Have let myself down - levels are higher than at diagnosis

[shellkl]

I was diagnosed in July last year with hbac1 of 53. Following some routine bloods in September I had managed to get this down to 40 through diet control (only recently discovered this).
Following appointment today for 9month review my level is now at 60! This is all my own doing as I didn’t think about what I was eating and not making the right choices at all. Just feel annoyed with myself.
Have agreed to try tablets to help as clearly I cannot manage this myself with a review in 3 months to hopefully see an improvement. Am going to work on diet control at the same time

Many thanks

Michelle

 

[Diakat]

Hi @shellkl
What tablets are they?

 

[shellkl]

Hi @shellkl
What tablets are they?

All I know is metformin twice a day

 

[Tophat1900]

I was diagnosed in July last year with hbac1 of 53. Following some routine bloods in September I had managed to get this down to 40 through diet control (only recently discovered this).
Following appointment today for 9month review my level is now at 60! This is all my own doing as I didn’t think about what I was eating and not making the right choices at all. Just feel annoyed with myself.
Have agreed to try tablets to help as clearly I cannot manage this myself with a review in 3 months to hopefully see an improvement. Am going to work on diet control at the same time

Many thanks

Michelle

If you got it down to 40 before via diet control, then I'd venture to say you can do it again. Sounds like you know what foods to avoid.

Good luck.

 

[Diakat]

All I know is metformin twice a day

Ok, metformin is a good pint to start at @Rachox knows more about it than I do. You will still need to watch what you eat and there might be some assisted tummy trouble.
Hang on in there.

 

[shellkl]

If you got it down to 40 before via diet control, then I'd venture to say you can do it again. Sounds like you know what foods to avoid.

Good luck.

Thank you. I am hopeful I can but then need to maintain and not slip back

 

[Tophat1900]

Thank you. I am hopeful I can but then need to maintain and not slip back

That's often the tough part early after diagnosis, when you lower your hba1c and then slipping up and eating stuff you know you shouldn't, but it happens, many have done it in much the same way. Myself included.

 

[Rachox]

Thanks for the tag @Diakat
Hi Shell. I am on Metformin but it is a very mild drug, you will still have to address your diet. I’ll just put in a link here:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/
It’s the useful info post which you may have read before, but it’ll be a reminder for you about carbohydrates and how they affect blood sugar levels.
It may also be worth getting a blood glucose meter to test before and after meals to see how different foods affect you. Once you have decided what you can and can’t eat continued testing will help you keep on the straight and narrow.

 

[bulkbiker]

Have agreed to try tablets to help as clearly I cannot manage this myself

Well you managed to get down from 53 to 40 without medication so I think your statement here is doing yourself an injustice. Just apply whatever you did the first time again and this time maintain it.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I agree with all the other posts, but would like to remind you that Metformin only helps to a limited extent by reducing the amount of glucose your liver dumps. It does nothing to help after eating, so they are only intended to be used alongside a suitable diet. They are not intended to be an excuse to eat carbs.

 

[shellkl]

Think you all for your wonderful advice. Have already begun to rethink my diet drastically so determined to get back on the right track

 

[Bluetit1802]

Think you all for your wonderful advice. Have already begun to rethink my diet drastically so determined to get back on the right track

I think your first job should be to buy a blood glucose meter. This will become your best friend and will help more than anything else to sort out a suitable eating plan (used alongside a food diary). Without one you are working blind. They are also good motivators when you see instantly what the wrong food has done to your levels. We can show you how to use it to your best advantage. Good luck.

 

[shellkl]

I think your first job should be to buy a blood glucose meter. This will become your best friend and will help more than anything else to sort out a suitable eating plan (used alongside a food diary). Without one you are working blind. They are also good motivators when you see instantly what the wrong food has done to your levels. We can show you how to use it to your best advantage. Good luck.

I have one which I began using when first diagnosed - then like everything - it got put to the side

 

[Bluetit1802]

I have one which I began using when first diagnosed - then like everything - it got put to the side

That is good. You can now buy some new testing strips and get going again.

 

[ShortStuff]

Don’t be too hard on yourself, many of us have been there (and some of us more than once!!).

You did it through diet before, you can do it again.

I can maintain mine (without medication) in the normal range IF I follow a low carb diet.

Your meter is your mate.

The difficult thing to get your head around is accepting that this is for life, not until you’ve been good enough, long enough, to get your Hba1c into a good place then acting like you’re not a diabetic.

 

[ianf0ster]

I was diagnosed in July last year with hbac1 of 53. Following some routine bloods in September I had managed to get this down to 40 through diet control (only recently discovered this).
Following appointment today for 9month review my level is now at 60! ….

Hi Shell,
Is what you did to reduce your Hbac1 something that is a sustainable lifestyle for you? If it is something that requires great will power rather than something that you can make into a habit, then you will keep falling off the wagon! Anybody would!

So in the case where it is very hard to reduce your Blood Sugars, you need to find something or a combination of things that you can readily make a part of your lifestyle.
For myself, I like the Low Carb High Fat eat as much as you want 'diet' because it is really only Carbs that are so bad for us T2's.
So now I can eat all those things that were denied me when I was following that stupid 'so-called healthy' High Carb Low Fat & '5 a day' diet that got me into this state in the first place: Eggs, Nuts, Cheese, Full Fat Yoghurt, Red Meat as well as things that are still good for me such as oily fish!