HB1AC results

[Hm112819]

Just wanted to share my progress. I'm 35yearsold and 6'3.

Diagnosed with diabetes through a routine blood test in Febuary, with a HB1AC score of 54.

On diagnosis I weighed 17.5 stone, was completely inactive. At the time i over ate and drunk beer a reasonable amount of beer.

I was lucky to find this forum instantly and went on a low carb diet (20_30grams a day), but didn't do the high fat. Within 7 days I was able to get my BG down to a normal level, but suffered from the dawn effect, which raised BG to between 7 and 8.

Low Carb (1200 ish cals a day) combined with an hour of either weights or cardio a day, allowed me to drop 4 1/2 stone in 6-7 weeks. This brought my BG down markedly. I replaced beer with spirits and wine.

I then started to reintroduce non refined carbs and checked 1 and 2 hours post pandial. I've since lost another half stone.

I've continued the exercise and run approximately 20-30 miles a week combined with weights.

I decided to stop taking statins, 2 months ago, I didn't realise, until today that my collestrol at diagnosis was 8.5 (no idea on the split).

I'm now in a position where I can eat and drink what I want, for example at a food festival this weekend I ate, burger and chips, had 4 pints and 100 grams of chocolate. My BG was 5.6 after an hour and a hall. But I should also say that this is a rarity, as I associate my issues with excess weight inactivity.

I've just had my latest checkup and my HB1AC score has come down to 31, with the cholesterol figure at 3.2.

Moving forward I intend to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. I haven't returned to beer.

One question that still plays on my mind.

1- I'm not cured/in remission etc, my pancreas can now produce enough insulin at the moment. Will it eventually get worse?

Any thoughts/views welcome.

 

[ringi]

Firstly very well done.

If you have removed the fat from round you pancreas, it will be able to produce more insulin then it could with all the fat, without a scan you can't tell if you have removed this fat. Your body also now needs a lot less insulin as you will have greatly reduce your insulin resistance.

Your liver has a limited space to store excess BG in (before it becomes an issue or just fat), assuming that space is now half fill, a single "bad" meal will just fill it up a bit more. You will not get high BG readings until you have fill all the space in the liver up, therefore the BG reading after a single meal, does not tell you it is OK to eat that meal often.

Your pancreas will get worse with age and the amount of insulin it can produce will decrease, but as you have greatly reduced your insulin resistance you need a lot less. Likewise by keeping the carbs in control from now on you will need a lot less insulin. Therefore you may never again get into the state of your body not being able to control its own BG.

I expect that if you keep off the refined carbs (and too much bread etc) and cook most of your own food, you will be good for a very long time.

 

[britishpub]

Well done on the HbA1c

Sadly there is not a huge amount of evidence to show whether the Diet & Exercise approach works over the long term.

Losing weight and allowing your organs to work as they should must help, and hopefully if it remains so then you can produce enough insulin to cover your needs.

I think you, like many of us on here can only continue following our chosen path and hope that it will carry on working for us.

Congratulations again on your efforts.

 

[4ratbags]

Great result, it's easy to get complacent with your diet when your numbers are looking good but always remember to keep testing and if you see the numbers starting to rise even slightly listen to your body and take another look at your diet as I found out the hard way and then it's a battle to get back on track.

 

[Prem51]

Excellent reductions in bs, cholesterol and weight @Hm112819, well done!
I agree with the others that we have to keep control of our bs levels to continue to manage our condition. I am a bit concerned that my weight is gradually creeping up. It hasn't affected my bs levels yet, which seem to be fairly stable. But the weight does seem to be going on around my middle mainly, and I think it will impact on my visceral fat which will affect the ability of my pancreas to produce insulin at some point.
I think it is easy to become complacent and we need to keep our guard up.

 

[Hm112819]

Cheers, really appreciate the comments.

I agree whole heartedly with the points. I think at the moment weight loss and exercise have worked. I don't see much point in stressing my pancreas, but will allow the odd 'cheat day' of carbs and beer. If my levels start to slip I am fully prepared to go back to ultra low carbs.

Finding this forum has literally been a life saver, as a Low Carb diet really does make a marked difference. I do find it irritating that on diagnosis I was advised to take metformin and follow the eat well plate. Without stumbling across the wealth of information on here I would have followed a completely different path.

I don't know about anyone else, but one of my initial fears was that I could no longer drink. Even early on, I found that wine and spirits had little to no effect.

Once again thankyou , to everyone who contributes to this forum.


Adrian