Low, Lower?

Beachbag

Beachbag

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Ive been eating LCHF for about four months and today got my latest HbA1c. I am chuffed and delighted to report it's down from 89 last December to 46. I am very pleased but want to get it at least into the mid 5s. BUT....my DN at the hospital, whilst saying well done, says it's now borderline too low! However after some discussion she has agreed to ask my consultant if I can swap to basal/bolus insulin regime instead of my current Humalogmix. Hopefully that will give me tighter control and a better chance to go lower.
Thanks to all you low carbers who have helped and encouraged me.... including Mr Mitchell et al ;) xx
 
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mo1905

mo1905

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My last HbA1C was 41 which is in the pre-diabetic range. My consultant accused me of having to hypo regularly, which I don't. Annoying eh ? Well done though ! Great progress.
 
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donnellysdogs

donnellysdogs

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I doubt if any consultant will be happy with hba1c of under 6.5 if you are a driver and on basal /bolus regime, as the likelihood of too many hypo's and losing recognition of them is increased the lower your hba1cs.

The DVLA medical people will not believe anybody if they say they recognise every hypo, or if they never have hypo's when on insulin. If you say no hypo's then they believe you have lost the ability to recognise any hypo's.

If you drive your consultants have to sign off your awareness etc, if they are warning you to not lower your hba1c's too far they have reason.

I almost lost my license. It's not worth the fear and agony of going through it..


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donnellysdogs

donnellysdogs

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I too beach bag was living very close to you at the time, and I literally had my welsh consultant shouting at me that I deserved to lose my licence. I live back in England now, but I lived 20 miles away from you....If you drive, please don't head for mid 5's on bolus/basal.


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Beachbag

Beachbag

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donnellysdogs said:
I too beach bag was living very close to you at the time, and I literally had my welsh consultant shouting at me that I deserved to lose my licence. I live back in England now, but I lived 20 miles away from you....If you drive, please don't head for mid 5's on bolus/basal.


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Thank you for your advice. I do drive and always test pre driving and every two hours when I'm out. Will wait and see what Dr Price has to say, hopefully not a recommendation that I lose my licence!
 
A

ann34+

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iHs said:
DD is very very correct. The tighter and lower we all try to be, the more our awareness will change

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i agree, apart from finding out the problems with hypo unawareness myself, (i was never a driver as from the beginning was susceptible to hypo)I have been told that even so called mild hypos are dangerous, and may have long term effects, especially on the brain. In 2010 a study on adult non diabetics in New England J Med 2010;362:800-11, while finding that risk of cardiovascular disease did rise with rising HbA1c also reported "one curious finding was an increased risk of all-cause mortality among participants with lowest HbA1c values <5%." The suggestion being that even in non diabetics a slightly lowered blood glucose at times may have had long term effects.
 
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Thundercat

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Congratulations and well done! That is a significant reduction. I am utterly delighted for you and wish you well with whatever next step you choose. You go girl!:D

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tonyS54

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Well done Beachbag that's a big drop in just four months, I don't think it will take long to reach your goal of mid 5s.
 
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paul-1976

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Great stuff Geri! :) A big pat on the back and it's all down to your hard work and determination.:)
 
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Beachbag

Beachbag

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Thank you :joyful:. Wish I could say it was hard work... but it wasn't! In all my 22 yrs of struggling to achieve a reasonable level of control over this monster, I've never found a way I knew I could live with forever, until I came across Low Carbing ;)

Geri xx
 
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lizdeluz

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I agree. LCHF has given me too a freedom I really didn't expect after a long long time of getting nowhere. I've been doing low carbing for about 4 months too, I'm very grateful for the advice I've received from many helpful low carbers on this forum. I hope I will also get encouragement from my clinic visit in a couple of weeks.

Fantastic news, Geri! Well done!
 
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Beachbag

Beachbag

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@lizdeluz
:) It's great isn't it. I saw my hospital DN again yesterday to go though a change in my insulin regime. She was much more supportive this time and very interested in my diet.
Lots of luck for your appointment :)
Take care.
Geri x
 
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S

smidge

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Well done BB! Basal/bolus might take little getting used to, but mid 5s is perfectly doable. Go for it and as long as you're not getting loads of hypos, don't let anyone put you off. I maintain HbA1c of mid 5s and Shock! Horror! I drive. I have normal hypo awareness and usually one or two mild hypos a week. Regularly get told off by my consultant for having my HbA1c too low though. I think they're just used to seeing poorly controlled diabetics and it clouds their view of normal.

Remember, normal BG is 3.4 to 5.5 so 3.4 is not a hypo. It is normal BG and in itself won't harm you - obviously with proviso that you're not still dropping.

Good luck!

Smidge
 
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Beachbag

Beachbag

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smidge said:
Well done BB! Basal/bolus might take little getting used to, but mid 5s is perfectly doable. Go for it and as long as you're not getting loads of hypos, don't let anyone put you off. I maintain HbA1c of mid 5s and Shock! Horror! I drive. I have normal hypo awareness and usually one or two mild hypos a week. Regularly get told off by my consultant for having my HbA1c too low though. I think they're just used to seeing poorly controlled diabetics and it clouds their view of normal.

Remember, normal BG is 3.4 to 5.5 so 3.4 is not a hypo. It is normal BG and in itself won't harm you - obviously with proviso that you're not still dropping.

Good luck!

Smidge
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Thank you smidge, your post is very encouraging! :). I've had my first two days of basal/bolus and they've been a bit of a challenge. I awoke this morning to a 10.5 ( yuck!) and have spent most of today out with my dog doing extra miles, and juggling carbs rather than hiking up the insulin....no doubt that was the wrong thing to do but.... hey ho, at least the weather was good ;) I agree about mid fives. My body feels right at that level so I'm going to do my best to get there.
Take care!
Geri ;)
 
Joe Sweatthang

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Well done. I'm not familiar with any of the insulin drugs that are prescribed as I manage my type2 with diet and exercise only. However, after watching a very good documentary on Netflix (i'll have to find out what it was if anyone is interested) - One statement stood out. "There are hardly any (if any) drugs that are prescribed these days that are for the short term." Think about it - if pharmas produced a drug that instantly fixed a health problem, then they will not make much money out of each and every drug they produced. They want you to keep taking drugs. So, if you can control your glucose levels by high fat low carb diet and you have brought your hba1c levels down to a good level, then why do you need to continue with insulin medication ? Am I missing something here ? Are these doctors of the mind set that once you have started on these medications, you can never come off them ?
 
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Beachbag

Beachbag

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@Joe Sweatthang
Thanks Joe and yes I agree with you in that drugs are often overprescribed...eg statins being prescribed ad lib and leaving people with awful side effects ( I know, I've been there). As for insulin, well, my body no longer produces any or is of such poor quality that its good for nothing, so whilst I can aim for good control by eating LCHF which reduces the amount of insulin I need to inject, its highly unlikely I could ever stop using it. I'm on a damage limitation exercise so to speak ;)
 
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