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Gutted.

P

philfatkid

Member
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19
Just had my review, not had a drink since 2nd Jan, been more active than i have been for the last 2 years ( golf, badminton, 5 a side and walking ) my diet is the best it been for a good while, but my bloods came back 7.2% i'm gutted, when i told her i was suprised, she seemed to suggest i wasn't quite telling the truth, and that if i was doing everything i said, then my bloods should be fine, the nurse says i have to see the doc about changing my meds.
How can my bloods rise when i am doing everything we are told to do ? Like i said gutted !
 

What is your diet like?
 
Hi. How old are you? Are you overweight? When were you diagnosed? What meds are you on currently? The questions are to see what sort of T2 pattern you fit. As 'the east man' says, what is your typical diet? I sympathise with your dilema as my next Hba1c will be over 7.0 despite everything but that's life with diabetes I'm afraid; we are all different.
 

I am 50years old, have been diabetic for 10 years, i was 16 stone 4 years ago i am now 13 stone, i have lost 7 pound since Christmas, my diet is good, typically porridge for breakfast, fruit at 11am, chicken or fish for dinner and a proper cooked meal for tea, my wife is very careful what she cooks because of my diabetes, like i said a good diet, no processed foods, regular exersise no booze since Jan 2nd. But still my blood sugars come back high, GUTTED !
 
Hi Phil,

first of all 7.2 is not terrible for an HBA1C - it's where I am at the moment though I'm trying to push it lower.

The weight loss sounds great, you've done well to pull back that much. Do you think you've got more to go? Depends whether you're 6'4" or 5'3" really.

Looking at the food you list, have you done a total carb count for the day? I also eat porridge in the mornings - though the carbs are pretty high. I can't eat hardly any fruit though - so what does the fruit at 11am consist of?
Does the 'proper cooked meal' contain any spuds, rice or pasta? It may be that you're particularly susceptible to one or all of these and this is pushing your numbers. If you have a testing kit, then test before and then at +2hrs after a typical meal and you'll get a better idea of why the numbers are higher than you want.
 
Totally agree Swimmer2, all good advice
 

To be honest it's not me who is saying 7.2 is high, it's my diabetic nurse, and as for the low carb diet, i mentioned this to her last year and she said " just stick to the low fat diet that is recommended for diabetics " i will see the doctor on Mon and discuss it with him.
 
If you're eating food that is labelled 'low fat' it is probably full of sugar to improve the flavour.
 
didie said:
If you're eating food that is labelled 'low fat' it is probably full of sugar to improve the flavour.
Click to expand...

No i'm pretty vigilant as to what i eat, it's second nature now to read food labels and like i said i very rarely eat processed food, by low fat i mean chicken, fish, lean meat, fruit etc, just a healthy diet really.
 
weaver said:
sadly diabetes is a progressive illness,it will slowly get worse
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I also don't agree with that. My health has improved since my diabetes diagnosis.
I believe that it is only progressive if one does not change the diet radically.
Porridge is definately OUT for me. Check before and after readings (including 1,2 & 3 hours) it just didn't keep me under 6 at any time so it was OFF my list 'cos that is my limit.
Proper cooked veggies do not include anything grown under the ground for me.
I want my feet attatched to me for the rest of my living life. Some one else can have them after I am dead.
Alison
PS I also have an adorable 7 month old cocker spaniel to compliment my 10 year old cocker. Both of them want to run the beach in front of my house. It is my job to be there to take them because I chose to have them in my life.
 
sadly diabetes is a progressive illness,it will slowly get worse
Click to expand...

I can't agree with that either. My health has also improved since my diagnosis. I am quite determined it is not going to get worse and I'll be going down fighting to the last second.
 
Hi.... I just noticed you say you've had type 2 for 10 years. Have you had diagnostic tests done recently to test the state of your pancreas? If not... insist on getting both the GAD and C-peptide tests done to check if you have any anti-bodies and just how much insulin you're actually producing yourself. I'm talking from experience as I have been type 2 for 14 years now. Early 2010 I finally had diagnostic tests as mentioned and they found my pancreas no longer produces enough insulin... which means that diet or pills could no longer do the trick. I had to go on insulin to top up my insulin level in my body. Since being on insulin I have found it easier to get much better BGL readings. My HbA1c is the best it's been in years (last result was 6.6) and that is even with other medical problems. If you haven't been tested.... I would highly recommend it otherwise you are just beating your head on a brick wall and not seeing results like I was for a few years. Food is not the only consideration when managing this condition... so many other factors come into play as you probably have already experienced yourself. Diabetes is progressive... there is only so much hard work your pancreas can do I suppose. :idea:
 

Interesting that you are following the diet advice given? Who gave you the advice? There are examples on this forum for good and bad advice that has been given to Type2 diabetics by their HCP's.

Have you read the forum advice for newly diagnosed there may be something there that will help.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088

Don't hold your breath about getting the tests for GAD and c-peptide as they are not usually something that G.P.'s are interested in doing because of the cost.

With an HBA1c of 7.2, I would think you will need to tweak your diet.
 
Hi. As Mep73 has said it is always possible you have LADA or another type 1 variant hence C-peptide and GAD tests would help. As you were overweight at diagnosis, though, it is more likely to be T2 with insulin resistance? I would try to keep the porridge portion size down and I hope the fruit doesn't include bananas. It would be interesting to know what the main meal typically includes but you obviously do keep an eye on the carbs. Sadly some of us despite all the tablets, good diet and exercise just can't keep the Hba1c down. GPs don't like doing C-Peptide and GAD tests. So for some, particularly those with insulin resistance, a low carb diet etc will stop the db progressing. For others that won't solve the problem. I suspect my insulin is low and may be yours is the same which means there is not much to be dome longterm other than taking insulin, but at least low carbs and portion size will delay that point. I guess you realise that your nurses comments about 'low-fat diet for diabetics' is the usual drivel.
 
philfatkid
If you are following the standard NHS low fat/high carb advice, 7.2% is brilliant!
That's because without loads of medication on that diet, it's pretty much as low as you can go.
If you browse the forum, you'll probably find that the folks with the lowest HbA1cs are those that control their carbs in some way. everything from portion control, via GI to Very Low carb is represented.they WORK, whilst low fat/ high carb, simply Doesn't't.
Why should it, when it cuts down on the one food group which DOES NOT raise blood glucose and advocates geting a high proportion of your nutrition from the group that affects it most? [the carb group]
Hana [very low carber not out of the 5% range for several years and working towards the 4%s]
 
It's interesting to read that your GPs there are not willing to test you properly. Although here if you have diabetes you are referred to an endocrinologist. The endo's here do the GAD and C-peptide tests. You are monitored by GPs generally when you have good control... GP's will refer you back to an endo though if they notice you don't have good control of your BGLs. At the end of the day we have to take charge of our health and insist on the proper testing... as I said previously you could just be banging your head on a brick wall when you can get the proper treatment. If you have a highly stressful lifestyle for example, your food would only play a small part in management... stress in itself on your body causes BGLs to go out of control. It's very tricky getting the balance right. Finding out what your body is actually doing is important... although I have to say there are times I wished I had a gauge that told me what insulin my body is producing at any one time as topping it up can get tricky.... you get more hypos. But overall I'm grateful that I'm at least on the proper medical treatment and not just wasting my money on endless pills which seemed more like placebos.
 
Hi mep73, slightly off-topic, but interesting what you are seeing in Oz. Over here it's a lottery. Some surgeries have no db expertise and refer you to an endo where you probably get some reasonable treatment. My surgery has some db expertise but it's only average and currently the NHS is trying to discourage referrals as they cost more, so you then rely on the GP or nurses experience and training. My db specialist GP appears to think there are only two types of db i.e. 1 and 2 simple as that. I could list some other 'discussions' we have had but I won't bore you. We can insist on a referral to a specialist and I may have to do that. I lived in the USA for a few years (before my db) and I found it strange that there were few GPs and you had to diagnose yourself and choose a specialist from Yellow Pages. This was an expensive pastime but you did end-up, hopefully, with a knowledgable specialist.
 

Are you eating low carb? Did you know that a couple of alcoholic drinks with dinner really helps? I find a glass of wine with dinner keeps my levels nice and low.
 
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