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GP said it can take more than two years to get normal glucose levels.

Swiggy

Well-Known Member
Messages
330
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have reduced my hba1c from 143 to 66 over the past two and a half years. I am having blood tests next week and the My Sugr app estimates 6.9 so hopefully my hba1c will be lower than last time. I saw GP today and he said that I need to lose weight. I told him that I eat low carb and I test before and after meals and if anything raises my level more than 2.0 m/mol I don't eat it again. Since April I have gone above 10.0 m/mol half a dozen times but I am usually in the 7.0-8.5 range. I am trying so hard but I still have high fasting levels and my lowest reading was 5.8.
My GP looked at my levels since diagnosis and the way they have reduced and said that if I keep going I will hit a point when my blood glucose will drop and I will then lose weight. He said that I may be very insulin resistant and this can take years to improve but it definitely will.
I have fewer than 50g of carbs daily and I have recently cut out the nuts and cream in an effort to lose weight.
I'm determined to carry on eating low carb but I would like to lose weight and get into the normal range. I have not taken any medication so far and I would prefer to stay medication free.
Has anyone else experienced such a slow start?
 
It took me more than a year of very strict fully-ketogenic eating to resolve my hyperinsulinemia/resistance. However, I have a degree of lipodystrophy (always slim) which makes it very difficult for my body to stash away unused glucose as fat.

Stop putting glucose in, keep burning it off, and all being well, you should eventually recover. Although you'll likely always have a degree of glucose intolerance.
 
Swiggy said:
I have reduced my hba1c from 143 to 66 over the past two and a half years. I am having blood tests next week and the My Sugr app estimates 6.9 so hopefully my hba1c will be lower than last time. I saw GP today and he said that I need to lose weight.
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Hi Swiggy,
So what on earth make you think that reducing Hba1c from 143 to 66 over two and a half years is slow?
With the average T2D on no medication (and not fortunate enough to have found the Low Carb forum) their Hba1c would have increased over that period!
Have you not lost weight at all over the period of BG reduction? If so, that is very surprising unless you have been eating a lot of Fat and protein while cutting down on the carbs.
Calories In - Calories Out isn't the whole picture, but it can't be completely ignored!

I see that you were diagnosed about 15 months before you went Low Carb, my impression from the forum is that the later you start the longer it takes - but that it is never too late.

Good luck,
Ian
 
 
Thanks Jim, I will keep going. I was getting a bit disheartened seeing so many forum members reducing their numbers quickly and losing lots of weight but my numbers have gone down and I have done it without medication which is an achievement.
I will post my new hba1c results next week, keep your fingers crossed for me.
 
Thanks Ian, you have made me feel much better. My GP didn't actually tell me that I had diabetes for over a year. As soon as I found out I did six weeks of vlcd and changed my GP.
I think I am about 10 pounds lighter than I was when I was told that I had diabetes. I started to keep a food diary and I realised that my intake of cream and nuts was becoming quite excessive so I have cut both of those things out about three weeks ago. I will go back to keeping a food diary and see how I get on.
 
Two points to remember:

1. We are all different as shown by our different reactions on the BG meter to the same quantity of the same food. Some people get on well with long Fasts, some with IF, some with just Lower Carb, some with Carnivore, some with Paleo, some with a (crash) Calorie restricted diet.
Actually I am confident that you on LCHF have achieved a sustained better Hba1c reduction than the average person who tried the Newcastle Diet or Michael Mosely's 800 Cal diet. Purely because it is much easier to sustain as a lifestyle.

2. If you look closely a fair proportion of the Low Carb success stories have used and often are still taking Metformin - though there is nothing wrong with that if it suits them. My point is that Swiggy is probably not comparing like with like.
 
Well done Swiggy. My A1cs went up and up and up for 12 years until I started on the low carb a year ago. You don't say anywhere what your weight is but I have dropped 35 lbs in 12 months and I think I seem to have used up all the extra fat that my liver used to dump more glucose until my body has finally got used to working at lower bg levels.. I do believe our bodies sometimes gone on the wrong track and we have to consciously bring it back to where we want/.need to be. One thing that has probably helped me with losing weight and pushing bg into the muscles has been strenuous weight-lifting at the gym but I think any sort of regular exercise will help as the body has to use its own fat because of the low carb diet. I also keep my calorie intake to between 1,000 and 1,300 again forcing my body to use up fat for energy. The main thing is find out what works for you, set a target and stick to it (with very occasional slightly higher carb celebrations of success?).
 

Hi Stephen,
Congratulations, are certainly on the right track.
I note from your signature figures that it appears that Low Carb had a dramatic affect on your Hba1c, before much sign of weight loss. This appears to be @Swiggy has been noticing (though over a longer period).
I also see that you have been working hard to reduce your diabetes medication and that your initial weight loss phase seemed to coincide with being able to dramatically cut you Insulin dose.
Well done!
 
Swiggy said:
Thanks Jim, I will keep going. I was getting a bit disheartened seeing so many forum members reducing their numbers quickly and losing lots of weight but my numbers have gone down and I have done it without medication which is an achievement.
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Do you do exercises? Even if it's just 20 - 30 minutes of brisk walking?
 
 
We are all different - I saw a rapid drop in blood glucose, but even eating under 40 gm of carbs a day, my Hba1c is stubbornly at the top end of normal - but that might be what is normal for me.
I am sure that I have had trouble with glucose control all my adult life, and ate low carb long before diagnosed with diabetes, and 42 might simply be my normal average.
 
Hi Swiggy. I lost some weight with Keto low carb and reduced my Hba1c 42 but put it back on as fount hard to maintain and then could lose the weight. Then I saw the Thrive series with Jon MacMahon in the US who lost 100 pounds in a year and decided try his method for his 6 weeks trial. It worked and I have now lost 20lbs. need to lose another 20! Dr Furhman from the US (who Jon followed) said forget abut the numbers and get the weight off because that is causing the diabetes.(It is the fat around the pancreas).. SO you have done a great job so far.. Keep it up. There is a lot of great stuff coming from the States. Check on you tube.. Dr Joel Furhman, Mastering Diabetes with Cyrus and Robbie (two Type 1 diabetes guys who also help with type 2). Love you member picture!!!
 
It does seem that the fat higher in the abdomen is either a symptom or cause of diabetes. Personally I think a symptom because when the muscles stop absorbing glucose because of insulin problems, the unused glucose is turned to fat. Where better for the body to store fat than close to the liver and pancreas where it is available for converting back to glucose when the body needs it. This fat may also prevent the pancreas from working properly. I am not a medical specialist but this is my take on what has happened to my body over the past year. My waist size has gone from 38 inches to 30 inches in 12 months coinciding with the drop in my A1cs.
Unfortunately unless we cut the carbs (a lot) and exercise as much as we can, the fat will continue to build up. We must and can change this upward spiral of bad fat into a downward spiral of A1cs if we want to control our condition. It may take a while and we must only do what works and how it works for ourselves.
 
Thanks and yes you have certainly seen the significant results of the Low Carb and the insulin.
 
Where do I start? My journey turned a new corner today. I'm actually type1 and type2. Trust me.
 
ickihun said:
Where do I start? My journey turned a new corner today. I'm actually type1 and type2. Trust me.
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Really? What happened today? Perhaps a new post so as not to derail but I’m sure many who have followed your journey will be interested in such a development
 
Thanks Stephen, I weigh exactly 250lbs so I have a lot of weight to lose. I suspect that I have been consuming more calories than I need because I am enjoying cream in my coffee too much and I have stopped weighing out my nuts. I am going to start counting calories and keeping a food diary. As far as exercise goes I average around 8000 steps a day but I should be more energetic. I actually bought a Pilates machine but I have never used it.
 
I love seeing how people are being able to reduce their reliance on medication by changing their lifestyle. It's very inspiring.
 
Hi Resurgam, as you say we are all different. 42 is a level at which risk of complications is very low isn't it? I think that is a brilliant result.
 
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