Hello Everyone. I have a question HbA1c was 76 when tested last, my daily blood readings hardly ever go below 11 they often sit between 11 - 13 with no eating and drinking at all for hours. When I eat regardless of what I do it goes up to 18 - 26 normally around the 18 - 20 marker the 26 is 2 reads over the last 2 weeks. I hardly eat anything as I have other conditions that affect my thoughts telling me not to eat etc. I am nearly always tired or sleeping. I have had the meter once go down to 8 which is when I had nothing to eat for 20+ hours as I had been sleeping. I take a 750mg tablet that is slow release. All this is very new to me I am very scared as I really do not have the capacity to handle it my other issues are preventing me from going to seek help as I am very unsure who to contact. My team I have never meet they have never seen me in person and everytime I now test it says keynote on the meter, I had a sample taken 2 weeks ago for this. This is well before I was aware of the levels as stated above do I need to get help from my team as I really do not understand it all,
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Question
- Thread starter Stepsstu
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Hi @Stepsstu and welcome to the forums.
I'm guessing that you are currently on metformin? That tends to be the first drug that GPs put new T2s on unless they have hba1c much higher than yours.
An hba1c of 76mmol/mol corresponds to an average blood sugar over 3 months of 11.9mmol/L.
Hopefully the metformin will bring it down a bit but I suspect that metformin alone may not be enough.
Did your team give you any information about diet with the diagnosis? A lot of the T2s here reduce their levels by reducing the carbs in their diet. (Note if metformin is not the drug you are on you may need to be slightly careful about reducing carbs).
The keynote thing is because glucometers are often used by T1s who can get a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis if their blood sugars go too high and there is not enough insulin in their systems. So they are advised to test for "ketones" once their blood sugars get into the teens. This is very unlikely to apply to you as a T2 since T2s tend to have insulin resistance and produce lots of insulin, at least early in diagnosis.
www.nhs.uk
I am concerned that you haven't seen your team at all. With levels so high I would want to talk to and see someone but I'll leave it to the UK T2s to advise on who the best person to contact is.
I'll stop for now before I overwhelm you with a wall of text.
Once more welcome.
I'm guessing that you are currently on metformin? That tends to be the first drug that GPs put new T2s on unless they have hba1c much higher than yours.
An hba1c of 76mmol/mol corresponds to an average blood sugar over 3 months of 11.9mmol/L.
Hopefully the metformin will bring it down a bit but I suspect that metformin alone may not be enough.
Did your team give you any information about diet with the diagnosis? A lot of the T2s here reduce their levels by reducing the carbs in their diet. (Note if metformin is not the drug you are on you may need to be slightly careful about reducing carbs).
The keynote thing is because glucometers are often used by T1s who can get a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis if their blood sugars go too high and there is not enough insulin in their systems. So they are advised to test for "ketones" once their blood sugars get into the teens. This is very unlikely to apply to you as a T2 since T2s tend to have insulin resistance and produce lots of insulin, at least early in diagnosis.
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Find out about diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), including what the symptoms are, when to get medical help and how to prevent it.
www.nhs.uk
I am concerned that you haven't seen your team at all. With levels so high I would want to talk to and see someone but I'll leave it to the UK T2s to advise on who the best person to contact is.
Was this a blood test? Do you know if they tested for ketones or whether they were doing a more complicated test? What was the result?
I'll stop for now before I overwhelm you with a wall of text.
Once more welcome.
Tony337
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Hi
Yes you need help off professionals and yes your levels are higher than they should be.
In the meantime there is one simple thing you can do to help yourself.....
Go for a walk
I know you are tired but if you can get out for a stroll and use your meter to see the difference it makes......
This always works for me so give it a try and you have nothing to lose and it might help your mental health too.
I wish you well.
Tony
Yes you need help off professionals and yes your levels are higher than they should be.
In the meantime there is one simple thing you can do to help yourself.....
Go for a walk
I know you are tired but if you can get out for a stroll and use your meter to see the difference it makes......
This always works for me so give it a try and you have nothing to lose and it might help your mental health too.
I wish you well.
Tony
hello and welcome @Stepsstu
It can be very upsetting and confusing when you are first diagnosed.
A couple of questions- what sorts of things are you eating? What drugs are you on (related to diabetes)?
If you are only on metformin I really do suggest trying to reduce your carb intake. I find in the morning my levels don't usually go down until I have eaten something so I too can have had nothing to eat for hours and my levels haven't gone down. I know others have the same experience.
If you are on any medication other than metformin let us know as that would affect what people may suggest.
Welcome
It can be very upsetting and confusing when you are first diagnosed.
A couple of questions- what sorts of things are you eating? What drugs are you on (related to diabetes)?
If you are only on metformin I really do suggest trying to reduce your carb intake. I find in the morning my levels don't usually go down until I have eaten something so I too can have had nothing to eat for hours and my levels haven't gone down. I know others have the same experience.
If you are on any medication other than metformin let us know as that would affect what people may suggest.
Welcome
