One month on! My journey so far

[Mrs SLD]

Hi all, you might have seen my previous posts, I am 42f with a BMI of 23.8 and got a diagnosis of diabetes (presumed type 2) a month ago out of the blue. I had no recognisable symptoms, but was referred due to a wound on my toe that the podiatrist felt wasn't healing well. My hbA1c came back as 107. I just wanted to share my latest update and story so far.

Since then I have been through a lot. I started Metformin and got to 2g a day pretty fast. I was also prescribed Glicazide but have held off trying that to see how my BGs respond to a diet change and the Metformin. When I first started doing BG checks I was getting figures in the 20s range.

So a month on, I have cut out any sweet treats and worked really hard on eating less carbs. I have learned the following about me through regular BG testing:

- white bread is always a no no, wholemeal bread seems to be ok so far
- making sure I have a good portion of protein with any carbs REALLY helps my numbers
- potatoes don't seem to affect my BGs too much (although have only eating reasonable portions and always with protein)
- white rice is also ok, but only small amounts and with protein
- I have been over reacting to hunger signals my entire life I think, that has been the biggest change for me. I have come to realise that feeling hungry is not the worst thing in the world, and I do not need to eat carbs to feel full. Again, protein and veggies help me here
- I get a little bump in my BG most mornings and my numbers are best by the end of the day (I have read about the dawn phenomenon)

So one month on and my average BG is now 7.5, with currently around 30% of my readings within the device target range (5-7.2). Within that time I have also been on holiday in Greece for 2 weeks, which has been amazing in some ways (lots of exercise and dinners with lots of meat and veg) but challenging in others (not being able to have an ice cream, not being able to control what food I have access to, and it being so hot)

My questions for the community (which of course I will also ask my DNS when I see her this week)

- does that seems like good progress on the BGs for a month of Metformin and better diet?
- will I ever be able to eat the occasional dessert/white baguette again if I just stay on Metformin alone? I will in no way return to eating what I used to but at the moment it feels like I will never be able to have a treat.

Thanks as always for the amazing support!

 

[KennyA]

Hi all, you might have seen my previous posts, I am 42f with a BMI of 23.8 and got a diagnosis of diabetes (presumed type 2) a month ago out of the blue. I had no recognisable symptoms, but was referred due to a wound on my toe that the podiatrist felt wasn't healing well. My hbA1c came back as 107. I just wanted to share my latest update and story so far.

Since then I have been through a lot. I started Metformin and got to 2g a day pretty fast. I was also prescribed Glicazide but have held off trying that to see how my BGs respond to a diet change and the Metformin. When I first started doing BG checks I was getting figures in the 20s range.

So a month on, I have cut out any sweet treats and worked really hard on eating less carbs. I have learned the following about me through regular BG testing:

- white bread is always a no no, wholemeal bread seems to be ok so far
- making sure I have a good portion of protein with any carbs REALLY helps my numbers
- potatoes don't seem to affect my BGs too much (although have only eating reasonable portions and always with protein)
- white rice is also ok, but only small amounts and with protein
- I have been over reacting to hunger signals my entire life I think, that has been the biggest change for me. I have come to realise that feeling hungry is not the worst thing in the world, and I do not need to eat carbs to feel full. Again, protein and veggies help me here
- I get a little bump in my BG most mornings and my numbers are best by the end of the day (I have read about the dawn phenomenon)

So one month on and my average BG is now 7.5, with currently around 30% of my readings within the device target range (5-7.2). Within that time I have also been on holiday in Greece for 2 weeks, which has been amazing in some ways (lots of exercise and dinners with lots of meat and veg) but challenging in others (not being able to have an ice cream, not being able to control what food I have access to, and it being so hot)

My questions for the community (which of course I will also ask my DNS when I see her this week)

- does that seems like good progress on the BGs for a month of Metformin and better diet?
- will I ever be able to eat the occasional dessert/white baguette again if I just stay on Metformin alone? I will in no way return to eating what I used to but at the moment it feels like I will never be able to have a treat.

Thanks as always for the amazing support!

Hi - sounds like you've made a good start. If you're reducing carbs, how much are you aiming for each day? Low carb is usually taken to start at under 130g/day, simply because the system requires around 130g. If it's not available in food, your liver will make it for you

Metformin has zero impact on carb in your food. What it does is hinder your liver adding glucose to your blood. The net result is that your HbA1c will be a few points lower than it would otherwise have been.

Rather than average your fingerprick testing, it can sometimes be more informative to look at the extremes, and try to work out why you had lower or higher BG than you might have expected. Averaging fingerpricks won't dependably give you an idea about what the HbA1c result will be - they test for different things in different ways.

.

 

[Mrs SLD]

Hi - sounds like you've made a good start. If you're reducing carbs, how much are you aiming for each day? Low carb is usually taken to start at under 130g/day, simply because the system requires around 130g. If it's not available in food, your liver will make it for you

Metformin has zero impact on carb in your food. What it does is hinder your liver adding glucose to your blood. The net result is that your HbA1c will be a few points lower than it would otherwise have been.

Rather than average your fingerprick testing, it can sometimes be more informative to look at the extremes, and try to work out why you had lower or higher BG than you might have expected. Averaging fingerpricks won't dependably give you an idea about what the HbA1c result will be - they test for different things in different ways.

.

Thanks. I haven't been looking at the amount (g) of carbs per day as you describe, just cutting down and switching to alternative types as recommended by my DNS. I will ask my DNS about the amount to aim for and how to measure this, thanks.

I have indeed been looking at the extremes and that is how I am learning. I accidentally ordered a stone baked loaf instead of a sourdough one (sourdough had been working for me) and had a slice for breakfast and had a spike, for example. I had a greek beer one night and my score went up to 11. But most days recently I am not seeing much variations, the scores all stay within the 5-7 range before and after food.

 

[Rachox]

Well done on your achievements so far. Your readings have come down and you are learning what food you can tolerate. With a healthy interest in the affect of carbohydrates on your readings you may be interested in a trial of a continuous blood monitor. You may have heard these referred to as CGMs. There are two companies that do free trials.

If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus follow this link:
Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott

Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom one + here
The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom

 

[Resurgam]

@Mrs SLD Ice cream is perfectly possible if you make your own rather than eating the high sugar with starch thickener products sold to us. Just like chocolate, it is made cheaper with carbs rather than the original eggs and cream frozen custard it began life as.
I do not feel any need for Metformin to keep my numbers down - it made me so very ill that it actually deters me from making any forays into higher levels of carbs on a permanent basis. I do once in a while but that would be a month or more between modest amounts.

 

[Lupf]

Hi there, by now you might have seen that diagnosis with HbA1c > 100 out of the blue has happened to many people, including myself.

It looks like you are doing quite well already, so well done; it is likely that your next HbA1c test will be lower. To go forward you need to find out more about what works for you, as all of us are different.

We don't give advice here, but can tell our own stories. What worked for me was: i) no more fizzy drinks, this was much easier than I thought; and ii) intermittent fasting, but I needed to lose weight as well, 5+2 works for me, see the book "The Fast Diet" by Mosley, Michael; Spencer, Mimi (2013). On fast days: I eat very few carbs, but lots of soup and vegetables, a bit of chicken or fish, an egg, so I never feel hungry. Lunch is a bottle of water. iii) I also stopped snacking (sadly I've started again and it showed in my last HbA1c test). With this I lost 10 kg and got my HbA1 down to the low 40s, see also https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/my-remission-story-so-far-with-regular-updates.202342/.
I then was taken of metformin and I control my T2 with diet.

T2 diabetics have a problem with carbs. This is discussed in the book "The Diabetes Code" by Jason Fung: It explains how our bodies use fats and carb in foods very differently. Humans are not like combustion engines, but our hunger is controlled by hormons such as insulin. Fatty foods are much more satiating and last longer. I now I eat more eggs, cheese, humous, olives, olive oil, nuts, ... I've also banned all low fat food from my fridge and I don't use margarine or any other replacement foods. Our grandparents did not have T2 or and there the obesity rate was much lower then, so their diet can't have been that bad.

So continue what you are doing and find out more about what works for you. For this you need to continue testing how your body reacts to food.