consultant today

Curleous

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Hi everyone

was diagnose as t1 back in July this year with rapid weight loss and all the other associated symptons and was really quite poorly. hb1ac was 12.8 but a month ago i had a blood test at gp and was down to 7.2 . I am on lantus 14 units and 3 , 3 , and whatever at night time but normally 5 or 6 units. Is it worth me asking ofr another hb1ac test today as only a month since last one but last one was not 3 months since was i diganosed. Reading some of the posts on here i am concerned at all the negativity on lantus...what are the main health concerns with using lantus against using other types and what should i be looking out for. I have also noticed that if i have a couple of glasses of wine in the vevning my morning sugars are lower between 4.5 and 6 but no beer then about 5.5 to 7. i dont drink every night but can someone explain why this is and if it is ok. I have also noticed that when this happens that i can go low about 2 hours after brekkie and novorapid. I have also been slowly putting wait on since been diagnosed. I know i lost a lot before being diagnosed and was always likely to put some back on but i am now eating a lot less and more healthily and still seem to be putting weight on. BMI is just in the normal healthy range but i dont want to put on any more. I exercise 3 times a week normally with swimming for 1/2 hour or gym for 45 minutes.

Sooooo many questions sorry.

Thanks
Curleous
 

NickW

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Hi,

Trying to address all your questions:

1. If it's only a month since your last HbA1C it may not be worth asking for another one just yet. You already know it's come down a lot since diagnosis; your daily control (i.e. your blood glucose readings from your meter) will tell you more right now. But I think it would be worth trying to get another HbA1C in another month or two (i.e. so that it's 2 or 3 months since the previous one).

2. I don't use Lantus so can't comment directly, but bear in mind that side effects vary from person to person - Lantus isn't "bad" or "dangerous" per se, many people get on very well with it and others don't. I'll let those with more experience answer this further.

3. Alcohol can certainly lower your blood glucose over night. This happens because the liver usually produces glucose overnight, but if it has to do other work (in this case processing alcohol), that takes priority and it doesn't produce as much glucose. This has the effect of lowering your blood glucose. Beer has a fair whack of carbohydrate in it, so although it still has the same effect of reducing the amount of glucose the liver produces, you're also taking in carbs which will raise blood glucose - so this is why wine depresses BG more than beer.

4. Going low after breakfast after drinking - this is related to the above; your liver hasn't produced the normal amount of glucose so you go low. This is just something you need to be aware of and allow for (either by eating slightly more or injecting slightly less novorapid) - you need to learn your own body's responses to food, exercise, insulin, illness, and all sorts of other things so you can adjust waht you do to maintain good control.

5. As for the weight gain - it's completely normal to put weight back on after diagnosis. You've been without insulin (the primary "storage" hormone) so your body was unable to use the fuel you were eating, and was therefore burning your body's stores; it's now got access to insulin again so it's trying to replenish those stores. Don't worry too much about it right now. But essentially, the same rules apply as for everyone else - if you don't want to put on weight, don't eat more than you burn off. You'll probably find that limiting your carbohydrate intake (which in turn will mean you need a bit less insulin) wll help with weight control, as well as help your blood sugars.

Hope that helps, please post back with any more questions.

Cheers,
Nick.
 

Curleous

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thanks for that.
consultant was happy and said no poitn with blood test as 7.2 was really good coming down from 12.8 after 2 months and will do one in December. Cholesterol he was happy at which was 5.0 with another reading of 1.8 but cant remeber what that was. I have just got remained focussed on weight as bmi is 25 and i do not want this to go up but am eating more healthy and less than i was and exercising more but am finding i am hungry a lot more especially with watching carbohydrate intake... any recommendations for snacks anyone..??

thanks

Curleous
 

Useless Pretty Boy

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If you can stand nuts of most types, then a handful for a snack is generally considered a good idea, even just in general rather than simply for diabetics. I'm quite a fan of a handful of brazil nuts, they have quite a sweet aftertaste without really having much carbohydrate in them at all.

You could give them a go?