Newly Diagnosed Diabetes

budhi76 · Dec 14, 2022

Hi Everyone,

My name is Budhi from Indonesia. Two months ago I was diagnosed with diabetes with HbA1C 7.1. I was not prescribed any medicine and told to change lifestyle, and monitor after 3 months. I went to the other doctor, and also told to keep monitoring. Then I started to do intensive aerobic exercise, have low-carb diet, and no more snacking. Already lost weight almost 10 kg in 2 months.

However during the time, most of my fasting blood glucose in the morning is quite good. From 87 - 104 mg/dL. But I notice about 4 times post meal (1 - 5 hours) my blood glucose spike to 180 - 210 mg/dL. But went down to 90-100 mg/dL after 5-6 hours.

Based on my description, would you guys have same experiences? And should I take metformin already, as I read many journals that renal damage start at 180 mg/dL blood glucose level and also retinopathy.

Thanks.

Ronancastled · Dec 14, 2022

Definitely stick with low carb & exercise.
Those post eating readings are high but it all depends on what you ate, how many carbs ?
There is a theory that T2 is caused by excessive fat buildup on the liver/pancreas & that by losing this weight you can achieve better glucose control.
Continue your weight loss & you may begin to see improved postpriandrial readings.
Either way it's worth a shot.

catinahat · Dec 14, 2022

budhi76 said:
4 times post meal (1 - 5 hours) my blood glucose spike to 180 - 210 mg/dL.

I would stop eating whatever was in those 4 meals.

budhi76 · Dec 14, 2022

Ronancastled said:
Definitely stick with low carb & exercise.
Those post eating readings are high but it all depends on what you ate, how many carbs ?
There is a theory that T2 is caused by excessive fat buildup on the liver/pancreas & that by losing this weight you can achieve better glucose control.
Continue your weight loss & you may begin to see improved postpriandrial readings.
Either way it's worth a shot.

Hi Ronan, thanks. But based on the experience, should I start to take medication?

budhi76 · Dec 15, 2022

catinahat said:
I would stop eating whatever was in those 4 meals.

Definitely, what I fear of is there any other food that spike my sugar although it is a while after meal can cause unwanted consequences.

Robbity · Dec 15, 2022

I'd agree with what the others have suggested: if you are seeing higher glucose levels with certain meals, then you should at least be taking note of what carbs are in those meals and either reduce or avoid eating them. IMO it's much more important to avoid food that you see is causing problems, than trying to fix things instead by taking medications. You may possibly need to do both but you should still cut those carbs.

budhi76 · Dec 15, 2022

Robbity said:
I'd agree with what the others have suggested: if you are seeing higher glucose levels with certain meals, then you should at least be taking note of what carbs are in those meals and either reduce or avoid eating them. IMO it's much more important to avoid food that you see is causing problems, than trying to fix things instead by taking medications. You may possibly need to do both but you should still cut those carbs.

Thanks, but it is usual that metformin is not prescribed in the case?

catinahat · Dec 15, 2022

budhi76 said:
Thanks, but it is usual that metformin is not prescribed in the case?

Metformin is not as effective as altering your diet, it will not allow you to eat high carb meals without having the resulting high blood sugar.
There are much stronger drugs that force your pancreas to produce more insulin or get rid of the sugar by making you pee it out. They are usually only used if your diabetes has progressed to a point where diet and less aggressive drugs like metformin, no longer work.
Metformin can be useful because it prevents your liver from releasing too much of its stored glucose. It helps a little with your insulin resistance and can help by suppressing your appetite. But it can do nothing about the glucose you get from the carbohydrates in your diet.
Use your meter to discover what is causing your high levels, test your blood immediately before you eat and again 2hrs later.
The difference between the two results will tell you how well your body handled that meal.
If your 2hr test is more than 36 mg/dl higher than your pre meal test, you know there were too many carbs in that meal.
All drugs, even mild ones like metformin, come with a long list of possible side effects. Keeping your blood sugars controlled by not eating the food that raises them, has got to be preferable to relying on medication which will need to be stronger and more aggressive as time goes on.

budhi76 · Dec 15, 2022

catinahat said:
Metformin is not as effective as altering your diet, it will not allow you to eat high carb meals without having the resulting high blood sugar.
There are much stronger drugs that force your pancreas to produce more insulin or get rid of the sugar by making you pee it out. They are usually only used if your diabetes has progressed to a point where diet and less aggressive drugs like metformin, no longer work.
Metformin can be useful because it prevents your liver from releasing too much of its stored glucose. It helps a little with your insulin resistance and can help by suppressing your appetite. But it can do nothing about the glucose you get from the carbohydrates in your diet.
Use your meter to discover what is causing your high levels, test your blood immediately before you eat and again 2hrs later.
The difference between the two results will tell you how well your body handled that meal.
If your 2hr test is more than 36 mg/dl higher than your pre meal test, you know there were too many carbs in that meal.
All drugs, even mild ones like metformin, come with a long list of possible side effects. Keeping your blood sugars controlled by not eating the food that raises them, has got to be preferable to relying on medication which will need to be stronger and more aggressive as time goes on.

Hi catinahat, thank you for thorough explanation. Now I understand the reason. For two hours after meal, almost many low glycemic index carbs should be ok but with very small portion. But even with that low GI, 30 minutes postprandial sometimes shoot to 160 before slowly going down.

catinahat · Dec 15, 2022

budhi76 said:
even with that low GI, 30 minutes postprandial sometimes shoot to 160 before slowly going down.

Looks like you have discovered what many of us have, the glycemic index doesn't really work that well.
I guess the scientist that came up with it didn't have a glucose meter in their laboratory so were unable to check their findings in the real world

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