From Remission to HABC1 -94!

[Emmasethy]

Hi,

Need some advice, just had my annual review and I've gone from getting my diabetes into remission to a HABC1 score of 94. My nurse no longer thinks Metformin is working well and has doubled the dosage.

I must admit I'm scared, for the last year I've been struggling with hormones, and arrogantly neglected my diabetes as I was always showing as pre diabetic as I managed to get my score that was in the early diabetes range to remission.

Diabetic nurse said that she was worried as when it gets this hight it's hard to get back to remission or low levels.

I've tried doing low carb and keto previously and it made me feel not great, I'm planning to do whole food plant based with good wholegrain carbs only. And eliminating as much fat and sugar as I can.

Just need someone to chat to about this as worried

 

[Pipp]

Hi,

Need some advice, just had my annual review and I've gone from getting my diabetes into remission to a HABC1 score of 94. My nurse no longer thinks Metformin is working well and has doubled the dosage.

I must admit I'm scared, for the last year I've been struggling with hormones, and arrogantly neglected my diabetes as I was always showing as pre diabetic as I managed to get my score that was in the early diabetes range to remission.

Diabetic nurse said that she was worried as when it gets this hight it's hard to get back to remission or low levels.

I've tried doing low carb and keto previously and it made me feel not great, I'm planning to do whole food plant based with good wholegrain carbs only. And eliminating as much fat and sugar as I can.

Just need someone to chat to about this as worried

Hi @Emmasethy.
Sorry you are so worried. Have you been offered any other medication apart from Metformin?
How did you manage to get your levels to remission previously?
How long did you try low carb / keto? Reason I ask this, is that I am wondering if you made the transition to low carb too quickly. If you had been on high carb low fat diet and made a sudden change that could have been what made you “feel not great”. I experienced that several years ago, when I abruptly changed diet to low carb, high fat. I hadn’t realised that the H in LCHF, could mean healthy , rather than high, and included too much butter cheese and cream in my new regime. I did feel ill with that. It took a few months to get the balance right, and gain good control of my BG levels.

If you are wanting to follow a wholefood diet, I would be concerned about the carb content of the wholegrains. All carbohydrates convert to sugars when we eat them. Also, I am wondering why you want to eliminate as much fat as you can? Fat in food does not convert to sugar, so would not be responsible for your increased HbA1c.
I think some members have regained control of BG levels from higher than your 94. It is generally done by low carb way of eating. Though some new medication may be a short term answer. Perhaps you could have a look through the success stories, as a way to learn from the experiences of others. Hopefully some members who have had similar struggle will come along with suggestions and support.

 

[Mbaker]

I would do what you did to get to remission originally and tweak to feel great. This is not to say "you did it wrong", but you may for example have had too high a fat ratio or not enough protein; after all whole food low carb keto foods are essentially meat / fish and veg, salad, nuts, seeds, berries etc.

If your HbA1c and diabetes was down to carbohydrate intolerance, then I fear a whole food plant based diet will not produce results you desire due to the amount of natural sugars. On this forum when this option is challenged only an extremely small amount appear to have results below 42 mmol/L (from memory maybe 3 out of 1000's of posters), on the contrary animal based remissions are countless.

 

[Emmasethy]

Thank you both for your replies x I was thinking about wfpb after my experience with doing keto. For the last year, I've been struggling with mental health, and took for granted if I popped the Metformin as usual I would be ok, and basically ate my way through my feelings. I'm not proud of this, and this is certainly a wake up call! X any advice and replies are truly appreciated. DN said that I should now take 2000mg a day of Metformin, two in morning and two in evening, and said there was other medication that could be added. They have booked me in next week for a BG monitor and showing me how to use it, as was always told T2 on Metformin never needed to monitor blood sugars by blood readings.

Perhaps I did transition too quickly, sorry for the tmi I was so constipated and felt sick on the keto.

Ive just received an air fryer for Christmas, with the intention of doing wfpb, but that's not set in stone, I was looking at doing a plate 3/4 veg, and rest legumes and wholegrains without processed, but I'm happy to hear how I could do better on LCHF also.

The fat comment was in line with wfpb, as I've taken for granted my levels have been great for years, it's got me panicking and wanting to find the 'right' diet. I'm thinking my remission was luck and the Metformin, rather than diet controlled and now it's caught up with me.

 

[Resurgam]

I was diagnosed with Hba1c of 91 and was back in normal numbers quite quickly - but I did LCHF as I know that I do well on it, always have.
Could your food choices have been the problem?
I would not flourish on grains or any high starch or sugar foods so I can't really be much help - but your nurse's pessimism about reversing from your present number do seem to be just that and you could soon see lower numbers.
My old Tefal Actifry has done stirling service for many years cooking chicken thighs and then stirfry in the juices left behind. I got down to normal eating 50 gm of carbs a day, lots of salads, stir fry, stews, curries just choosing low carb options. I do have some fruit, but choose berries as the low carb option - I can resist anything but temptation, so berries in sugar free jelly with real custard and cream are a good choice as I just can't eat more than I can cope with.

 

[Emmasethy]

Thank you, needed to hear that someone has gotten their levels back down again. I had some scary visions ahead. Good to hear about your air fryer, so there are options really appreciate all your replies, really helping x

 

[Buster_]

It's definitely possible to reach remission from an HbA1c of 91, I was diagnosed at 109 and my last result was down to 34. This was due mostly to a low carb diet. (Ha, I just corrected a typo there from a "low crab diet", which it also was, but I don't think the lack of crab had much to do with it).

Fat is not to be feared or avoided when attempting this sort of change. Cutting out carbs leaves a calorie deficit in your diet and (healthy) fats are very useful for rectifying that. Fat is tasty, satisfying and will not raise your BS levels - cheese, eggs, nuts, olive oil etc are your friend!

You've done this before, I think there's every chance you can do it again. Good luck.

 

[Emmasethy]

Thank you so much

 

[bulkbiker]

I'm planning to do whole food plant based with good wholegrain carbs only. And eliminating as much fat and sugar as I can.

If you are then please keep a close eye on your blood sugar levels.
Wholegrain can make you spike just as much as processed.
Sugars obviously dump but fats are more useful.

 

[TriciaWs]

Going from the usual high carb diets to low carb too quickly can cause 'keto flu' which resolves after a while.
I found using milled flaxseed and a little chia seed as a breakfast porridge prevented constipation:
2 spoons milled flaxseed to 0.5 to 1 spoon chia plus some other seeds and a little chopped nuts, add plenty of real cinnamon and a pinch of salt, cook with water and a spoonful of coconut milk, served with double cream.

 

[pinkjude]

Hi @Emmasethy.
Sorry you are so worried. Have you been offered any other medication apart from Metformin?
How did you manage to get your levels to remission previously?
How long did you try low carb / keto? Reason I ask this, is that I am wondering if you made the transition to low carb too quickly. If you had been on high carb low fat diet and made a sudden change that could have been what made you “feel not great”. I experienced that several years ago, when I abruptly changed diet to low carb, high fat. I hadn’t realised that the H in LCHF, could mean healthy , rather than high, and included too much butter cheese and cream in my new regime. I did feel ill with that. It took a few months to get the balance right, and gain good control of my BG levels.

If you are wanting to follow a wholefood diet, I would be concerned about the carb content of the wholegrains. All carbohydrates convert to sugars when we eat them. Also, I am wondering why you want to eliminate as much fat as you can? Fat in food does not convert to sugar, so would not be responsible for your increased HbA1c.
I think some members have regained control of BG levels from higher than your 94. It is generally done by low carb way of eating. Though some new medication may be a short term answer. Perhaps you could have a look through the success stories, as a way to learn from the experiences of others. Hopefully some members who have had similar struggle will come along with suggestions and support.

My HBA1c was 88 and I got it to 48 with no medication following the low carb program. I joined the low carb programme online for 68.00 for 12 months. You get a lot of support regarding the right amount of carbs to eat, how to make the meal balanced and healthy, lots of recipes, forums, and advice from coaches. I also took part in the virtual meet ups for new to low carb where I got lots of help from others. Well worth it in my opinion. I take no medication. I know though that I cant afford to be complacent as it may not work forever. I hope that you do find an approach that works for you

 

[TeddyTottie]

Yes, like the others, I went from 87 to 35 in 3 months by low-carbing. I have had my air fryer for just over a year and use it almost every single day, I find it invaluable. Mostly for tasty bits of meat, fish and high-meat sausages, accompanied by my standard mix of a little swede, lots of courgettes and some aubergine, with olive oil salt, pepper and garlic powder, chucked in alongside the meat for the last 10 mins. Sometimes with asparagus, which is transformed by the air fryer! I seem to remember that there was an air fryer thread about this time last year, maybe worth taking a look for that?

I also air fry a load of veggies with one of those little packs of pancetta lardons on top and let it cool off a bit, then use that with a pack of feta and 5 eggs mixed with a little cream to make a yummy frittata in the oven.

 

[Pipp]

@Emmasethy , All I would add to the replies here is that it is encouraging that you are being provided with a glucose meter. The best way to get most value from that is to keep accurate records of your blood glucose. Test fasting level, before eating each meal and two hours after. Also record what you have eaten. You should then be able to understand how various foods affect your BG levels.
Make sure you transition your diet gradually, if you are going to choose LCHF or keto. It could have been the drastic change that made you feel ill last time. Also, well done for recognising you were ‘emotional eating’, you are in a position now to get back control of your health, and there is plenty of advice and support from the members here.

 

[Emmasethy]

@Emmasethy , All I would add to the replies here is that it is encouraging that you are being provided with a glucose meter. The best way to get most value from that is to keep accurate records of your blood glucose. Test fasting level, before eating each meal and two hours after. Also record what you have eaten. You should then be able to understand how various foods affect your BG levels.
Make sure you transition your diet gradually, if you are going to choose LCHF or keto. It could have been the drastic change that made you feel ill last time. Also, well done for recognising you were ‘emotional eating’, you are in a position now to get back control of your health, and there is plenty of advice and support from the members here.

@Emmasethy , All I would add to the replies here is that it is encouraging that you are being provided with a glucose meter. The best way to get most value from that is to keep accurate records of your blood glucose. Test fasting level, before eating each meal and two hours after. Also record what you have eaten. You should then be able to understand how various foods affect your BG levels.
Make sure you transition your diet gradually, if you are going to choose LCHF or keto. It could have been the drastic change that made you feel ill last time. Also, well done for recognising you were ‘emotional eating’, you are in a position now to get back control of your health, and there is plenty of advice and support from the members here.

 

[Emmasethy]

Thank you so much for all your replies, it's really been beneficial x I hope to update you as I go along my journey to get my numbers back down. Thank you all once again

 

[Pipp]

Thank you so much for all your replies, it's really been beneficial x I hope to update you as I go along my journey to get my numbers back down. Thank you all once again

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