In T2 again!

[Taylormaid]

I had been diagnosed with T2 in 2015, my reading was 6.6, so I was advised to change my diet and exercise more to see if I could bring down my BS without any medication. After a few months I did achieve this and my BS was back to around 5 normal range! I stayed in remission for 3-4 years, however we moved house end of 2019 and Covid happened, so it’s just be this year when I had my bloods done again and I’m back in T2 only a lot higher than I was when originally diagnosed, at 8.1.
The doctor is giving me six weeks before my second round of bloods and to change lifestyle again to see if I can bring it down a little, or, if not , he will put me on some kind of medication. When I told him that I managed to bring it to a normal level before, he said that that’s not a guarantee second time round, which left me gutted. I thought with what I’ve been reading on this forum that it can be done, in fact some people have been T2 for 20 plus years and were able to go into remission!
Is he just just putting some fear into me to make me more determined to change things?
Also, in reading this forum people refer to high numbers for T2, what is the difference with the figures my doctor uses? What would 8.1 using the other numbers relate to. It is the HbA1c Test I get. If anyone can advise on both questions, I would be most grateful, Thank you.

 

[catinahat]

Welcome @Taylormaid
It depends where in the world you are in the UK and Europe they use the IFCC units which are
Under 42 = normal, 42 - 47 = pre diabetes and above 47 is diabetes
In other parts of the world they use the DCCT units which are expressed as a percentage
A percentage of 8.1 would be the equivalent to 65 in the uk

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-converter.html

There are also two types of units used for the glucose meters in the uk our meters measure mmol/l
I the US the meters use mg/dl

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

Cut as many carbs as you can from your diet and there's no reason why you can't get back into a good range

 

[EllieM]

Hi @Taylormaid and welcome to the forums.

Assuming 8.1 is an hba1c in % then that corresponds to an average blood sugar of 10.3mmol/L and an hba1c of 65mmol/mol.

This is well into the diabetic range but not massively so.

So how have you been controlling your diabetes? If you are already on a low carb diet I personally might want to ask for a cpeptide and/or GAD test just to rule out the possibility that you might be LADA, slow onset T1. (Disclaimer, I am not a doctor and am T1 myself so might not be unbiased on that possibility.)

If you're not low carbing (or let the carbs creep up during covid) I'd suggest you try reducing them down before assuming the worst.

In either case, getting a meter and doing some blood tests would inform you as to what is going on with your blood sugars.

Good luck.

 

[Taylormaid]

Thank you EllieM for your information.
My diet has been poor for 3 years now, eating anything I wanted, because I didn’t really feel any effects of diabetes, only lately with dry mouth, some tingling sensation in lower legs/feet and eyes a bit blurry.
In the last 6 weeks I have reduced my carbs dramatically, mainly avoiding bread, sweet treats, pasta, chips and rice. This is just to see if there is a drop in numbers, after that I will introduce some of the above, only more moderately and not daily, so my forever more diet is a realistic lifestyle.
My next appointment date is 29 June 2022, so after those results I might have a better idea on what my bloods are doing. I have increased my exercise/walking which is helping with the weight loss too, I’ve averaged a loss of 2.5 lbs a week. So I’ve achieved the stone off that they wanted to see in the six weeks! Then several more to go!
I’m really hoping that my BS will have dropped too, because the doctor said if that doesn’t change in the six weeks with effort made by myself, he will put me on medication. I’ve never been on medication for diabetes as it was always diet controlled, so I’m a quite worried, I just let my eating and lack of exercise get out of hand.
If the results are the same I will mention the other testing you suggested, I will need to look it up as I haven’t heard of it. I’m a bit green on the whole diabetic issues.
Thank you once again.