Is this readings ok

Hi @arthur73 and welcome to the forums. Do have a browse round and feel free to join in and ask any questions.

An hba1c reading of 13.3% corresponds to an average blood sugar of 18.5mmol/L so your levels have certainly come down since your diagnosis.

Can I ask whether insulin is your only medication, where you are located and whether any tests have been done to confirm that you are T2 rather than say T1 or LADA (slow onset T1)? Some doctors assume T2 because of age and/or weight, without doing tests to confirm.

It's quite unusual for new T2s to be put straight on to insulin, so am wondering about that a little.

Has your team said anything about the amount of carbs in your meals? As a T1 (I don't make any insulin) I need to balance the carbs I eat with the amount of insulin I take. T2s are generally insulin resistant (carbohydrate intolerant), and start out by making too much insulin, but eventually can't make enough insulin to cope with the carbs in their diet. Long term T2s often end up on insulin from a combination of increased insulin resistance plus reduced insulin production (insulin production can be reduced by long term high blood sugars). But as a new T2, I'd expect you still to be making plenty of your own insulin.....

Many of the T2s on these forums control their blood sugars and come off medication (including insulin) by reducing the carbs in their diets. Weight gain is a common side effect of T2 (high blood sugar plus lots of circulating insulin results in weight gain) and has the added disadvantage that it increases insulin resistance, so reducing the carbs in a T2's diet can lead to weight loss as well as lower blood sugars. But if you are already on insulin you need to consult with your doctor on this, as you need to be careful of hypos (hypoglycemia, aka too low blood sugar).

And to answer your original question, here's a link to recommended bgs in the UK.
Normal and Diabetic Blood Sugar Level Ranges - Blood Sugar Levels for Diabetes

Hopefully some T2s will post later to give you some more support. Many of the forumites are UK based and are asleep now.

Looks like you're heading in the right direction. I'm T2, diagnosed in 2008 and have never taken insulin. I'm currently taking three other medications, and I just today got my first sub-diabetic A1C after really plunging into low-carb eating. I'm hoping to be able to come off at least one of the meds that I'm on. It's true that some T2s will ultimately need insulin and maybe you're at that place, but it seems like some more testing would be in order before making that call. Don't starve yourself - there are many healthy foods that you can enjoy that are filling and low carb. Green veggies, cauliflower, cheese, meat, fish, almonds, tofu, olives, all sorts of things you can fill up on without spiking your sugar.

One thing you might ask about is to try a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) so you can really watch what food, sleep, exercise etc. do to your levels instead of getting just a few snapshots a day. Looks like you're testing regularly which is great, but it's still just moments in time. A CGM basically records all day so you can see how steep spikes are and how long they last. My insurance wouldn't cover it, so I paid out of pocket for 6 months worth of the sensors just to learn what affects me. It's been pretty helpful.

Good luck on your journey and definitely explore the forum. I've been really impressed by the friendliness in here. I also sometimes read the diabetes_t2 forum on Reddit, but disagreements break out quite a bit.

It is great that you are tracking. There's a good chance that at 47 you can get good control. There are some decisions that you can make, which will directly correlate to your numbers, even if your own insulin production is compromised. The results will vary from no change to remission (or close).

It's all about the food choices. A method that yields consistent results is to replace cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, over processed foods. This road has been trodden by millions so there are alternatives for most of the meals you would be used to (just prefix for example bread with either "low carb" or "keto" on your search engine or any social media)

I have tried more plant based, low carb, keto, carnivore and have settled on Keto Carnivore higher protein. This means a foundation of meats (real), fish, shell fish, with low sugar vegetables / salads / berries, nuts (occasional seeds). No vegetable oils, grain based flours or sugar.

Breakfast today was as below:

(I do resistance / weight training and walking almost every day, so need this amount of food - you may need half as much. I eat twice a day, but have tried 1)

Other meals over the last week or so:



Many do variations on these types of meals. But mine cover all of the essential nutrients and minerals. Much is locally sourced (meats and fish mostly Manningtree Market Essex), produce split between garden, allotment, Waistrose and Morrisons) - 100% Dark Chocolate - bulk purchase from local Vegan shop - Manningtree.

SG as in Singapore?

Mbaker said:

It is great that you are tracking. There's a good chance that at 47 you can get good control. There are some decisions that you can make, which will directly correlate to your numbers, even if your own insulin production is compromised. The results will vary from no change to remission (or close).

It's all about the food choices. A method that yields consistent results is to replace cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, over processed foods. This road has been trodden by millions so there are alternatives for most of the meals you would be used to (just prefix for example bread with either "low carb" or "keto" on your search engine or any social media)

I have tried more plant based, low carb, keto, carnivore and have settled on Keto Carnivore higher protein. This means a foundation of meats (real), fish, shell fish, with low sugar vegetables / salads / berries, nuts (occasional seeds). No vegetable oils, grain based flours or sugar.

Breakfast today was as below:
View attachment 50568
(I do resistance / weight training and walking almost every day, so need this amount of food - you may need half as much. I eat twice a day, but have tried 1)

Other meals over the last week or so:

View attachment 50570

Many do variations on these types of meals. But mine cover all of the essential nutrients and minerals. Much is locally sourced (meats and fish mostly Manningtree Market Essex), produce split between garden, allotment, Waistrose and Morrisons) - 100% Dark Chocolate - bulk purchase from local Vegan shop - Manningtree.

Click to expand...

Mbaker, your pictures of what to eat are very useful indeed!

arthur73 said:

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes just recently. My Hba1c reading is 13.3. I go to the specialist and give me 8 unit of Insulin which I inject every night. I eat less now. I plan to eat a little bit more since I feel sick if I eat less. Is this reading ok?

Click to expand...

I'm very impressed with the way everything is being tracked in a spreadsheet!

Languagelearner said:

Mbaker, your pictures of what to eat are very useful indeed!

Click to expand...

The pictures that @Mbaker shows are just a few of the food items and meals that are Low Carb.
A good we site for checking the carbs in food items is www.dietdoctor.com
Most on a Low Carb way of eating in these forums do what is called 'eating to your meter' that is testing meals and food items in order to find which ones we need to eliminate or cut down on.
There is no 'one size fits all' so far as Type 2 diabetics and carbohydrates is concerned. Some can et a variety of non-tropical fruit (e.g. apples, pears, cherries) where others can't eat any fruits apart from ones like berries, watermelon and fruit generally treated as a vegetable e.g. avocado, cucumber, courgette etc.