HbA1c 107

Hi @Deb1975 and welcome to the forum.

What a worrying time for you on top of a hospital stay. I hope you’re fully recognised from the sepsis.

The good news is that this is a great place for support assuming that your doctor’s visit confirms diabetes. 107 is a pretty high HbA1c, but not insurmountable: mine was 108 on diagnosis and I got it down to non-diabetic levels within 7 months and have stayed there for two and a half years by following advice on this forum.

A good starting point would be this information: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

Have a good read and ask as many questions as you like.

Deb1975 said:

Hi.

Just got out of hospital after having sepsis. When I was admitted to hospital I had BMs of 19.9mmol/L and HbA1c of 107. Docs weren't concerned about any of that just the sepsis. I was told to see my GP when I got out of hospital.

Really concerned as I've never had a problem with sugar levels, well never been tested and ive always felt fine.

I have made an appointment but can anyone give me any advice until I see my GP.

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Hi Deb,

Hope you're feeling better now. The docs at the hospital did what they should, though it might not feel that way: sepsis was potentially lethal on rather short notice, and thus their first concern. The blood sugars weren't a direct threat to your life, but they are something you really do need to tackle. Those numbers are high, but as you're already discovering, there's more folks here who've been there, done that... And kicked T2 to the curb. Mind you, once a diabetic, always a diabetic, but you can get those numbers down and get them into the normal range. That means you can avoid complications that impact your quality of life and the length of it.

How you're going to tackle this condition is up to you. Your doc is likely to prescribe Metformin. What you need to know beforehand is that metformin doesn't do much of anything about what you eat. It just tells your liver not to dump as much glucose in the morning, giving you energy to start the day. So it's far from a cure. Also, there are potential side effects that are quite debilitating. You could go for a lifestyle change alongside the metformin, or ask for 3 months grace, to try and tackle this with a lifestyle change alone. Sounds kind of incredible, but if you change your diet, you can stop T2 in its tracks. It's only a progressive condition if you don't tackle diet. Important thing to remember: practically ALL carbs turn to glucose once ingested. Cut the carbs, and you'll see your blood sugars drop like a stone. How? With the meter you're going to buy. Yeah, we don't get funded, alas... But it is an invaluable tool. Mind you, the meter isn't the expense, the strips are. (The Tee2's supposed to be accurate and cheap in strips). You'll know where you're starting from, and you'll see whether what you're doing is working for you.

This is everything I wish someone'd told me when i was first diagnosed and feeling absolutely overwhelmed: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
And the only thing you need to take away from all this right now: You're going to be okay. T2 isn't the end of the world. I wouldn't've believed that years ago, but yeah... There's life after a diagnosis, and for me.... My health was so horrible back then, and I actually get to live my life now. So yes. It does get better. Oh, and if you feel up to reading a LOT, you might want to plow through The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung. You'll understand T2 better than your GP by the time you're done, know what questions to ask and better yet, understand the answers when you get them. (There's so much jargon to get a grip on!).

Anyway. You'll. Be. Fine.
Jo

Deb1975 said:

Thanks Jo! I'm reading alot of things on here. I was thinking I was going to walk into the docs and be told I'm going on insulin straight away. I know they said they needed to do another blood test as they needed 2 tests within 2 weeks of each other. Hopefully if I can get 3 months to try and sort things myself I'll go that route first.

Thank you for your advice. Really appreciate it

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They need a second HbA1C test to confirm a T2 diagnosis. There's a few reasons why your numbers could be higher or lower than they actually are. Anemia for instance. And I mean, sepsis is quite likely to cause high blood sugars too, with your body trying to fight it off. But as a HbA1c is a 3 month average, you'd still probably be firmly in the diabetic range even if that hadn't happened. So safest to go with the assumption that they'll confirm T2 with the second HbA1c, and go in armed with as much info as you can find.

Diabetes doesn't automatically mean insulin. Well, for a T1 and similar types it does, as they produce little to none for various reasons (auto immune condition, pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer which made removal necessary etc etc). But for a T2? We make oodles of the stuff, we're just insensitive to it. Just shooting more in is a bit counter productive, if you want to improve your insulin sensitivity/resistance. So... There's more avenues to explore yet.

Deb1975 said:

Just had the second test. They are sure it will.come back as diabetic. They went through alot of stuff today and gave me a BM tester to do first thing on a morning and again before evening meal. They have already made me an appointment for 20th when they say they are 99% sure they will make the diagnosis. I've already said if it is I would like the 3 month grace period to try and do something myself.

Thanks to you all for the advice

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Hi there, I would just say don't change your normal eating habits too drastically just yet as I am sure they will be monitoring what you eat and how that affects your glucose levels. If you suddenly go very low carb this may well reduce your glucose levels but that may make them assume you are type 2 when you could in fact be type 1. They can take a while to determine type and it looks like first they want to monitor your levels without any medication and then (possibly) come to a conclusion. When you do go for your appointment, your records of food & BM tester results will tell them a lot. Following that they may be sure of your type or they may ask for more specific tests such as an antibody test or C Peptide test. There is other criteria that is looked at as well, such as presentation, ie weight/age and so on. In my view changing your 'lifestyle' drastically right this second can cause confusion over type so test, test and test and if you get high levels or feel ill or are worried, get back to them before your appointment which is 2 weeks away. x

Personally I'd go harder on the testing. Test before eating and 2 hours after and record both results.

I also dont think it would harm to stop or at least reduce the highest carb type of food like bread, potatoes, pasta, rice while you wait for your appointment. They will all drive your blood sugar up.

If they only did an hba1c then the results dont take very long to come back so they may contact you about them if they are worried. It measures the average of the last three months of blood sugar which is why they are probably confident in their initial diagnosis.

To give you hope, many t2s here (myself included) had hba1c over 100. I have dropped mine to 39 over 7 months which takes it back into normal range. I eat low carb and am only on metformin.

I'd say go for low carb at once - with a Hba1c so high, anything you can do to get back to normal numbers has to be a good thing - if your HCPs become bewildered by your results well they would not be the first ones and it will probably do them good. One can but hope.
At least you have a meter, so you can see if the lower carbs is being effective day by day - though testing before meals is of little use if you need to see the consequences of eating - maybe if you get hold of a cheap to run meter and check that it reads the same as the one prescribed, then you can use their meter for before and your own for after.
Eating low carb, if you are actually type two, and lucky, can cause blood glucose to fall into single figures very quickly, and then go on down to normal.

Deb1975 said:

Thank you very much! I'll take a look

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I have found this book very good at explaining the science around diabetes. I couldnt do 800 calories a day but stuck to around 1300 calories.
Lots of walking (12000 steps a day).
Lost 8kg in 8 weeks.
Reducated my taste buds.
Blood glucose is now into the realms of remission levels. Yesterday overnight fast was 5mmol. I haven't seen that in a long while.
Good luck!