• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

On the Way - not quite there yet.........

J

J_P

Well-Known Member
So i was diagnosed as diabetic back at the end of June (28th) - usual symptoms - getting up in the middle of the night, sugar cravings and crashes etc. Bought myself a finger prick test kit and had a reading of 19.4.

2 days later my HBA1c was an interesting 125 and then 114 (test either side of the weekend). Basic stats were as follows;

HBA1c - 125
Weight - 105.4 Kg
BP - 134/93

I negotiated with the DSN a three month lifestyle only approach - ULC, Running and Weights (3 x Week) and weekly monitoring BP, Weight and daily blood (finger prick test).

So three months in and with no medication i am now as follows;

HBA1c - 45
Weight - 95.7 Kg
BP - 116/68

Total Cholesterol down by 30% from 5.7 - 4.1
Non HDL Cholesterol down by 35% from 4.6 - 3
Cholesterol / HDL ratio down by 30% from 5.2 - 3.7

Another three months until my next test when a low HBA1c will mean i can discuss the 'R' word with the DSN.................
 
Thank you

Cant deny there is a craving for just a little bit of chocolate....... however the next three months are going to be the hardest I'll keep you posted
 
JustinP said:
Thank you

Cant deny there is a craving for just a little bit of chocolate....... however the next three months are going to be the hardest I'll keep you posted
Click to expand...
Chocolate is fine - it is the loads of sugar in the 'normal' bars which causes the problems.
I buy the highest cocoa content bars I can find and don't eat much at a time. I am down to one square at a time and usually don't have more than two squares in 24 hours.
I am hoping to find 95% bars before Christmas and will stock up and keep them in the fridge for next year.
 
JustinP said:
Thank you

Cant deny there is a craving for just a little bit of chocolate....... however the next three months are going to be the hardest I'll keep you posted
Click to expand...
High % cocoa chocolate (85% and up) tends to have little carbs, and many of us have found we can eat some without it affecting our BG.
 
Awesome!
 
So a bit of an update

Results of the latest HBA1C and Tryglicerides are in and although the drop wasnt quite what i wanted (was looking for a sub 40) i am showing a continual improvement

HBA1C - 41

Tryglicerides - 0.6

Weight seems to have plateaued at 93.5KG and BP remains unchanged.

Overall im really happy but await the conversation with the DN on Tuesday to see what the NHS will accept about "Remission"
 
There's a new agreed international definition of remission which you can read about here:

Consensus report: definition and interpretation of remission in type 2 diabetes - Diabetologia

Improvement of glucose levels into the normal range can occur in some people living with diabetes, either spontaneously or after medical interventions, and in some cases can persist after withdrawal of glucose-lowering pharmacotherapy. Such sustained improvement may now be occurring more often...
link.springer.com

The TLDR is:
To update prior discussions of this issue, an international expert group was convened by the American Diabetes Association to propose nomenclature and principles for data collection and analysis, with the goal of establishing a base of information to support future clinical guidance. This group proposed ‘remission’ as the most appropriate descriptive term, and HbA1c <48 mmol/mol (6.5%) measured at least 3 months after cessation of glucose-lowering pharmacotherapy as the usual diagnostic criterion.

My view is that this isn't "remission" as most of us understand it. In my case I could have met this definition and been "in remission" while still having a huge number of diabetic symptoms. In other words, it's a definition that suits the needs of the medical/governmental bureaucracy for box-ticking and has little to do with the patient experience.

My own practice a few years ago used a much tougher measure of a full 12 months of normal (ie 41 or below) HbA1c results, without glucose-lowering medication. That took a lot more work, but I felt I'd earned it.
 
J_P said:
Just need to avoid the ice cream cake to celebrate
Click to expand...
A mouthful or 2 wouldn't hurt... unless that leads to more.
If you're like ne you'd look forwards to it, try it and go "omg, that's too sweet. No more please"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…