- Messages
- 20
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi and greetings to all,
I have various bloods monitored regularly for another long standing health condition I have (thankfully, fully under control) and which I was told that I was borderline/pre-diabetic on previous visits, I received notification this time that my latest HbA1c has jumped up to 55, and my consultant has suggested I speak to my GP about being tested for DM.
Given my next clinic visit will be in 6 months (well 5 and a bit now), and presumably a GP would get the same result on an HbA1c test right now, I've decided to try and make lifestyle changes to bring it back down before my bloods get re-run in the summer. If the number is the same or higher at that point I will go to get formally diagnosed, although with various other hospital visits in my life, I could do without another set. Plus I could really do without adding any additional medication into the mix if I can help it. I already get most stuff (lipids etc) monitored regularly, have periodic eye-doctors check-ups and so on, so it's really just a case of trying to bring my blood sugars back into control, and keep them there.
I am overweight, and have a stressful managerial job which means I don't get much time for exercise plus have an aversion for anything vaguely described as 'healthy food', so I'm a prime candidate really. Oh, and I smoke too but am transitioning over to vaping with a view to phasing that out over time.
I've had a good rummage around the forums and it sounds like low-carb is the way to go. This isn't an alien concept to me as I did Atkins for a few months, probably a decade ago. I got on okay with it and saw results, and aside from some kidney discomfort (needed to drink more water!) I was fairly content. I used those ketostix things to do urinalysis to check that I was still in ketosis - I remember the struggle I had trying to source those and being laughed at in Boots for trying it at all - and over time I had even worked out some junk-food that didn't kick me out of ketosis (even surprising stuff like some KFC chicken, tandoori mixed grill, fish with no chips etc). Of course my primary goal wasn't to reduce blood sugar back then.
The other thing I remember is when I fell off the wagon. A friend wanted to go TGI Fridays and I thought 'Why not, just for today' so binged on carbs. Within 15 minutes of starting my car to go home I was pulling into a petrol station due to a craving for crisps. That was pretty scary how significant the change back was, and it always put me off trying again, lest I just put the weight back on.
Doesn't look like I have much of a choice now though. So I may pop up with stupid questions from time to time, and some (hopefully) not stupid ones too. I'm pretty numbers-savvy which I think helps here, plus I have an Accu-Chek monitor which I bought last year when I first was told about being 'borderline'. Checking at the moment after waking I'm about at 7.0, and I checked post-prandial today after a meal and it went from 6.9 to about 8.0 2hrs later. So some work to do but I hope that regular monitoring myself will be able to show a downward trend over time, and allow me to rule in or out certain food when I do need to take some carbs on - almost impossible not to in my line of work. My plan is to reduce carbs to around 100g/day for the first month whilst I'm experimenting, and then get down to <50g/d after then which should see me have a good run at trying to get a more favourable HbA1c. The logic is that if that does happen, then I will be fully in-tune with the new diet by then which SHOULD make it easier to keep to this time. Time will tell.
Anyway, very longwinded, but basically just saying 'Hello'
I have various bloods monitored regularly for another long standing health condition I have (thankfully, fully under control) and which I was told that I was borderline/pre-diabetic on previous visits, I received notification this time that my latest HbA1c has jumped up to 55, and my consultant has suggested I speak to my GP about being tested for DM.
Given my next clinic visit will be in 6 months (well 5 and a bit now), and presumably a GP would get the same result on an HbA1c test right now, I've decided to try and make lifestyle changes to bring it back down before my bloods get re-run in the summer. If the number is the same or higher at that point I will go to get formally diagnosed, although with various other hospital visits in my life, I could do without another set. Plus I could really do without adding any additional medication into the mix if I can help it. I already get most stuff (lipids etc) monitored regularly, have periodic eye-doctors check-ups and so on, so it's really just a case of trying to bring my blood sugars back into control, and keep them there.
I am overweight, and have a stressful managerial job which means I don't get much time for exercise plus have an aversion for anything vaguely described as 'healthy food', so I'm a prime candidate really. Oh, and I smoke too but am transitioning over to vaping with a view to phasing that out over time.
I've had a good rummage around the forums and it sounds like low-carb is the way to go. This isn't an alien concept to me as I did Atkins for a few months, probably a decade ago. I got on okay with it and saw results, and aside from some kidney discomfort (needed to drink more water!) I was fairly content. I used those ketostix things to do urinalysis to check that I was still in ketosis - I remember the struggle I had trying to source those and being laughed at in Boots for trying it at all - and over time I had even worked out some junk-food that didn't kick me out of ketosis (even surprising stuff like some KFC chicken, tandoori mixed grill, fish with no chips etc). Of course my primary goal wasn't to reduce blood sugar back then.
The other thing I remember is when I fell off the wagon. A friend wanted to go TGI Fridays and I thought 'Why not, just for today' so binged on carbs. Within 15 minutes of starting my car to go home I was pulling into a petrol station due to a craving for crisps. That was pretty scary how significant the change back was, and it always put me off trying again, lest I just put the weight back on.
Doesn't look like I have much of a choice now though. So I may pop up with stupid questions from time to time, and some (hopefully) not stupid ones too. I'm pretty numbers-savvy which I think helps here, plus I have an Accu-Chek monitor which I bought last year when I first was told about being 'borderline'. Checking at the moment after waking I'm about at 7.0, and I checked post-prandial today after a meal and it went from 6.9 to about 8.0 2hrs later. So some work to do but I hope that regular monitoring myself will be able to show a downward trend over time, and allow me to rule in or out certain food when I do need to take some carbs on - almost impossible not to in my line of work. My plan is to reduce carbs to around 100g/day for the first month whilst I'm experimenting, and then get down to <50g/d after then which should see me have a good run at trying to get a more favourable HbA1c. The logic is that if that does happen, then I will be fully in-tune with the new diet by then which SHOULD make it easier to keep to this time. Time will tell.
Anyway, very longwinded, but basically just saying 'Hello'