Reducing levels

[tiptoptapper]

Hi all

5 weeks in from diagnosis now.
HBA1C at diagnosis = 126
Finger prick at diagnosis = 23.4
Meds now at 4 x metformin a day (2 x AM 2 x PM)
Eating a low/ v low carb diet - 50 or 60g a day
Following weight watchers in addition to carb counting
Have lost 21 lbs in 5 weeks (lots more still to go). I have lost weight (intentionally) over the last 7 years on and off and am almost 8 stone lighter than my heaviest weight.

Feeling pretty positive mostly, but occasionally overwhelmed by the whole situation. Early days I guess.

My finger prick readings rise by less than 2 mmol/l 2 hours after food.

Generally I don't eat til the afternoon. I don't take my BG when I wake, but do take it just before I eat my first meal (today this was 1.30pm) - my BG was 9.6. Other days this fasting reading is anywhere between 8 & 11.

I do eat late in the evening (main meal around 830 pm).

day readings go between 8 & 9 with the odd 6 or 7 result.

My question is......what else can i do to get my readings down ? I dont want to take more meds. Im happy to continue losing weight and low-carbing - will this work to reduce my levels still (do i just have to be patient?)

I feel like I'm a bit stuck.

Thanks all

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi all

5 weeks in from diagnosis now.
HBA1C at diagnosis = 126
Finger prick at diagnosis = 23.4
Meds now at 4 x metformin a day (2 x AM 2 x PM)
Eating a low/ v low carb diet - 50 or 60g a day
Following weight watchers in addition to carb counting
Have lost 21 lbs in 5 weeks (lots more still to go). I have lost weight (intentionally) over the last 7 years on and off and am almost 8 stone lighter than my heaviest weight.

Feeling pretty positive mostly, but occasionally overwhelmed by the whole situation. Early days I guess.

My finger prick readings rise by less than 2 mmol/l 2 hours after food.

Generally I don't eat til the afternoon. I don't take my BG when I wake, but do take it just before I eat my first meal (today this was 1.30pm) - my BG was 9.6. Other days this fasting reading is anywhere between 8 & 11.

I do eat late in the evening (main meal around 830 pm).

day readings go between 8 & 9 with the odd 6 or 7 result.

My question is......what else can i do to get my readings down ? I dont want to take more meds. Im happy to continue losing weight and low-carbing - will this work to reduce my levels still (do i just have to be patient?)

I feel like I'm a bit stuck.

Thanks all

You are only 5 weeks into this so don't be too impatient as you started off at a very high level and if you continue to keep those meal readings to the 2mmol/l increase your finger prick reading should start to come down.
It is likely that your pre lunch is high because your liver is releasing glucose in the absence of food to give you energy for your organs to function. Having a low carb breakfast may mean your readings may be lower.
In any case it is better to bring levels down gradually as it reduces the risk of issues with your eyes and nerves.
Your aim should be a significant improvement by 3 months when you should have another HbA1C to check on progress.
As is often quoted managing your condition is a marathon not a sprint.

 

[rebrascora]

Firstly, many congratulations on your success so far with reducing your weight and your BG levels. That is a really great achievement, so try not to lose sight of that in your frustration that things have plateaued with your pre meal levels. It is still early days.
Do you have much more weight to lose?

It may be that fasting isn't helping you in respect of that first premeal reading in the afternoon, being higher than you would like, but generally fasting levels are the last and slowest to come down and you just have to be persistent and patient.

The reason I say that is that fasting may not be helping you is that the liver releases glucose from it's stores to give us energy in the morning until we eat when, as I understand it, food hitting the stomach switches this function of the liver off. If you don't eat until the afternoon, then the liver will continue to pump out glucose. In a non-diabetic person, the pancreas will release insulin to cover that glucose and keep your levels down, but those of us whose insulin production is compromised or inefficient, will often see our levels rise and they can rise quite substantially. It would be interesting to do some testing when you first wake up, to see if your levels then are appreciably lower than when you test premeal in the afternoon. If they are you have 2 choices:- To try a small low carb snack like a chunk of cheese or some nuts or a boiled egg as soon as you wake up, to see if that will stop the rise.... OR.... continue as you are doing in the hope that this long fasting period is helping to deplete the excess stores in your liver and eventually that will return your liver and pancreas to more normal function.... this is where the amount of weight you still have to lose may be relevant. Do you feel that you are still carrying weight around your middle and particularly in that liver area. Sometimes you can feel it tight when you bend down to tie shoe laces etc.

Either way, I think some waking readings might shed a little light on the matter, so worth it at least for a few days to get a ball park figure and work out if your waking levels are reasonably good, but your liver is just responding to the lack of food and causing that elevated premeal reading.

 

[Drummer]

Not eating in the morning proved to be disadvantageous for me - Just a few carbs stopped my BG rising back when I was testing - I should have stuck to it, but lesson learned, I am now eating twice a day at 12 hourly intervals except when I forget and go 24 hours but I keep working on it..

 

[Martin.A]

My question is......what else can i do to get my readings down ? I don't want to take more meds. I'm happy to continue losing weight and low-carbing - will this work to reduce my levels still (do i just have to be patient?)

You're doing fine and yes, you do have to be patient. In any case it's advisable to bring your levels down gradually over time. It took me 5 months to come down to normal levels from not far below where you started from.

 

[tiptoptapper]

Thank you all, I appreciate the advice.

Things are getting better still- I've had 2 readings in the 5s over the last 2 days

I'm still in the obese BMI category so more weight coming off will help too I'm sure.