Quick question..

That was your hba1c? If it is, it's diabetic as you know. Don't bother with that first question ... pointless. I've seen MUCH MUCH higher and much lower. I was near you, but again, irrelevant. We are all different so search the forum.

What is not is doing something about it.

2nd question? Down to you with diet, exercise and (if needed) weight loss. Hard work but I cut mine down by almost half in 4 months and if I can do it so can you.

Get going Good luck ... you CAN do it

Hi, and welcome to the forum.
You can find some information about your test result here. They' re high and in the diabetic range, but could be a lot worse.

I've tagged @daisy1 and she will post some introductory information for you in this thread.

You'll find that everyone is different: they'll have different test results, and different types, stages, and levels of diabetes, so you're asking really "how long is a piece of string?" Nor is everyone in a position to return to "normal" levels. So where others have started off or how long they may take to improve matters is not actually important or relevant to you! How much you reduce your current levels will depend on all the previous plus other things such as your weight, current diet, activity levels, what medication you may be given, and so on, and what actions you're prepared to take to improve matters... So - you go at your own pace and according to your needs - there's no competition to improve the most in the shortest space of time!

Some members use their signatures to provide some of the information you're asking about, which may sometimes be relevant or useful to others in questions or discussions, but will be meaningless as far as your diabetes is concerned.

But one of the best things you can do now to start helping yourself is to take stock of your diet, and reduce all sugary and starchy foods, as these are what raise our glucose levels.

Robbity

Have a good read through daisys post (when she posts it) and it should set you in the right direction. For most of us here some form of lifestyle and diet changes have been needed to varying degrees. For myself it was a complete diet overhaul. The Low Carb forum is always a good place to get some great information.

@sugar-rush123

Hello and welcome to the forum To help you to get started, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. The diet information is particularly important. In addition to the helpful answers you have had, ask more questions when you need to and someone will come along and reply.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.