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HbA1c level

S

Strasppang

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I was first diagnosed in July after routine blood test showed my HbA1c was 84. I was prescribed metformin and then two months later empagliflozin. was added. As I have never had a sweet tooth I had to ditch bread, rice, pasta and potatoes. I had a second blood test 7 weeks after the first and my HbA1c had dropped to 61. Three months later I had a repeat blood test. I had been away for two months and was expecting great things (especially as I had lost enough weight to shift my BMI from 31 to 26) I was so disappointed when the result came back and had only dropped to 55.... Now I feel discouraged.....
 
Hi and welcome. Why do you feel discouraged? In less than six months you've dropped 30-odd mmol, as well as the weight loss. That's about 35% of your starting HbA1c - looks like success to me.

It's clear that what you're doing is working. It just needs to go on with the doing a bit longer.

Well done!

[edited to correct poor maths]
 
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I think dropping 25mmol in the initial seven weeks I had expected far more than a drop of just 5 in the following three months...But I am new to all this!
 
I found that none of this works seems to work linearly. I dropped about 15mmol in the first four months, and it really hasn't budged much since - although that fall was enough to put me back in normal range. Same with weight loss. Sometimes 3 or 4 kilo, sometimes nothing - with no change in diet.
 
I agree - progress isn't linear and there are many plateaux. Hold your nerve and keep going - it all improves in its own time. The fact that it DOES improve is the important aspect to bear in mind.
 
Strasppang said:
I was first diagnosed in July after routine blood test showed my HbA1c was 84. I was prescribed metformin and then two months later empagliflozin. was added. As I have never had a sweet tooth I had to ditch bread, rice, pasta and potatoes. I had a second blood test 7 weeks after the first and my HbA1c had dropped to 61. Three months later I had a repeat blood test. I had been away for two months and was expecting great things (especially as I had lost enough weight to shift my BMI from 31 to 26) I was so disappointed when the result came back and had only dropped to 55.... Now I feel discouraged.....
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You have done a top job so far so you should be proud of that.

Think of it like any tolerance or diet the initial stopping of medication, drinking or food will always have a big impact, after that you have the slow steady grind to lose the weight or lose the side affects etc.

Keep on at it and you will see those numbers slowly come down :)

Excellent job on the weight loss that's a huge achievement.


Are you tracking your daily food carbs and bloods etc ?
 
I don't religiously count carbs or. monitor my bloods. Initially it took a while just to achieve single figures. As I mentioned in my original post I don't have a sweet tooth so it wasn't a case of giving up cakes, biscuits or desserts as I never ate them. I also didn't drink alcohol.. Thus I did ditch bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.. The diabetic nurse offered the opportunity of the soup and shakes diet which I was prepared to do until I realised there were only two soup options and I was heading to US. for two monthhs. I made my own soup....drank a lot of milk. If I had few carbs I would ditch the milk... I hae had a lot of stress over the past few years which I think may hae contributed to my development. of diabetes.
 
Strasppang said:
I don't religiously count carbs or. monitor my bloods. Initially it took a while just to achieve single figures. As I mentioned in my original post I don't have a sweet tooth so it wasn't a case of giving up cakes, biscuits or desserts as I never ate them. I also didn't drink alcohol.. Thus I did ditch bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.. The diabetic nurse offered the opportunity of the soup and shakes diet which I was prepared to do until I realised there were only two soup options and I was heading to US. for two monthhs. I made my own soup....drank a lot of milk. If I had few carbs I would ditch the milk... I hae had a lot of stress over the past few years which I think may hae contributed to my development. of diabetes.
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Milk has a fair bit of sugar in it - if you are drinking lots of it then that could be the reason you are not seeing lower numbers.
My HbA1c went up on the shakes diet and I think it was because of the easily accessible carbs in the shakes with milk, so my blood glucose was spiking even though I was eating very little and fasting for most of the day.
 
Hi @Strasppang

I understand how it must be disappointing not to have got even lower. However, you're doing great! Most GPs think of type 2 as a progressive illness so you are absolutely defying expectations.

Having said that it may be worthwhile spending a period actually counting carbs- it's really easy to have carb creep.

I find it really easy to consume a few more carbs than planned if I'm not being really careful.

While I am a sweet tooth at the moment my weakness is for the crust on sourdough bread. I find it incredibly difficult if we have any in the house- it's rare and usually only when we entertain in summer.

Good luck!
 
VashtiB said:
Hi @Strasppang

I understand how it must be disappointing not to have got even lower. However, you're doing great! Most GPs think of type 2 as a progressive illness so you are absolutely defying expectations.

Having said that it may be worthwhile spending a period actually counting carbs- it's really easy to have carb creep.

I find it really easy to consume a few more carbs than planned if I'm not being really careful.

While I am a sweet tooth at the moment my weakness is for the crust on sourdough bread. I find it incredibly difficult if we have any in the house- it's rare and usually only when we entertain in summer.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
I have just written a letter to my diabetic nurse to ask her advice. Living alone makes it easy to not have temptations like bread at hand. I can probably lose another stone...Then I will be back to my weight as a young woman but then there's nowhere to go. I never had a weight problem until I was in my late 50s/early 60s. It will be about maintaining my weight and glucose levels...
 
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