Hb1ac 6.5 and very frightened

[Danski]

Hi all

I've been recently diagnosed with diabetes with a 1ac reading of 6.5. I'm only 39, so this is scaring the **** out of me. Doc says due to my ethnicity and the fact that both my parents were diabetic, it is likely Type 2.

I suspect I've been diabetic for a while now, just never diagnosed before since the last time i did a health check was nearly 6 years ago. I started noticing myself being tired easily around 2-3 years ago. I chalked it down to lack of exercise and putting on a lot more weight. My BMI has crept up to 28+. 174 cm tall and 85 kg. So 3 years ago, even without diagnosis, I started exercising regularly and taking more vitamins, particularly fish oil and curcamin. That combination of exercise + vitamins seem to have vanquished the lethargy I used to suffer with. I didn't exercise very intensively, so my weight has never gone down, but suffice to say i am still a lot fitter, but the large amount of belly fat is still very obvious.

Since the diagnosis 3 days ago, I've completely cut out coffee (which I used to take with skim milk, no other sugars) which I could drink up to 3-4 cups a day with very little water. I've cut out all carbs such as rice, chips, chocolate, sugary "boba" tea and completely switched my diet around to natural yoghurt, almonds, avocados, salads and fish/chicken and sticking to a 1000-1200 calorie diet supplemented with vitamins. I don't really feel super lethargic. I sleep more now (possibly due to low energy) but I am still capable of doing my twice daily routine of 40 push ups + 50 squats without any resting.

A lot of the above is based on Roy Taylor's research on reversing diabetes into remission. I'm very afraid of testing my blood glucose levesl and haven't actually gone out to purchase one. I also haven't done any eye and foot checks yet - so far I have no vision problems (20/20 based on a check last done 4-6 months ago). My aim is to reduce my BMI from 28 = below 25. However, based on Roy's rule of thumb, i need to lose around 15Kg in order to reverse my condition. This seems nigh on impossible for me. At my fittest at 28, I was still around 74.9 kg and that was achieved with 2x gym + 2x runs weekly.

Has anyone followed Roy's research and achieved success without actually losing 15 kg?

Very scared right now, although it's starting to sink in.

Advice appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[Lobsang Tsultim]

Depending on how much carbs featured in your diet before, losing weight shouldn’t be too much of a chore: I’ve lost 11kg in the last 3 months (admittedly from a higher threshold). Using a glucose meter really isn’t scary and having more data allows you to make better informed choices.

 

[Kimble73]

Aww I know how your feeling I was very scared to, an A1c of 6.5 isn’t that bad. Take deep breaths. Your going to be okay. Your just newly diagnosed. Eggs are good like an omelet for breafast, for lunch you can have a sandwich with brown bread white bread has to much sugar and carbs, have veggies and chicken on your sandwich and a apple. Dinner Fish with veggies and brown rice medium portion of rice. Don’t eat potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, corn
Half your plate in veggies, and a meat which is protein like fish, chicken, pork.the size of the top of your hand when you make a fist for the meat. You can have a small portion of porge with a boiled egg for breakfast to. Always have a fat good fats, a protein , and veggies with your meals it helps balance your sugars. 6.5 A1c is borderline diabetic is what I was told. There should be classes at your local hospital and they will help you with diet. Or ask your doctor about seeing a dietician for diabetes. You will be okay. I have had Type 2 diabetes for almost 10 years and still not on medication. But that was by choice. Lots of people feel the same way after diagnosis. Go for walks for about 20 minutes to start out then you can increase it, baby steps to start out. Drink water, if you drink coffee and use sugar switch it to artificial sweeteners. Cut back on cream. Don’t drink Sodas full of sugar, I swear that’s caused my diabetes and weight gain. Try diet soda. But limit that to. It’s a lot to take in just change one thing at a time. But your best bet is talk to a dietician, and diabetes educator at your hospital
I, in Canada and we have this at our hospital and talk to them how your feeling around your diagnosis. It can be overwhelming. I was to. If you want to talk I’m here.

 

[Kimble73]

There’s another site called type2diabetes.com that’s very supportive.

 

[Ronancastled]

Greetings @Danski, it's overwhelming at first.

The good news for you is that you've been detected at the very bottom rung of the T2 ladder, may not seem it right now but you've been very fortunate.

Lots of Prof Roy Taylor advocates here, now I know you speak of losing 15kg, which sounds daunting but that applied to his original trial of obese candidates called Direct. In your case you should follow the data coming out of his follow up ReTune Study for normal weight T2s.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/dukpc-digest-day-5-retune-study-lower-body-weight

People needed to lose on average 8% of their body weight to go into remission

I hope that seems more doable, my advice is to get that meter & hit low carb.
You'll have this cracked in no time.

 

[Resurgam]

Do be careful about what you can eat - you are an individual and so your reaction to carbs is what you do - not someone else.
Personally I used a blood glucose meter and checked - which is why I don't have porridge or anything derived from grain as it caused me to spike. Brown bread has pretty much the same amount of carbs as white, protein and fat doesn't 'balance' the sugar - if you eat a meal with more carbs than you can cope with then you will see a spike.
Once you have tested out a few meals you'll probably be able to see how well or otherwise you react - you don't need to be checking every day from now on, just work with what you know about how you cope with carbs.
I have cream in my coffee, no sweetener - because that is almost carb free, and some sweeteners make by head feel strange, and I can do without that.
When I was diagnosed I had been pushed to eat a high carb 'healthy' diet so when I went back to low carb I felt a lot better, but I had stopped weighing myself.
Some months passed and I suddenly realised that my clothes were too big - I had lost over 50 lb without trying. My shape is still changing but I have no interest in the numbers on the scale - I have had far too much of other people dictating to me on that score.

 

[KennyA]

Hi, many of us have been exactly where you are right now. Don't be scared, you can control this. I would suggest strongly that you get a glucose meter and check what various food do to your blood glucose. It's really the only way to monitor what's happening with your body. Six monthly A1c checks are fine for benchmarking but don't give you the immediate feedback I think you need to make changes if something isn't working.

You are roughly at the same A1c level as I was when finally diagnosed. One of the things you'll find reading around is that different things work for different people, and the same food has different impacts on different people. So bear in mind that what works for me might not work for you, and vice versa.

What worked for me was a low carb keto approach. I have limited myself to around 20g carb/day, most of which comes from green vegetables. I eat meat, fish, eggs, all dairy, above ground vegetables, olives, nuts, that sort of thing. Coffee with cream. Zero carb drinks ( I don't have a problem with artificial sweeteners). I eat fresh food and avoid processed things in packets - many manufacturers load carbs into these products, and take care to hide them in labelling. I've never felt hungry eating like this.

As well as the highly processed stuff, I do not eat bread (wholemeal etc has as many carbs as white) pasta, potatoes and other root veg, rice (all rice), sugar, pastry, fruit (apart from a few berries maybe once a week) etc.

I don't count calories at all and I don't deliberately limit my fat intake. Until recently, I didn't exercise. It's purely carb restriction.

Net result was that my BG was back in normal A1c range in four months and has stayed there for over two years now. For what it's worth, my cholesterol levels haven't been affected, except to decrease, and I've lost around 25 kg (not sure exactly because I don't know what weight I was when I started). What I do know for sure is that I've lost more than six inches off my waistline.

Best of luck. This is a really helpful place and is full of good advice.

 

[boggle]

Cauliflower only has 5g of carbohydrates per 100g and so should be fine for most diabetics. This is probably why many use cauliflower rice as a substitute for actual rice.

Brown bread can contain as many carbs as white bread. Some brown bread might have a lower glycemic index, but I think low GI carbs are still harmful for a lot of diabetics if we eat enough of them (which might not be much).

I would get a meter and follow the advice of 'eating to your meter'. Some diabetics can tolerate more carbs than others.

Some other things:

Healthy Whole Grains is a marketing term

Starch is nothing more than glucose molecules linked in a chain

There are no nutrients specific to carbs that cannot be sourced from other foods.

The diet-heart hypothesis has never been proven after 50 years. Fat has been associated with heart disease, but to date has never been shown to cause it.

The only naturally occurring thing that is chemical-free is a vacuum.

 

[Overwhelmed]

Hi all

I've been recently diagnosed with diabetes with a 1ac reading of 6.5. I'm only 39, so this is scaring the **** out of me. Doc says due to my ethnicity

Hi @Danski , I would agree with alot of what @KennyA has posted . I cut all processed foods eating above ground veg but i allow myself a few more carbs limiting to 50-60g per day. No breads , rice's pastas. Not my coffee though just take it black. what really helped me was testing regularly using glucometer .As said though what works for some may not work for others . You need to figure what your Limits are and whats best for you. I do a little exercise ie walk roughly 6-7km every other day or recently started cycling again and have achieved non diabetic Hba1c in 6mths and have lost 15kg in the process. I would recommend asking lots of questions on here and look through the different forums on this site for invaluable advice and information.

 

[Lupf]

Hi @Danski welcome to the forum,
Don't panic. with an HbA1c of 6.5% your diabetes has been caught early.
Stopping all sugary drinks is a good start, I went cold turkey on fizzy drinks
after my diagnosis.

I was also hearing about the Newcastle diet,
it was brand new at the time, but I couldn't do it.
Eventually I decided to do intermittent fasting
5+2 with 600 calories max on fast days,
only breakfast and dinner, no lunch with very low carbs,
so no bread, mainly vegetables (curries), eggs, salads, soups
and small portion of fruit (apples or berries), chicken or fish.
On the other days I ate normally.
This allowed me to reduce my weight from 90 to 80 kg and reduce my HbA1c
from 65 to 42 mmol/mol or from 8.0 to 6.0% in your units.
Some people here have reduced their HbA1c without weight loss
by reducing carbs only, and replacing carbs with fat or protein,
but I can assure you that losing weight has added benefits.
it is so much easier to cycle or hike without a spare tyre around your belly.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi all

I've been recently diagnosed with diabetes with a 1ac reading of 6.5. I'm only 39, so this is scaring the **** out of me. Doc says due to my ethnicity and the fact that both my parents were diabetic, it is likely Type 2.

I suspect I've been diabetic for a while now, just never diagnosed before since the last time i did a health check was nearly 6 years ago. I started noticing myself being tired easily around 2-3 years ago. I chalked it down to lack of exercise and putting on a lot more weight. My BMI has crept up to 28+. 174 cm tall and 85 kg. So 3 years ago, even without diagnosis, I started exercising regularly and taking more vitamins, particularly fish oil and curcamin. That combination of exercise + vitamins seem to have vanquished the lethargy I used to suffer with. I didn't exercise very intensively, so my weight has never gone down, but suffice to say i am still a lot fitter, but the large amount of belly fat is still very obvious.

Since the diagnosis 3 days ago, I've completely cut out coffee (which I used to take with skim milk, no other sugars) which I could drink up to 3-4 cups a day with very little water. I've cut out all carbs such as rice, chips, chocolate, sugary "boba" tea and completely switched my diet around to natural yoghurt, almonds, avocados, salads and fish/chicken and sticking to a 1000-1200 calorie diet supplemented with vitamins. I don't really feel super lethargic. I sleep more now (possibly due to low energy) but I am still capable of doing my twice daily routine of 40 push ups + 50 squats without any resting.

A lot of the above is based on Roy Taylor's research on reversing diabetes into remission. I'm very afraid of testing my blood glucose levesl and haven't actually gone out to purchase one. I also haven't done any eye and foot checks yet - so far I have no vision problems (20/20 based on a check last done 4-6 months ago). My aim is to reduce my BMI from 28 = below 25. However, based on Roy's rule of thumb, i need to lose around 15Kg in order to reverse my condition. This seems nigh on impossible for me. At my fittest at 28, I was still around 74.9 kg and that was achieved with 2x gym + 2x runs weekly.

Has anyone followed Roy's research and achieved success without actually losing 15 kg?

Very scared right now, although it's starting to sink in.

Advice appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Individuals' roads to remission (or not) are as individual as themselves. There are folks who manage it in days and others who can try for years and not achieve it. That latter part is not stated to take the wind from your sails, but to point out how individual diabetes is.

This example of a quick fix is very unusual, but it is what it is: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/12/type-2-diabetes-diet-cure

 

[FSnow]

The road is individual indeed
Diagnosed in 2002 so a twenty year veteran.
Lost 30 kilos in stages to a BMI of 25.
Hba1c was not high around 5.9. Now 5.5. Years of Metformin but gave up meds 3 years ago.
Get yourself a blood sugar Meter and test,test,test. Doctor says no need to test but if I hadn't been testing I would not of discovered the low GI myth. Rice and sour dough bread can cause me to peak at 9 plus after several hours so no more for me.
This forum sent me to Jenny Rule diabetes 101 and the Diet Doctor which I am eternally grateful.
In summary I try not to eat anything with more than 3% carbs and follow 16:8 eating window.
Morning blood sugars are ever so slowly coming down after 3 years of 16:8.
We are all individual but I think there is much more information that can help you today compared to 2002 when I was told to eat baked beans and Snickers bars which fortunately I did not.
The low carb program is also recommended.

 

[FSnow]

Correction
My BMI is currently 23.

 

[BorisP]

don't worry! it is what it is. no need for stressing out right now. When I was diagnosed (I am 52) my HbA1C was 9.8 and I wanted it gone like straight away but it is a creepy condition that, according to my experience, will stay with you, well, forever. My A1C for the past year has been 5.6 , 5.8 and now 6.1. Is it getting worse? I have learned to accept the stats as a guidance and nothing set in stone. I am on meds (galvus / vildagliptin) and trying to stay off Metformin as it was completely painful for me (chronic constipation).

Just take your time and don't stress over it. 6.5 is not too bad and you can control it. I have never been over 25 BMI and the thing that helps the most are my constant walks and runs. You should not fear the GL meter although it could be frustrating at times, especially when you feel on top of the world but the prick (no pun intended says otherwise.

T2DM is individual. try to find your balance, what is good for one person might not be for someone else. I don't smoke, don't drink and I still have it. I enjoy coffee as part of my diet. no sugar at all and less than 100 carbs a day with veg salads. with pumpkin seeds, almonds, chick peas and peanuts for snacking.

***disclaimer : I'm no medical expert. only a person trying to live with his disfunction. I analyse other people's experience and try to find stuff that could help me... not afraid to try

Hi all

I've been recently diagnosed with diabetes with a 1ac reading of 6.5. I'm only 39, so this is scaring the **** out of me. Doc says due to my ethnicity and the fact that both my parents were diabetic, it is likely Type 2.

I suspect I've been diabetic for a while now, just never diagnosed before since the last time i did a health check was nearly 6 years ago. I started noticing myself being tired easily around 2-3 years ago. I chalked it down to lack of exercise and putting on a lot more weight. My BMI has crept up to 28+. 174 cm tall and 85 kg. So 3 years ago, even without diagnosis, I started exercising regularly and taking more vitamins, particularly fish oil and curcamin. That combination of exercise + vitamins seem to have vanquished the lethargy I used to suffer with. I didn't exercise very intensively, so my weight has never gone down, but suffice to say i am still a lot fitter, but the large amount of belly fat is still very obvious.

Since the diagnosis 3 days ago, I've completely cut out coffee (which I used to take with skim milk, no other sugars) which I could drink up to 3-4 cups a day with very little water. I've cut out all carbs such as rice, chips, chocolate, sugary "boba" tea and completely switched my diet around to natural yoghurt, almonds, avocados, salads and fish/chicken and sticking to a 1000-1200 calorie diet supplemented with vitamins. I don't really feel super lethargic. I sleep more now (possibly due to low energy) but I am still capable of doing my twice daily routine of 40 push ups + 50 squats without any resting.

A lot of the above is based on Roy Taylor's research on reversing diabetes into remission. I'm very afraid of testing my blood glucose levesl and haven't actually gone out to purchase one. I also haven't done any eye and foot checks yet - so far I have no vision problems (20/20 based on a check last done 4-6 months ago). My aim is to reduce my BMI from 28 = below 25. However, based on Roy's rule of thumb, i need to lose around 15Kg in order to reverse my condition. This seems nigh on impossible for me. At my fittest at 28, I was still around 74.9 kg and that was achieved with 2x gym + 2x runs weekly.

Has anyone followed Roy's research and achieved success without actually losing 15 kg?

Very scared right now, although it's starting to sink in.

Advice appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[SuNuman]

Aww I know how your feeling I was very scared to, an A1c of 6.5 isn’t that bad. Take deep breaths. Your going to be okay. Your just newly diagnosed. Eggs are good like an omelet for breafast, for lunch you can have a sandwich with brown bread white bread has to much sugar and carbs, have veggies and chicken on your sandwich and a apple. Dinner Fish with veggies and brown rice medium portion of rice. Don’t eat potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, corn
Half your plate in veggies, and a meat which is protein like fish, chicken, pork.the size of the top of your hand when you make a fist for the meat. You can have a small portion of porge with a boiled egg for breakfast to. Always have a fat good fats, a protein , and veggies with your meals it helps balance your sugars. 6.5 A1c is borderline diabetic is what I was told. There should be classes at your local hospital and they will help you with diet. Or ask your doctor about seeing a dietician for diabetes. You will be okay. I have had Type 2 diabetes for almost 10 years and still not on medication. But that was by choice. Lots of people feel the same way after diagnosis. Go for walks for about 20 minutes to start out then you can increase it, baby steps to start out. Drink water, if you drink coffee and use sugar switch it to artificial sweeteners. Cut back on cream. Don’t drink Sodas full of sugar, I swear that’s caused my diabetes and weight gain. Try diet soda. But limit that to. It’s a lot to take in just change one thing at a time. But your best bet is talk to a dietician, and diabetes educator at your hospital
I, in Canada and we have this at our hospital and talk to them how your feeling around your diagnosis. It can be overwhelming. I was to. If you want to talk I’m here.

You should b a diabetic counsellor. Lovely reply. X

 

[ajbod]

I don't stress about weight, i previously did keto before diabetes and lost about 4 stone ( 25 Kgs). When diagnosed i weighed 82 Kgs between 25 and 26 bmi. The diabetic nurse wanted me to lose another 4 Kgs, but by eating low Carb and eating to my meter, 3 years later i'm still 82 Kgs. I don't restrict portion sizes, i don't count calories, i don't really exercise, i avoid foods i know spike me, eat as much as i want of foods that don't. on occasions like holiday, parties, funerals etc i will partake of foods i know are bad for me, knowing that things will settle down later.
Just back from holiday in Cornwall, had fish and chips twice, funnily the first lot i spiked to 13.1 (ooh errr) decided a walk after might be a good idea. The second time i only spiked to 8.3, same chip shop, same portion size WHY.
Eating like this i went from Hba1c 51 at diagnosis to 37 in 3 months, and latest test just done 38. So i'm happy at this and will continue until such time as something alters. I only take 1000mg of slow release Metformin, originally prescribed 500mg. kept on prescription for other benefits (circulatory). I upped the dose and informed the Doctor when i was getting terrible carb cravings, and it seemed to work well.
Don't fret about it, if you can control your sugars that is the most important bit, and fretting will actually raise them anyway.
PS i drink about 15 cups of black coffee a day.

 

[Danski]

Hi all,

Thanks for your encouraging messages. This is a late reply as the reality took a while to sink in, but I've read all the messages at least three times to keep me sane and give me some hope.

I've made some massive changes to my diet since diagnosis - cutting out most carbs. I went on a 800 calorie diet for a few days and lost 3 kilos in the last 10 days, but was worried about losing my muscle mass. I've now switched over to a <1500 calorie diet plus stepping up my exercise routine. Now, I do 5x weekly routine of Push-ups/Lunges/squats/etc. after dinners + a 3 hour hike each weekend. I count all my calories now so I don't push over 1500. Weightloss progress is definitely slower, but I am happy with my current fitness routine. My "standard diet" now comprises

1. Half an avocado + some almonds / no-sugar yoghurt for breakfast
2. Half a cup of coffee 2 hours later (unsweetened but with creamer)
3. Lunch is usually also light with stir-fry vegetables and some chicken, or salad (plain) with baked salmon + hot plain green tea
4. Dinner is normally the same as lunch, but i tend to introduce more variety such as fried chicken with salad
6. Increasing my intake of plain water substantially (i used to drink very little).

I don't count my carbs, but I do read the labels carefully. I no longer consume rice and have also cut out nearly all fruits (except avocados), candies, chocolates and even my favourite diet soda. But I do eat the ocassional sugary beef stir-fry, but I made sure to take it with a generous helping of fresh salad. I've also started adding soluble fiber to my coffee and meals as I read it helps with blood sugar control.

I'm still afraid to get a BG meter and retest my 1AC, as I was sick last month and even worse, I was eating **** the whole month before I got my 6.5 1AC diagnosis, which was actually tested 1 month before.

The good thing is now I feel much healthier. I sleep more deeply now, and even the tinnitus in my ears seem to have subsided.

Its only been 10 days since diagnosis, but I feel so much of my life has changed, it still gets overwhelming at times. I have started becoming hypersensitive to changes in my body - noticing I have dry mouth / dehydration and wondering if its due to high blood sugars, but eventually realised it was the heater making the room very dry (I live in Australia, which generally is a very dry country). Whenever I feel tired, I wondered if it was due to insufficient sleep throughout the week (i only sleep 5-6 hours a day on average during weekdays) or generally just being tired after a 3 hour hike the day before. There's still a large amount of fat deposited around my waist which I'm very determined to get rid of.

With the help of this wonderful community I'm sure I can succeed

 

[MrsA2]

Brilliant start @Danski
Just remember that eventually you will need to find a way of eating (woe) that you can stick to for life. Short term very restricted can have great effects but do allow yourself extras. For example you need not restrict coffee per se, but have it with proper cream rather than creamery that have hidden sugars in. Likewise adding in good fats that are satiating and stop you feeling hungry, so greek yoghurt with 10% fat, the skin on chicken, olive oil on salads etc. Have a few berries as they are good for the micronutrients and for the taste buds.
I was like you at first, scared and strict, now it is normal for me, sustainable and enjoyable
I did find my meter invaluable. It tells me instantly if a food isn't good for me. The A1c is done over a 3 month average, but the daily/hourly readings are so useful while you are learning
And there lots to learn. Don't expect to get it all right first time, or to always stay perfect. We all have wobbles and make mistakes. We are human first, diabetic second!

 

[TriciaWs]

Aww I know how your feeling I was very scared to, an A1c of 6.5 isn’t that bad. Take deep breaths. Your going to be okay. Your just newly diagnosed. Eggs are good like an omelet for breafast, for lunch you can have a sandwich with brown bread white bread has to much sugar and carbs, have veggies and chicken on your sandwich and a apple. Dinner Fish with veggies and brown rice medium portion of rice. Don’t eat potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, corn
Half your plate in veggies, and a meat which is protein like fish, chicken, pork.the size of the top of your hand when you make a fist for the meat. You can have a small portion of porge with a boiled egg for breakfast to. Always have a fat good fats, a protein , and veggies with your meals it helps balance your sugars. 6.5 A1c is borderline diabetic is what I was told.

Not sure why a T2 would avoid cauliflower - it is low carb and makes a great substitute for rice. Also there is very little difference in carbs between white and brown rice and between white and brown rice - better to avoid both if doing low carb. And porridge is also too high in carbs for most T2s but double cream is fine.
Better to look at Dr Unwin or Jason Fung or the lowcarbprogram to get into remission.

 

[Danski]

Brilliant start @Danski
Just remember that eventually you will need to find a way of eating (woe) that you can stick to for life. Short term very restricted can have great effects but do allow yourself extras. For example you need not restrict coffee per se, but have it with proper cream rather than creamery that have hidden sugars in. Likewise adding in good fats that are satiating and stop you feeling hungry, so greek yoghurt with 10% fat, the skin on chicken, olive oil on salads etc. Have a few berries as they are good for the micronutrients and for the taste buds.
I was like you at first, scared and strict, now it is normal for me, sustainable and enjoyable
I did find my meter invaluable. It tells me instantly if a food isn't good for me. The A1c is done over a 3 month average, but the daily/hourly readings are so useful while you are learning
And there lots to learn. Don't expect to get it all right first time, or to always stay perfect. We all have wobbles and make mistakes. We are human first, diabetic second!

Thank you MrsA2 :=)