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Realistic expectations?

B

bumblebetty

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I was diagnosed with pre diabetes in January (HBaC1 was 44).Apparently it has been creeping up for years but no one ever told me. I have a lot of weight to lose but took it as a wake up call and have lost over a stone since then, cut out basic white carbs ( bread pasta potatoes rice) been doing 16:8 fasting and learning to run with C25K for last few months.
In general I feel much better and healthier, I’ve been taking blood glucose levels once or twice a day and they seem not too bad but I haven’t quite got a handle on timings and how to interpret.
What I’m wondering is, is realistic to expect these changes to have made any difference to my HBaC1 or is 6 months too soon? I’m going to the dr tomorrow as I’ve been having a bit of disturbed vision at times and started having occasional migraines so hoping she can check my blood pressure and maybe give me something stronger for the pain.
The weight loss has stalled a bit and I’m finding everything a bit hard. I feel if I could get another test, which I think the nurse said I could have after 6 months , and get any kind of lower result it would be really inspiring but bit worried about what I’m going to do if no change.
Thanks for any advice.
 
What kind of blood sugar levels have you been seeing..?
You might as well ask for the test, although you'll probably need to be seen by the phlebotomist rather than the nurse (depends on the surgery), to see how you are progressing. Sounds like you are doing the right thing so the results should be good and if they aren't then you can try some other regimes.
 
I’m usually about 5.5 in the mornings before eating and then 6.5 to 7.5 90 minutes after eating. Highest I’ve gotten is 9.3 after a carb heavy birthday lunch.
 
The HbA1c is often described as showing the average of blood glucose over the last 3 months.
If this were the case, then a period of diet change over 6 months is enough to create huge differences - depending on what those changes have been, of course!

The reality is that the HbA1c is rather weighted to recent weeks so that recent eating has more effect than what was being eaten 3 months ago. Which means that dietary changes will have even more impact.

I'm someone who much prefers to self fund my own blood glucose testing rather than waiting for a sporadic HbA1c. No worries then - I know exactly what is going on on a daily basis.
 
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Stalling weight loss is quite common in this scenario. I believe the mechanism is that as adipocyte (fat cell) capacity is freed-up as you begin burning it off, the liver then has newly available storage into which it can start unpacking all the glucose in the body and repack it into those same fat cells. This is a good thing. Better off safely packed into fat cells than sitting around causing toxicity elsewhere.
 

That’s reassuring - do you think I just carry on doing what I doing and hope it restarts then?
 
bumblebetty said:
That’s reassuring - do you think I just carry on doing what I doing and hope it restarts then?
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Most certainly. Stop putting glucose in, give the body time to burn off what’s already there, and nature will take care of the rest.

Keep calm and carry on.
 
I was diagnosed at the beginning of April with a HBaC1 of 64. I'm on metformin, gone low carb, exercise 5 times a week and lost 24lb My last results were Mid May and I've dropped my HBaC1 to 48 so over the moon. I agree its really hard though as I've had to change my whole lifestyle. Only advice i can give you is to keep going as it sounds like you are doing everything right and hopefully you will get the results you deserve for the hard work!
 

Wow! Sound alike you have done amazingly! That’s very inspiring. Think I prob need to have a bit more of a push at the weight loss - find it hard trying to balance learning to exercise with dieting though.
 
bumblebetty said:
Think I prob need to have a bit more of a push at the weight loss - find it hard trying to balance learning to exercise with dieting though.
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If you concentrate on not putting glucose (carbs) into your body, then the weight loss will follow in the fullness of time. It’s important to know that being overweight or obese doesn’t cause diabetes, it’s a coexisting symptom of excessive circulating insulin. The body converts excess glucose to be stored harmlessly in those fat cells. It’s a protection mechanism from diabetes, not the cause. I think this is undoubtedly the single biggest misconception with T2. It will often appear that losing weight improves diabetes, but actually it’s more a case of improving diabetes making you lose weight. Or one hand washing the other, if you will, but the reduction in blood insulin is the kickstarter of the whole process.
 

That’s interesting to know. The nurse told me that too much fat round my tummy was stopping my organs working properly and that’s why my pancreas couldn’t make enough insulin. I’ll psychologically feel much happier focusing on keeping my blood sugar level low.
 
I think its trying to find a balance. I went all in at the beginning and tried to change everything at once but after a few weeks found it a real struggle. The main thing i did was to start walking everywhere, started off short distances but now try to get at least 10km a day in by a combination of before work, on my lunch break and if the weathers good on a night as well. I also think the benefits of being outside in the fresh air (when its not raining!!) have also helped me remain positive. I'll be honest though, there are days when i could just sit and devour a takeaway followed by a massive bar of chocolate!!
 

Yes that’s an additional complication of the conversation. When the liver starts running out of places to store fat, it begins packing it in and around itself and the organs closest to it. Usually this will result in fatty liver, and then fatty pancreas. This intra-organic fat is most definitely not protective from diabetes. In the case of fatty liver, it will further increase insulin resistance, and in the case of fatty pancreas, likely hinder its ability to secrete insulin. Fat in the liver is usually the first to go, and fat in the pancreas is often the last, but nevertheless, the key to losing any fat at all is to reduce circulating insulin concentrations. Gentle exercise will help everything along, but don’t be mistaken into thinking that you need to run off thousands of calories in order to lose weight.
 
Wow, thanks Jim that was such a great description (#11)
 
Hi Bumblebetty : most of us didn't get to the point where we were diagnosed overnight and the solution isn't going to be achieved overnight! Don't give up.... when I adopted the LCHF diet in March 2018 I was 250 lbs (not sure what that is in "stones" ...) and I dropped 40 lbs in 6 months and thought 'wow I am going to be super slim for the 1st time in decades!"
Well, I have stayed at the same weight for a year. However I think I have gained 10 lbs or so of muscle due to exercise and I note that my clothes fit very differently and I feel great.
The first 6 months my Hbg A1C only dropped slightly from 46.4 to 45.4 . Nine months later it's 38.8. I think that our society's vision of what one should look like (especially women) really plays with our sense of accomplishment, so that if we are not quickly transformed into super models we have somehow failed. Bosh! I will be happy to maintain my current status and if I manage to improve the situation even further that will be really satisfying. BTW this forum has been a lifeline when I got discouraged. Best of luck to you!
 
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