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Confused.!. Understanding blood results.
- Thread starter Snowies
- Start Date
Bluetit1802
Legend
Hello and welcome,
Both those tests show diabetes, but at the lower end, so not bad. For the HbA1c anything over 47 is diabetic, and for the tolerance test anything above 11 at 2 hours. Your second test will just be to confirm matters.
Have a good read round the forum and ask as many questions as you like. No time like the present to make plans on how to control this. You have every chance of reducing those levels with a correct diet and a little added exercise. Good luck.
Both those tests show diabetes, but at the lower end, so not bad. For the HbA1c anything over 47 is diabetic, and for the tolerance test anything above 11 at 2 hours. Your second test will just be to confirm matters.
Have a good read round the forum and ask as many questions as you like. No time like the present to make plans on how to control this. You have every chance of reducing those levels with a correct diet and a little added exercise. Good luck.
Patricia21
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,764
- Location
- Rochester Kent
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
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- Animal crualty
Hi and welcome.
My first HbA1c was 58 ,I was put on 1x500mg Metformin,but eating properly is the answer.
I joined the forum June last year and with advice My HbA1c is now 44.
All the best.
My first HbA1c was 58 ,I was put on 1x500mg Metformin,but eating properly is the answer.
I joined the forum June last year and with advice My HbA1c is now 44.
All the best.
WeeFergus
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 579
- Location
- Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Cruelty to humans and animals.
A very warm welcome to you @Snowies . I'll tag @daisy1 and she'll provide you with some useful initial information that will help you get those levels down. Don't worry, they're not too bad and you should be able to reduce them quite easily. Just reduce (or cut out) the main 'culprits' especially bread, pasta, potatoes and rice. Have you bought a meter and strips to test your own levels? That really helps by letting you know what foods push your levels up.
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Location
- Switzerland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
@Snowies
Hello and welcome to the forum
Some good answers above. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful to help reduce your levels. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Some good answers above. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful to help reduce your levels. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
crazycatlady42
Active Member
- Messages
- 28
- Type of diabetes
- Other
- Treatment type
- Other
It is certainly useful and reassuring at the same time.
Robbity
Expert
- Messages
- 6,700
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
The best thing about our forum is that the information and advice here is provided by other diabetics who are speaking from experience, so will know what they're are talking about, and know how befuddled newly diagnosed diabetics might be feeling.
Robbity
Robbity
4ratbags
Well-Known Member
Hi and welcome to the forum, it takes a while to get your head around everything but you are in the right place, there are a lot of helpful people here so dont be afraid to ask questions. On diagnosis my HbA1c was 100 , it is now 44 and I hope to get it lower.
