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Eating disorder has given me 102 mmol/mol HbA1c

H

harrygarry95

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all,

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year at the age of 25. In June last year I recorded 80 mmol/mol however managed to reduce it down to 62 in January this year. Since then I've lost over a stone and a half however after getting a blood test done yesterday they've spiked to 102 mmol/mol HbA1c.

I put some of this down to myself stopping medication and trying the 800 fast diet. I wasn't able to take medication whilst doing that as it made me feel faint. I have a history with eating disorders and have had bulimia since I was 14 years old. During lockdown I've really struggled and have got into a bad binge eating habit.

My bloods yesterday also show an extremely high Gamma GT level at 539 unit/L and Alanine Transaminase at 336 unit/L which indicate my liver is damaged. I'm a male 6ft"1 currently weighing 15.5 stone down from 17.8 stone. Obviously these results are alarmingly high for my age. There's a history of heart disease in the family and I'm worried I won't be able to reverse it?

I'm on track to lose a further two stone over the next few months with a goal of going back down to 11/12 stone by the end of the year or early next year. Does anyone have any advice to stop eating so badly? If I manage to lose weight in the next 3 months will my HbA1c be able to go down?

Thanks
 
Hi @harrygarry95
Sorry to hear about your HbA1C setback. Seems like you were doing fine before, although perhaps it wasn't sustainable.

I have no personal experience of Bulimia (though son of a friend used to suffer from it). With your history of disordered eating I'm a little surprised that you would choose a calorie restricted diet over plain old carb cutting as in LCHF. Though perhaps feeling hungry gives you a sense of control- even though it's illusory since its impossible to sustain since will power is finite - it always runs out eventually!

I do overeat fairly regularly, but what I have learned is to only overeat food which does me no/little harm i.e. Proteins and Fats such as cheese or nuts.
 
I have an eating disorder, binge eating carbs in the past. I'm on a waiting list for therapy (the wait is at least 18 months) but I have found low carb much easier to manage then any of the diets I tried in the past.
When I went low carb I knew I'd need to find substitutes for the foods I used to overeat.
I thought about my favourite foods, which ones I'd struggle without. In my case that was rice, cake, fruit, crisps and chocolate.
I stopped thinking about calories and focused on carb counting. This means I never have to feel hungry.

I swapped to cauliflower rice, finding that I needed to make any sauce much thicker as it won't absorb much.
I swapped to 85% chocolate but sometimes I melt it, add cream and sweetener and flavour it with orange or peppermint essence or add extra cream and make chocolate mousse.
I have a few fresh raspberries most days, with cream or Greek yogurt.
About once a week I make a low carb cake - with ground almonds or coconut flour (there are so many keto/low carb recipe sites).
I've tried things like kale crisps, but mainly do without.
But there are all the things I can eat now - all the high fat foods! - so I add extra cheese, butter, oil-based salad dressing. All the things I'd tried to give up years ago but can have now.
 
harrygarry95 said:
Hi all,
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year at the age of 25. In June last year I recorded 80 mmol/mol however managed to reduce it down to 62 in January this year. Since then I've lost over a stone and a half however after getting a blood test done yesterday they've spiked to 102 mmol/mol HbA1c.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Your Hba1c is nothing to do with your weight, everything to do with your intake of carbohydrates.
There are various theories about the causes of type two, and variations on how to treat it, but nothing seems to beat getting a blood glucose tester, a supply of strips and lancets, and then eating to keep your blood glucose in the normal range.
I saw my BG levels reduce to 8mmol/l after meals and then drift even lower as I stuck to the same menu.
In 6 months I was at the top end of normal for Hba1c and under 7mmol/l after meals. I don't need medication or low calorie diets, I eat small nourishing meals twice a day and I feel fine, even at my advanced age.
You might be something more interesting than type two if your levels don't reduce when eating a low carb diet, but it might be a place to start and hopefully see lower levels of BG.
It is probably a good thing for you to reduce carbohydrate levels gradually to reduce the shock to the small blood vessels and in doing so your meter will really help you gauge your ability to cope with various foods.
 
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