New to Diabetes

[Hm112819]

A bit of background.


I'm 35, 6'3 and weighed 17.5. I have taken medicine for blood pressure for 8 years.


I went to my yearly blood test and to my shock flagged up as a diabetic (52 H1AC). As soon as I found this out I did a fasting blood (my daughter has a hereditary condition called Hyperinsulinism) and scored 7.4 and 2 hour post meal blood at 8.2.


I subsequently read extensively on this forum and came across the LCHF diet, which i switched to and upped my exercise. I've switched craft bear for red wine and gin and stopped my 4-5 pieces of fruit breakfast. My fasting bloods then went to below 6 within two days and my 2 hour bloods went to below 7. The last 3 days they have been below 5 and 6.5 respectively. In the 10 days between tests all blood sugars have been in the normal range. I've also lost approximately 1 stone and now weigh 16.5.


My questions are:


- Can diabetes be controlled through weight loss and exercise alone? I feel I can get down to 14 stone within 2-3 months and dedicate 5-6 hours a week to sport/running. How long can this last before medication is needed?

- I assume my H1AC score will come down, but not enough to rule out diabetes, as its over three month and I’ve only had it under control for 8 days.

- I've stuck rigidly to the LCHF diet, but i intend to start to re introduce carbs, what would you recommend? My thoughts was to start with 100 grams of potatoes, then check 2 hours afterwards.

- Are there any sensible alternatives to Bread, Rice and Pasta on the LCHF diet?

- I'm pretty sure i will be called to the doctors later this week, i feel i have lowered my blood glucose already. Would you reject medication?

Any help or thoughts would be great, as i'm finding the whole thing very daunting at the moment.


Cheers



Adrian

 

[Squire Fulwood]

My questions are:


- Can diabetes be controlled through weight loss and exercise alone? I feel I can get down to 14 stone within 2-3 months and dedicate 5-6 hours a week to sport/running. How long can this last before medication is needed?

- I assume my H1AC score will come down, but not enough to rule out diabetes, as its over three month and I’ve only had it under control for 8 days.

- I've stuck rigidly to the LCHF diet, but i intend to start to re introduce carbs, what would you recommend? My thoughts was to start with 100 grams of potatoes, then check 2 hours afterwards.

- Are there any sensible alternatives to Bread, Rice and Pasta on the LCHF diet?

- I'm pretty sure i will be called to the doctors later this week, i feel i have lowered my blood glucose already. Would you reject medication?

Any help or thoughts would be great, as i'm finding the whole thing very daunting at the moment.

It's more like diet and exercise. With the appropriate diet the weight may well come off as a side issue.

Your Hba1c will very likely come down but it doesn't mean you are not diabetic. You will need to control it from now on.

Yes for sure. Check two hours after eating or anytime that works for you and find out which foods raise your blood sugar. Just cutting out everything is a bit of a blunderbuss approach. Who knows, you may find stuff you can eat without trouble.

I strive to avoid medication but always with the agreement of my nurse.

There are lower carb breads (Bergun for example) cauliflower in a food processor makes a lovely rice substitute and I am sure you will find others.

Have I missed anything?

 

[daisyduck]

It looks like you are doing all the right things. Lots of people on here have come down from levels much higher than yours to non diabetic levels.
The Lidl protein rolls are great and don't spike many of us at all.
Courgette is great spiralised .. courgetti.
Cauliflower makes "rice" or "cous cous" It's great mashed ( whizzed ) with butter and choice of seasoning too.. I love mustard or horseradish in mine.
I'd ask the GP to hold fire on the meds and give you a chance to lower your levels naturally.
Looks like you are testing, so your meter is now your best friend. You can easily discover and eliminate foods which spike you.

 

[Liam1955]

Hello @Hm112819 - Welcome Adrian to the Forum .
@daisy1 will provide you with some basic information that all new members receive, have a read and if you want to ask questions - there are plenty of people to offer advice.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi and welcome,

Great to see a newly diagnosed with such a good pro-active approach. You will do well.

With an HbA1c of 52 it is highly likely you won't have medication pushed on you. Mine was 53 on diagnosis and meds were never mentioned. Just diet and exercise. You can ask for 3 months grace to get your numbers down by diet with some extra exercise. (it doesn't have to be a massive amount if you don't fancy it. Walking is as good as anything) I have been diagnosed over 3 years and have never taken any medication, and have normal non-diabetic levels all day (mostly!) My only exercise is dog walking and housework with a bit of fair weather gardening thrown in. So it is possible. You will learn though, that even when well controlled your eating regime can rarely go back to the sort of stuff you were eating before, or you may end up back at square one.

I would DEFINITELY rule out re-introducing too many carbs at this stage in your journey. Use your meter wisely to tell you which carbs and in what portion sizes you can cope with, and test at 1 hour as well as 2 hours, and if not back to an acceptable level at 2 hours, then test again half an hour later. Keep a food diary with portion sizes and watch for trends.

Lidl high protein rolls were mentioned above, and I agree they are brilliant if you are a bread lover. Around 9 or 10g carbs per roll, but also a lot of fat, protein and fibre, so they have very little impact of post meal levels. I have half a roll toasted with lots of butter.

 

[AM1874]

Hi @Hm112819 .. and welcome
It seems that you have already had a number of answers to your initial questions .. so all that I will add here is to assure you that you are in the right place for info, advice and support.It's still early for me but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly

For me, committing to an LCHF lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day, seems to be working .. I have lost 8.5kg since my diagnosis on Feb 7th, and my BG levels are down from 12.5 to around 6. There is a wealth of info about LCHF on the forum .. and a wealth of relevant advice and positive support.
Hope this helps

 

[Prem51]

Can diabetes be controlled through weight loss and exercise alone? I feel I can get down to 14 stone within 2-3 months and dedicate 5-6 hours a week to sport/running. How long can this last before medication is needed?

i'm finding the whole thing very daunting at the moment.

Hi @Hm112819 and welcome to the forum.
It is all daunting when you first get that diagnosis, and does take a bit of time to get your head around it all. But you seem to have taken the first steps to controlling your condition. Losing a stone in what I gather is only 10 days is amazing! And reducing your bs levels should bring your HbA1c down by the time you have your 3 month retest.
Your HbA1c of 52 isn't too high, and you should be able to bring it down to pre-diabetic or non-diabetic levels within a fairly short time. Others with much higher figures have done that in 3 months.
If you do bring your levels down, you will not need medication, as long as you don't go back to eating and drinking the way you did before.

 

[Resurgam]

I have dropped to prediabetic levels in 3 months and I was a full on diabetic.
I do eat some carbs but I know they aren't going to cause spikes - so salads, low starch veges, berries and melon and a few grapes - basically I do Atkins eating the things allowed on Induction and the first rungs of the ongoing weightloss carb ladder. I can eat the Lidl protein rolls, but no other bread or breadlike substance or my blood glucose hits double figures and stays high for hours.
My health care people are pretty much speechless.
I got a meter to check what I could eat, and found that what stopped me losing weight in the past elevated my BG now - but I am pretty happy to go on as I am for the rest of my life. I can go lower if I need to but results so far show great improvement, not problems.

 

[Hm112819]

Thankyou for the replies.

 

[Freema]

welcome here Hm112819

 

[Hiitsme]

Hi and welcome @Hm112819
A number of people on this forum have managed to control diabetes with diet, weight loss and exercise. It took me 6 months to get my HbA1c down to a level I was happy with. At that point I had actually lost a bit too much weight and I did slightly up my carbs but made sure I was testing and quite surprised my body could cope with a few more carbs, I still keep testing as I want to keep good control.

 

[daisy1]

@Hm112819

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to reply.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 147,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.