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Help please

MCMLXXIII

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,862
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello

Last summer I decided to knock out Type 2 Diabetes to the best of my ability.
After a hybrid last summer of the Mastering Diabetes approach (low fat whole food plant based) and the Newcastle diet- I managed to get my hb1ac into the mid 40s after 3 months.
I'm still within target weight of 69 kilo and I'm 5ft 11 inches.
I am currently under testosterone replacement therapy with a jab of Nebido every 8 weeks and med free.
But recently my job and sleep disturbance made me return to the Doctor.
3 months later a full blood count revealed all tests normal except for increased hemoglobin (MCHP) and a hb1ac of 61. A jump up of 15 points.
Exasperation and disappointed all at once.
Can the lack of sleep and stress increase it so much?
I'm still doing a 16:8 fasting pattern and eating cleanly (mostly).
I've a follow up appointment with the Doctor next week and ordered some Metformin SR for a near impact as I can give and I'm currently I undergoing self help online stress management.
Buy I would sincerely appreciate any advice anyone can offer to get my hb1ac back down because I know if anything my body can do it.

Thankyou
 
Hi @MCMLXXIII
If you provide some info on what your diet consists of, now, members should be able to provide some suggestions.

Is your doctor prescribing the Nebido? This is a steroid and some steroid meds can raise the blood glucose levels. Something you need to discuss with the doctor.
 
Hello

Yes my Endocrinologist has prescribed the Nebido. The Doctor won't currently "interfere" with that. But it's certainly worth asking about when I see the latter next week.
I'll post my diet soon, thankyou (working!)
 
According to further research. Nebido actually should lower hb1ac and improve insulin sensitivity so I'm only further perplexed as to why it's gone up so much.
I'm terms of food I have a chest day once a week, this might be a chippy tea or a pizza.
Most other days it's 16:8 fasting with a shake at lunch followed by a balanced evening meal. I really alot of nuts, cheese and tofu.
 
Well a chippy tea or pizza won’t be helping. Both very high in carbs. Could you maybe reduce that to once a month rather than once a week? Or you can buy low carb pizza bases online to put your own toppings on.

What type of nuts do you eat? Some are fine (like walnuts and almonds), peanuts are higher carbs.

How many carbs are there in your shake?

When you say a balanced evening meal can you give us some examples?

Generally if you are eating a lot of carbs then that is the thing you need to reduce to try and lower your blood sugar. So I’d look at how much rice, pasta, potatoes, bread may have crept into your diet.

If you are already eating a low carb diet then it’s very likely to be the steroids raising your blood sugar and there may not be much you can do about it.
 
MCMLXXIII said:
I'm terms of food I have a chest day once a week, this might be a chippy tea or a pizza.
Click to expand...
Hi @MCMLXXIII I did spot the deliberate typo there no ones going to hold it against you.

Cheat day once a week is 12 times over the 3 months, no judgement but you want to reduce you number substantially this is the best place to start. I understand the reason to have a cheat day, but is it helping you?

I found it very helpful to keep a food diary listing all the carbs sugars etc I eat over a 2 week period it is amazing how much that influences food choices going forward.

Lack of sleep and stress can raise you sugar levels as you know. I hope the stress management is working for you and will help lessen this effect. I have found from time to time playing healing frequency music (Youtube) as background noise when I struggle for sleep, to be helpful in reducing my stress about not getting to sleep which eventually helps me get to sleep.

I prefer the Tibetan chanting at 432Hz woks best for me but then I've always been a bit of a hippie.
 
I’m always perplexed as to the term “cheat day” because I’m my mind who is the one actually being cheated on? My GP? My DSN? My F&F? - none of those only myself. I’m cheating on myself.

By all means have a day where you plan to eat something you normally wouldn’t, we all do it, but I just refer to them as part of my meal plan as in planned treats. But these days most of my planned treats are low carb anyway such as a more expensive steak than normal, low carb pizza made with a base bought on line, a very good cheese.

If you want to drop your Hba1c by 15 points in 3 months, that’s a pretty tall order then I personally wouldn’t be thinking about touching anything like pizza or fish & chips, or anything that would be considered a “cheat meal” at all, those type of things for me are a one off very once in a while, maybe once or twice a year if at all. Especially bring on steroids also.

You may find if you can reduce your carbs a good bit your craving for pizza & fish & chips will reduce too.
 
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