How am I doing, do you think?

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

This is a fantastically useful and helpful place, thanks to you all.

Picked up my blood test results today which look like a good start.

HbA1c was 81 on the 9 March 2020 (the results were given on the 23 March when I was formally diagnosed T2 and started Metformin, etc).

Then it was still 70 on 23 April, after a month of not much action taken on my part other than "trying to avoid potatoes and bread".

At that point I started reading this forum and taking things seriously - then from 16th May I set an arbitrary, not too low, limit of 70g carbs a day (usually well under in practice).

As of now (tested June 15) the A1c is 48. I've also lost 10kg (since March) and am down to 113kg.

I note that the result covers the average of the previous 3 months so, if you disregard the month before I started the current regimen, I reckon I'm probably 44ish? Self-testing is giving an average of 5.4 over the last two weeks and no post meal spikes over 2.0

I'm thinking another month or two and then ask the GP to try dropping the meds and see what happens? I'm not sure if I need to get the Ramipril dose (2.5mg) dropped in any case, as I'm starting to get lightheaded for large parts of the day, and am thinking this is perhaps due to the dose now being too high, given the weight loss.

I also got my lipids, but that's not an area I've looked into as yet so I've no idea if they are good, bad or indifferent.

Cholesterol 2.9 mmol/L
Triglycerides 1.3 mmol/L
HDL 0.9 mmol/L
LDL 1.4 mmol/L
VLDL 0.6 mmol/L
Chol/HDL ratio 3.2

bulkbiker · Jun 23, 2020

Are you taking a statin? And how long had you fasted before the bloods were taken?

Bluetit1802 · Jun 23, 2020

Are you in the UK? Just asking because it is highly unusual to have VLDL tested. They are the real baddies, but as I said, very few of us have been lucky enough to have this included.

This may answer your question about cholesterol
https://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

Very well done and congratulations on your HbA1c. Brilliant drop.

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

bulkbiker said:
Are you taking a statin? And how long had you fasted before the bloods were taken?

Yes, an Atorvastatin at night. This was a fasting overnight, nothing after 11pm and test at 9.50am.

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

Bluetit1802 said:
Are you in the UK? Just asking because it is highly unusual to have VLDL tested. They are the real baddies, but as I said, very few of us have been lucky enough to have this included.

This may answer your question about cholesterol
https://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

Yes, UK (Glasgow) (it says "calculated" against the LDL and VLDL lines btw).

Useful, so I'm not doing to badly on that front either at the moment. Need to push the HDL level up somehow, will investigate.

Very well done and congratulations on your HbA1c. Brilliant drop.

Thanks!

bulkbiker · Jun 23, 2020

mymuk said:
Yes, an Atorvastatin at night. This was a fasting overnight, nothing after 11pm and test at 9.50am.

Thought so ... total looks very low (possibly too low) and were you 12-14 hours fasted or just the 11 ?

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

bulkbiker said:
Thought so ... total looks very low (possibly too low) and were you 12-14 hours fasted or just the 11 ?

According to my records it was quite a carby day for me (75g overall) but I had nothing after 6pm apart from a small piece of my rye/barley bread and some cheese at 10:46pm.

bulkbiker · Jun 23, 2020

mymuk said:
According to my records it was quite a carby day for me (75g overall) but I had nothing after 6pm apart from a small piece of my rye/barley bread and some cheese at 10:46pm.

Cholesterol can be quite dynamic and with a statin being taken then I'm not sure you can really draw any conclusions from your readings.

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

bulkbiker said:
Cholesterol can be quite dynamic and with a statin being taken then I'm not sure you can really draw any conclusions from your readings.

No doubt, though I'm taking reasonable comfort from things not being as bad as they could be.

bulkbiker · Jun 23, 2020

mymuk said:
No doubt, though I'm taking reasonable comfort from things not being as bad as they could be.

Guess you need to define "bad" ... higher cholesterol isn't necessarily "bad" as without any we'd be dead.

Edit to add great progress on the weight loss and HbA1c though which are far more important at the moment.

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

bulkbiker said:
Guess you need to define "bad" ... higher cholesterol isn't necessarily "bad" as without any we'd be dead.

I was meaning overall! The HbA1c drop is the main thing I'm thinking of. Not factored lipids into my mental model as yet as I am totally unbothered by the fat in my diet whilst I get my carb loving tendencies sorted. I have always tended to prefer the "better" fats anyway (as well as being a confirmed butter eater).

Bluetit1802 · Jun 23, 2020

mymuk said:
Yes, an Atorvastatin at night. This was a fasting overnight, nothing after 11pm and test at 9.50am.

Your cholesterol total is low, and this is due to the statin plus your low HDL. The HDL is the good cholesterol and needs to be as high as possible, so you do need to do some research on foods that will help. Also it is a known fact that carbs deplete HDL, so do watch the carb intake. My HDL is well over 2mmol/l. As your LDL and triglycerides are good, I would be tempted to discuss with your GP about coming off the statin. (You may also notice your blood glucose reducing as statins can increase this.)

mymuk · Jun 23, 2020

Bluetit1802 said:
I would be tempted to discuss with your GP about coming off the statin. (You may also notice your blood glucose reducing as statins can increase this.)

Useful advice, thanks. I was already planning to do my best to get off the statin asap (or to just stop getting that bit of the prescription, I read @bulkbiker 's thread on this yesterday). I think the next thing I will do is get my full lipid results for the last few tests - I only have these ones as i was walking past the surgery today and thought I may as well ask if my results were in. Usually I just get a generic comment from the nurse - they are not getting away with that from now on...

Research on HDL increases is underway - the aubergines sitting on my counter for tomorrow's lunch look like a fortuitous purchase!

Tophat1900 · Jun 24, 2020

I'd be pretty happy in your shoes with those results. Well done!

I'd not be happy with that low cholesterol level however. And low HDL. Good to hear you are looking into it all.

JoKalsbeek · Jun 24, 2020

mymuk said:
This is a fantastically useful and helpful place, thanks to you all.

Picked up my blood test results today which look like a good start.

HbA1c was 81 on the 9 March 2020 (the results were given on the 23 March when I was formally diagnosed T2 and started Metformin, etc).

Then it was still 70 on 23 April, after a month of not much action taken on my part other than "trying to avoid potatoes and bread".

At that point I started reading this forum and taking things seriously - then from 16th May I set an arbitrary, not too low, limit of 70g carbs a day (usually well under in practice).

As of now (tested June 15) the A1c is 48. I've also lost 10kg (since March) and am down to 113kg.

I note that the result covers the average of the previous 3 months so, if you disregard the month before I started the current regimen, I reckon I'm probably 44ish? Self-testing is giving an average of 5.4 over the last two weeks and no post meal spikes over 2.0

I'm thinking another month or two and then ask the GP to try dropping the meds and see what happens? I'm not sure if I need to get the Ramipril dose (2.5mg) dropped in any case, as I'm starting to get lightheaded for large parts of the day, and am thinking this is perhaps due to the dose now being too high, given the weight loss.

I also got my lipids, but that's not an area I've looked into as yet so I've no idea if they are good, bad or indifferent.

Cholesterol 2.9 mmol/L
Triglycerides 1.3 mmol/L
HDL 0.9 mmol/L
LDL 1.4 mmol/L
VLDL 0.6 mmol/L
Chol/HDL ratio 3.2

Excellent work! Just get that cholesterol back up. (Ditching the statins could impact your blood sugars in a very good way too).

Perminder1 · Jun 24, 2020

Bluetit1802 said:
Your cholesterol total is low, and this is due to the statin plus your low HDL. The HDL is the good cholesterol and needs to be as high as possible, so you do need to do some research on foods that will help. Also it is a known fact that carbs deplete HDL, so do watch the carb intake. My HDL is well over 2mmol/l. As your LDL and triglycerides are good, I would be tempted to discuss with your GP about coming off the statin. (You may also notice your blood glucose reducing as statins can increase this.)

HDL good cholesterol max is 5 which is excellent

Bluetit1802 · Jun 25, 2020

Perminder1 said:
HDL good cholesterol max is 5 which is excellent

According to my lab reports, the HDL range is 1.2 to 3.5.

Mbaker · Jun 25, 2020

You're doing great, way better than "standard of care". Well done for taking your health into your own hands rather than accepting the "chronic and progressive" line of thought.

Keep learning and optimising and I would encourage you to go for full remission - forever, with possibly an A1c under 42.

mymuk · Jun 26, 2020

Now got the changes for 23 April > 15 June

Cholesterol 3.3 > 2.9
HDL 0.9 > 0.9
LDL (calc) 1.3 > 1.4
VLDL (calc) 1.1 > 0.6
Chol/HDL ratio 3.7 > 3.2
Triglycerides 2.3 > 1.3

mymuk · Nov 8, 2020

Update here : https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/almost-in-remission-i-think.177857/#post-2328473

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