Hi there! So glad I found you!
Yesterday my GP gave me the results of last Friday's fasting blood test over the phone, and proclaimed I'm now 'officially' a type 2 diabetic.
HbB1c - 52
Cholesterol – 6.2
Folic Acid – very low (I didn't get the number)
Red blood cells – very good
White blood cells – OK
Sugar – 7 - he said was high
Ferritin – 390
I don't understand why my red blood cells were 'very good' when I'm lacking in folic acid (vit B which makes them)?
Also my Ferritin (iron) levels are high. This is a recent 'hobby horse' of mine, my 76 year old husband's recently been diagnosed with haemochromatosis, commonly called 'The Celtic Curse' (also so called....'The Most Common Condition You've Never Heard Of'). To manage this condition is extremely cheep, unless the condition is left untreated as in my husband's case (we hadn't heard of this disease either) which resulted in the iron overload in his blood damaging his heart – it can be devastating for some as the iron can settle in all organs of the body with liver damage being the most common.
John's now on a program called venesection where 500mls of blood are taken from him every week until his iron levels reach around the 100 mark (he started off at 1300+). There's plenty of info on the internet about the condition (eg https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43245267 ). Maybe the doctors of old were onto something with their blood-letting and leaches? So I'm going to question my iron level eventually, as a woman's iron level should normally be 'serum iron level 60 mcg/dL to 140 mcg/dL'. Could it be possible in 10 years time when I'm at my husband's age my iron count could be over 1k? BTW I've a lot of Irish ancestry where this genetic condition is said to be highly prevalent.
The reason why I mentioned my high iron count and my husband's haemochromatosis is because I understand there's such a 'thing' as 'haemochromatosis diabetes'. From the internet:
"Haemochromatosis patients develop diabetes mellitus. The factors which contribute to the pathogenesis are beta cell damage, insulin resistance, and underlying genetic tendencies. The selective beta cell damage is due to iron overload giving rise to impaired insulin synthesis and release.”
So now I'm on this huge learning curve, though I think I'm a little ahead of the game seeing both of us were on a strict self-imposed keto diet to lose weight in 2014, I felt great on the diet. After a few months on keto my husband lost a huge amount of weight..... not normal at all, and it turned out the weight loss was absolutely not related to our diet, he was diagnosed with non-Hogkinson Lymphoma. At the time my Sister-in-Law blamed our (what she called) 'crazy diet' because we were going so low in carbs on our diet. She presented me with a low-fat diet book from the 60's with that dreaded food pyramid where the base of our diet should be pasta, bread, rice.... etc.
Being a breast cancer survivor of just over 20 years, where a high number of infected lymph nodes were removed.... I'm so grateful for the NHS and all who work in her! But.... between my husband and myself.... I'm now terrified of 'looking under stones'
If you've managed to get through this... Thank You! I needed to share x
Yesterday my GP gave me the results of last Friday's fasting blood test over the phone, and proclaimed I'm now 'officially' a type 2 diabetic.
HbB1c - 52
Cholesterol – 6.2
Folic Acid – very low (I didn't get the number)
Red blood cells – very good
White blood cells – OK
Sugar – 7 - he said was high
Ferritin – 390
I don't understand why my red blood cells were 'very good' when I'm lacking in folic acid (vit B which makes them)?
Also my Ferritin (iron) levels are high. This is a recent 'hobby horse' of mine, my 76 year old husband's recently been diagnosed with haemochromatosis, commonly called 'The Celtic Curse' (also so called....'The Most Common Condition You've Never Heard Of'). To manage this condition is extremely cheep, unless the condition is left untreated as in my husband's case (we hadn't heard of this disease either) which resulted in the iron overload in his blood damaging his heart – it can be devastating for some as the iron can settle in all organs of the body with liver damage being the most common.
John's now on a program called venesection where 500mls of blood are taken from him every week until his iron levels reach around the 100 mark (he started off at 1300+). There's plenty of info on the internet about the condition (eg https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43245267 ). Maybe the doctors of old were onto something with their blood-letting and leaches? So I'm going to question my iron level eventually, as a woman's iron level should normally be 'serum iron level 60 mcg/dL to 140 mcg/dL'. Could it be possible in 10 years time when I'm at my husband's age my iron count could be over 1k? BTW I've a lot of Irish ancestry where this genetic condition is said to be highly prevalent.
The reason why I mentioned my high iron count and my husband's haemochromatosis is because I understand there's such a 'thing' as 'haemochromatosis diabetes'. From the internet:
"Haemochromatosis patients develop diabetes mellitus. The factors which contribute to the pathogenesis are beta cell damage, insulin resistance, and underlying genetic tendencies. The selective beta cell damage is due to iron overload giving rise to impaired insulin synthesis and release.”
So now I'm on this huge learning curve, though I think I'm a little ahead of the game seeing both of us were on a strict self-imposed keto diet to lose weight in 2014, I felt great on the diet. After a few months on keto my husband lost a huge amount of weight..... not normal at all, and it turned out the weight loss was absolutely not related to our diet, he was diagnosed with non-Hogkinson Lymphoma. At the time my Sister-in-Law blamed our (what she called) 'crazy diet' because we were going so low in carbs on our diet. She presented me with a low-fat diet book from the 60's with that dreaded food pyramid where the base of our diet should be pasta, bread, rice.... etc.
Being a breast cancer survivor of just over 20 years, where a high number of infected lymph nodes were removed.... I'm so grateful for the NHS and all who work in her! But.... between my husband and myself.... I'm now terrified of 'looking under stones'
If you've managed to get through this... Thank You! I needed to share x
