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Not sure if I’m diabetic or not ?

P

Patriciaw

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes so took advice a bought a glucose test kit
Been using it for the past 2 weeks and my reading are 5.5 to 7.6 before and after food
I’ve googled the results and that’s say these numbers a normal. Do you think the dr has it wrong. He put me straight on metformin which I take once a day not 2 as instructed. So of course I’m confused am I diabetic or not ?
What do you all think and thanks in advance
 
Hi there @Patriciaw your glucose monitor only takes snap shots of your blood sugars. Yes, they are great as a means of seeing how well your body is dealing with the food you are eating just before a meal and two hours after, but they are not designed as a replacement for a HbA1c test. The HbA1c test shows your average blood sugars over the past 3 months. It is the HbA1c test that your Dr uses to diagnose pre-diabetes and diabetes.
 
Thank you my test was 49 which I believe is at a good level
 
Patriciaw said:
Thank you my test was 49 which I believe is at a good level
Click to expand...
It's not. The NHS in the UK will automatically diagnose Type 2 diabetes with an HbA1c of 48 or above. Usually they will do two tests to confirm.

Normal range for blood glucose for almost all non-diabetic people is around 36-41 (see graph) . The good news is that many people (I'm one) diagnosed with an HbA1c similar to yours can reduce blood glucose levels very quickly with a low-carb way of eating. I was diagnosed with an HbA1c of 50 in December 2019 and had a normal HbA1c in April 2020.
 

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Thank you so if I do the low carb and reduce the Hba1c level will I be able to come off medication
 
Patriciaw said:
Thank you so if I do the low carb and reduce the Hba1c level will I be able to come off medication
Click to expand...
Your odds are good for that, yeah. You're not sky high, just high enough to be out of the prediabetic range and just barely into the diabetic one. So while it's not good, it's quite salvageable...
 
Patriciaw said:
Thank you so if I do the low carb and reduce the Hba1c level will I be able to come off medication
Click to expand...
I didn't take any medication at all.

Metformin interferes with your liver's ability to create and add glucose to your system in a way that isn't completely understood (Bilous and Donnelly, Handbook of Diabetes, 5th ed). This is a completely natural thing for our livers to be doing and, if it's working properly, ensures we have the right amount of fuel available for current needs. Metformin doesn't affect glucose arriving via food intake.

Metformin should (for most people) reduce glucose levels to some extent, and this is a good thing as high blood glucose levels over time can and will cause damage to nerves and capillaries. This happened to me with HbA1c levels in the mid-40s. But if your BG levels are in "normal" range by reducing carb (and therefore glucose) intake, the need to take metformin to lower your BG levels would no longer exist.
 
Hi @Patriciaw - I had exactly the same HbA1c measurement about this time last year. It was a hell of a shock, and the amount of information you need to absorb, plus all the information that's being fired at you (and in my opinion, these are not always the same things) - is overwhelming and scary.

But, there are lots of people with both personal experience of reversing this, and the knowledge to do it, @KennyA and @JoKalsbeek couldn't be better examples. It can be done.

With help from this forum, my HbA1c is now around 37...
Good luck..
 
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