• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

HBA1c -disappointing results :(

elizasue

elizasue

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all - sooo I have been following a really strict low to no carb diet since my last HBA1c result on 20th Sept 2019 when it was 6/2% and I was very much expecting it to have dropped more - it's now 6.0%

I know I am impatient and want to see good results after 3 months , but so disappointed with this. I am 5'8'' and weigh 9 stone 12lbs - so not overweight.

Please -looking for encouragement here and wanting to hear positive stories of prediabetes going back to normal figures after a while.
 
There are schools of thought that impaired glucose tolerance starts anywhere between 10 and maybe 20 years, so getting a drop of any sort is a result.

"We" focus on the A1c, but behind the scenes you are likely reducing visceral fat, decreasing triglycerides, improving organ function, decreasing blood pressure etc.

I get disappointing, for me A1c's, as I cannot correlate low testing and rises after eating with the A1c; but I have more lean muscle and low inflammation markers. I also feel healthy and am fit.

My advice is keep optimising your holistic lifestyle and this in turn should improve the A1c.
 
Do not despair, it's a result in only three months and you've started a new lifestyle which takes time to click into place. I'm t2 and mine didn't drop that fast but the weight did. My GP explained that everything was going in the right direction, some of us were hares and some of us are just tortoises! When I had my next one it had dropped again, plus I'd lost a stone and a half.
Last year my other half was told he had pre-diabetes and his was normal by his next test, he's definitely a hare.
So congratulations keep on with LCHF and don't panic. You will find huge support here, so let us know when you get your next results I'm sure that they will be down again.
 
Thank you for the kind words - I know it's sensible to carry on as I am and to continue with going to the gym etc and will do. Just having a little moment today of being thoroughly fed up!
 
We all get days like that and this is the place to come to as you'll be assured of support, hints and tips and frequent humour to get you through!
 
elizasue said:
Hi all - sooo I have been following a really strict low to no carb diet since my last HBA1c result on 20th Sept 2019 when it was 6/2% and I was very much expecting it to have dropped more - it's now 6.0%

I know I am impatient and want to see good results after 3 months , but so disappointed with this. I am 5'8'' and weigh 9 stone 12lbs - so not overweight.

Please -looking for encouragement here and wanting to hear positive stories of prediabetes going back to normal figures after a while.
Click to expand...
Unless there are hidden carbs in your diet (feel free to toss a list of your daily meals/drinks out there), you might want to go in and request C-peptide and GAD tests. Just to make sure.
 
Hmmm - gosh - really would not like to have type 1 diabetes but I guess it's not up to me! I do already have rheumatoid arthritis - which is not the greatest autoimmune disease already.

A typical days input is - coffee with double cream
breakfast later - cup of tea with dash of soya milk (doesn't raise BS as checked) and 2 eggs with cheese or with 1 slice bacon. Or maybe full fat greek yoghurt with pecan nuts/small amount of blueberries or strawberries

Lunch - salad - cucumber/tomato/celery/olives and tuna mayo ie half tin of tuna with 1 tblesp mayo full fat.

Dinner - Something protein like a chicken breast or salmon fillet with courgetti, or brussel srpouts roasted or cauliflower.

No rice, no spuds, no grains.
 
Amongst a host of other conditions I also have rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis and if any are flaring up my BG will be running 3-4 higher until it settles down again. Don't give up you are doing the right things,
 
elizasue said:
Hmmm - gosh - really would not like to have type 1 diabetes but I guess it's not up to me! I do already have rheumatoid arthritis - which is not the greatest autoimmune disease already.

A typical days input is - coffee with double cream
breakfast later - cup of tea with dash of soya milk (doesn't raise BS as checked) and 2 eggs with cheese or with 1 slice bacon. Or maybe full fat greek yoghurt with pecan nuts/small amount of blueberries or strawberries

Lunch - salad - cucumber/tomato/celery/olives and tuna mayo ie half tin of tuna with 1 tblesp mayo full fat.

Dinner - Something protein like a chicken breast or salmon fillet with courgetti, or brussel srpouts roasted or cauliflower.

No rice, no spuds, no grains.
Click to expand...
Okay, just a few questions... For RA the meds can be quite intense. Dunno which ones you're on, but those could drive your numbers up. Are you on steroids? Anti-inflammatories? Flare-ups can be a blood glucose problem too. Considering your absolutely excellent diet, I have a feeling that might be a cause.... And if your HbA1c goes up due to medication and/or flares, then imagine how much worse it could be with a "regular", carby diet. Can't diagnose, obviously, but.... Depending on what you're on, that could be your explanation right there. Mind you, COULD be... Might be worth investigating further.
 
Yeah - I'm on a weekly injection of methotrexate and take diclofenac occasionally. I was also on doxycicline for a tick bite for a month recently - so that probably didn't help my general stress levels.

I think I will ride it out for a few more months, before asking for other tests. I would be pleased for HBA1c to come down to 5.8 next time, which means going in right direction.
 
elizasue said:
Yeah - I'm on a weekly injection of methotrexate and take diclofenac occasionally. I was also on doxycicline for a tick bite for a month recently - so that probably didn't help my general stress levels.

I think I will ride it out for a few more months, before asking for other tests. I would be pleased for HBA1c to come down to 5.8 next time, which means going in right direction.
Click to expand...
Metho causes iron deficiency in one in every 10 patients, according to the leaflet... That can make your HbA1c look significantly higher than it actually is. And Metho can cause higher blood glucose levels. So I think you just may have your culprit right there. Still, needs must... My mom was on it for a while before she switched to tocilizumab, but that has its own -possibly lethal- drawbacks too, and for a prediabetic, pneumonia as a complication a few times a year isn't the greatest plan most likely, so... Yeah.

I do think that if your diet wasn't the fantastic low carb diet it is, you'd be a whole lot worse, actually, and firmly in the diabetic range, which you're not right now. So keep at it. May not seem like it, but it IS working. (May want to add in more red meat and fatty fish though to get iron back up, in case that's actually indeed down.).

All in all... Gold star for you!
 
elizasue said:
Yeah - I'm on a weekly injection of methotrexate and take diclofenac occasionally. I was also on doxycicline for a tick bite for a month recently - so that probably didn't help my general stress levels.

I think I will ride it out for a few more months, before asking for other tests. I would be pleased for HBA1c to come down to 5.8 next time, which means going in right direction.
Click to expand...

Hi there, without wishing to worry you I too was diagnosed with 'pre diabetes' 5 years ago even though I did not appear what they called typical' (ie, I wasn't overweight, did lots of exercise, ate healthily in that there was no rubbish but of course I did consume carbs like a normal person and not excessively). Off I went being told something about 'lifestyle' even though the Nurse could not say which bit of my lifestyle to change and 3 years later I was diagnosed with type 1. I strongly believe that this pre diabetes diagnosis was lada slowly creeping up on me. If I were you I would get those extra tests now (C Peptide & antibody tests).
 
elizasue said:
Hi all - sooo I have been following a really strict low to no carb diet since my last HBA1c result on 20th Sept 2019 when it was 6/2% and I was very much expecting it to have dropped more - it's now 6.0%

I know I am impatient and want to see good results after 3 months , but so disappointed with this. I am 5'8'' and weigh 9 stone 12lbs - so not overweight.

Please -looking for encouragement here and wanting to hear positive stories of prediabetes going back to normal figures after a while.
Click to expand...
 
Hi is this quite common? I’m a newbie with a similar story. I lost a stone, too thin now in my opinion (5ft 6, 8 stone 12) and my HbA1c of 48 hasn’t shifted over a year despite trying v hard. But I feel great- don’t understand this at all.
 
SEMKP said:
Hi is this quite common? I’m a newbie with a similar story. I lost a stone, too thin now in my opinion (5ft 6, 8 stone 12) and my HbA1c of 48 hasn’t shifted over a year despite trying v hard. But I feel great- don’t understand this at all.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you're losing a little too much weight.... Can you say what you're eating in a day? If you're low carbing but can't afford to lose weight, eating (quite fatty/protein-rich) snacks 3 times a day, between 3 square meals, should keep your weight on an even keel... Don't go for intermittent fasting, just keep your carbs low. So basically the same questions here as I asked in this same thread earlier: what medication are you on, if any (not just for diabetes but possible other afflictions too), and what are you eating in a day?

Good luck,
Jo
 
Last edited:
Back
Top