martijnpeters
Newbie
- Messages
- 2
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Let me start by giving you some background information:
In november 2017 I was hospitalized after having atrial fibrillation at work. It turned out to be caused by a combination of genetics, having had way too much coffee (with sugar) and apparently having a burn out. In the hospital I remember hearing the remark that my BS was a bit high, but I brushed that aside as being caused by the cups of coffee and just having had my lunch before the ambulance ride.. After a day in the hospital I was sent on my way with some medication to counter the a-fib and started my recovery from the burn out.
Fast forward to mid January:
I was slowly reintegrating at work, and was looking for ways to speed up the process. I came across some articles that where suggesting that a lot of western health problems could be caused by a vitamin D deficiency. Being curious I asked my GP to perform a blood test to check my values.
To my surprise I was called by the doctors assistant informing me that I had diabetes and could get my medication at the pharmacy. I was completely shocked by this diagnosis, being 30 years old and weighing "only" 79 kg at that point (length 182cm). I asked for an appointment with the GP to discuss the results and got that the next day.
He just repeated what the assistant told me over the phone and that my blood glucose fasting value was 8.1 mmol/l and ha1bc value was 47 mmol/l. He also told me that my cholesterol was too high as well for being a diabetic (total cholesterol of 5.1 mmol/l and LDL of 3.2 mmol/l). I was given Metformin 500mg and Atorvastatin 40mg to be taken once a day.
For the curious: the test showed my vitamin D value to be on the lower limit of what's acceptable: 52 nmol/l.
I was gutted by hearing this and when I got home I immediately started Googling diabetes and what could possibly be done to fight it. Fortunately I quickly found the Low Carb approach and was immediately reassured that something could be done and that I could take some control over the disease.
That night I ordered a symbolic "last meal" pizza with my girlfriend and started the low carb diet. The first week was a bit rough; not because I didn't like eating low carb, but because I had to learn how to cook again. Luckily the two cooking books I ordered had a lot of recipes that fit our preferences. My girlfriend doesn't eat meat, so that restricted my options a bit further (though she does eat fish, otherwise this would have been mission impossible for me).
The first month I was super strict, but when I started working more and more I found that eating low carb in the morning and during lunch was too restrictive and taking too much time to prepare (please give me workable alternatives if you have them). I was also starting to hate eating fried eggs. That's when I decided to eat 3 wholemeal crispbreads with toppings in the morning and 5 at lunch (they're called knäckebröd here in The Netherlands). For dinner I still stuck to the low carb meals (spiralized zuchini is a big hit
, even bought a spiralizer!).
In March I bought a blood glucose meter after searching what was the best buy (I have to say that it really isn't that obvious what the best device is, and I'm still not sure if I have the best meter). I saw that my fasting values where already excellent (4.4-5.2 mmol/l range). Seeing those results were enormously motivating!
Last Friday I received my latest blood results from the GP. He was very pleased by my progress and suggested to stop taking the Metformin. Seeing the results and my super low cholesterol values I was also confident enough to tell him I wanted to stop taking the Atorvastatin. He was reluctant at first, but eventually caved in and remarked that "we'll see were it will take us..".
So now the results!
Before (19-01-18):
Glucose: 8.1 mmol/l
HbA1c: 47 mmol/l
Cholesterol total: 5.1 mmol/l
HDL: 1.3 mmol/l
LDL: 3.2 mmol/l
Triglycerids: 1.25 mmol/l
Weight: 79 kg
After (12-04-18):
Glucose: 5.0 mmol/l
HbA1c: 34 mmol/l
Cholesterol total: 2.2 mmol/l
HDL: 1.0 mmol/l
LDL: 0.9 mmol/l
Triglycerids: 0.92 mmol/l
Weight: 71 kg
I'm extremely pleased by the results! Please note that these results are a combination of medication and a low carb diet. I have just started slowly working out since a few weeks. My main focus is to gain some confidence in my own body and slowly work my way up from there. I already noticed that my post meal glucose levels after 2 hours were lower up to two days after working out! I guess working out really improves your insulin response (to the point where I actually experienced three hypos thus far
)!
I do have a few questions though:
1. I know my HbA1c will probably rise again since I stopped Metformin. Since I recently started working out, what can I expect my fasting and HbA1c values to do over the next 3 months?
2. What can I expect to happen with my cholesterol values? They seem incredibly low, and probably will also start to rise again since I stopped taking the Atorvastatin, but to what extents?
Sorry for the super long post, it has been quite, ehm, interesting the last couple of months
. Also sorry for the probably tons of spelling errors, English is not my native language.
In november 2017 I was hospitalized after having atrial fibrillation at work. It turned out to be caused by a combination of genetics, having had way too much coffee (with sugar) and apparently having a burn out. In the hospital I remember hearing the remark that my BS was a bit high, but I brushed that aside as being caused by the cups of coffee and just having had my lunch before the ambulance ride.. After a day in the hospital I was sent on my way with some medication to counter the a-fib and started my recovery from the burn out.
Fast forward to mid January:
I was slowly reintegrating at work, and was looking for ways to speed up the process. I came across some articles that where suggesting that a lot of western health problems could be caused by a vitamin D deficiency. Being curious I asked my GP to perform a blood test to check my values.
To my surprise I was called by the doctors assistant informing me that I had diabetes and could get my medication at the pharmacy. I was completely shocked by this diagnosis, being 30 years old and weighing "only" 79 kg at that point (length 182cm). I asked for an appointment with the GP to discuss the results and got that the next day.
He just repeated what the assistant told me over the phone and that my blood glucose fasting value was 8.1 mmol/l and ha1bc value was 47 mmol/l. He also told me that my cholesterol was too high as well for being a diabetic (total cholesterol of 5.1 mmol/l and LDL of 3.2 mmol/l). I was given Metformin 500mg and Atorvastatin 40mg to be taken once a day.
For the curious: the test showed my vitamin D value to be on the lower limit of what's acceptable: 52 nmol/l.
I was gutted by hearing this and when I got home I immediately started Googling diabetes and what could possibly be done to fight it. Fortunately I quickly found the Low Carb approach and was immediately reassured that something could be done and that I could take some control over the disease.
That night I ordered a symbolic "last meal" pizza with my girlfriend and started the low carb diet. The first week was a bit rough; not because I didn't like eating low carb, but because I had to learn how to cook again. Luckily the two cooking books I ordered had a lot of recipes that fit our preferences. My girlfriend doesn't eat meat, so that restricted my options a bit further (though she does eat fish, otherwise this would have been mission impossible for me).
The first month I was super strict, but when I started working more and more I found that eating low carb in the morning and during lunch was too restrictive and taking too much time to prepare (please give me workable alternatives if you have them). I was also starting to hate eating fried eggs. That's when I decided to eat 3 wholemeal crispbreads with toppings in the morning and 5 at lunch (they're called knäckebröd here in The Netherlands). For dinner I still stuck to the low carb meals (spiralized zuchini is a big hit
, even bought a spiralizer!).In March I bought a blood glucose meter after searching what was the best buy (I have to say that it really isn't that obvious what the best device is, and I'm still not sure if I have the best meter). I saw that my fasting values where already excellent (4.4-5.2 mmol/l range). Seeing those results were enormously motivating!
Last Friday I received my latest blood results from the GP. He was very pleased by my progress and suggested to stop taking the Metformin. Seeing the results and my super low cholesterol values I was also confident enough to tell him I wanted to stop taking the Atorvastatin. He was reluctant at first, but eventually caved in and remarked that "we'll see were it will take us..".
So now the results!
Before (19-01-18):
Glucose: 8.1 mmol/l
HbA1c: 47 mmol/l
Cholesterol total: 5.1 mmol/l
HDL: 1.3 mmol/l
LDL: 3.2 mmol/l
Triglycerids: 1.25 mmol/l
Weight: 79 kg
After (12-04-18):
Glucose: 5.0 mmol/l
HbA1c: 34 mmol/l
Cholesterol total: 2.2 mmol/l
HDL: 1.0 mmol/l
LDL: 0.9 mmol/l
Triglycerids: 0.92 mmol/l
Weight: 71 kg
I'm extremely pleased by the results! Please note that these results are a combination of medication and a low carb diet. I have just started slowly working out since a few weeks. My main focus is to gain some confidence in my own body and slowly work my way up from there. I already noticed that my post meal glucose levels after 2 hours were lower up to two days after working out! I guess working out really improves your insulin response (to the point where I actually experienced three hypos thus far
)!I do have a few questions though:
1. I know my HbA1c will probably rise again since I stopped Metformin. Since I recently started working out, what can I expect my fasting and HbA1c values to do over the next 3 months?
2. What can I expect to happen with my cholesterol values? They seem incredibly low, and probably will also start to rise again since I stopped taking the Atorvastatin, but to what extents?
Sorry for the super long post, it has been quite, ehm, interesting the last couple of months
. Also sorry for the probably tons of spelling errors, English is not my native language.
