New T2 Advice if Possible :)

[retrohaggis]

QQ anyone, just looking for general advice.

I was diagnosed 8 weeks ago as type 2 after a HBA1C test of 13.5

The doctor booked me into a specialist and for another test which I had a couple of days ago with a new reading of 7.2, who not wants me to take insulin, however, i don't think im high enough for this and its going the right way without medication.

Also im Malta, private healthcare here is substandard at best lol

 

[Mbaker]

Hi @retrohaggis that is a remarkable drop, which is indicative that you can possibly (and I would say probably) even put your diabetes into full remission. I had an inital HbA1c slightly higher and a similar drop over 3 months to you. We are not permitted to give medical advice, but can say what we would do in the same circumstances, which is go nowhere near the insulin, it is not needed at this stage for you. If you were accidentally diagnosed as T2, but were Type 1 or LADA, you would still be doing well on your own insulin with such a turnaround in HbA1c and you not reporting massive highs you can't get under control.

I would keep doing what is clearly going in the right direction, and personalise my dietary pattern, putting protein at the heart of everything first. Your profile states you like exercise, therefore resistance training with some walking or sports activity is good.

Be aware this phase of your reversal is medium difficulty, the toughest part is when you get to remission and the "rubbish" starts to creep in. This story is played out every minute, I would learn to make your own treats if you need them, the other side literally has nothing "good" to your body to offer.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

QQ anyone, just looking for general advice.

I was diagnosed 8 weeks ago as type 2 after a HBA1C test of 13.5

The doctor booked me into a specialist and for another test which I had a couple of days ago with a new reading of 7.2, who not wants me to take insulin, however, i don't think im high enough for this and its going the right way without medication.

Also im Malta, private healthcare here is substandard at best lol

Hello @retrohaggis ,

If I'm reading this right, you almost halved your HbA1c in 8 weeks, which makes me wonder if the 7.2 was a finger prick test checking your current blood glucose, rather than a 3-month average, which is a HbA1c. Whether the 7.2 is a HbA1c or a mmol/l reading, it means a significant improvement either way. (I am horrible with numbers and conversions, but that much I DO know!).

All in all, insulin isn't a forgone conclusion if you can keep your blood sugars headed in the right direction. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help a bit, and be sure to get your own glucose monitor. If you can come to the table with great numbers to back you up, they might not mention insulin again. Also, you do have a say in how you're treated, so if you want to try methods other than insulin, you're quite in your right to do so. Preferably with your doc being in the know, though.

May I ask what you did to get your blood sugars down? It seems to be working.
Again, welcome!
Jo

 

[optimist1]

7.2% A1c on no meds. I would seek a second opinion on insulin. There are quite a few meds available to help, before I would guess insulin is needed. Metformin, normally the first med, could lower it ~ 1-1.5%. Obviously you have changed what you eat, continuing with that could also continue to lower your A1c.

 

[retrohaggis]

Hi @retrohaggis that is a remarkable drop, which is indicative that you can possibly (and I would say probably) even put your diabetes into full remission. I had an inital HbA1c slightly higher and a similar drop over 3 months to you. We are not permitted to give medical advice, but can say what we would do in the same circumstances, which is go nowhere near the insulin, it is not needed at this stage for you. If you were accidentally diagnosed as T2, but were Type 1 or LADA, you would still be doing well on your own insulin with such a turnaround in HbA1c and you not reporting massive highs you can't get under control.

I would keep doing what is clearly going in the right direction, and personalise my dietary pattern, putting protein at the heart of everything first. Your profile states you like exercise, therefore resistance training with some walking or sports activity is good.

Be aware this phase of your reversal is medium difficulty, the toughest part is when you get to remission and the "rubbish" starts to creep in. This story is played out every minute, I would learn to make your own treats if you need them, the other side literally has nothing "good" to your body to offer.

Hey Mate

Yeah, it hasn't been fun but could be worse, and ive been lucky re spikes, i don't get many if any, but this has bene due to reading posts of people like you who know what they are doing, ie, cutting out carbs, sugar, most exercise etc.

Thanks for you input

 

[retrohaggis]

Hello @retrohaggis ,

If I'm reading this right, you almost halved your HbA1c in 8 weeks, which makes me wonder if the 7.2 was a finger prick test checking your current blood glucose, rather than a 3-month average, which is a HbA1c. Whether the 7.2 is a HbA1c or a mmol/l reading, it means a significant improvement either way. (I am horrible with numbers and conversions, but that much I DO know!).

All in all, insulin isn't a forgone conclusion if you can keep your blood sugars headed in the right direction. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help a bit, and be sure to get your own glucose monitor. If you can come to the table with great numbers to back you up, they might not mention insulin again. Also, you do have a say in how you're treated, so if you want to try methods other than insulin, you're quite in your right to do so. Preferably with your doc being in the know, though.

May I ask what you did to get your blood sugars down? It seems to be working.
Again, welcome!
Jo

Hey Jo

Yup, i t was the 3 month average fasting HbA1c test, I asked why I was getting the second one after 2 months rather that 3, doctor said this is Malta, not the UK ha

For example when i first went to the hospital with a pain in my left side, they pricket my finger and blood was at 15mmol, so they checked me for ketones then booked me in for the HbA1c 2 days later whre i had my first result of 13.5% :/

Yeah, i bought one as soon as I was diagnose to keep track and test myself before and after meals.

My lifestyle change hasn't been too difficult tbh, main changes were these -

1. Monday to Friday no carbs and for breakfast and lunch a meal replacement shake and some nuts or protein meat snack
2. Monday to Friday each day a mixture of sports and gym for 1 hour
3. No sugar soft drinks
4. No beer etc allowed mon-friday
5. 3-4 litres of water per day "Malta is an oven anyway"
6. Weekends I can eat and drink what I want, so long as i dont go over 2500 calories and do an outdoor activity.

Thanks for you help

Dunc

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hey Jo

Yup, i t was the 3 month average fasting HbA1c test, I asked why I was getting the second one after 2 months rather that 3, doctor said this is Malta, not the UK ha

For example when i first went to the hospital with a pain in my left side, they pricket my finger and blood was at 15mmol, so they checked me for ketones then booked me in for the HbA1c 2 days later whre i had my first result of 13.5% :/

Yeah, i bought one as soon as I was diagnose to keep track and test myself before and after meals.

My lifestyle change hasn't been too difficult tbh, main changes were these -

1. Monday to Friday no carbs and for breakfast and lunch a meal replacement shake and some nuts or protein meat snack
2. Monday to Friday each day a mixture of sports and gym for 1 hour
3. No sugar soft drinks
4. No beer etc allowed mon-friday
5. 3-4 litres of water per day "Malta is an oven anyway"
6. Weekends I can eat and drink what I want, so long as i dont go over 2500 calories and do an outdoor activity.

Thanks for you help

Dunc

Got to love it when they throw stuff like that in eh, "This is Malta, not the UK"... The HbA1c is still a 3 month average, no matter what borders you're in, haha.

I'm at a point myself where I wouldn't be able to have carbs without feeling decidedly unwell, having become so unused to them even a "spike" to 6+ makes me wobbly. So having weekdays without, and weekends with, wouldn't be workable for me, but it sure as heck seems to be excellent you. Colour me impressed. Congratulations on your amazing progress, and cheers for finding something that works!

 

[retrohaggis]

Got to love it when they throw stuff like that in eh, "This is Malta, not the UK"... The HbA1c is still a 3 month average, no matter what borders you're in, haha.

I'm at a point myself where I wouldn't be able to have carbs without feeling decidedly unwell, having become so unused to them even a "spike" to 6+ makes me wobbly. So having weekdays without, and weekends with, wouldn't be workable for me, but it sure as heck seems to be excellent you. Colour me impressed. Congratulations on your amazing progress, and cheers for finding something that works!

So then possibly if i stick to what im doing, it could possibly get lower after another 3 months? He booked me for 2 again hahaahaha

Il be honest, the only way i can stick to this strict regime mon-fri is because i know when Saturday comes I can eat out, have s few beers in the sun and on Sunday i can have a roast, sadly, with no chocolate cake :'()

But what i have noticed is, if i control my calorie intake and carbs through the week, when Saturday comes im not spiking out of the ordinary "test with my non T2 GF to compare" but i recon if I didnt control calories and cabs weekdays my BS would go through the roof

 

[JoKalsbeek]

So then possibly if i stick to what im doing, it could possibly get lower after another 3 months? He booked me for 2 again hahaahaha

Il be honest, the only way i can stick to this strict regime mon-fri is because i know when Saturday comes I can eat out, have s few beers in the sun and on Sunday i can have a roast, sadly, with no chocolate cake :'()

But what i have noticed is, if i control my calorie intake and carbs through the week, when Saturday comes im not spiking out of the ordinary "test with my non T2 GF to compare" but i recon if I didnt control calories and cabs weekdays my BS would go through the roof

Calories aren't the issue, the carbs are, but cutting both back can make you lose weight faster for a while. Just keep in mind you'll still need calories to run on eventually, so it's not something you want to be in deficit of long-term. (Usually a "crash" diet isn't advisable for more than 8 weeks, much longer and malnutrition sets in). Oh, as for beers, there are actually low carb beers out there, believe it or not... https://macrofriendly.co.uk/best-keto-low-carb-beers-uk/ might help in that respect, though i don't know what brands they have in Malta. Might be useful the rest of the week to check. The local specialist might have imported options too..
But yeah... You should be seeing an improved HbA1c in 2 months, unless you go absolutely nuts on the weekends of course and ingest a week's worth of carbs.

 

[KennyA]

Hey Jo

Yup, i t was the 3 month average fasting HbA1c test, I asked why I was getting the second one after 2 months rather that 3, doctor said this is Malta, not the UK ha

For example when i first went to the hospital with a pain in my left side, they pricket my finger and blood was at 15mmol, so they checked me for ketones then booked me in for the HbA1c 2 days later whre i had my first result of 13.5% :/

Yeah, i bought one as soon as I was diagnose to keep track and test myself before and after meals.

My lifestyle change hasn't been too difficult tbh, main changes were these -

1. Monday to Friday no carbs and for breakfast and lunch a meal replacement shake and some nuts or protein meat snack
2. Monday to Friday each day a mixture of sports and gym for 1 hour
3. No sugar soft drinks
4. No beer etc allowed mon-friday
5. 3-4 litres of water per day "Malta is an oven anyway"
6. Weekends I can eat and drink what I want, so long as i dont go over 2500 calories and do an outdoor activity.

Thanks for you help

Dunc

Welcome to th forum, your progress is excellent. Have you tried Cisk Excel as a low-carb beer? Not readily available in the UK, although Marston's Resolution is good.

 

[Resurgam]

So then possibly if i stick to what im doing, it could possibly get lower after another 3 months? He booked me for 2 again hahaahaha

Il be honest, the only way i can stick to this strict regime mon-fri is because i know when Saturday comes I can eat out, have s few beers in the sun and on Sunday i can have a roast, sadly, with no chocolate cake :'()

But what i have noticed is, if i control my calorie intake and carbs through the week, when Saturday comes im not spiking out of the ordinary "test with my non T2 GF to compare" but i recon if I didnt control calories and cabs weekdays my BS would go through the roof

I am sure I saw a low carb chocolate cake, made with almond flour (finely ground almonds) - maybe do a search for it.
I have found that many low carb foods are snapped up by people who don't have problems with carbs - I have learned to eat beforehand when taking dishes to parties, as morris dances seem particularly keen on my offerings.