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Lab Results

Winnie53

BANNED
Messages
2,374
Location
United States
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Got my lab work results back. Disappointed that there wasn't more change in my lipid panel after eating no sugar, no grains, no fruit, no polyunsaturated oils, and very limited legumes and starchy vegetables for 3 months...

Cholesterol (TC) -- February 229 mg/dL (5.9 mmol/L); May 236 mg/dL (6.1 mmol/L); Reference Range: Optimal <200 mg/dL (<5.2 mmol/L) -- Increase of 7 mg/dL

Triglycerides (TG) -- February 126 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L); May 123 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L); Reference Range: Optimal <150 mg/dL (<1.7 mmol/L) -- Decrease of 3 mg/dL

HDL -- February 44 mg/dL (1.1 mmol/L); May 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L); Reference Range: Optimal 40 - 60 mg/dL (1 - 1.6 mmol/L) -- Increase of 6 mg/dL

LDL -- February 165 md/dL (4.3 mmol/L); May 166 mg/dL (4.3 mmol/L); Reference Range: Optimal <130 mg/dL (<3.4 mmol/L) -- Increase of 1 mg/dL

Triglycerides/HDL Ratio -- February 2.86; May 2.46; Recommended Ratio <2 -- Decrease in ratio of 0.40

All lipid ratios improved.

A1C -- February 9.9 (13.2); May 5.5 (6.2); Ranges: 4.0 - 5.6 (3.8 - 6.3) normal; 5.7 - 6.4 (6.5 - 7.6) increased risk for diabetes; > 6.5 (>7.8) diagnostic for diabetes

Estimated Average Glucose (eAG) 111 mg/dL (6.2 mmol/L)

Fasting glucose -- February 282 mg/dL (15.7 mmol/L); May 136 mg/dL (7.6 mmol/L)

Weight -- February 160 pounds (11 stone 6 pounds); May 148 pounds (10 stone 8 pounds)

Thankful for the improved TG/HDL ratio and A1C.
 
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Am I eating enough fat?

Daily I eat...

3 or more tablespoons of butter
1 or more eggs
2 ounces nuts (walnut, pecan, or almond)
2 ounces cheese (cheddar, swiss, gouda, parmesan, provolone, feta)
1/2 an avocado

3 times a week, I eat...

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Do I need to lose more weight?

I weigh 148 pounds. My healthy weigh range is 110 - 145 pounds.

It's strange. My husband and I have almost identical lipid profiles - (though he doesn't have diabetes). We're both doing the LCHF diet. He also is overweight, more so than I, and his lipid profile improved a lot more than mine on the LCHF diet. He also lost a bit more weight than me.

I'm looking for ideas on what I can do differently.
 
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Does hubby eat everything in the same quantities as you?
Is he more or less active than you?

Its not good to compare to hubbys etc... As we all have different metabolisms etc.

Me personally, although I lower carb and always have.. My cholesterol went in wrong direction with dairy products. With olive oil dressing daily, avocado and olives my levels of cholesterol improved. I know lots of people successfully do brilliantly with the added dairies but I do think 3 tablespoons of butter a day is quite a lot.

Do uou check your calories and exercise on my fitness pal or anything similar?

Do you have things like milk in your drinks that haven't been listed that could be adding in extra unaccounted calories etc?
 
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Donnellysdogs, my husband and I only eat dinner together, so what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and snacks is very different. In general, he eats more protein and I eat more vegetables. We're equal in activity level this time of year. I read how you adjusted your diet and improved your lipid profile. Was relieved you figured out way of eating that works for you.

I don't have a fancy phone with an ap or a computer program to track my dietary intake yet. I'm open to suggestions for the computer.

As for dairy, I was trying to think what I eat. I think what I listed is all the dairy I eat, just hard cheeses, feta, and eggs, also sour cream but only two to four times a month when I make taco salad).

In addition to the fats I listed above - butter, eggs, nuts, cheddar, swiss, gouda, parmesan, provolone, feta, avocado, and extra virgin olive oil) - I eat eggs, bacon, spinach, mushrooms; vegetables, 1 to 2 at all meals; homemade vegetable soup with kidney beans, tomatoes and lots of vegetables; salads with mixed, baby greens, spinach, mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, and red cabbage; taco salad with seasoned ground beef, cheddar, green onions, lots of cilantro (coriander), avocado, sour cream, and a couple of small tomatoes; tuna once a week with mayo and sweet pickles; olives; sliced ham rolled with provolone cheese around a slice of dill pickle; freshly made pesto with spaghetti squash; meat; poultry; fish; and more vegetables.

I was looking at my medical records from 2009 and was surprised to see that my triglyceride level was 180 mg/dL (2 mmol/L) then, compared to 126 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L) and 123 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L) now. Perhaps there hasn't been much change in my lipid profile because I was already limiting grains and sugars before I started the LCHF diet. I don't know.
 
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Had to use 4 different conversion calculators, but I think, I hope, I correctly converted everything from US to UK.
 
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Happened upon this lecture, Why Aren't I Losing Weight on LCHF? presented by Dr. Zeeshan Arain...


He covers a lot of territory, and I appreciate his thoughtful observations.

This quote really resonated with me...

"Once you're fat adapted, you don't need to have as much fat in your diet if you want to allow some of your stored fat to be broken down into ketones." Maybe I'm eating too much fat now that I'm adapted?

Then he made the point that a "low carb, low fat" diet can result in an "energy deficit", which also is true.

Perhaps, for those type 2 diabetics like myself who aren't able to tolerate sugar, grains, fruits, starchy legumes and vegetables, fasting is the best option. Don't know. But that's probably what I'm going next when I'm feeling stronger.

Perhaps I should have my doctor check my thyroid. According to the records I have, in 2003 and 2004 I was bouncing back and forth between hypo and normal thyroid levels. In 2009, I tested hypothyroid again.
 
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Hypothyroid can quite often be associated with Vitamin D3 deficiency - it certainly was in my case. Can't recall if you've mentioned Vitamin D3 in your history @Winnie53 ?
 
Forgot about that Indy51. In February, I had my vitamin D level checked and it was 20.1 ng/mL (reference range is 30 - 100 ng/ml). I lost the Vitamin D lab result, so I had them reprint it today. My status isn't a deficiency, rather it's an insuffiency, but the 1,000 IU I've been taking for the last two months isn't going to be enough. I'm so glad you mentioned this. I'm going to hold off on getting my thyroid checked until I've restored my vitamin D level.

At the lecture I attended last week, we were told that thyroid function can sometimes be restored. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can find a discussion about that in his new book. I can't begin to tell you how helpful it is to be surrounded by people who "get" autoimmune disorders and understand diet and nutrition's role in addressing these issues.

Thank you.
 
My vit d3 with my ultra strength tablets and also being out all day working keeps me good. But I think that considering how much I supplement by and being outdoors all day is suprising how much vit d is needed to keep me at good levels. My brain and happiness is definitely better than when I didn't take the high dose vit d. I have 2 tablets in rainy weather when I stay in and 1 tablet when outdoors. I also take a multivitamin as well.
 
My vitamin D level seems to have sorted itself since I started on NDT. Last year I had a level of 148 mml/L ? instead of the 49 mml/L a couple of years ago.

Have you looked into the Terry Wahl's protocol? I haven't tried it but it seems to work very well for some.
 
I only take supplementation now if I haven't had direct sun exposure for a few days - most fine days I try to get at least 20 minutes. My level at the same time as Type 2 diagnosis was 41 (ideal is 51-150). Tests taken 6 months later was 88 and that's when I stopped taking it daily. After regular sun exposure and occasional "top up" doses, it was 112 last test.

Again, when diagnosed, my TSH was 4.07 and had many hypothyroid symptoms (including the classic missing outer third of eyebrows). After 3 months on D3 and weight loss, it had reduced to 2.47. Subsequent tests have ranged from low of 0.95 to 1.14, so doctor considers it resolved, though I still have symptoms that bother me, but getting more advanced testing is a real drama - they don't want to look beyond TSH.

The GP said the 3 conditions (Type 2, D3 deficiency and hypothyroid) often come as a package.
 
I've read these comments with interest - I've always felt that my thyroid doesn't work as well as it should. My grandmother was on thyroid meds all her adult life and had little in the way of eyebrows and I am currently missing the outer end of my left eyebrow. Whenever I mention it to medics, they squint at it and shrug and tell me that it looks okay to them. I know that it has changed as I have a large scar running along the top edge of it from head-butting a table when I was about 6 and don't trim my eyebrows so it hides it somewhat. By virtue of the fact that friends have commented that they hadn't noticed the scar before indicates that my eyebrow is no longer sufficient disguise.

I too am D3 deficient (apparently symptom-inducing low the first time they tested, something like 11 when it should be over 50) and take 30, 000 units once a fortnight, which keep it around 45-55 - although I never felt any improvement in my general well-being at improved levels.

Whenever they do bloods, they only ever seem to test TSH and declare it as normal. I do have a goitre with several small benign nodules, but whenever I ask medics if it's okay, they seem to adopt the attitude that as I'm overweight, I'm just clutching at straws for an excuse for my obesity. I really don't care about that, I'd just like to feel a bit more lively and not be cold all the time - their blanket diagnosis of fibromyalgia instead always sounded like inter-medic-speak for "this woman is a hypochondriac who can't be ***** to look after herself, so don't waste much time on her." judging by the knowing reaction that word elicits in other medical personnel.

I'm due my bloods shortly, so will ask again if they'll check my thyroid and D3.
 
I had the blanket labelling of fibromyalgia too. As I garden for a living they have now basically removed that blanket diagnosis of fibro.. But I put it down to the d3 supplements. My d3 was in the 140's...
 

Totto, thanks for mentioning the Terry Wahl's protocol. Just pulled it off the shelf and put it in my book stack. I need to read it along with the two other books I'm reading right now:

Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain -- for Life (2015) by David Perlmutter, MD
The Elimination Diet: Discover the Foods That Are Making You Sick and Tired -- and Feel Better Fast (2015) by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN

Tom Malterre and his wife and co-author Alissa live here. They both have bachelor of science degrees in nutrition from Bastyr University. Additionally, Tom has a masters degree in nutrition and just completed advanced training from the Institute for Functional Medicine. He's primarily an educator - (he trains and coaches physicians throughout the US and Canada) - but lucky for us, he maintains a limited practice here.

I attended a lecture presented by Tom a few weeks ago, and he shared with us some interesting research on vitamin D and inflammation.

Inflammation is the body's normal response to injury. What I didn't know is that vitamin D plays a critical role in the signaling process that shuts off the inflammation process, typically within a 48 hour window. If not enough vitamin D is present, the inflammation process continues, which is not good because inflammation drives chronic diseases.

In his book, he writes "Vitamin D is one of the most potent immune-calming substances in the human diet. When vitamin D levels are low, you're at greater risk for developing food intolerance and other health issues. A review published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2013 associated adequate vitamin D levels with decreasing cancer, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel, and muscle pain."

Vitamin D is good stuff.

I did a lot of reading yesterday and am continuing this morning. It hit me last night that I have three autoimmune disorders worsened by inflammation: inflammatory bowel disease, hypothyroid, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Time to step up my game and figure out how to reduce reduce my inflammation. I'm going to call the doctor today and ask for two more tests: C-reactive protein (CRP) and TSH. This will give me a baseline of where I'm at now.
 
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Are you on any thyroid meds? Have you tried NDT? It rocks. I will never, ever go back on Levo.
 
Totto, what is NDT? I chose to not take medication because I felt okay, and my TSH levels bounced in and out of the normal range the entire three years I was monitored. The last time I was checked was 2009, so it will be good to check it again before my doctor appointment next week.
 
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That's interesting. When my Vitamin D was found to be very low, the GP (a lovely lady who has since left the practice unfortunately) gave me a load of print outs of the symptoms and problems a deficiency can cause, but they didn't improve when my levels did, so we carried on looking.

But that comment would tie in with the fibromyalgia type response - which was explained to me, much as above, on a physio course I did, as an inappropriately prolonged reaction to a pain stimulus or damage - the signals don't switch off when they should after a stimulus has been removed - it carries on hurting - whether that's a hug, sticking your finger on a drawing pin (or testing BG), exerting yourself in activity or a torn muscle hurting long after it has actually healed. I wonder if more D3 than 'within the normal range' could improve that process?
 
BooJewels, there may be something to that - (below is an excerpt from this article, The Role of Magnesium in Fibromyalgia)...

Click here for complete article... http://web.mit.edu/london/www/magnesium.html

In some people, the problem might not be enough magnesium, but instead might be not enough vitamin D, which has an effect on magnesium absorption. Up until recently, doctors only associated a vitamin D deficiency with weak bones, and they believed that a vitamin D deficiency in young people was rare in countries like the US. However, both of these beliefs have been proven false. Not only does it occur in young people, but sometimes a vitamin D deficiency can manifest itself mainly as pain. Initial symptoms in adults can often appear as vague musculoskeletal pains, muscle weakness, and fatigue, symptoms commonly found in fibromyalgia. Also, studies on the muscles of vitamin D deficient patients, show a reduction of ATP levels, similar to that of fibromyalgia patients.

In some cases, the deficiency leads to myopathy, with quite severe muscle weakness, especially affecting the legs and ability to walk. On the other hand, sometimes the symptoms are less severe, in which case it could be easily overlooked in fibromyalgia patients. In fact, several small studies have shown that at least 40% of patients with fibromyalgia have a vitamin D deficiency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12810939
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11708429

And while some blood tests can possibly indicate a vitamin D deficiency, often a deficiency can exist without any other biochemical changes. Thus, the only definite way to tell if you have this problem, is by testing vitamin D levels. Unfortunately, very few doctors do this. So It's quite possible that some people who have fibromyalgia, might also have a vitamin D deficiency. Or perhaps they never had fibromyalgia to begin with. In the following study from Canada, only 12% of patients referred to rheumatologists with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, actually had fibromyalgia:
 
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