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Type 2 Hba1c

M

mack76

Well-Known Member
Messages
86
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
My hbac1 went from 48 to 82 with alot of stress now just had a new result of 92 I'm a very anxious person I'm on 4 metformin daily and ramipril 2.5mg 1 daily any new meds scare me due to white coat and that the side effects and now have to see nurse possible adding more meds which I dont want prior to the stress I got my hbac1 down to 48 nurse said in jan possible adding more meds and i want to reduce my self has anyone managed to
 
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mack76 said:
My hbac1 went from 48 to 82 with alot of stress now just had a new result of 92 I'm a very anxious person I'm on 4 metformin daily and ramipril 2.5mg 1 daily any new meds scare me due to white coat and that the side effects and now have to see nurse possible adding more meds which I dont want prior to the stress I got my hbac1 down to 48 nurse said in jan possible adding more meds and i want to reduce my self has anyone managed to
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How long ago was your HbA1c 48, @mack76?
In addition to having stress, did you change your diet?
Sorry for the questions, just need a bit of background info before anyone can offer helpful suggestions.
 
Pipp said:
How long ago was your HbA1c 48, @mack76?
In addition to having stress, did you change your diet?
Sorry for the questions, just need a bit of background info before anyone can offer helpful suggestions.
Click to expand...
April last year then Oct onwards lots of stress no change in diet hbca1 was at 82 in Dec last year but now at 92 as of today I've had chronic stress since beginning October last year
 
Stress can be a factor but I wouldn’t expect to have such a massive effect for so long. I have long term chronic stress and it only affects my HbA1c slightly if at all. You say no change in diet but we can all get a bit complacent and portion sizes can creep up without us realising it. I’ve been there a few times when I stop recording everything.

If you don’t already it may be worth for a few weeks weighing & recording absolutely everything in an app to make sure you are eating what you think you are, I use Myfitnesspal to record my carbs & calories
 
lovinglife said:
Stress can be a factor but I wouldn’t expect to have such a massive effect for so long. I have long term chronic stress and it only affects my HbA1c slightly if at all. You say no change in diet but we can all get a bit complacent and portion sizes can creep up without us realising it. I’ve been there a few times when I stop recording everything.

If you don’t already it may be worth for a few weeks weighing & recording absolutely everything in an app to make sure you are eating what you think you are, I use Myfitnesspal to record my carbs & calories
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Thank you for your reply yes maybe portion sizes a little more can i ask what you do to reduce your stress please and yes I Will look at the thing suggested so when you've been there has it taken long to reduce hba1c I need more ideas of what foods work best to reduce thanks
 
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mack76 said:
Thank you for your reply yes maybe portion sizes a little more cab I ask what you do to reduce your stress please and ues I Will look at the thing suggested so when you've been yhere has it taken long to reduce hba1c I need more ideas of whay foods work best to reduce thanks
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There’s not much I can do to reduce my stress, I’m a 24/7 carer for my adult son with autism & there’s not much I can do to get away from it. Basically take deep breaths & scream into a cushion, not very helpful I know but it’s something that’s I’ve just learned to live with.

What meds are you on and what type of things do you eat? You may have a bit of wiggle room to reduce your carbs, the best way for me to manage my diabetes was to drop nearly all carbs & go keto - I stick to around 20g carbs a day
 
I have 2 autistic girls 1 non verbal im on metformin 4 daily and ramipril 2.5mg daily I eat some healthy and some a little less healthy maybe time to weigh food make more changes than I already have
 
Along with the diary maybe it could beneficial to try a CGM if you haven’t already, I’ve never tried one, but I know many of our members have - you can get a free 2 week trial on some of them, I’m not up to date on that info - I’ll tag one of our members @Rachox who I know uses a CGM and knows far more about them than me

I just do some intensive finger prick testing even now & then for a few days, fasting, before eating and 2 hours after first bite
 
If you can give us an idea what you usually eat we maybe able to offer some suggestions?

What do you consider healthy and unhealthy, what is a typical days food?
 
Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls and maybe not good although I cut alot of things back or out im still learning what's best to avoid eating it confuses me like example best potatoes to eat i want to get better if anyone has ideas what I need to switch cut out please advise thanks
 
A lot of those things are quite carby, seems theres lots of space for you to reduce your carbs. Most of the things I couldn’t eat. As you aren’t on any hypo inducing meds you may be able to reduce your Hba1c quite considerably if you cut a lot of those carbs out. Keeping a strict diary counting carbs & using a CGM will show you exactly what those carbs are doing to you.

What you need to switch & cut out for me would be the ones in bold

Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls and maybe not good although I cut alot of things back or out im still learning what's best to avoid eating it confuses me like example best potatoes to eat i want to get better if anyone has ideas what I need to switch cut out please advise thanks



For bread you can low carb bread on the internet, but it’s not cheap. Tinned soup is often high in carbs, some ready made curries can be ok in small portions but you need to check the carbs, the gig rolls for me would be an absolute no no

Examples of what I eat & what I avoid
I eat chicken, fish, especially salmon, some red meat, bacon, eggs, above ground veggies, nothing from below ground except celeriac & swede/turnip & the odd bit of carrot in a casserole. Salad veggies, some cheese, cream, but mainly Greek yogurt, berries & a little apple with a meal, avocados, a few nuts, couple of squares of 90% chocolate but anything over 75% is good fats from good oils

I avoid all rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, pastries, sweet stuff, crisps, anything made of flour. You may not need to be quite as strict, we are all different, but you’ll only know that by testing & recording what you can tolerate. Even reducing your carbs by half should start to get the numbers down,

A really good site which I used in the beginning of my diagnosis is the DietDoctor website, lots of really good articles on carbs, especially the charts on the best & worst carb foods. Lots of free recipes & ideas too. There’s also the Freshwell diet, which I’ve not looked at closely but others say is good

lowcarbfreshwell.com

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com lowcarbfreshwell.com
 
lovinglife said:
A lot of those things are quite carby, seems theres lots of space for you to reduce your carbs. Most of the things I couldn’t eat. As you aren’t on any hypo inducing meds you may be able to reduce your Hba1c quite considerably if you cut a lot of those carbs out. Keeping a strict diary counting carbs & using a CGM will show you exactly what those carbs are doing to you.

What you need to switch & cut out for me would be the ones in bold

Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls and maybe not good although I cut alot of things back or out im still learning what's best to avoid eating it confuses me like example best potatoes to eat i want to get better if anyone has ideas what I need to switch cut out please advise thanks



For bread you can low carb bread on the internet, but it’s not cheap. Tinned soup is often high in carbs, some ready made curries can be ok in small portions but you need to check the carbs, the gig rolls for me would be an absolute no no

Examples of what I eat & what I avoid
I eat chicken, fish, especially salmon, some red meat, bacon, eggs, above ground veggies, nothing from below ground except celeriac & swede/turnip & the odd bit of carrot in a casserole. Salad veggies, some cheese, cream, but mainly Greek yogurt, berries & a little apple with a meal, avocados, a few nuts, couple of squares of 90% chocolate but anything over 75% is good fats from good oils

I avoid all rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, pastries, sweet stuff, crisps, anything made of flour. You may not need to be quite as strict, we are all different, but you’ll only know that by testing & recording what you can tolerate. Even reducing your carbs by half should start to get the numbers down,

A really good site which I used in the beginning of my diagnosis is the DietDoctor website, lots of really good articles on carbs, especially the charts on the best & worst carb foods. Lots of free recipes & ideas too. There’s also the Freshwell diet, which I’ve not looked at closely but others say is good

lowcarbfreshwell.com

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com lowcarbfreshwell.com
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Thankyou I didn't realise that pasta ect wasn't helping will definitely cutback and try some of your example foods snacks thanks so much for your help
 
Sorry to hear about your anxieties and stress - I was diagnosed with a hba1c of 97 eleven years ago and thought it was down to stress and at the time depression and anxiety linked to caring and health issues of family members. I still suffer from chronic stress related mainly to caring for an adult autistic son and find some raised in bgs readings when reacting to situations but I have kept my hba1c figures in the 30s for the last 9 years with no meds.
Trouble is stress, anxiety and depression can also cause you to reach for the very foods and drinks that result in high blood sugar - well they did for me. I turned it around and continue to do so by eating low carb and dont need meds. Others mix lowering their carbs with medications. It's a choice for you to think about. Many try the diet only route first to see if can get it down. It's much easier to deal with stress if you can come off the blood sugar rollercoaster and eat foods that keep your blood sugars more stable.
Good luck just a few changes will make a difference. It's also very motivating if you can see the impact on your sugars of lower carb foods and drinks by using a CGM or fingerprint tester. The free trials of CGMs would give a month's free testing - well worth it to work out what really puts your sugars up and for how long.
 
mack76 said:
Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls and maybe not good although I cut alot of things back or out im still learning what's best to avoid eating it confuses me like example best potatoes to eat i want to get better if anyone has ideas what I need to switch cut out please advise thanks
Click to expand...
Hi.

Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls


Everything in red is high carb - that is, carbs and sugars make up a high percentage of the food and they tend to be eaten in quantity. Potato and bread for example are around 60% carb by weight. I've put a couple of things in orange as the real answer there is "it depends". Some stews will be low carb - others, with potatoes or other starches included, will not. Most fruit is high in fructose and glucose - some berries are comparatively lower.

You are eating quite a bit of carbohydrate there. Personally, I wouldn't be including those as part of my diet - but bear in mind that I aim for around 20g carb a day. I don't eat potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals, fruit, sugar, bread, that sort of thing. It's worked for me.

If you're testing your BG, a test before eating and then again two hours later will show you how well your body deals with the carb in what you ate. You should be seeing your BG return to close (within 2mmol/l and under 8.0 mmol/l) to where you started by the two hour mark. You're testing for your ability to handle carb, not to see how high you go (that will happen around 45 minutes after you eat anyway). Or you can try a CGM, which will show you that food isn't the only thing that affects BG levels.
 
Just adding to the excellent advice you have already received, @mack76.

I once had a lot of stress as a carer, which gave me almost no time to care for myself. I had believed that low fat carbs with every meal diet was best, due to the advice I was receiving from GP surgery. It made my HbA1c soar.

The info in this still relevant thread was the best help I received from the wonderful members here.

sanguine

Thread 'A New Low-Carb Guide for Beginners'

Part One

Hi and welcome!

Learning that you have diabetes usually comes as a bit of a shock followed by confusion from often conflicting advice. But don’t panic, it can be managed. It does require a bit of a lifestyle change in terms of diet and discipline, but we can and will help you with that. We were all in the same boat once!


Introduction, and Why Low-Carb?

This page has been provided for those who are new to the forum or to the concept of low-carbing as a tool for managing diabetes.

Although it is aimed principally at Type 2 diabetics, Type...
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KennyA said:
Hi.

Sandwich or tinned soup for dinner toast wholemeal for breakfast or a crumpet occasionally some white bread jacket potato shop bought curry salads cheese some fruits berries or banana or apple i.like cheese and stews crisps walkers light salted fig rolls


Everything in red is high carb - that is, carbs and sugars make up a high percentage of the food and they tend to be eaten in quantity. Potato and bread for example are around 60% carb by weight. I've put a couple of things in orange as the real answer there is "it depends". Some stews will be low carb - others, with potatoes or other starches included, will not. Most fruit is high in fructose and glucose - some berries are comparatively lower.

You are eating quite a bit of carbohydrate there. Personally, I wouldn't be including those as part of my diet - but bear in mind that I aim for around 20g carb a day. I don't eat potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals, fruit, sugar, bread, that sort of thing. It's worked for me.

If you're testing your BG, a test before eating and then again two hours later will show you how well your body deals with the carb in what you ate. You should be seeing your BG return to close (within 2mmol/l and under 8.0 mmol/l) to where you started by the two hour mark. You're testing for your ability to handle carb, not to see how high you go (that will happen around 45 minutes after you eat anyway). Or you can try a CGM, which will show you that food isn't the only thing that affects BG levels.
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Thanks for your advice its certainly a eye opener i need to ditch the things you suggested im due to see diabetes nurse on the 11th may she wanted me to reduce my hba1c a little but I didnt realise my food choices had actually not been helpful and due to stress too I'm hoping they will give me a bit more time to turn it around again I was 48 hba1c in April last year started with hba1c of 99 2 years ago the continued to lower but I've made some bad food choices I think although I thought they was OK so thanks to all the reply I now know I need to ditch the foods i mentioned hba1c at 92 was 82 in jan
 
mack76 said:
Thanks for your advice its certainly a eye opener i need to ditch the things you suggested im due to see diabetes nurse on the 11th may she wanted me to reduce my hba1c a little but I didnt realise my food choices had actually not been helpful and due to stress too I'm hoping they will give me a bit more time to turn it around again I was 48 hba1c in April last year started with hba1c of 99 2 years ago the continued to lower but I've made some bad food choices I think although I thought they was OK so thanks to all the reply I now know I need to ditch the foods i mentioned hba1c at 92 was 82 in jan
Click to expand...
I found this website very helpful

 
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