 2, it is already most likely.
Weight loss is the most common symptom that differs between Type 1 and type 2 but not all of us lose weight - I didn't.

If it was me, I would be aware of Type 1 but follow the approach your GP is suggesting and purchase some ketostix from your local pharmacy and read up on the symptoms of DKA. If you start to lose more weight than you expect, test for ketones. If you start to feel any symptoms of DKA, test ketones. If your ketones are high, get to A&E.

As I mentioned, type 2 is most likely but don't write off Type 1 just because your GP is ignorant.

 

[Ade_essex]

Whether the test was fasting of not is unlikely to make much difference to the result and at the level you are the sooner you get going on the dietary changes the better but a word of caution is to reduce carbs slowly over a period of a few weeks, managing your glucose level is a marathon not a sprint to minimise issues with eyes and nerves.
It is not uncommon to be prescribed a statin as a diabetes diagnosis puts you in a higher risk category where they like the cholesterol to be below 4. What was your result?
Many do find lowering carbs naturally lowers cholesterol anyway.
A look at this link should give you some ideas for modifying your diet if you haven't already seen it. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
If your combination of meds and diet do not prove effective then there are tests which can be done to help diagnose if you are Type 1.

Thanks @Leadinglights. On the carbs, I am definitely trying to reduce them but not cut them out all together. So far, I’ve cut out the absolute rubbish from my diet. So pies, pizza, chips, cakes and the like. I’ve also swapped sugary cereal, white rice, pasta and bread for smaller portions of oatmeal, brown rice and rye bread. I’m also not getting too hung up on below the ground vegetables. At least for now. Plus I’m eating more lean protein and vegetables in general. So I’ll probably see what the combination of the metformin and lower carbs does and then decide wheat needs to come next.

 

[Inka]

Thanks both @Inka and @helli. Ok, I’m not going to go overboard here but is it worthwhile going back to definitely rule out type 1 before I go very much further? I don’t have any of the symptoms mentioned above but could type 1 still be potentially a risk?

On the blood test, I knew that the HbA1c was a rolling average type of test but didn’t challenge the doctor who seemed worried that I erroneously took the test after fasting. (Except that I did exactly what the form said to do). But I’m still booked in for a blood test in two weeks time. That should still be ok, shouldn’t it?

I’d just keep the possibility in my mind @Ade_essex and maybe buy some Ketostix as @helli suggested. They probably won’t do any additional testing unless they think you might have Type 1. Be pro-active if you think you have Type 1. As you can see, many GP surgeries don’t know much about it.

 

[saffron15]

I was sure i was diabetic when test came back at 69 as I had been peeing a lot but the hcp said they liked to have a second test which I did a month later. I had cut rubbish by then and reading was 64 and I had started losing weight. The site link I posted in my first post has lots of info in one place including on left handside at the bottom website links to caldesi freshwell moseley and others. My DN told me not test my blood but I did as I wanted to know what was happening. Look for a monitor that has reasonably priced strips. Several recommended in the forum. Some people test first thing each morning to see a trend. There is a thread you can post on here. At first I tested foods to see how I responded. Test before you eat then 2 hours after you started. You don't want to increase more than 3 and preferably nearer 2. I havent eaten porridge since diagnosis. It causes a spike in some people but others have no problem. If you share a device you must change the needle but if not it can be used a lot. I've been using same one since September but may change it soon.
I regular.y have full fat Greek yoghurt berries and nuts or seeds for breakfast. It's easy to do and surprisingly filling. I had raspberries yesterday but today I've bought some local strawberry's. I sometimes have eggs I've also if I have something I want to use had effectively a lunch at breakfast time
I have ketostix as I was put on an SGLT2 in September but I've only tested once and was fine. I was put on 20mg of atorvastatin a few weeks later. It seems standard. I wasn't happy and haven't had the opportunity to discuss it. I do seem to have more aches but don't know if it is age or steroids. I sometimes have a day off. I was on 4 metformin til put on SGLT2. It was then reduced to 2. At first it bunged me up but I was looser with 4.
I've had blurry eyesight for a while but I'm short sighted and have flares of uveitis. I had a flare 2 years ago and suspect it may partly have been caused by undiagnosed diabetes. In the last six months I've had two cataract ops so have postponed my screening. As I have uveitis I've had lots of appointments and pictures taken. I was told by one consultant it's rare to see damage in the first ten years but of course you have readily available professional advice.
I suggest you keep a food diary adding in mood motions and exercise.
Good luck

 

[JITR]

So in a week I’ve gone from being a working 59 year old who walks a fair bit and works out regularly to an old geezer on diabetes and cholesterol meds who gets free age related prescriptions. Blimey I feel old right now!

Nonsense. You will feel years younger when you have eaten a healthy nutritious diet for a few months and got your HbA1c down into the 40s. Carry on with diet and exercise and you will be good to go for the next 30-40 years.

Good luck.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Outcomes. Not dying I guess. But more specifically, get my HbA1C down to the 40s as quickly as possible. In this case, the doctor says the desired outcome and the metrics are the same thing.

Great to hear you are so determined to tackle this full-bore @Ade_essex

Just one small thing to note, in case it hasn’t already been flagged. Diabetes is generally a slow-moving foe, and arguably there’s no screaming urgency to drop your levels like a stone. It’s kinder on the fine blood vessels in the eyes and supplying the nerve endings to allow your BGs to coast down gently over weeks and months. It doesn’t always happen, but dropping levels very fast can sometimes cause temporary eye problems and nerve pain (sometimes called treatment-induced neuropathy).

So while your desire to get your levels down is to be applauded, a staged approach may well be kinder on your body?

 

[BobbleHat]

Hi @Ade_essex well done on finding this great forum and before officially being diagnosed as diabetic which it looks like you are, I’m wondering is that’s a forum first ?

I joined after my second blood test - the result I saw on my NHS App before anyone from surgery followed it up with me. So, I knew I was diabetic but hadn't been officially confirmed as such or had any official appointments.

And, as someone who also joined here very early in the process, I just wanted to say Welcome @Ade_essex. I am sorry that you have needed to search us out but glad that you did. At that early stage, I think joining here, downloading Freshwell and getting a monitor were the 3 most useful things I did to manage my horror, shame, grief, panic (all totally normal reactions BTW to being diagnosed with a chronic condition like diabetes).

All 3 of those things helped me to feel like I was taking back some control after my diagnosis.

Please keep seeking support here and asking all the questions. I work in healthcare. My mantra with my own patients, when they apologise for asking questions, is to tell them that they are looking after their health by asking, and there's no such thing as a stupid question. I feel the same about diabetes. Knowledge is power!

 

[Ade_essex]

Thanks very much for all the comments. Joining this forum has certainly made me feel better about things. I’m not usually one to over emotionalise life events but, I won’t lie, this has knocked me back a little. still, I’ve got to push on and make the best of things, to eat better and to get fitter. The sort of things that I wanted to do anyway. This has just give me some focus and some motivation.

On the carbs thing, I’m not dropping them completely by any means. My problem, though, was that I ate way too many in the past, of poor quality and mixed with too much fat. So ditching the pies, chips and pizza meant ditching most of my previous diet. This has left me feeling my way through a totally new diet regime. Right now, I’m finding it easier to “just say no” to processed carbs and to swap in more veg and less processed carbs. Smaller quantities of rye bread seems to be working for me now but I do need to really nail down a diet plan.

I do particularly want to thank @BobbleHat for putting into words some of the emotions swirling around my head right now. Yes, I do feel a certain amount of grief and horror at the situation I’ve got myself in. That plus the cholesterol diagnosis, turning 60 AND retirement all landing at the same time feels like a a lot of life changing things all happening together. But I’m sure that I’ll get through it.

Thanks again.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks very much for all the comments. Joining this forum has certainly made me feel better about things. I’m not usually one to over emotionalise life events but, I won’t lie, this has knocked me back a little. still, I’ve got to push on and make the best of things, to eat better and to get fitter. The sort of things that I wanted to do anyway. This has just give me some focus and some motivation.

On the carbs thing, I’m not dropping them completely by any means. My problem, though, was that I ate way too many in the past, of poor quality and mixed with too much fat. So ditching the pies, chips and pizza meant ditching most of my previous diet. This has left me feeling my way through a totally new diet regime. Right now, I’m finding it easier to “just say no” to processed carbs and to swap in more veg and less processed carbs. Smaller quantities of rye bread seems to be working for me now but I do need to really nail down a diet plan.

I do particularly want to thank @BobbleHat for putting into words some of the emotions swirling around my head right now. Yes, I do feel a certain amount of grief and horror at the situation I’ve got myself in. That plus the cholesterol diagnosis, turning 60 AND retirement all landing at the same time feels like a a lot of life changing things all happening together. But I’m sure that I’ll get through it.

Thanks again.

If you are after meals plans then there are several in the Freshwell Program so there may be something there to suit you, it does involve a bit of cooking but it doesn't need to be complicated, meals based on meat, fish, eggs and veg still give you tasty options. Using spice or herb rubs rather than sauces saves on carbs. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Ade_essex]

Just an update for any folks who are following my journey. I had a second Hba1c test on Saturday, as ordered by the doctor. The result is back and my score has now dropped to 75. That’s down from 101 tested just over a month ago. Still very high, I know, but at least it’s moving in the right direction. I have a second consultation with my GP in two weeks time.

Without wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, though, is this drop too much, too quickly? I’ve been cautious about dropping carbs too radically and so still have an occasional (small) baked potato and an (even more occasional) half portion of oven chips within my 120 gram carb budget each day. Which includes a small bowl of sugar free granola for breakfast. Or should I just take the win and press on with my new dietary habits? Anyway, I should be seeing the GP again early next month so can discuss this further with them then.

Thanks again for the continued support.

Ade

[Edit. I should probably also say that I’ve had two weeks worth of Metformin inside of me so that has probably helped as well].

 

[Leadinglights]

Just an update for any folks who are following my journey. I had a second Hba1c test on Saturday, as ordered by the doctor. The result is back and my score has now dropped to 75. That’s down from 101 tested just over a month ago. Still very high, I know, but at least it’s moving in the right direction. I have a second consultation with my GP in two weeks time.

Without wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, though, is this drop too much, too quickly? I’ve been cautious about dropping carbs too radically and so still have an occasional (small) baked potato and an (even more occasional) half portion of oven chips within my 120 gram carb budget each day. Which includes a small bowl of sugar free granola for breakfast. Or should I just take the win and press on with my new dietary habits? Anyway, I should be seeing the GP again early next month so can discuss this further with them then.

Thanks again for the continued support.

Ade

By anybody's money that is fantastic progress and just shows what can be achieved with a change of diet. Just carrying on as you are should see another drop by the 3 month test. Well done.

 

[silver minion]

Well done Ade. That's a very good reduction in your hbA1c. Metformin alone is not likely to have achieved this so your diet changes have made a significant difference.
Have you has any issues with blurry eyesight or pins and needles or numbness in your legs or feet?
I had both for a while when my hbA1c dropped from well over 100 to mid seventies last year. They both improved as my blood glucose levels got lower, but I suspect I had high blood glucose for some time before diagnosis.
I hope your next appointment goes well and wish you all the best on your continuing journey managing your diabetes and living the retirement life you planned

 

[JITR]

Take the win and carry on.

 

[HayleyR]

That's a great result, just shows all your efforts have been very worthwhile 🙂

 

[pjgtech]

As above, thats a good result, keep doing what you are doing as its obviously working for you.
For me cutting out most carbs worked, but obviously we do need to eat some carbs, as our body needs them.
Maybe try and reduce the carbs a bit more if you can. Its hard I know, I used to pretty much live on junk food!
If you can't, you can't, so not trying to dish out orders, Lol!

But its worth remembering that we don't need to go hungry., as we (generally if T2) can eat loads of the "healthy" stuff, so lots of eggs, fish, meat, poultry, berries, nuts, salads, above ground veg, etc, etc. Also drink loads of water too....
Bear in mind that rye bread, granola (sugar free or not), oven chips, etc are still carbs.
Theres not really any such things as a "healthy" carb as it all basically gets converted to sugar/glucose.
Ultimately, we are all different, so you just gotta find what works for you long term.
Stick with it buddy.....

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thank for the update @Ade_essex

Sounds like you are making brilliant progress. I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules as to “how quick is too quick”, we have forum members who started with an HbA1c in 3 figures and were back down to being in range in a few months with no ill effects, while others had transient painful neuropathy and short-term eyesight changes having coaxed their HbA1c down more gradually.

Keep doing what you are - it’s clearly working for you 🙂

But being aware that some changes in sensations might be a sign that your body is struggling to adapt is helpful I think - then you could just ease off the gas a bit?