Interesting conversation with the nurse

[Jessielouiseb]

so today I went for my first blood test since being diagnosed 3 months ago .
The nurse was lovely she asked how my weight loss has been going which I told her is fantastic, she checked my blood pressure and said the top number was perfect but the bottom number is just a tiny bit high.

So I asked her about what happens next when my results are back, as in will I have to come back or will I receive a phone call, in which she said depends on my results.
I asked about what happens if my results come back as normal and she that I would have more blood blood tests every 3-6 months and if they keep coming back normal she said I wouldn’t have been diabetic.
which is so confusing to me?

 

[Guzzler]

May I ask when you were diagnosed and what was your HbA1c at that time, please.

 

[Jessielouiseb]

May I ask when you were diagnosed and what was your HbA1c at that time, please.

I was diagnosed in March and my hba1c was 7.6

 

[CondorX]

I was diagnosed in March and my hba1c was 7.6

That puts you firmly in the diabetic range - making dietary changes and going into remission does not mean you no longer have diabetes, though, just that it is very well controlled (albeit by diet and lifestyle changes, not medication). If you hit the carbs again, the diabetes will return...........the nurses' logic seems to have failed in that respect.

 

[Jessielouiseb]

That puts you firmly in the diabetic range - making dietary changes and going into remission does not mean you no longer have diabetes, though, just that it is very well controlled (albeit by diet and lifestyle changes, not medication). If you hit the carbs again, the diabetes will return...........the nurses' logic seems to have failed in that respect.

I know that’s in the diabetic range...my levels are completely normal now and didn’t take long at all to get them down....I still eat carbs I havnt cut them out of my diet, I just eat a balanced diet, everything in moderation. Fasting blood is between 4 and 5.3 doesn’t tend to go over 7.2 after meals.

 

[Caeseji]

I know that’s in the diabetic range...my levels are completely normal now and didn’t take long at all to get them down....I still eat carbs I havnt cut them out of my diet, I just eat a balanced diet, everything in moderation. Fasting blood is between 4 and 5.3 doesn’t tend to go over 7.2 after meals.

I'd say very well done to you there! I am guessing as well that you're doing a bit of exercise adjunct to all this too?

But it would be in remission or reversed as the case may be which is sustainable I've seen but it doesn't eradicate that it happened but as long as you take care of yourself then you can keep those numbers.

 

[Guzzler]

I know that’s in the diabetic range...my levels are completely normal now and didn’t take long at all to get them down....I still eat carbs I havnt cut them out of my diet, I just eat a balanced diet, everything in moderation. Fasting blood is between 4 and 5.3 doesn’t tend to go over 7.2 after meals.

Were you given a second A1c to confirm diagnosis?

 

[Jessielouiseb]

Were you given a second A1c to confirm diagnosis?

Yeah sorry, so that was my first one then 2 weeks later it was 6.9

 

[Jessielouiseb]

I'd say very well done to you there! I am guessing as well that you're doing a bit of exercise adjunct to all this too?

But it would be in remission or reversed as the case may be which is sustainable I've seen but it doesn't eradicate that it happened but as long as you take care of yourself then you can keep those numbers.

Yeah I exercise, nothing extreme, I go swimming twice a week and go for at least a 30 mins walk daily....it’s just weird how she said if my next lot and future blood test are normal that I wernt diabetic

 

[CondorX]

Yeah I exercise, nothing extreme, I go swimming twice a week and go for at least a 30 mins walk daily....it’s just weird how she said if my next lot and future blood test are normal that I wernt diabetic

That is not the usual criteria though - once diagnosed, you have diabetes. End of. What happens next is down to you, and you have done incredibly well to put it into remission very quickly. You should be offered the same monitoring and remain on the register - the carbohydrate intolerance might have improved and "reversed" your diabetic level blood sugars due to your good management, but that is bound to change if you raise your carb intake a lot, again.

 

[Jessielouiseb]

That is not the usual criteria though - once diagnosed, you have diabetes. End of. What happens next is down to you, and you have done incredibly well to put it into remission very quickly. You should be offered the same monitoring and remain on the register - the carbohydrate intolerance might have improved and "reversed" your diabetic level blood sugars due to your good management, but that is bound to change if you raise your carb intake a lot, again.

Will just have to see what my results are, and will speak the doctor about what the nurse said to me.

 

[lucylocket61]

Will just have to see what my results are, and will speak the doctor about what the nurse said to me.

My DN says I dont have diabetes, but stresses the potential for it returning is still there if I have too many carbs and sweet things. In her mind, the two are not the same, but hey, she is trying her best.

so maybe, in your nurses parlance then she means the same as my DN?

 

[HSSS]

The same argument about remission/reversal/removal of diagnosis/controlled goes round and round and will til there’s a clear definition. I guess (due to the historic treatment protocols) it hasn’t happened much til recently so was never needed. If it broke once (high bgl) it’s likely to break again if whatever treatment (diet, exercise, drugs) you applied to fix it stops being applied. Call it what you will, the facts remain the same.

 

[Jessielouiseb]

My DN says I dont have diabetes, but stresses the potential for it returning is still there if I have too many carbs and sweet things. In her mind, the two are not the same, but hey, she is trying her best.

so maybe, in your nurses parlance then she means the same as my DN?

I don’t know to be honest, she just said ‘if all tests come back normal from now on,then you wouldn’t have a had diabetes’

She then asked about family history, which does run in my family.
Which she then said ‘there’s a chance you could get it later in life when your older due to family history, but Carry on with your weightloss and maintaining it and no doubt you can forever avoid it’.

 

[lucylocket61]

I don’t know to be honest, she just said ‘if all tests come back normal from now on,then you wouldn’t have a had diabetes’

She then asked about family history, which does run in my family.
Which she then said ‘there’s a chance you could get it later in life when your older due to family history, but Carry on with your weightloss and maintaining it and no doubt you can forever avoid it’.

I am going to say she is dead wrong. A HbA1c of 7.2 shows that your body is already not coping with carbs. Please please get a second opinion. And taking two HbA1c's two weeks apart is useless, they need to be 3 months apart to show a clear picture. No-one without diabetes will get a HbAc of 7.2.

What is happening is that your dieting is controlling your carb levels enough to keep it under diabetic levels at the moment. I your nurse tells you you are not diabetic, she is laying you at risk of all sorts of complications without your knowledge.

 

[bulkbiker]

My DN says I dont have diabetes

In your case she is clearly wrong as your last HbA1c (looking at your sig) was still in the pre-diabetic range.

And taking two HbA1c's two weeks apart is useless

It's actually the norm when diagnosed 2 HbA1c's are taken and if both show T2 then voila a diagnosis is given.

 

[Jessielouiseb]

I am going to say she is dead wrong. A HbA1c of 7.2 shows that your body is already not coping with carbs. Please please get a second opinion. And taking two HbA1c's two weeks apart is useless, they need to be 3 months apart to show a clear picture. No-one without diabetes will get a HbAc of 7.2.

What is happening is that your dieting is controlling your carb levels enough to keep it under diabetic levels at the moment. I your nurse tells you you are not diabetic, she is laying you at risk of all sorts of complications without your knowledge.

I had my first 2 hba1c 2 weeks apart to confirm diagnosis which went from 7.2 to 6.9.....it’s now been 3 months since my last one so I had it today and have to wait for results....from my meter and glucose app my estimated hba1c is 5.23% and I test a lot throughout the day.

My main thing that’s has caused my blood sugars to dramatically drop is weightloss - but not lost weight through a low carb or Keto diet...I can easily eat 200g a day and my blood sugars are completely within normal range. I follow slimming world which essentially gives you freedom to eat as much rice pasta potatoes as you want, which I don’t eat a load at once and stick to wholegrains when I do.

 

[lucylocket61]

In your case she is clearly wrong as your last HbA1c (looking at your sig) was still in the pre-diabetic range.

no, she is right. I am not diabetic, i am pre-diabetic, and that is not treated and considered not diabetic. Its only when one becomes over into the diabetic range that one is considered diabetics and treated accordingly, with all the tests, follow-ups and such. Pre-diabetics are ignored.

 

[Dark Horse]

And taking two HbA1c's two weeks apart is useless, they need to be 3 months apart to show a clear picture.

Two separate HbA1c measurements are required for diagnosis in case there is a 'laboratory error'. The second one is usually ordered as soon as the first one comes back as abnormal.

 

[kokhongw]

I had my first 2 hba1c 2 weeks apart to confirm diagnosis which went from 7.2 to 6.9.....it’s now been 3 months since my last one so I had it today and have to wait for results....from my meter and glucose app my estimated hba1c is 5.23% and I test a lot throughout the day.

My main thing that’s has caused my blood sugars to dramatically drop is weightloss - but not lost weight through a low carb or Keto diet...I can easily eat 200g a day and my blood sugars are completely within normal range. I follow slimming world which essentially gives you freedom to eat as much rice pasta potatoes as you want, which I don’t eat a load at once and stick to wholegrains when I do.

Good to know that you are doing something different from most of us and getting good results with the weight loss and stabilized glucose.

T2D is a lifetime condition and we will have to find out what works for each of us...

Also noted that glucose tells us half the story. Our insulin response tells the other half...