Mmol/l at time of being diagnosed,

[Dizzylish78]

Hi @Dizzylish78. My initial diagnosis level was similar to yours. I was in hospital at the time recovering for a biopsy following a kidney transplant a couple of months earlier. The steroids that were part of my anti-rejection treatment had caused the diabetes. That was over two years ago now and my levels are generally in the normalish area. I am not on any meds for diabetes. I got my levels down purely through cutting certain things from my diet. Given your comments about what you are eating/not eating, I just wanted to advise you to seriously look at foods other than the sweet things. The single most important thing to realise (which your nurse may or may not emphasize, but many on this site will) is that essentially carbohydrates turn to glucose in your system. Please look at Low Carb High Fat dieting. Cutting out/down things like bread, cereal, pasta and spuds will make a huge difference. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice - I've bought a couple of books and am definitely looking at everything I eat now. The cutting out sweets and chocolate seemed like an immediate sensible thing to do until I'd seen the nurse and done some proper research. Ideally I'd like to manage it without medication, so my diet is something I'm going to be taking really seriously.

 

[red1mot]

52 at diagnosis now down to 7 take care

 

[red1mot]

Sorry forgot say took me 4 months so don't despair can be done

 

[Mr_Pot]

52 at diagnosis now down to 7 take care

52 to 7? What units are these?

 

[Engineer88]

52 to 7? What units are these?

that's going to be m/mol.

Mine was HIGH (unreadable at the time in 1990) that's +40 m/mol.

my current predicted Hba1c is 7.3 and bg 9.9 m/mol.

 

[hca]

Hba1c 52 at diagnosis have got my first set of blood tests on the 12th so fingers crossed

 

[Robbity]

My HbA1c was around 60-61 on diagnosis, and down to 47 three months later. I just cut out sugary food/drink on advice from GP and DN, then all high carb food a little while later when I actually realised that they (not just sugar) were my real problem. I didn't have a meter during this time as I was (as usual) told I didn't need one. After I found this site, got a meter, and started "serious" low carbing, my initial readings were in the 6 to highish 7 levels and my HBAq1c was down to 40 at my next check up five months later.

It wasn't until I refused to take statins any longer that my levels regularly dropped down into the 5-6 range. There are definitely things other than diet that may have an impact on our glucose levels too.

Robbity

 

[Rick1318]

Dx at 17 mmol/l 2.5 weeks ago. Cut most carbs and all sweet stuff. Went down to 8-9 a week later and now I'm seeing some morning 7s and 4-5s after exercising. Still spiking by around 2 mmol/l after every meal with protein though so I think some gluconeogensis going on..

 

[Dizzylish78]

I've cut carbs to around 50-70 grams a day. I tested myself this morning and ideas 8.2mmol not sure if this is good or bad for a fasting figure though lol.
Good luck for tomorrow I would be really interested how you get on.

The nurse confirmed that I've been diabetic for a very long time. She wasn't concerned about diet today as she said if my blood sugar levels drop too quickly it will make me Ill. She's prescribed me Gliclazide until we can get it to a reasonable level at which point I can start taking metformin. I've been given a blood glucose monitoring system and I'm seeing her for a longer appt on Monday. She also said my hb1ac level is 105 but I'm not really sure what that means?

 

[Freema]

The nurse confirmed that I've been diabetic for a very long time. She wasn't concerned about diet today as she said if my blood sugar levels drop too quickly it will make me Ill. She's prescribed me Gliclazide until we can get it to a reasonable level at which point I can start taking metformin. I've been given a blood glucose monitoring system and I'm seeing her for a longer appt on Monday. She also said my hb1ac level is 105 but I'm not really sure what that means?

remember it is your choice, many doctors and nurses do not believe we can control diabetes as well as we can on Low Carb High Fat diets

 

[Freema]

the green area is the non-diabetic area

 

[miahara]

The nurse confirmed that I've been diabetic for a very long time. She wasn't concerned about diet today as she said if my blood sugar levels drop too quickly it will make me Ill. She's prescribed me Gliclazide until we can get it to a reasonable level at which point I can start taking metformin. I've been given a blood glucose monitoring system and I'm seeing her for a longer appt on Monday. She also said my hb1ac level is 105 but I'm not really sure what that means?

Your HbA1c is high but gliclazide and diet will bring it down fairly quickly to a reasonable level. When I was diagnosed my HbA1c was very high too, but a combination of gliclazide and cutting refined sugars as per the NHS diet brought it down quite a bit. However after about six months I discovered the LCHF, and the criticisms of the NHS diet, and when I adopted LCHF my blood glucose levels started a further fall and have now more or less levelled off at an almost pre-diabetic level.

 

[Coopsman1]

Diagnosed in Dec 16 and my HbA1c was...... 158mmol/mol (23.8mmol/l) or 16%. Yes I kid you not and these were confirmed by DSN and consultant. How on earth I walked into hospital and after 48hrs walked out, I will never now.

Had my quarterly HbA1c and it is now down to 58mmol/mol (9.3mmol/l) or 7.5%. Whilst not perfect I am pleased with the change in 3 months.

 

[Bluetit1802]

The nurse confirmed that I've been diabetic for a very long time. She wasn't concerned about diet today as she said if my blood sugar levels drop too quickly it will make me Ill. She's prescribed me Gliclazide until we can get it to a reasonable level at which point I can start taking metformin. I've been given a blood glucose monitoring system and I'm seeing her for a longer appt on Monday. She also said my hb1ac level is 105 but I'm not really sure what that means?

HbA1c of 105 is well in the red zone on the chart Freema just posted, so you have a lot of work to do, but it is perfectly possible to get that right down by cutting carbs. Many, many people on here have done it and managed to come off medication completely.

 

[pleinster]

The nurse confirmed that I've been diabetic for a very long time. She wasn't concerned about diet today as she said if my blood sugar levels drop too quickly it will make me Ill. She's prescribed me Gliclazide until we can get it to a reasonable level at which point I can start taking metformin. I've been given a blood glucose monitoring system and I'm seeing her for a longer appt on Monday. She also said my hb1ac level is 105 but I'm not really sure what that means?

Hi. Yup -105 is a high HbA1c level. You can see form the chart @Freema posted....it equates to an average of about 16mmols over the last 3 months. Can you see that? The readings you get on your meter (and that's good you got one) are in mmols. Start using it and recording what you eat, what your level is before and about 2.5 hours after eating. You will soon figure out what pushes your blood sugar up. As a very rough guideline you want to avoid it going u more than about 2.5mmols after 2 hours or so. I am tagging the wonderful @daisy1, who will be along to give you some really good basic info; look at the figures recommended for Type 2s. Once you have your head around the figures, you will have a much clearer picture, and the more you use your meter...the more sense it will all make. I started on Gliclazide too...but came off it by choice when I realised how effective cutting carbs was. The more you know about your own individual system and its response to certain foods, the easier it will be to get things right down under control. Don't worry - if you work at it, you will get there.

 

[Lord Midas]

After a month of symptoms, I tested my blood and it was 24mmol/l. When seeing my Dr he said this is slipping into diabetic coma territory. Nothing like a scare like that to tell you you're ill. This was 11 years ago.

One thing that might happen is that you will be told to continue eating a 'balanced' diet which includes plenty of carbs. This is extraordinarily bad advice for diabetics. Thing is, they can't tell you any different because the 'guidelines' come from up-above.

I asked my dietician about this and she agrees that a low carb diet is best but isn't allowed to tell patients that.

 

[Dizzylish78]

Hi. Yup -105 is a high HbA1c level. You can see form the chart @Freema posted....it equates to an average of about 16mmols over the last 3 months. Can you see that? The readings you get on your meter (and that's good you got one) are in mmols. Start using it and recording what you eat, what your level is before and about 2.5 hours after eating. You will soon figure out what pushes your blood sugar up. As a very rough guideline you want to avoid it going u more than about 2.5mmols after 2 hours or so. I am tagging the wonderful @daisy1, who will be along to give you some really good basic info; look at the figures recommended for Type 2s. Once you have your head around the figures, you will have a much clearer picture, and the more you use your meter...the more sense it will all make. I started on Gliclazide too...but came off it by choice when I realised how effective cutting carbs was. The more you know about your own individual system and its response to certain foods, the easier it will be to get things right down under control. Don't worry - if you work at it, you will get there.

I tested my levels last night 2 hours after eating and taking the Gliclazide and it was 10.6 - I'm not feeling good today, tested my levels 2 hours after breakfast & they're 15.3 - this seems like quite a difference, is it normal to have such a difference in levels? Thanks

 

[Bluetit1802]

I tested my levels last night 2 hours after eating and taking the Gliclazide and it was 10.6 - I'm not feeling good today, tested my levels 2 hours after breakfast & they're 15.3 - this seems like quite a difference, is it normal to have such a difference in levels? Thanks

It is only normal if you are eating the wrong foods. Eat the right foods and the swings will be much less noticeable.

What were you before you ate last night, and what were they before your breakfast?

 

[Dizzylish78]

It is only normal if you are eating the wrong foods. Eat the right foods and the swings will be much less noticeable.

What were you before you ate last night, and what were they before your breakfast?

I only got my meter yesterday afternoon and was told to check levels up to 4 times a day but not told when I should test them, so for consistency I'm doing it 2 hours after each meal. The nurse wasn't concerned with my diet yesterday so hoping we'll talk about that next week. I had porridge and honey for breakfast this morning but will try something else tomorrow to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I only got my meter yesterday afternoon and was told to check levels up to 4 times a day but not told when I should test them, so for consistency I'm doing it 2 hours after each meal.

That won't tell you anything at all. You may find you have to ask for extra strips or buy some of your own. To get your food sorted you need to test immediately before you eat and again 2 hours after first bite, then record these levels next to the food you ate (a food diary including portion sizes is the best way) Look at the rise from before to after and try to keep it under 2mmol/l. If it goes above that there are too many carbs in that meal. Testing this way is the only way to learn about food and what it does to your levels. Just testing after eating means very little unless you know where you were before you ate.

As you are on Gliclazide you also need to test before you drive.