A1C

[Anits]

1st Oct diagnosed with type 2 with an A1C 72. Tested again 22nd Oct and now 48. Have been taking Metformin and trying hard with diet. Due to see diabetic nurse on Thursday, so hopefully will help as feel we are not confident we are making right decisions, but am I right thinking this is a really good reduction? Taking metformin, but really hoping we can go into remission and not have to be medicated. Is this realistic?

 

[KennyA]

That's a substantial fall in a very short time - whatever you're doing seems to be working.

It's certainly a realistic proposition to gets your bloods back to normal levels and not be taking medication. If you have a look at the "Success Stories" section of the forum you'll see plenty of accounts from people who have done just that.

 

[Anits]

Thank you

 

[Calderbloke]

Thank you

Are you using a BG monitor? I'd be interested to know how useful you find it?

 

[KennyA]

Are you using a BG monitor? I'd be interested to know how useful you find it?

I'd strongly recommend using a BG monitor on a structured basis. The most useful thing it will do is give you a fairly good idea about what foods have the greatest impact on your glucose levels. Test before you eat, and then two hours later. This is NOT to see how high you go - the high point will be reached in the first hour usually. This is intended to show how well your system deals with clearing excess glucose from your blood.

Everyone's BG will rise after eating carbs - they're digested to glucose, after all. The big question is how long your glucose stays elevated , which is an indication of how efficient your insulin response is. You are looking to have your BG level back to close to statring point after two hours. Because of the inaccuracies of the metering, you shouldn't get anxious over small differences. Being within 2mmol/l of the starting point and under 8.0 is ideal for the second reading.

Rises and falls in blood glucose are perfectly normal. What you don't want is a significant rise that hangs around for hours - that shows that there were too many carbs in what you ate for your body to process.

I'd also recommend recording all your readings and what food was associated with them. I did that for around two years until I was sure I understood what the effects of foods were. Old diaries are great for this. I will still do a week or so like that every so often to check for any changes.

 

[Calderbloke]

I'd strongly recommend using a BG monitor on a structured basis. The most useful thing it will do is give you a fairly good idea about what foods have the greatest impact on your glucose levels. Test before you eat, and then two hours later. This is NOT to see how high you go - the high point will be reached in the first hour usually. This is intended to show how well your system deals with clearing excess glucose from your blood.

Everyone's BG will rise after eating carbs - they're digested to glucose, after all. The big question is how long your glucose stays elevated , which is an indication of how efficient your insulin response is. You are looking to have your BG level back to close to statring point after two hours. Because of the inaccuracies of the metering, you shouldn't get anxious over small differences. Being within 2mmol/l of the starting point and under 8.0 is ideal for the second reading.

Rises and falls in blood glucose are perfectly normal. What you don't want is a significant rise that hangs around for hours - that shows that there were too many carbs in what you ate for your body to process.

I'd also recommend recording all your readings and what food was associated with them. I did that for around two years until I was sure I understood what the effects of foods were. Old diaries are great for this. I will still do a week or so like that every so often to check for any changes.

 

[Calderbloke]

Thanks, that's very useful! I'm currently waiting for my T200+ to arrive and I started keeping a food diary as soon as I read the test results. I'm also waiting to try a Freestyle Libre 2, but will see how useful it is before I commit to regular use.

 

[VashtiB]

Thanks, that's very useful! I'm currently waiting for my T200+ to arrive and I started keeping a food diary as soon as I read the test results. I'm also waiting to try a Freestyle Libre 2, but will see how useful it is before I commit to regular use.

I self fund a Libre 2 a couple of times a year. I find it helpful with motivation and it makes it easy to see how my levels are. They are expensive though .