Type 2 Blood sugar levels

Mscmhs1 · Jul 16, 2020

Hey all.

I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 several months ago. At the time my fasting glucose was 56mmol/l. I was retested again three months later and the result was 53mmol/l.

I wondered the significance of these results. I was initially diagnosed about a week before the English lockdown of COVID-19 and so have not yet had the chance to properly discuss this with my GP, although she did arrange the most most recent test.

My understanding is 48mmol/l is the diagnosis threshold but is 53 still considered almost at that boundary or significantly over it?

I am overweight (15st) but have lost a stone.

Goonergal · Jul 16, 2020

Hi @Mscmhs1 and welcome to the forum

It sounds like your results are HbA1c scores, not fasting blood glucose. The HbA1c is a test that estimates your average blood glucose readings over a 3 month period.

As you say, in the UK, the threshold for diagnosis with diabetes is an HbA1c of 48 or above, with 42-47 being regarded as pre-diabetic and anything below as non-diabetic.

So your results of 56 and then 53 are firmly in the diabetic range, but towards the lower end. This article may be helpful to you: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

You mention losing a stone. Have you made some dietary changes? It’s very possible to get down into non diabetic numbers using diet - many of us here have done so, some from a very high starting point. This is usually through reducing carbohydrates - you might find the dietary information in this link useful: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/ and the dietdoctor.com website is great for recipes and food ideas.

Do you have a blood glucose meter so you can monitor your own progress and see the reaction to different foods? There’s some information in the link I shared. As a type 2 you’d likely need to self fund, but it’s an important tool for managing this condition.

JoKalsbeek · Jul 16, 2020

Mscmhs1 said:
Hey all.

I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 several months ago. At the time my fasting glucose was 56mmol/l. I was retested again three months later and the result was 53mmol/l.

I wondered the significance of these results. I was initially diagnosed about a week before the English lockdown of COVID-19 and so have not yet had the chance to properly discuss this with my GP, although she did arrange the most most recent test.

My understanding is 48mmol/l is the diagnosis threshold but is 53 still considered almost at that boundary or significantly over it?

I am overweight (15st) but have lost a stone.

Your fasting blood glucose can't be 56 mmol/l, because that'd mean it's pure syrup running through your veins. There are a few different numbers that are used to identify/quantify diabetes. The number you're quoting isn't a fasting blood glucose, which would be measured in either mmol/l or mg/dl, but a HbA1c, which is an average of the past three months and is measured in mmol/mol. Just to keep everything nice and simple!

The 50's you mention are diabetic, yeah, but they're not dramatically diabetic. In other words, if you make a couple of changes in your lifestyle, you can get your blood sugars back into the normal range right-quick. You probably don't even need medication to back you up, you could be seeing normal numbers again in a matter of weeks. You'll always be diabetic mind you... But you wouldn't suffer complications or progression if you control your numbers well. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- have a read, maybe it'll help.

In any case, you're going to be okay. Believe that.
Hugs,
Jo

EllieM · Jul 16, 2020

Welcome to the forums.

Mscmhs1 said:
At the time my fasting glucose was 56mmol/l. I was retested again three months later and the result was 53mmol/l.

I'm guessing you mean hba1c, not fasting glucose, as you'd be dead if you had a glucose level of 56mmol/L

An hba1c of 56 corresponds to an average blood sugar of 9, 53 goes to 8.5 and the 48 threshold level corresponds to an average of 7.7. Non diabetics generally keep their levels between 4 and 8 throughout the day, so you can see that all those levels are quite a bit higher than a non-diabetic would have. In an ideal world, you'd be warned of pre-diabetes once your hba1c got to around 40, so 53 is quite a bit into the diabetic range.

But, there are plenty of folk on these forums who get a diabetes diagnosis when their hba1c is up to 90, 100 or even higher, so from that point of view 53 is quite moderate. And though your GP would probably like you to get your hba1c down below 48, they probably won't rush to put you on additional medication (other than metformin) with a level of 53.

But, a second but, your profile says you are 36. So if you are aiming to live a long and healthy life you are talking about potentially 50 years with T2. The medication route for treating T2 tends to assume it is a progressive disease, so medication is gradually increased to control a gradually worsening tolerance to carbohydrate. The end medication is insulin injections, and I would urge you to avoid this if possible. In your position, I would look hard at limiting my carbohydrate levels to that which my body can cope with, achieving remission and normal blood sugar levels. And by the way, weight gain is a symptom of T2 diabetes, so you'll probably find you lose more weight if you cut down on the carbs.

Congrats on the hba1c reduction and the weight loss.

Type 2 Blood sugar levels

Mscmhs1

Active Member

Goonergal

Master

JoKalsbeek

Expert

EllieM

Moderator

Type 2 Blood sugar levels

Mscmhs1

Active Member

Goonergal

Master

JoKalsbeek

Expert

EllieM

Moderator

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