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What does this mean?

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Autumn2020

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi,

I wondered if anyone could help. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 months ago, my hba1c was 50. I have just had to re done and receptionist said doctor said good improvement, will check again in 1 year. My hba1c this time was 32. I have no idea what this means and why I am now being left a year before re checking. I asked to speak to the c
doctor and she said no need.

Can anyone explain this to me please as I thought they would keep checking every 3 month? Is this not the case?

Thank You x
 
Hi
It means that whatever you are doing is working well and your HbA1c is now not only in the normal range but at the bottom end of the normal range..... that is not just "good improvement", it is fantastic improvement! Congratulations and well done!
3 monthly check ups are only required for people who are not making progress or are new to diabetes. People who are successfully managing their condition like you are usually just checked on annually. That doesn't mean to say that you can't contact your GP or nurse if you have concerns about an aspect of your diabetes management of course, but looks like you just need to keep up the good work.

Looks like we both have cause for celebrations tonight! I got a great HbA1c result today too!
 
Oh wow that all sounds great. what I don’t quite understand thought is does that mean I still have diabetes ?

Congratulations on your result and well done xx
 
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes then I believe technically you are on their books as a diabetic from then on but you can consider yourself in remission..... I think officially it is supposed to be 2 consecutive HbA1cs in the normal range without use of diabetes medication for proper remission but I would not let that stop you being exceptionally proud of yourself. However if you stray too far from your current management system presumably of diet and exercise then your remission period may end and you could find yourself back in the diabetes zone again, so it is more that you are ,managing your diabetes very effectively rather than that you are no longer diabetic.
In some respects it is good to still be classified as diabetic as the annual checks are a bonus and also a reminder that you need to keep control of things yourself. Nothing like an impending blood test to get your nose back to the grindstone for the best result possible.
I am a little disappointed that the doc or at least the nurse didn't ring you in person rather than the receptionist. I really think your health care professionals should have been giving you a huge pat on the back and perhaps asking how you had improved your readings so much so that they get feed back as to what works. We all feel so totally rubbish when we get that diabetes diagnosis.... shame, guilt, embarrassment, anger, overwhelmed etc. They should be there to give us the good news and at least some recognition for the hard work we put into it on an everyday basis.
I know my consultant was very happy with my results today and I am sure it brightened his day having helped a patient make such improvements and getting to relay that info to me directly and here my excitement.... Job satisfaction must be as important if not more so in the NHS as other careers as there will be enough cases where success is not possible.
 
Autumn2020 said:
Hi,

I wondered if anyone could help. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 months ago, my hba1c was 50. I have just had to re done and receptionist said doctor said good improvement, will check again in 1 year. My hba1c this time was 32. I have no idea what this means and why I am now being left a year before re checking. I asked to speak to the c
doctor and she said no need.

Can anyone explain this to me please as I thought they would keep checking every 3 month? Is this not the case?

Thank You x
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Well done. Whatever you've been doing it has worked and you should be very pleased with yourself.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies and well done to everyone managing this on a diary, it’s so bloody hard. So basically I will always be diabetic? That’s so disheartening. I will carry on how I have been. Xx
 
Autumn2020 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies and well done to everyone managing this on a diary, it’s so bloody hard. So basically I will always be diabetic? That’s so disheartening. I will carry on how I have been. Xx
Click to expand...
I've been diagnosed since January 2019 and I have turned it into a sort of game with myself to swap non-spiking ingredients and ways of cooking so that I can eat the same sort of food I always enjoyed without it doing me any harm.

I've actually had a lot of fun with it.
These days I prefer the life I have because of the diagnosis than the one I had before.
I feel so much healthier and I have more energy and I enjoy my food much more because it is 1. Much nicer and 'naughtier' - I eat double cream and cheese and cakes (keto recipes) and have desserts all the time which I never did before my diagnosis and 2. I know everything I eat is good for me and 3. I am very steadily and very slowly losing weight without cutting my calorie intake at all. Just by swapping high fibre/low carb ingredients for high carb ingredients.

It is early days yet for you and you will need some time to process the new information you have had. If the changes you've made have been drastic and difficult to keep up long term you will need to find (as I have done) a set of changes you enjoy so you can keep them up without it making you feel hard done by and so it can become an enjoyable and happy way of living that you wouldn't want to change even if you were able to.
 
I do rather suspect that they take it as a personal insult when a patient puts themselves firmly into normal numbers.
I have not seen my doctor for almost 4 years after getting down to Hba1c of 42 - to be in the low 30s, well you have really gone and done it now.
 
Well done on your excellent progress @Autumn2020

Whatever you are doing is clearly working really well for you 🙂
 
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