Should my numbers be lower….

[JayBee28]

Good morning all,

Sorry, it’s a long post….

I’m just coming to the end of my 7th week on this new journey after being diagnosed with Type 2. I’m worried my numbers should be lower. I’ll explain how I was diagnosed first, as it was a bit of a disaster by the doctors….

Middle of August I asked for a blood test as I was feeling tired all the time. I put it down to the menopause, sleeping badly, etc. I had no other symptoms of Type 2. I phoned the Doctor a week later, they said “the doctor wants to speak to you, but it’s not urgent, we’ve made a telephone appointment for you in 1 month”. Fine I thought. The day before I spoke to the doctor to go through the results, I had a surprise call from “Hi I am Debbie, the Diabetic Nurse at the Surgery”. I explained I hadn’t spoke to the doctor about the results, that call is tomorrow. She was very apologetic. She told me that my HBA1C was 51. I had another test that week, and it had gone to 56 which is not surprising as I had a month between 1st and 2nd tests when nobody told me I was type 2 and I was a carboholic and ate too many sweet things.

I have my 3 month follow up appointment next Friday, but it will only be 2 months effectively as I didn’t know for a month. In that two months from the first call with Debbie I have not eaten any carbs like rice, bread, pasta, sugar also, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits. Really strict low carbs. When I initially did a test with my glucose monitor (which Debbie told me not to get), my reading was 11-13. My typical days are now like this:

Wednesday 3 Nov
8am - 8.6 - slept awful
12.30pm - 6.6
2.30pm - 6.4
6.30pm - 5.8
8.30pm - 8 (was experimenting, had lentils with dinner, number a bit higher)

Friday 5 Nov
8am - 7.5
12.30pm - 5.6
2.30pm - 6.1
7.00pm - 5.9
9pm - 6.3

Yesterday, my readings all day from 7am - 7pm where from 6.3 - 5.9. I find a weekend they are lower (maybe less stressed).

I generally don’t test before and after breakfast as I have berries/natural greek yoghurt/a few nuts and a bit of cheese and I know this works for me.

My lunch is generally a Salad with chicken or fish in the office, or if I’m home scrambled eggs and a high meat content sausage.

Dinner is based around fish, chicken, beef or lamb with vegetables/salad.

I’ve stopped snacking between meals as feel fuller and I have three cups of tea with milk.

I really thought my numbers would be more in the 5 range unless it’s too early in my journey to get that low. Nurse recommend 1 metformin per day, but I am resisting at the moment. I understand about the Dawn Phenomenon but hoping those numbers will come down. I am intrigued to see what my next HBA1C results will be. Fingers crossed as I really don’t want to take medication.

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[bulkbiker]

I really thought my numbers would be more in the 5 range unless it’s too early in my journey to get that low. Nurse recommend 1 metformin per day, but I am resisting at the moment. I understand about the Dawn Phenomenon but hoping those numbers will come down.

That's quite early in the process to get completely "normalised" numbers but as they are definitely going in the right direction don't stress it too much (that will push your numbers up!).

Apart from a bit of DP your Friday numbers look pretty normal and it took about 6 months for my FBG numbers to go down and stay down so please give it time. You are doing the right things so keep it up!

You're doing great!

 

[JayBee28]

That's quite early in the process to get completely "normalised" numbers but as they are definitely going in the right direction don't stress it too much (that will push your numbers up!).

Apart from a bit of DP your Friday numbers look pretty normal and it took about 6 months for my FBG numbers to go down and stay down so please give it time. You are doing the right things so keep it up!

You're doing great!

Thank you so much, it really is a marathon not a sprint. I think I’m still in a bit of shock to be honest about it all. It’s such a lot to learn and take in. The advice on this forum so much better than the Doctors.

 

[bulkbiker]

The advice on this forum so much better than the Doctors.

Very true probably because we've been where you are now and done it.. the docs probably haven't and wouldn't because they are reliant on drugs rather than solving root causes.

 

[Outlier]

You are doing well. It does take time, and each of us has our own bodily response. For instance, my BG levels plateaued several times at one reading before dropping to the next lowest. A lot depends on your individual stored glucose, and the menopause skews everything. I was diagnosed at the beginning of September, and have had immense help and learned so much from this Forum.

 

[shelley262]

Well done on tackling this and managing your own health. It will take time to normalise your numbers and in particular your fasting morning one. Key is to not allow any high figures knock you off course - you can have higher figures from things like stress, a virus brewing and poor sleep and it’s good to look at higher figures and work out causes eg something you ate or something worrying you. Taking regular blood sugar readings can help you work out not just which types of food suit your body- a vital thing to work out as you are already - but also work out any other contributors some of which you may be able to modify. For example, as a carer for me stress has huge impact on my bgs but it happens so I need to take stress management very seriously as part of my keeping well. Keep going you’re on the right track and slowly but surely you will get the numbers that are healthy for you.

 

[Geordie_P]

Those numbers aren't bad, to be honest- not at this early stage. Lentils will push you up, dawn phenomenon is what it is.
As the others say, keep doing what you're doing; you look like you're on the right track.

 

[Buster_]

You're doing brilliantly. In just a handful of weeks you've dropped your BS range from 11-13 to (mostly) 5's and 6's which is great progress. No need to worry, you're doing exactly the right things and the big improvement in your BS levels are testament to your hard work.

It takes a while to get your head around all this, to adopt and refine the changes necessary to fully stabilize your sugars, so don't fret that everything isn't quite perfect yet! Give it time, keep doing what you're doing and it's very likely your numbers will continue to fall.

You can feel very proud of your work so far and take great encouragement from how quickly your body has responded to the changes you've made. This is a good sign.

 

[JayBee28]

You are doing well. It does take time, and each of us has our own bodily response. For instance, my BG levels plateaued several times at one reading before dropping to the next lowest. A lot depends on your individual stored glucose, and the menopause skews everything. I was diagnosed at the beginning of September, and have had immense help and learned so much from this Forum.

Thanks for the reply, good luck on your journey.

 

[JayBee28]

You're doing brilliantly. In just a handful of weeks you've dropped your BS range from 11-13 to (mostly) 5's and 6's which is great progress. No need to worry, you're doing exactly the right things and the big improvement in your BS levels are testament to your hard work.

It takes a while to get your head around all this, to adopt and refine the changes necessary to fully stabilize your sugars, so don't fret that everything isn't quite perfect yet! Give it time, keep doing what you're doing and it's very likely your numbers will continue to fall.

You can feel very proud of your work so far and take great encouragement from how quickly your body has responded to the changes you've made. This is a good sign.

Thanks so much for the reply and the encouragement. It is early days of a long journey.

 

[JayBee28]

Those numbers aren't bad, to be honest- not at this early stage. Lentils will push you up, dawn phenomenon is what it is.
As the others say, keep doing what you're doing; you look like you're on the right track.

Thank you

 

[JayBee28]

Well done on tackling this and managing your own health. It will take time to normalise your numbers and in particular your fasting morning one. Key is to not allow any high figures knock you off course - you can have higher figures from things like stress, a virus brewing and poor sleep and it’s good to look at higher figures and work out causes eg something you ate or something worrying you. Taking regular blood sugar readings can help you work out not just which types of food suit your body- a vital thing to work out as you are already - but also work out any other contributors some of which you may be able to modify. For example, as a carer for me stress has huge impact on my bgs but it happens so I need to take stress management very seriously as part of my keeping well. Keep going you’re on the right track and slowly but surely you will get the numbers that are healthy for you.

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. I’ve just had a promotion at work so it is quite stressful at the moment. I think the stress doesn’t help.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Good morning all,

Sorry, it’s a long post….

I’m just coming to the end of my 7th week on this new journey after being diagnosed with Type 2. I’m worried my numbers should be lower. I’ll explain how I was diagnosed first, as it was a bit of a disaster by the doctors….

Middle of August I asked for a blood test as I was feeling tired all the time. I put it down to the menopause, sleeping badly, etc. I had no other symptoms of Type 2. I phoned the Doctor a week later, they said “the doctor wants to speak to you, but it’s not urgent, we’ve made a telephone appointment for you in 1 month”. Fine I thought. The day before I spoke to the doctor to go through the results, I had a surprise call from “Hi I am Debbie, the Diabetic Nurse at the Surgery”. I explained I hadn’t spoke to the doctor about the results, that call is tomorrow. She was very apologetic. She told me that my HBA1C was 51. I had another test that week, and it had gone to 56 which is not surprising as I had a month between 1st and 2nd tests when nobody told me I was type 2 and I was a carboholic and ate too many sweet things.

I have my 3 month follow up appointment next Friday, but it will only be 2 months effectively as I didn’t know for a month. In that two months from the first call with Debbie I have not eaten any carbs like rice, bread, pasta, sugar also, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits. Really strict low carbs. When I initially did a test with my glucose monitor (which Debbie told me not to get), my reading was 11-13. My typical days are now like this:

Wednesday 3 Nov
8am - 8.6 - slept awful
12.30pm - 6.6
2.30pm - 6.4
6.30pm - 5.8
8.30pm - 8 (was experimenting, had lentils with dinner, number a bit higher)

Friday 5 Nov
8am - 7.5
12.30pm - 5.6
2.30pm - 6.1
7.00pm - 5.9
9pm - 6.3

Yesterday, my readings all day from 7am - 7pm where from 6.3 - 5.9. I find a weekend they are lower (maybe less stressed).

I generally don’t test before and after breakfast as I have berries/natural greek yoghurt/a few nuts and a bit of cheese and I know this works for me.

My lunch is generally a Salad with chicken or fish in the office, or if I’m home scrambled eggs and a high meat content sausage.

Dinner is based around fish, chicken, beef or lamb with vegetables/salad.

I’ve stopped snacking between meals as feel fuller and I have three cups of tea with milk.

I really thought my numbers would be more in the 5 range unless it’s too early in my journey to get that low. Nurse recommend 1 metformin per day, but I am resisting at the moment. I understand about the Dawn Phenomenon but hoping those numbers will come down. I am intrigued to see what my next HBA1C results will be. Fingers crossed as I really don’t want to take medication.

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

You experimented and got an eight. Believe me, my experiments ended a lot worse, haha. All in all you're doing an excellent job, and your dawn phenomenon'll calm down eventually. It's not an overnight thing, indeed. But the rest of your numbers look very, very promising for your next HbA1c. Throw yourself a little party, you deserve it!

 

[JayBee28]

You experimented and got an eight. Believe me, my experiments ended a lot worse, haha. All in all you're doing an excellent job, and your dawn phenomenon'll calm down eventually. It's not an overnight thing, indeed. But the rest of your numbers look very, very promising for your next HbA1c. Throw yourself a little party, you deserve it!

Thank you so much, I guess I needed to hear I was on the right track from people who have been there and have gone through this. I did have an experiment with porridge in my 2nd week which was 13!! Thank you so much for replying, support and advice.