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FIrst HbA1c result

Thommothebear

Thommothebear

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,186
Location
Kent
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Had my first HbA1c test last week (two weeks after diagnosis as Type 2), and got my results back today at 61 so looks like I have probably been type 2 for a while.

Having been on Metformin 500mg slow release for 3 weeks and testing daily before eating and two hours after, I seem to be seeing some results now and my reading have been fairly steadily reducing to around 7.9 as a weekly average. I have not really changed my diet yet as I think it's pretty healthy and not very high in bad carbs anyway. I do noticably have more energy than I had before and I also seem to be slowly losing weight at the rate of about 1lb a week with no increase in exercise - the new rowing machine arrives this week so we'll see what happens then on that front, my BMI is currently 28 and I would like to get it down

Review with the doctor this morning and she seems quite happy and does not want to change anything, so will be interesting to see what my next test in July will look like.
 
Hi Thommo, I think its hard to tell how long anyone has been diabetic at diagnosis, the HbA1c level shows the average blood glucose concentration over the previous four weeks to three months. Some researchers believe it is weighted toward the most recent 2 to 4 weeks. So it is possible although unlikely that you may only have been diabetic for a couple of months.

Regarding Metformin the max recommended dose of 4 x 500mg tablets will only help to drop blood glucose (bg) levels by between 1 and 2 mmol/L so one tablet is not going to make a big difference to your levels overall but your diet can make a huge difference as even a small reduction in the portions of carbs you eat can make a marked difference to your bg levels, much more than one or two Metformin will :D

Its entirely possible of course that the reduction in your bg levels that you are noticing has as much to do with the fact that you are now thinking about what you are eating as the 1 x Metformin you are taking.

Weight loss will make a big difference if you are overweight and even if you are not its still possible to have visceral fat and its known that visceral fat around the internal organs especially the pancreas and liver increases insulin resistance which makes it hard for your natural insulin to work properly therefore any reduction in this fat will have a large impact on bg levels and how quickly they return to normal after eating.

Good luck with your next blood test and review :thumbup:
 
Thanks!

It was actually the doctor who said it meant I have probably been diabetic for a quite a while- I knew I was prediabetic and have been for a few years, but for various reasons I was not able to get my annual GTT done last year and it didn't happen till Feb this year - a gap of just over two years, and I was "on the cusp" on the previous GTT according to the doctor

I understand what you are saying regarding metformin. But I seriously haven't changed my diet at all as I was already using a GI diet since I was told I was prediabetic, so the only other thing I can think of is that the recent change to a different statin has impacted my BG levels somehow (not sure how that would work, but I know some believe statins are bad). I am considering low carbing so hopefully that will improve things further.

Whatever it is, I'm certainly not complaining and I just hope it continues for as long as possible
 
Again I'm reading this and my eyes saw "thommobear" as "Thermo Bear" You've inadvertently inspired me to create him.
Thankyou.:lol:
 
Nah, I'm a Polar bear, sort of the opposite thing really. It has it's advantages though, not many carbohydrates in seal livers. :thumbup:
 
My kind of humour thermo.:lol:

So just for you..
 

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Thermobear now has a fearless sidekick called Pinkduck, an evil nemesis called Kpow-Cow and stand in villain called Apocalypse Octopus.
If you follow me on twitter @myroomsadisco all is revealed.
Thankyou for the albeit inadvertent inspiration:-)
 
And one for le Thundercat:
 

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