Newly Diagnosed

[Gryph]

Hello diabetes.co.uk

Long story short - had a phone call from my GP Surgery that my blood test results were in, with HbA1c being 74% and needing to make an appointment with the Diabetes Nurse. I now have an appointment in two weeks time, and for the last month I have followed LCHF and tested blood glucose rigorously throughout the day to find out how it works for me.

I picked up an Accu-Chek Mobile and the wireless widget for it so it syncs with the mySugr app and have been happily stabbing my fingers to get the data that I need to be in control. It would appear that I am doing something right, as the following extract of data shows improvement over time.

I test first thing in the morning, immediately before eating anything and then two hours later, and then last thing before bed. As I've tried different foods I've tested more often, at the one hour, 90 mins, 120 mins and 180 mins stages.

Tuesday 30th April my average for the day was 10.6 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 1.7

Tuesday 7th May my average for the day was 7.2 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 0.9

Tuesday 14th May my average for the day was 6.6 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 1.1

Tuesday 21st May my average for the day was 7.4 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 1.2

Tuesday 28th May my average for the day was 5.9 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 1.0

Sunday 2nd June my average for the day was 4.9 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 0.6

Today my average for the day was 4.4 mmol/L, with a deviation of +/- 0.8

It would appear LCHF is agreeable for me - and has kick started my weightloss that had stalled over winter at the 28lb point, this morning I've hit 41 lbs lost.

This website has been an absolutely wonderful resource for me to research, absorb and allowed me to make informed decisions - thank you to all who contribute.


Long story long...

This was after being diagnosed two years previous as being pre-diabetes. The DN at the time told me that there was no way for me to avoid Type 2, stating that it would get progressively worse over time. I was given a leaflet about "eating well" and I should consume carbs, avoid sugar and go for "low fat" options. I wish I'd kept that leaflet for posterity! I got myself a blood glucose meter, did a few checks and I appeared fine, hitting normal levels when tested. To be honest, I then went into denial and ignored it up until the start of April when I received a reminder to go for a blood test.

Five years ago I was hospitalised with blood pressure akin to a giraffe, heart not functioning correctly and presenting as end stage heart failure. Two weeks of tablets and monitoring, I was discharged on about 14 pills a day and given a followup appointment with cardiology. Five or so weeks following that, I was back in hospital with kidney failure, liver failure and very low blood pressure. Referred to endocrine specialists, they noticed that my skin was starting to blister - whereupon I had a full allergic reaction to one of the drugs resulting in all my skin blistering and peeling off 100%. The itching and pain from that was almost intolerable and I was permanently cold as my skin was so damaged, it could not regulate my body temperature correctly.

I pulled through that and over time my liver, kidney and heart function is now perfectly normal. Skin's ok too - if a bit susceptible to dry skin after a shower and a few patches of white hair where all the pigment has gone. My BP is good, 105/67 at the weekend (I home monitor) and minimal meds which I may be able to come off if I continue to lose weight.

I now have the diabetes monster to tame; this will be an interesting ride!

 

[Rachox]

Hi Gryph and welcome. In my signature is a link entitled ‘Newly Diagnosed: what you should know’ which is useful for newly diagnosed. Having said that it sounds like you have got the diet and testing off to a good start anyway. Your HbA1c of 74 (not percent) is the new unit of measure which equals 8.9% which is the old unit of measurement in the UK at least, but still used in the USA. MySugr is great isn’t it, have you uploaded enough data yet to give you an estimated HbA1c yet, I love watching it go down as an inspiration to keep up the good work. Ask any questions you may have but in the meantime keep up your good work. Stay healthy!

 

[Gryph]

Hi Gryph and welcome. In my signature is a link entitled ‘Newly Diagnosed: what you should know’ which is useful for newly diagnosed. Having said that it sounds like you have got the diet and testing off to a good start anyway. Your HbA1c of 74 (not percent) is the new unit of measure which equals 8.9% which is the old unit of measurement in the UK at least, but still used in the USA. MySugr is great isn’t it, have you uploaded enough data yet to give you an estimated HbA1c yet, I love watching it go down as an inspiration to keep up the good work. Ask any questions you may have but in the meantime keep up your good work. Stay healthy!

Thank you

Yes, I have loads of data points in MySugr - my estimated HbA1c is now at 5.8% // 39.9 which I find very pleasing.

 

[Rachox]

Thank you

Yes, I have loads of data points in MySugr - my estimated HbA1c is now at 5.8% // 39.9 which I find very pleasing.

Just bear in mind that it is only an estimate, at my last lab test my HbA1c on MySugr was about 4 points out, but it’s very useful to watch for trends.

 

[Prem51]

Welcome to the forum @Gryph. It sounds like you've already got a grip on this, but ask any questions you want to.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi Gryph,
You say that you now have this diabetes monster to tame - but it seems to me that you have already tamed it and just need to keep up the good work.
Congratulations!

 

[Gryph]

Welcome to the forum @Gryph. It sounds like you've already got a grip on this, but ask any questions you want to.

Thank you - I shall certainly be following up with plenty of questions as time goes on Still very much at the experimental stage of following LCHF and finding what works for me.

 

[Gryph]

Hi Gryph,
You say that you now have this diabetes monster to tame - but it seems to me that you have already tamed it and just need to keep up the good work.
Congratulations!

Thank you. Early days yet - but seeing good results so far. This morning it was 9c outside and raining, needing to pop out for a brief car journey, and for the first time in memory my hands were warm and I didn't feel the need to use my heated steering wheel.

 

[Kittycat_7_]

Hi
Welcome to the forum
You've been thru so much, well done for being positive
Your figures are hopefully improving now
Take care

 

[Benmyers]

Hi all,

Is the MySugr app any good? I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and trying to find something useful and up to date to keep track of historical data (I still have to write it in the book, but I'm not going to keep hold of this forever).
At present I'm using the carbs & Cal's app, although it's handy for portion sizes etc it doesn't give the readings stated above.

My HbAc1 when diagnosed was 141 (15%) so would be good to keep track of this and try to keep it low.
Levels are all over the place at present ranging from 4.1 - 23.6 no matter how hard I keep my carbs down.

Also, how common is it for someone my age (31) to be diagnosed T1?

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi all,

Is the MySugr app any good? I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and trying to find something useful and up to date to keep track of historical data (I still have to write it in the book, but I'm not going to keep hold of this forever).
At present I'm using the carbs & Cal's app, although it's handy for portion sizes etc it doesn't give the readings stated above.

My HbAc1 when diagnosed was 141 (15%) so would be good to keep track of this and try to keep it low.
Levels are all over the place at present ranging from 4.1 - 23.6 no matter how hard I keep my carbs down.

Also, how common is it for someone my age (31) to be diagnosed T1?

MySugr is fine, I used it for a while until I got things straightened out and didn't need it anymore. I spent some money on it, and don't regret it at all.

What did you do/eat/drink when you hit 23.6? Did you have a cold brewing or anything else that might've thrown your numbers off, like steroids? Could your meals have had hidden carbs? Were you maybe served a sugary coke by mistake for instance? (I know a server gave me my husband's once... Oh my! Now we never order the same drink, visually, to not have a repeat of that!).

As for the T1 question... It happens. People think it's just kids that get T1, but adults can certainly get it too. But for now, let's focus on what might have caused the high bloodsugars. If there are no obvious answers there, request C-Peptide and GAD tests to see whether T1 is an option. Because if it is T1, you really, really need to know asap.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi all,

Is the MySugr app any good? I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and trying to find something useful and up to date to keep track of historical data (I still have to write it in the book, but I'm not going to keep hold of this forever).
At present I'm using the carbs & Cal's app, although it's handy for portion sizes etc it doesn't give the readings stated above.

My HbAc1 when diagnosed was 141 (15%) so would be good to keep track of this and try to keep it low.
Levels are all over the place at present ranging from 4.1 - 23.6 no matter how hard I keep my carbs down.

Also, how common is it for someone my age (31) to be diagnosed T1?

PS: I can't see whether you're diagnosed T1 or T2, so my response about the tests is maybe quite useless, if you already are a confirmed T1.

 

[Benmyers]

PS: I can't see whether you're diagnosed T1 or T2, so my response about the tests is maybe quite useless, if you already are a confirmed T1.

Nurses have diagnosed T1, still waiting for the blood test results back but they are pretty certain as I'm not overweight, (if anything I may be under at the moment) I don't eat too many carbs.

In this instance I couldn't say if there was anything different which made my sugars high but it was close to diagnosis where I was around the 26 mark.
The insulin injections have definitely brought the sugars down

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Well, then the short answer is, yes, it happens. And bloodsugars would be very high at the time of diagnosis. I'm glad the insulin is working, but be careful about anything that close to a hypo (you mentioned 4.1). I'll bow out now, being a lowly T2.