HbA1C, 6 months on from a good result...

[Sax]

2023 - Updating this old post for 2023: still in remission and unchanged after a year. Also I wasn't remotely near the worst of it last year when I made the original post about a "tsunami of stress", lol.


2022-
Well, been a while. I've been busy with other matters in life and stopped posting just after my last HbA1C reading end of August 2021 which was 34 mmol/mol (5.3%). This was a reduction from 75 mmol/mol (9%).

I've had a lot of stress and distractions since then; hit by a bit of a tsunami of stress events and problems. Its using it as an excuse I guess, but I let the diet control slip a bit with everything else that started to happen, comfort eating a little. Weight has gone up by 5 kg, carb intake has gone up from perhaps 100- 130g / day to easily 150 - 200 g/day.

I was scared to take a blood sugar reading and kept saying I'd do it again next week after I'd started getting back on track but never did.

Reading from NHS blood test last week has come through: 36 mmol/mol (5.4%).

Honestly, I feel I have dodged a bullet by luck rather than intent or action here. Now to get back in control of things and lose that little bit of re-gained fat I guess, and not expect things to stay rosy indefinitely with my recent lack of control. I feel that perhaps I'm "lucky" in a sense and perhaps was diagnosed earlier and so had a chance of decent remission; I need to avoid blowing that with my personal stupidity.

 

[jjraak]

Well done @Sax
Brilliant result

And as for falling off a bit

Life is hard & not always smooth sailing .

You won't be the first or last to lapse for any reason ..

It can happens to anyone of us.

The secret isn't to just then give up.

Get back on it, even if it's been a while
It's just like when we first start

We are improving our possible future by what we do today
Not by regretting what we didn't do yesterday .

Good luck on the next stage of your journey

 

[Ronancastled]

Congrats of a completely normal A1c while eating 200gs of carbs a day.
That's as close to a complete reversal as we ever see.

How do you fare on your meter after a carby meal, do you still spike or is that under control too.

 

[Sax]

Congrats of a completely normal A1c while eating 200gs of carbs a day.
That's as close to a complete reversal as we ever see.

How do you fare on your meter after a carby meal, do you still spike or is that under control too.

I last did some stress testing shortly after the original HbA1C test last year with two meals, both around 80 g carbs, just to get a feel for what the consequences of a screw-up or indulgence when dining out might look like. One was OK, < 2mmol increase present after 2 hours, the other my blood sugar was a bit high still at the 2 hour mark.

 

[Ronancastled]

I last did some stress testing shortly after the original HbA1C test last year with two meals, both around 80 g carbs, just to get a feel for what the consequences of a screw-up or indulgence when dining out might look like. One was OK, < 2mmol increase present after 2 hours, the other my blood sugar was a bit high still at the 2 hour mark.

I wouldn't sweat the 2 hour readings after a large meal, especially eating many courses while out in a social setting.
The <7.8 @ 2 hours adage is based on nothing more than the 75g OGTT, the exact opposite of real world eating, pure glucose in mins with zero protein/fats.

I've seen plenty of CGM profiles of non-diabetics that would roller coaster in a pizza effect for hours after a large meal as it pulses through their system.

 

[Sax]

Resurrecting this 1 year later to say I'm still alive, still a bit stressed, and its pretty much unchanged on my annual test. Still in remission despite everything, which I'm honestly slightly surprised at.

I have finally in the last few weeks started to get a little back in the groove again so hopefully the worst of the storm has passed and I get it down to 33/34 next year.