Got my HbA1c from 08/12/14 to 01/03/16 not good :(

The 8-week blood sugar diet is a version of the Newcastle diet. Basically, it's 800 calories a day for 8 weeks. The idea is that this mimics the food intake of a person after bariatric surgery, since bariatric surgery seems to reverse type 2 for a lot of people. The LCHF is not calorie restricted, just carb restricted - essentially no grains (bread, pasta, porridge, etc), fruit, sugar or starchy veg, but increased natural fat (butter, cheese, nuts, avocado, animal fat, etc). Either one can work to reverse diabetes. After I cut my carb intake, I found my carb cravings disappeared like magic.

berylc said:

I

Had a good chat with the nurse.

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I am a Type2
I have been off of Metformin and back on Metformin but what I have discovered is that in the process to eliminate my need for metformin I felt when it was time to come off of it. Since metformin has few side effects I wonder why it would make you feel worse unless you no longer need it and your blood glucose reading would confirm that. I have been successful in eliminating my need for the drug, but only to find that I needed it again when I strayed back to my old eating habits and lack of exercise. I am 73 years old and my energy level is not what it used to be, so sometimes exercise takes a back seat to where it should be. My only point is that unless you have reached that level where you no longer need the Metformin I would not recommend to stop using it. Surely your nurse knows that 6 months is a long time with this disease. The process to naturally lower your glucose may take longer than you realize and the damage you could do to your body may be regrettable. Metformin is a pretty innocuous drug but will help protect your body from the effects of diabetes while you work towards your goal. Better to be safe than sorry.

The sugar bowl is not your problem. The little carbos that come from a sprinkle of sugar is nothing compared to those slabs of bread. If you want to reach your, goal bread will not be allowed. Bread, cereals, bananas, sweets, pastas, many fruits, oatmeal, most root vegetables and other sources of high carbos will have to be history. Prepared foods are off the list to include deli meats and all deserts. Opt rather for fresh vegetables of the green variety and 4 0z of fresh fish and chicken and you will watch the weight come off and the glucose go down but it does take time and it does not happen nearly as quickly as we would wish. I can give you a recipe for pizza with a cauliflower crust that is to die for and it is basically carbo free.

I do understand you are in a battle that will hard fought but it is worth it. I have been there, in fact still there, and the battle never ends but it does get easier. Fact is, if it were easy none of us would have a problem, but is isn't and we do, so we play the cards we are dealt. I wish you success on your quest.

@muzza3 has had great results following the 8 week calorie restricted diet.

Lots of others have found similar results using the Low Carb method.

The thing is you need to change your diet, and commit to it. No half measures.

It can be done by diet changes, and this is the best place to get help and support.

It can be done in 3 months without meds. Many people on here have proved that. It just takes knowledge of what you can and can't eat (which is easy if you use a meter to guide you), plus motivation, determination, and some will power.

Have you got a meter?

Your food now looks fine. Keep it up!
I wouldn't worry about the Metformin. It does very little to help with BS levels and certainly won't help keep your levels down after eating. It just helps a little with weight loss (appetite suppressant) and works on the liver to help reduce the amount of natural glucose it produces - nothing to do with food.

Good luck

Hi @berylc
I feel you are taking stock and looking at the right things. Many people on here have followed various diets and had success with bringing their levels down.
I notice from another thread you do now have a meter which is great. If you test before a meal and 2 hours after it will show you the impact that meal had on your blood sugars. From what you have said your diet now sounds good. People here will help you and give you ideas.

berylc said:

I've never been given or told my HbA1c results before. So asked for them at my review, not good reading!
08/12//14 56
26/03/15 59
23/11/15 67
01/03/16 67

Had a good chat with the nurse. I said I didn't want to go back onto Metformin as I feel so much better without it. She agreed to leave me off meds and to try to get my levels down by food and exercise. So I have until the 3rd June to get results. She suggested that I read the book the 8-week Blood Sugar diet by Dr Michael Mosley as she had a diabetic patient who has come off all meds after following the diet in the book. Not sure if it's the same or similar as the LCHF diet, but have it down loaded onto my kindle and will look at it I was upset that she didn't weigh me as I've lost over a stone since I went to see her in late November!
I turned down 3 bars of chocolate flakes yesterday, normally I'd have taken them all home and pigged them before my husband came home from work - that's why my HbA1c readings were so high, I loved chocolate flakes in a banana sandwich. My mum used to give me a bread and butter sandwich with sugar sprinkled on top of the butter, I had that too before the last test! Now I never take the lid off the sugar bowl.

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Well done on losing the weight.
I don't know if you will be able to get your result down in 8 weeks as everyone is different. However it is possible for quite a lot of people.

I was diagnosed 3 months ago with an HBA1C of 97. I have followed the lchf diet recommended by lots of people on here and today got my 3-month result, it is now 49. However, it wasn't just the diet that helped, but testing religiously with a meter and adjusting portion size, food combinations etc as s result. So my meter let me know that my body can't tolerate apples or satsumas, but can manage a handful of raspberries as long as they are not at breakfast. Similarly, I can eat a tablespoon of coleslaw with my salad, but I can't eat two.

My advice would be to record everything you eat and test before and after. Then adjust meal content and portion size accordingly.

Good luck

Beryl, it's coming down, you just have to be patient. Look at that 7.5, isn't that amazing? I had a look at Chai Tea and I can't see anything dodgy in it, are you using a lot of milk? Sometimes that can have an effect..anyway, it is obviously not helping, so try using a different tea instead, then check your levels.

Don't be demoralised by your A1c, you are starting to see results now, are keeping a food diary, plus testing regularly - it's all good. I think you've done brilliantly x

You're making progress. Look at the effects walking has, that's one thing that I'm sure really helped me.

Hi All,doc told me in Jan this year that I had a reading of 7.6 and to take another blood test which was 7.4.He made an appt with a diabetic nurse and she told me to lose weight and change my diet. She then booked me for a day at a diabetes clinic on 12/5.So far I have concentrated on losing weight and have lost a stone and a half, I havn`t a clue what my reading is but I see on this site people talking about meters.Where do you get these meters from.

zatpac said:

Hi All,doc told me in Jan this year that I had a reading of 7.6 and to take another blood test which was 7.4.He made an appt with a diabetic nurse and she told me to lose weight and change my diet. She then booked me for a day at a diabetes clinic on 12/5.So far I have concentrated on losing weight and have lost a stone and a half, I havn`t a clue what my reading is but I see on this site people talking about meters.Where do you get these meters from.

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Hi @zatpac and welcone
I don't think you have had the newcomers information pack from @daisy1
Well done on the weight loss as that should help.
Meters can be bought at most chemists but the replacement strips can be expensive. A lot of people here use the SD Codefree as the replacement strips seem to be the cheapest
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
In England we use mmol/L so which county you are in will depend on which units of measuring you will want. You will also need more strips and lancets To begin with I was testing about 7 times a day.
I found testing to be very helpful in finding what I could eat and what did not work for me.
Do start a new thread and people will be able to answer your questions/

@berylc

Beryl, here is the information we give to new members in case you haven't already seen it as you have been around on the forum already. Ask more questions and more members will be able to help. Have a look at the link in this information to the Low Carb Program which you might find useful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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.

zatpac said:

Hi All,doc told me in Jan this year that I had a reading of 7.6 and to take another blood test which was 7.4.He made an appt with a diabetic nurse and she told me to lose weight and change my diet. She then booked me for a day at a diabetes clinic on 12/5.So far I have concentrated on losing weight and have lost a stone and a half, I havn`t a clue what my reading is but I see on this site people talking about meters.Where do you get these meters from.

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Well done on your weight loss, that's great.

Most people here have to buy their own meters. I bought a code free sd one on Amazon. The meters are relatively cheap (think I paid about £12 for mone) but the testing strips vary hugely in price.

Thanks everyone,I am finding the site very useful and appreciate your input.
Got the Basic info now daisy1,again much appreciated.
Had my first review today, HbA1C of 45,still no meds just diet,will start a proper exercise regime soon just waiting for things to settle down after a couple of new hips,the last one in Jan.But all looking good,

TimLaws said:

Hi
Anyone got any thoughts on the use of Inulin food supplement to help regulate blood sugars?
Currently on the LCHF diet I recommend it to anyone who has not tried it. Bloods daily all looking good at the moment, weight loss continuing started 15st10lbs now 12st11lbs currently losing at 3-4 lbs per week. Diabetic review in 6 weeks lets see what HbA1c says plus cholesterol levels etc.

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Whats an insulin food spplement?

No it was not a typo the food supplement is confusingly called Inulin

"Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants"

There is some work out there to suggest it may help with blood glucose levels