One week in where should I be?

Sawds said:

I was diagnosed with type 2 (maybe type 1?) on Monday and was given gliclazide 40ml tablets to take with breakfast and dinner. This time on Monday pre dinner my BGL was 18.7mmol. I then made it my goal to go low carb and it seems to be working. Pre dinner tonight I was 7.9mmol which seems to be good (nearly at my target of between 4 & 7. My question is this, how am I doing? Is this good, normal or behind schedule? I am only 34 and exercise a lot, have never been massively overweight and just want to kick this condition into touch!!

I realise that I still have some way to go, controlling it when I'm at my target is the next stage I guess?

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I would say you're doing great! Got to play the long game with this condition though, don't get stressed if all the bricks don't fall neatly into place straight away.

Gliclazide works by forcing an increase in insulin release, so it can be unpredictable, and you should be testing your blood glucose before driving, I believe.
I have controlled my BG by reducing the amount of carb in my diet which seems to be working for me.
Do you aim to restore normal levels by medication or diet in the long term?

Good start, keep it up. Be prepared for some 'rogue' readings that will happen seemingly without reason, just carry on testing and recording.

Sawds said:

Thanks everyone. My aim is to rid myself of medication and live life with a sensible diet that in essence reverses this diagnosis through diet as well as exercise. I'm a very determined optimist!!

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Determined optimism is exactly what's needed to keep the beast at bay. Good stuff.

Sawds said:

Thanks everyone. My aim is to rid myself of medication and live life with a sensible diet that in essence reverses this diagnosis through diet as well as exercise. I'm a very determined optimist!!

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You are right to want to get off the medication as soon as possible ( which hopefully is only weeks . maybe days away) .Its eminently treatable with diet for most of us . It takes a while to get all the benefits as you drive glucose out of your system. but you are well on the way

Sawds said:

8.1 2 hours after dinner tonight compared to 22.2 6 days ago!! Obviously gliclazide is doing its job but diet and exercise must be having an impact surely! Had a healthy full English tonight as well!! Thanks for the advice and comments, very helpful!

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Like you, I've picked this diagnosis up in my 30s and it's quite an adjustment. I'm medication free for now, dependent on my next HbA1C results. It sounds like you're already making great progress but the advice above about remembering this is a marathon and not a sprint is really important. We will have this longer than most people who are diagnosed with it by virtue of developing it in our 30s, and that means controlling it for longer - so remember to be kind to yourself even when things go slightly awry

There's not really a lot of clear info on what levels to shoot for, but if you can achieve 4 - 7 both fasting and after meals then you'll be doing fantastically.

Sounds like your doing great. There are no set numbers or time scales as everyone is different. Just keep doing whats working and you will kill this. I think number 1 diet, 2 exercise, 3 drugs, is whats doing it for you. Remember long term health is always the goal.

Sawds said:

8.1 2 hours after dinner tonight compared to 22.2 6 days ago!! Obviously gliclazide is doing its job but diet and exercise must be having an impact surely! Had a healthy full English tonight as well!! Thanks for the advice and comments, very helpful!

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Hi. I think you're doing great for only a week in. Sounds similar to my own experience in ways. I was over 21mmols on diagnosis and was prescribed 40mg Gliclazide...increased to 80mg. Like you, I wanted to avoid the meds if possible. Some people are fie on the meds (particularly metformin if they don't get the dodgy stomach side effect) as it lets them eat with a little more freedom and can have other positive effects. Gliclazide is a bit stronger...and can contribute to hypos if you let your carbs go too low (so be careful). I stopped taking the Gliclazide by choice because I wanted to see just how effective my low carb diet was on its own...and I couldn't be sure with the effect of the Gliclazide added. Also, I was on enough meds as it was for other issues. By self testing quite a bit in the first couple of months, I soon realised that cutting carbs was more effective than the Gliclazide on its own..and that without Gliclazide, I got my levels down without too much difficulty purely by avoiding certain foods. I am not saying you should chuck the drugs..but it is difficult to tell how well the low carbing is working while still on Gliclazide. Still, it is worth noting that you can maybe think about it long term. Two years without Gliclazide...levels are pretty good. If you can find a low carb diet you can sustain, you will be fine. Good luck.

Sawds said:

8.1 2 hours after dinner tonight compared to 22.2 6 days ago!! Obviously gliclazide is doing its job but diet and exercise must be having an impact surely! Had a healthy full English tonight as well!! Thanks for the advice and comments, very helpful!

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Good news and well done, dont congratulate the drugs, congratulate yourself, when I came off my drugs I hardly noticed a change in the test results. Keep up the good work, and good luck

Forgot to mention this, my doctor warned me of Hypoglycemia and told me to expect it because of the glyplitizide stuff, and he told me to stop taking it immediately if I experience a hypo, I'm not in any way advising you to stop the med, but you should at least discuss it with your health professional.

Keep up the low carb plan, it does work

I like the positive attitude you are taking, keep up the good work.

Sawds said:

Is there any point not being positive? In a funny way the last 2 weeks has made me healthier than I've ever been and I'm not your stereotypical over weight type 2 that you hear so much about. I'm young, active and unlucky to have this but I will reverse it one day!

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I know exactly what you mean. Although I had a very unhealthy lifestyle, getting the diagnosis has motivated me to make a difference and I'm already seeing the health benefits.

I'd also echo what other people are saying about not downplaying the effects of diet - my postprandials were averaging at 11-12mmol/l when I was diagnosed, but now if I eat low carb for the whole day I'll not go about 6.5mmol/l. It's astonishing the difference it makes!

You're doing great so far - keep it up and remember this is a marathon not a sprint!

Sawds said:

Update: This low carb malarkey is pretty easy when you're focussed on reversing your illness. I know it's still early days as it's not been 2 weeks since diagnosis yet but just need to keep determined. I am managing to keep between 5 and 9 pretty consistently now though and I assume that is good in a short space of time even if it does require a boost of gliclazide twice a day!

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Well done on your achievements so far. I've had the same determination to get back to a non diabetic HbA1c, and achieved it in four months! Sounds like you'll achieve it in a short time too. I saw the diagnosis as the proverbial kick up the bum to get healthier. I was overweight but not so much now, I've lost 23kgs since starting low carb eating. I actually enjoy my new life and I think you will too

I am ambling towards a year from diagnosis with normal blood glucose levels and my last Hba1c was not even in the prediabetes range.
Although I have not stuck to low carb perfectly, I seem to be able to deal with small diversions from it and react fairly normally, just more slowly than a non diabetic. Hopefully as time passes my responses will be faster even though I am 66 years old now and most things seem slower than before, except the grandchildren, bless'em.
I do urge you to stick to what has to be normal for you, maybe try to get off the tablets and eat the amount of carbs which you can see is pushing your metabolism back towards its right balance.
I keep the thought that it is the diet which is wrong for me, so I need to eat low carb to survive in the modern world.

Its taken ten months before I was taken off Gliclazide, at my request, just Friday. I think I'm only getting consistently good numbers since June when I had some unexplained high days, probably stress. I found it very easy to start with because I loved the food I can eat more than that I gave up. But there have been a couple of times I've felt that I wanted something different as I was getting in a rut. So I just looked around and found some new foods that were good, and got back on track. So maybe prepare yourself for days like that and don't give up! I just have to keep going and keep an eye open for rising again now I've changed meds. A1c being checked again in 3 months.