Hi

[LordElpus58]

Hi all,

My name is Gary, I am 68 and I am new here.
I have been ‘borderline’ type 2 diabetic for as long as I can remember. My blood sugar records go back as far as 2013 and it fluctuates between 5.5 and 8.5 with an occasional spike of 12.5.
I’ve only been with my current GP for just over 12 months and they have started a regime of regular 3 monthly HbA1c blood tests, which has never happened before. They keep telling me I am ‘borderline’ but to be honest my sugar levels have hardly changed in 20 years!
My diet in the past has been a bit unhealthy and I was overweight bordering on obese, however my partner is vegan due to medical issues and has been for many years, so I am now totally Vegan too and I have lost 3.5 stone in the last 12 months.
We have a very healthy diet with minimal carbs and I take my blood sugar regularly.
Unfortunately I had a heart attack back in August caused by a small blood clot, which was a shock as none of the ‘risk factors’ applied to me, but luckily no damage to the heart muscle as it was only a partial blockage.
The only ‘side effect’ of my HA is it triggered an auto immune condition called Polymyalgia Rheumatica, so I am now on steroids to deal with that. As a result I am even more diligent in watching what I eat, my weight, my blood pressure and my blood sugar, which I have been checking daily since starting the steroids (side effects are weight gain, increased blood pressure and blood sugar). Happily none of the latter side effects appear to have materialised yet!
Looking forward to learning more about this condition and how others manage to keep it under control.

 

[Antje77]

Hi @LordElpus58 , welcome to the forum!

I’ve only been with my current GP for just over 12 months and they have started a regime of regular 3 monthly HbA1c blood tests, which has never happened before. They keep telling me I am ‘borderline’ but to be honest my sugar levels have hardly changed in 20 years!

Do you know what your latest hba1c results were?

I am now totally Vegan too and I have lost 3.5 stone in the last 12 months.
We have a very healthy diet with minimal carbs

Can you tell us a bit more about what you typically eat? Low carb and vegan is not easy.

 

[LordElpus58]

Hi @LordElpus58 , welcome to the forum!

Do you know what your latest hba1c results were?

Can you tell us a bit more about what you typically eat? Low carb and vegan is not easy.

HBA1C on the 6/10/21 was 45 mmol/mol

Yes, when you know that many fruit and veg are 'carbs' it's hard to avoid them, so we just try to cut down as much as possible without making our lives a misery.

My typical diet consists of usually only one portion of refined carbs per day but we are not keto.

Typical Breakfast: Tofu scramble on 1 slice wholemeal toast with mushrooms and tomatoes or a small bowl of porridge or fresh fruit, or dairy free yoghurt with fruit, slice wholemeal toast with peanut butter and banana, overnight oats or chia seed pudding or a green smoothie.

Typical lunch: soup; vegetable, pumpkin, leek &potato with 1 small slice wholemeal (but not if had toast for breakfast), or a mixed salad of raw veg with quinoa or beans on toast or jacket potato or just a salad sandwich (dictated by what had for breakfast)

Typical Dinner: Lentil Bolognese with spiralised courgette or wholemeal pasta, lentil shepherds pie with mash, stir fry with tofu, jackfruit curry with wholemeal rice, nut roast with veg. A lot depends on cost!

My blood sugar has hardly changed since going fully vegan about 18 months ago (my wife has been vegan for years), but I have lost 3.5 stone in weight! We rarely have any cake or biscuits now and don't keep them in the house. We've also cut out any 'snacks' or 'treats' and substituted them for fresh fruit or unsalted whole nuts.

We did try to follow the 8 week blood sugar diet by Dr. Michael Moseley, but being vegan some of the 'recipes' were difficult to replicate as vegan. Not sure what else we can do without it becoming a chore! We just do the best we can.

 

[Antje77]

HBA1C on the 6/10/21 was 45 mmol/mol

In that case it's correct you are borderline.
Below 42 is non diabetic, 42 to 48 is pre diabetic, everything above is diabetic.
And that's despite having a pretty high carb way of eating so it looks pretty good.

I think you might like to have a read around in some of the threads in our vegetarian diet section. While many of them are not vegan, there are some posts about vegan food as well, and many vegetarian dishes can be adjusted to vegan of course.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/vegetarian-diet-forum.71/