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Type 2 Numbers Up - 4 Options?

Hello,

My recent HbA1c result was the worst I've had since diagnosis 5 years ago, at 68, up from 62 three months ago, and continuing an upward trend which has seen it climb from a pretty decent 48 about 16 months ago, to 56, then 62 and now 68.

Nothing much has changed in terms of my eating or exercise habits in this time, but I had thought that the more recent increases could be down to significant levels of stress during this period, which have thankfully now lowered. I reckon I'm kidding myself though, as due to my most recent result, I've started monitoring 5-6 times daily, and despite the excess stress being out of my life now, I'm still coming out far too high.

So, as I see it, I've got four options. I eat and exercise fairly sensibly and consistently, so I could just let my doc do what he will inevitably suggest, and increase (or possibly change) my meds. I'm currently on 2x500mg Metformin and 1x80mg Gliclazide daily, but on one occasion quite soon after diagnosis when my doc increased my Metformin by an extra 500mg (at that stage I simply hadn't got my head round what to eat so numbers were still out of control), I struggled to function. Dosing off to sleep in the middle of the afternoon for example, so not keen to go down that road again.

Option two is to ask him if I can jump straight onto insulin. I have a type 2 colleague who swears it's the best thing he ever did, having arrived at a similar scenario to the one I currently face.

Option 3 is to carry on as I am, but just try that bit harder with both eating and exercise and see what happens.

Option 4 is to go full pelt at changing my diet. The Michael Mosley book is very topical in our family right now, containing stories of Type 2 reversal and the like, which I'm sure is possible, but only if you choose to live like a monk, as far as I can see! There may be some middle ground, and my wife is adamant that I should try this before even contemplating insulin, and she's probably right, but the prospect of living on spinach and pine nuts is hardly one to savour!

1, 2, 3 or 4 folks!? Or, do options 5 or 6 also need investigating?

Thanks in advance.

I e followed Moseely/low carb and there's no Monking:) just lower. Serbs and lots of great protein, fat and c,ran good, supplemented with exercise and for me IF:)
 
No it's my iPad playing up with the forum. Once saved I can't scroll to the full text to edit. What I tried to say was....

"I've followed Mosley/LC and there is no "monks" needed, just lower Carbs, lots of great protein & fat supplemented with exercise and for me Intermittent Fasting"

Ok ....sorted, I wish the editor was not as buggy:)
 
@warop31 - As a matter of interest, did your slightly increased levels coincide at all with your attempts to gain weight?

In your shoes, I would try the following.

If the levels going up coincided with your weight gain, I'd look at what I utilised to achieve that, and if it was carb content, I'd consider dropping the additional carb (or whatever) and increase my fats a trifle.

If that's a red herring, then for the first week or so, I would do nothing to alter my usual diet, or current, frequent testing regime, but I would weight or measure the quantities I was eating with a very critical eye, and record it. Carb creep can be so easily accomplished when we consider ourselves too be "in the groove". For example, this evening I had some magnificent (even if I do blow my own trumpet) roast belly pork, with roasted Mediterranean vegetables. There were a lot of veggies there as I had bought a ready to roast tray when I'd gone to Tesco yesterday afternoon to buy veg. As it was in the lucky bin (yellow stickers), reduced to 20p, I thought I'd spare myself the prep for a change. The total carb content on the package was 24gr and I snaffled a very decent proportion of it, as I was in tortured mode, having delayed eating slightly in order to ensure fab crackling.

Were I calculating, based on my eye, I wouldn't have guessed that many.

If that reveals nothing I might try a similar period, removing absolutely as many carbs as I could from my diet, just to see if anything at all makes a difference. As you are already extremely trim, you would have to remember to up your fats a bit in this phase, to try to avert any weight loss. I know how tricky it is to get weight on sometimes.

If that doesn't reveal anything I might have to submit to a chat with the Doc and take it from there.
Thanks for your reply.

My weight has never been a problem since I was told I was pre-diabetic, at which point I began eating more sensibly and exercising, and I'm not around 4 stone lighter than I was then.

I'm really seeing a significant difference over the last couple of days, with cutting my carb intake probably by at least 50% overall for the last 4-5 days, and the drops in my levels really evident now. I think I now need to carry on with this, tweaking it as I go, and hopefully finding more appetising meals as I go too, as that's one of the main problems!

I am concerned that this will impact my weight, as recently I have succeeded in putting some on, so we'll wait and see on that.
 
No it's my iPad playing up with the forum. Once saved I can't scroll to the full text to edit. What I tried to say was....

"I've followed Mosley/LC and there is no "monks" needed, just lower Carbs, lots of great protein & fat supplemented with exercise and for me Intermittent Fasting"

Ok ....sorted, I wish the editor was not as buggy:)
Thanks Kevin, could you elaborate on your "intermittent fasting" please?
 
Thanks Kevin, could you elaborate on your "intermittent fasting" please?

I have three levels of IF:

Daily: last meal 7pm, first meal next day 1pm lunch - about 17 hours

Monthly: 1 X 4 day fast

Quarterly: 1 X 7 day fast

I have written extensively within this forum on my 4 and 7 day fasts:)
 
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