Fasting Hba1c At 80 ?

[MillieT]

Hi all,

I have a pre operative assessment last week and had fasting blood tests, nothing to eat or drink after 8pm and was tested at approx 10.30 am and she has called to advise my HBA1C came back at 80, I am on low carb diet, the only thing I have changed recently is that the diabetic nutritionist at the clinic said to me I can eat any kind of fruit, 3 x daily would be ok and a portion size was one handful, i.e. one pear, one apple and so forth. I am unsure whether this has made any change but my levels last time were very good, any advice welcome please only I am worried because I have been waiting for an eye op for 2 years and the pre op nurse said it is unlikely they shall operate until my levels are down

 

[Engineer88]

How does eating fruit sit in a low carb diet? What level of carbs are you eating per day? Are you testing yourself?

More info required

 

[sally and james]

HI @miffli
Firstly, as you probably know, you don't need to fast for an HbA1c as it is a sort of average of the past three months. Maybe you were having other tests that did require fasting.

An HbA1c of 80 is high, well over the diagnostic level for T2, though don't panic, it's definitely nowhere near being a record and under normal T2 conditions if fully reversible. Your signature says that your HbA1c in August of last year was 53. The medics would say that this is OK for a diabetic, but it is quite a way off normal, which is in the 30's or below. Something must have changed and you mention the three portions of fruit per day. Most of us here, would not eat this sort of fruit or in these quantities. Those who want fruit tend to eat a very small amount of berries, such as strawberries and raspberries, both of which are low carb.

Do you have a blood glucose meter? I strongly recommend that you get one, so that you can see what individual meals and food stuffs are doing to your sugar levels. I'm guessing that you will be giving up that fruit fairly quickly. Would you like to tell us what your typical day is like food wise. There may be other things that are not so good for you.
Sally

 

[MillieT]

Yes I do know but my gp asked me to fast because he wanted to test other related things in my blood.

The (NHS) diabetic nutritionist said to not worry about testing myself and if I had to, do it after my main meal, this is all, she said I could eat up to 3 portions of fruit per day when normally, I do not eat much fruit at all, maybe a couple of strawberries in a week, since she told me I have eaten more, like and apple and a pear in one day an dhad wondered why I was getting headaches, a while back I started the keto diet but I was quite poorly to be honest and so put a few carbs back in like 2 small pieces of potato or a tablespoon of rice with my dinner.

Yes, I do have a meter and have tested myself 3 times a day in the past but they have told me not to, they don;t want me to be any more anxious than I am as my levels are supposedly off the chart. (Anxiety that is)

 

[sally and james]

@miffli You have to make a decision. Do you want to take control and test your blood sugars properly and alter your diet accordingly, or do you want to follow the advice of a nutritionist, who doesn't appear to be doing you any favours. By the way, "80" is not "off the chart"!!

Testing your blood sugars properly: Keep a food diary showing what you have eaten, including portion sizes, along with a blood sugar reading taken immediately before first bite and then two hours later. This will begin to show patterns and you will know what to avoid. You can then repeat meals, that have worked well a few times, without testing, but you do need to go through the process.

It is quite normal to feel a bit unwell when you start a keto or very low carb diet, it's called "keto flu". You soon get over it and then I recall a sudden rush of happiness and well being. I won't say that has stayed with me for every moment of the last five years, but I feel miles better than I used to. You can't really know that you have established good, low carb/keto eating habits unless you test. Travelling blind is what causes anxiety, once you know what you are doing, there's nothing to be anxious about.
Sally

 

[Resurgam]

Ah - with potato rice and fruit in that quantity it would actually be surprising for you not to be seeing that sort of Hba1c level.
When you cut out carbs suddenly then you do have some reaction from a poor shocked body - particularly if you go very low, and it seems that you did so without the benefit of testing to see just how your BG level responded.
Low carb is very effective in controlling BG levels - I got down to normal quite fast, but I already knew which foods to eat - the ones which do not increase my weight, and I found that I got normal BG levels when eating a maximum of 50 gm of carbs a day, which is fine by me - I don't need to test now as I have sorted out my menu and can stick to it easily, and feel fine.

 

[MillieT]

@miffli You have to make a decision. Do you want to take control and test your blood sugars properly and alter your diet accordingly, or do you want to follow the advice of a nutritionist, who doesn't appear to be doing you any favours. By the way, "80" is not "off the chart"!!

Testing your blood sugars properly: Keep a food diary showing what you have eaten, including portion sizes, along with a blood sugar reading taken immediately before first bite and then two hours later. This will begin to show patterns and you will know what to avoid. You can then repeat meals, that have worked well a few times, without testing, but you do need to go through the process.

It is quite normal to feel a bit unwell when you start a keto or very low carb diet, it's called "keto flu". You soon get over it and then I recall a sudden rush of happiness and well being. I won't say that has stayed with me for every moment of the last five years, but I feel miles better than I used to. You can't really know that you have established good, low carb/keto eating habits unless you test. Travelling blind is what causes anxiety, once you know what you are doing, there's nothing to be anxious about.
Sally

Sally,
I did not say my HBA1C levels are off the chart at all, I said my Anxiety levels are, please can everyone read what I have said.

All I have done is go to an NHS appointment made for me by my NHS GP, they have advised that there is no point whatsoever in taking any blood tests 2 hours after eating because as they say, pretty much any carb you may have had shall spike you.

Sadly I I felt more than ill when I tried the keto diet and I gave it a good chance and certainly did not have anything like some rush of happiness and well being! My Anxiety was not caused by traveling blind,. I already had bad anxiety before I was diagnosed diabetic.

 

[MillieT]

May I also add that why do the NHS tell me to go to the diabetes.org website and not this one as it is not recognised, I have said this many times before and been disregarded as talking piffle by the members here. the fact is that nobody actually read what I said in its entirety and jumped to conclusions, making their own minds up before the original question had actually sunk in. I feel worse than I did this morning now.

 

[Resurgam]

People do tend to use labels such as 'The Keto Diet' and set out a regime which is set in stone and works apparently by magic without any regard to the person involved.
I do Atkins, which is all about tailoring the way of eating to the personal requirements - which is why I was rather amused to find that the diet which so many HCPs have tried and succeeded in convincing me was not what I should be doing in the past, is exactly the way I need to eat to control my blood glucose.
By testing two hours after starting to eat you can see how to adjust your carb intake so you do not spike your BG - I am amazed at the stupid things nurses tell diabetics.

 

[sally and james]

@miffli I was trying to help you, but I shall go and sit in the sunshine instead.
Sally

 

[Bluetit1802]

@miffli

You have a choice here. You can either believe the NHS people who blindly follow outdated and debunked guidelines, or believe the members of this forum that are all diabetics with a vast amount of experience and knowledge between them. Not only that, but a great number have brought their HbA1c levels down to the non-diabetic range and managed to maintain remission from type 2 diabetes. As your HbA1c is high and you need to get it down in order to have your operation, I know who I would believe.

Your previous HbA1c was 53. Your last one was 80. Whatever you did between these two tests has made matters a lot worse.
Fruit is not a good choice for T2s. Not testing is a bad choice. Testing once a day is also a bad choice.

 

[Jenny15]

May I also add that why do the NHS tell me to go to the diabetes.org website and not this one as it is not recognised, I have said this many times before and been disregarded as talking piffle by the members here. the fact is that nobody actually read what I said in its entirety and jumped to conclusions, making their own minds up before the original question had actually sunk in. I feel worse than I did this morning now.

I read what you said in its entirety but only saw your thread now, when it was too late. I feel like I understand what you are getting at, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have if that will help you. I want to help you make sure you can get that eye op as soon as possible. I also have anxiety issues, so can relate.

You may want to see your GP and explain you are now anxious about the eye op. He or she should get written confirmation from the hospital that you will not be bumped to the back of the waiting list. I know that would be my worry. You should be given an HbA1c test 3 months after this one, and if low enough, should be back where you were on the waiting list before this result of 80 came back. If not low enough, same process again in 3 months.

If I were you I would ask the GP what HbA1c level will clear you for surgery. If he or she doesn't know, this question should be added to the request for written confirmation.

I don't know if this is possible in the UK, but we have a very similar system in NZ and this is what I would be asking for. It is a big bureaucracy and often our GP understands and cares more about us getting surgery than the pen pushers at the hospital do.

Are you managing OK while waiting for the eye op, by that I mean do you have good enough glasses and any other things you need day to day?

 

[Jenny15]

Sally,
I did not say my HBA1C levels are off the chart at all, I said my Anxiety levels are, please can everyone read what I have said.

All I have done is go to an NHS appointment made for me by my NHS GP, they have advised that there is no point whatsoever in taking any blood tests 2 hours after eating because as they say, pretty much any carb you may have had shall spike you.

Sadly I I felt more than ill when I tried the keto diet and I gave it a good chance and certainly did not have anything like some rush of happiness and well being! My Anxiety was not caused by traveling blind,. I already had bad anxiety before I was diagnosed diabetic.

As I said in my above post, I have anxiety issues too so I feel I can understand where you are coming from, to some extent. GPs and nurses don't always get things right, especially when it comes to food advice for type 2 diabetics. Modern knowledge takes a long time to spread throughout all the GPs and nurses out there in the workforce, who were given training when we didn't know what we know now about it.

I had a tough time trying very low carbing 9 years ago and if I try it again, it won't be during a time of crisis. I will need to "get all my ducks in a row" first and really understand what I am doing.

For now, can I suggest finding a happy medium between the extremes and reducing as many carbs as you can without feeling weak and being exhausted by all the work involved. I hope you keep asking questions and we can work together to help you get this sorted as soon as you can.