hi everyone, im new to the forum and just hoping for some advice, i will start at the beginning i got invited to a health check on the 1st feb, then i got a phone call from gp on 2nd telling me i need another blood test in 4 weeks as it came back that im at risk of being diabetic then went on 15th feb for the follow up to my health check with a nurse, she told me that i am diabetic type2 and my test came back at 48mmol (to be honest didnt know what this meant) i tried to ask the nurse what this meant and is there anything i could do, all she said was just to wait and see what my next blood test shows. so now im a bit in limbo, and wanted to ask all of you wonderful people some questions, like is there anything i can do before my next test to reduce my mmol or is it to late? if not to late what can i do? also what happens after test if i am diabetic, will it mean i need medication and regular testing? sorry for the long post i have tried google but i don't understand alot of what it says, many thanks for reading and all help is appreciated
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Hi Jennie, and welcome to the forums.
Firstly, the good news. You are at the very low end of a diabetic diagnosis and yes there are things you can do to lower your blood sugar levels to normal.
T2 diabetics have a genetic metabolic issue where their insulin doesn't process carbs properly - they are insulin resistant. This means that they typically over produce insulin in an effort to keep their blood sugar levels normal and eventually get to the point where they can't produce enough, their blood sugar goes up, and they get a T2 diagnosis. (And a side effect of high bgs and high insulin levels is weight gain, which is why so many T2s are overweight.)
Many of the T2s on here control their levels by reducing the carbs in their diets to an amount that their bodies can cope with. Here's a link to @JoKalsbeek 's blog which is a good intro
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community
With an hba1c of just 48 it should be quite easy to tweak your diet so as to reduce your levels to those of a non diabetic.
Good luck.
ps One small proviso - a lot of GPs diagnose all diabetics over the age of 30 with T2 without checking whether they are late/slow onset T1. If you are the latter then low carbing will keep your levels normal for a while but will eventually fail because your problem is not insulin resistance but lack of insulin. However, this is not terribly likely, particularly if you have a family history of T2 and/or are overweight. Most diabetics are T2.
Firstly, the good news. You are at the very low end of a diabetic diagnosis and yes there are things you can do to lower your blood sugar levels to normal.
T2 diabetics have a genetic metabolic issue where their insulin doesn't process carbs properly - they are insulin resistant. This means that they typically over produce insulin in an effort to keep their blood sugar levels normal and eventually get to the point where they can't produce enough, their blood sugar goes up, and they get a T2 diagnosis. (And a side effect of high bgs and high insulin levels is weight gain, which is why so many T2s are overweight.)
Many of the T2s on here control their levels by reducing the carbs in their diets to an amount that their bodies can cope with. Here's a link to @JoKalsbeek 's blog which is a good intro
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community
With an hba1c of just 48 it should be quite easy to tweak your diet so as to reduce your levels to those of a non diabetic.
Good luck.
ps One small proviso - a lot of GPs diagnose all diabetics over the age of 30 with T2 without checking whether they are late/slow onset T1. If you are the latter then low carbing will keep your levels normal for a while but will eventually fail because your problem is not insulin resistance but lack of insulin. However, this is not terribly likely, particularly if you have a family history of T2 and/or are overweight. Most diabetics are T2.
hi mike thank you for the reply, im trying to cut out all of that, (my 15yr old daughter is very strict lol)
hi ellie thank you that is so great to know, ive been so worried and scared and feeling all other kinds of emotions and didn't know where to turn to find the answers, my daughter has put me on a diet as i am overweight and only 4ft10, but i was unsure if i could turn it round in such a short time
we started on monday afternoon, took daughter shopping and she was checking everythingNo worries Jenny ... and I did mean today with regard to the changes. The sacrifice will save you more than you can know.
Mike
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You might not need to be quite so severe in your diet, long term - but I was far further into diabetes territory and went back to low carb, and that fixed my Hba1c of 91 so you should be back into normal numbers, with any luck.
I used a testing meter to see how meals altered my blood glucose levels. The Spirit Healthcare tee 2 is cheap to run, and I am told that if you phone and order a supply of the strips they give the test kit free......
You can then find out what you can and can't eat - I found that peas and beans seem to have more carbs than they are listed with - some find the same others don't, so it is worthwhile checking.
The great thing about eating a low carb diet is that many find it brings about weightloss almost effortlessly, no need to restrict the calories. Dr Atkins was right all along, it seems.
I used a testing meter to see how meals altered my blood glucose levels. The Spirit Healthcare tee 2 is cheap to run, and I am told that if you phone and order a supply of the strips they give the test kit free......
You can then find out what you can and can't eat - I found that peas and beans seem to have more carbs than they are listed with - some find the same others don't, so it is worthwhile checking.
The great thing about eating a low carb diet is that many find it brings about weightloss almost effortlessly, no need to restrict the calories. Dr Atkins was right all along, it seems.
Hi Jenny,
One thing I would like to add here is to say 'diet' may be the wrong word to use here.
Many Type 2 diabetics reverse the condition without restricting calories. So it isn't low calorie that works for them, purely Low Carbohydrates.
In fact when I started a Low Carb 'Way Of Eating (WOE) My calories intake actually increased at first. That was because what I did was to add the same weight of cheese that I was cutting out in carbohydrates (and fat contains twice as many calories than carbs do. Despite this I was still losing weight.
After a few weeks I cut back a little on the cheese and ate more eggs instead (lower fat to protein ratio) and the weight continued to drop. So it's not a 'DIET' its a way of eating, and at least so far as Blood Glucose and Diabetes) is concerned you shouldn't need to be strict with carbs - just firm!
That way you can find a way of eating that you can keep doing throughout your long and healthy life. Being too strict often leads to failure because people can't stick to it - its a marathon, not a sprint!
