Bringing my HbA1c down

Bazzza said:

I had an appointment today at the Diabetes Day Care Center this morning, First time I was back there in years. She weighed me, I'm 58.9KG which is good for me. But she also asked about my HBA1c levels and what it was, I told here I didn't know, so she looked on the computer at the blood tests I had done in hospital last week and it was 148. Prior to this morning I didn't know what that was and how high or low the numbers should of been, she was shocked and said she had never seen anything like it before. I've So with that reading I was wondering what if anything I can do to bring this down. I've to go back in two weeks and she said that I should aim to reach 52mol that is my "target range"

Click to expand...

I would get her to double check these figures! There is no way you can get such a reduction in just 2 weeks; considering this reading is a ~3m average. You'd need to run your BG at 1-2mmol/L 24-7 to bring down such an average (BTW, def not advocating that mover lol)

did they put you on metformin?
did they check for ketones in your urine?

you are going to have to do some serious carb cutting, to see how good it can come down,
these sites helped me
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic or better the rate of ~80% remission, for surgery T2
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html

more diet plans
http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com/low-carb-mediterranean-diet/
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

SD codefree meter
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
if you buy extra boxes of strips there is a discount code
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

sorry, you are on insulin...whole different story
I thought you were T2

do a basal check first and get that right. check with your consultant, too quick can cause short term eye problems I'd aim for about 10 of a morning to start with
http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

Bazzza said:

I wasn't taking my insulin for months and months and only sporadically over the course of the eight years after I got told I had Diabetes. But I am surprised now that she has set me such an unreachable goal and its taken someone off the internet to tell me its not possible.

Click to expand...

Not good Bazza, insulin should never be stopped unless under medical guidance.

Take on board the advice given last night and you should be able to reduce your bg levels and Hba1c, if you've got any problems like diabetic retinopathy you need to let your HCP's know in case they've missed it today, as tightening up your bg control in a short space of time can make the retinopathy worse.

Presumably in hospital they have set you up with an insulin regime to use. What have they suggested in terms of dose?
At the moment I think it is probably very important to test, to try to keep a record of what you are eating and what your glucose levels were before and after your meals, in the morning and at bedtime so you can look for patterns.

As you don't seem to have been having any routine checks until this happened . I would ask them if you had a blood/urine to see how your kidneys are doing (and what the results are) . I would also think its very important to make sure that you have a retinopathy check.

As to HbA1c, perhaps she meant to reduce this gradually to this point not by two weeks time. It agree I'm not sure is it is in fact possible to reduce your HbA1c by that sort of amount.
An HbA1c measures the amount of glucose 'stuck' onto your cells over the period of the life of the red blood cell which is around 3 months. The glucose doesn't come unstuck. As you get new cells, If your blood glucose is lower then not as much will stick to these newer cells and the older ones will gradually be replaced.

Bazzza said:

Thanks jack for those links I'll check them out and bookmark them . Last week my ketones were above 3 and I was told in hospital I was DKA.

Click to expand...

Please forgive me for saying this but it sounds like u are proud you hadn't taken insulin for such a period and not that fussed about being DKA?

Why did you stop taking it?

Bazzza said:

Proud...hardly, It scared the **** out of me after I was told how silly and dangerous what I was doing was. Phoenix I have to take 10 units before breakfast and lunch and 12 before my dinner. I'll ask about a retinopathy check test too. I had ultra sounds done on my Liver, Kidneys, Spleen and Bladder and they all came back ok.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that your experience scared you. I hope it gave you the shock to the system you needed to finally get your head out of the sand and take your diabetes seriously.

To be bland either you will have to learn how to live with your diabetes or you will die because of it.

.To be honest, whether the target set by your nurse is achievable or not, which is not within the weeks until your next appointment, is neither here nor there. She probably gave you your target HbA1c just to show you how far from it you allowed yourself to get.

But all is not lost. It is never too late to make a fresh start, educate yourself on what needs doing, and regain control before it is too late.

Your finding your way to this site and asking for help is a very encouraging first step.

There are plenty of very experienced and knowledgable people on this site who are more than willing to offer their guidance and support.

I apologize if some of my words appear harsh but I really want to bring home to you that you can not afford to go back to ignoring this disease again.

Please ask and ask again about anything that you are not certain about until you are clear about what needs to be done.

It may take a bit of time and a lot of discipline to get your levels where you want them to be but I am sure that it will be all worth it for the sake of your health.

Diabetes may be a deadly serious condition but it is one that, if you follow its rules, is manageable and allows for a full and fulfilling life.

I wish you the best in your efforts

Pavlos

Bazzza said:

...But she also asked about my HBA1c levels and what it was, I told here I didn't know, so she looked on the computer at the blood tests I had done in hospital last week and it was 148....
...Last week my ketones were above 3 and I was told in hospital I was DKA.

Click to expand...

:***:
If your blood test results showed a HBA1C reading of 148 mmol/mol (15.5%) and a keytone reading of over 3.0 mmol/L I am surprised that you were not immediately hospitalised and put on a drip - I was, for 3 days, with substantially lower readings than yours!
Time for you to ease off on the carbs I think

Bazzza

Why don't you take a full day readings and post them here.... We can suggest, based on our experiences what we would do in your position.

You need to do some regular testing -when you get up, pre food and 2 hrs after food and ideally one test around 3am in morning.

Are you determined to stick your head out of the sand to do this?

Please learn or update yourself on adjusting your doses.

Members here will support you through. You are 3times over the ideal levels, so you are obviously needing to increase your doses. Peronally I would give a days readings with a days intake and to try and lower your carb intake.

Teenage years and early twenties is a **** hard time for most T1's so you are not the only one thats had "head in sand" syndrome...

Take it you dont carb count @Bazzza ?