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Six Months in UK, Life Is Good

Grateful

Grateful

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,399
Location
Kent, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Just had my second HbA1c test on the NHS since arriving in UK from America nearly six months ago. It comes out at 34 which is toward the bottom end of my typical range on a low-carb diet. Three months ago it was 37, but I have managed to push it down to 30 or 31 in the past (see signature).

I am feeling rather sheepish because my intake of beer has been constant and quite high (several pints per day) but despite this the A1c headed slightly downwards over the past three months. It's a Mystery of the Universe.

Life is good. Kent is a beautiful place to live, and our home-based business is doing nicely now after a rather slow summer. We are meeting lots of people in our village, especially in the several "walking" or "rambling" clubs. It is easy to get exercise just walking through the countryside every day.

We don't own a car, and some of our shopping is done at a local farm that is a 25-minute walk away from home. We also have a small (and very good) supermarket on our doorstep, as well as a butcher and a baker (the latter is out of bounds for me!) within less than two minutes' walk, so there really isn't much need for a vehicle. London is reachable on a direct train from our village, and we are also close to a Eurostar station so Paris is only two hours away.

Concerning my *food* it has been extremely low-carb, probably even lower than when I was living in the United States. So almost all the carbs are being ingested in alcoholic liquid form. There are quite a few zero-carb snack foods here (pork scratchings, and "Mr. Porky" chips), which is fun.

Although my medical records at the NHS clinic state clearly that I have Type 2 diabetes (this was entered into the record when I saw the GP upon arrival here), I have not been invited to see a diabetes nurse nor been asked to have foot or eye exams. So I rather suspect I may have been classed among the "worried well" and should probably be contacting the clinic to ask them what should be happening next!
 
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/be-in-t...0IgF3GsVb0DElBBVNA5vgm6EcBI3E7ZMaAiuVEALw_wcB
For what its worth here are the 15 essential health checks you could look at getting.
In the context of your fabulous HBa1c though I suspect you may not need to be too worried... When in Kent it 'd be rude not to drink the hops. Ask if the butcher does his own pork scratchings too - they are far superior to Mr Porkys and may not make you quite so thirsty for the next pint.
Hope you have a gentle winter and can keep up with all that walking!
 
Nice to hear you are settling in well @Grateful. As you have had two consecutive npn-diabetic Hba1c readings, your gp surgery might classify you as 'in remission'.
 
Grateful said:
Just had my second HbA1c test on the NHS since arriving in UK from America nearly six months ago. It comes out at 34 which is toward the bottom end of my typical range on a low-carb diet. Three months ago it was 37, but I have managed to push it down to 30 or 31 in the past (see signature).

I am feeling rather sheepish because my intake of beer has been constant and quite high (several pints per day) but despite this the A1c headed slightly downwards over the past three months. It's a Mystery of the Universe.

Life is good. Kent is a beautiful place to live, and our home-based business is doing nicely now after a rather slow summer. We are meeting lots of people in our village, especially in the several "walking" or "rambling" clubs. It is easy to get exercise just walking through the countryside every day.

We don't own a car, and some of our shopping is done at a local farm that is a 25-minute walk away from home. We also have a small (and very good) supermarket on our doorstep, as well as a butcher and a baker (the latter is out of bounds for me!) within less than two minutes' walk, so there really isn't much need for a vehicle. London is reachable on a direct train from our village, and we are also close to a Eurostar station so Paris is only two hours away.

Concerning my *food* it has been extremely low-carb, probably even lower than when I was living in the United States. So almost all the carbs are being ingested in alcoholic liquid form. There are quite a few zero-carb snack foods here (pork scratchings, and "Mr. Porky" chips), which is fun.

Although my medical records at the NHS clinic state clearly that I have Type 2 diabetes (this was entered into the record when I saw the GP upon arrival here), I have not been invited to see a diabetes nurse nor been asked to have foot or eye exams. So I rather suspect I may have been classed among the "worried well" and should probably be contacting the clinic to ask them what should be happening next!
Click to expand...
Very pleased to see you back here posting again and great news on the HbA1c well done!
 
Good to hear from you @Grateful and that you are doing well. Trust the Mrs. is enjoying England as much as yourself! You are always such an encouraging poster, so drink away:) Blessings/L
 
It’s good to know you’re enjoying the U.K. @Grateful. Kent has so much lovely countryside it’s easy to become completely bucolic, and Shepherd Neame’s local stuff is nearly matched by Whitstable Bay. My early years were spent with the smell of the brewery, until the floods wrecked the house. And my mother and I even went hop picking.
Have you popped over to Paris, or Lisle yet?
 
Grateful said:
Although my medical records at the NHS clinic state clearly that I have Type 2 diabetes (this was entered into the record when I saw the GP upon arrival here), I have not been invited to see a diabetes nurse nor been asked to have foot or eye exams. So I rather suspect I may have been classed among the "worried well" and should probably be contacting the clinic to ask them what should be happening next!
Click to expand...

Chase this up. You are entitled to these and they are important. It is normally the nurse that arranges the eye tests and she will do the foot checks plus the usual health checks of BP and urine dip tests.

Glad you are loving England. :)
 
Grateful said:
Just had my second HbA1c test on the NHS since arriving in UK from America nearly six months ago. It comes out at 34 which is toward the bottom end of my typical range on a low-carb diet. Three months ago it was 37, but I have managed to push it down to 30 or 31 in the past (see signature).

I am feeling rather sheepish because my intake of beer has been constant and quite high (several pints per day) but despite this the A1c headed slightly downwards over the past three months. It's a Mystery of the Universe.

Life is good. Kent is a beautiful place to live, and our home-based business is doing nicely now after a rather slow summer. We are meeting lots of people in our village, especially in the several "walking" or "rambling" clubs. It is easy to get exercise just walking through the countryside every day.

We don't own a car, and some of our shopping is done at a local farm that is a 25-minute walk away from home. We also have a small (and very good) supermarket on our doorstep, as well as a butcher and a baker (the latter is out of bounds for me!) within less than two minutes' walk, so there really isn't much need for a vehicle. London is reachable on a direct train from our village, and we are also close to a Eurostar station so Paris is only two hours away.

Concerning my *food* it has been extremely low-carb, probably even lower than when I was living in the United States. So almost all the carbs are being ingested in alcoholic liquid form. There are quite a few zero-carb snack foods here (pork scratchings, and "Mr. Porky" chips), which is fun.

Although my medical records at the NHS clinic state clearly that I have Type 2 diabetes (this was entered into the record when I saw the GP upon arrival here), I have not been invited to see a diabetes nurse nor been asked to have foot or eye exams. So I rather suspect I may have been classed among the "worried well" and should probably be contacting the clinic to ask them what should be happening next!
Click to expand...

Grateful - If your surgery is like mine, your retinopathy appointment will be at a set period during the year, when the screening team come and set up shop in one of the surgery consulting rooms. They then "do" all the folks in the practise with diabetes. I can choose to go to the main hospital, but that means a bit of a trek on the bus or train, which is OK, but takes almost all day.

I jut go in April/May when they call me.

It could be worth enquiring.
 
Grateful said:
Life is good. Kent is a beautiful place to live
Click to expand...
Glad to hear you're enjoying your return to the UK. Well done on the 2 most recent HbA1c tests. I had a similar experience when I drank regularly (not touched the stuff for 10 years now, can't allow anything to interfere with potential weight loss). Long may the happy times last.
 
My retinopathy screening is done at Specsavers! I get a letter each year (December) with a list of opticians where I can book
 
Great post: you should probably follow-up on the medical tests, but apart from that, just keep enjoying your life. You've found a nice balance, so more power to you!
 
Very well done on your HbA1c staying in the 30s, it’s good here in the 30s club? Isn’t it?
Good to hear you’ve settled into UK life x
 
Grateful said:
Just had my second HbA1c test on the NHS since arriving in UK from America nearly six months ago. It comes out at 34 which is toward the bottom end of my typical range on a low-carb diet. Three months ago it was 37, but I have managed to push it down to 30 or 31 in the past (see signature).

I am feeling rather sheepish because my intake of beer has been constant and quite high (several pints per day) but despite this the A1c headed slightly downwards over the past three months. It's a Mystery of the Universe.

Life is good. Kent is a beautiful place to live, and our home-based business is doing nicely now after a rather slow summer. We are meeting lots of people in our village, especially in the several "walking" or "rambling" clubs. It is easy to get exercise just walking through the countryside every day.

We don't own a car, and some of our shopping is done at a local farm that is a 25-minute walk away from home. We also have a small (and very good) supermarket on our doorstep, as well as a butcher and a baker (the latter is out of bounds for me!) within less than two minutes' walk, so there really isn't much need for a vehicle. London is reachable on a direct train from our village, and we are also close to a Eurostar station so Paris is only two hours away.

Concerning my *food* it has been extremely low-carb, probably even lower than when I was living in the United States. So almost all the carbs are being ingested in alcoholic liquid form. There are quite a few zero-carb snack foods here (pork scratchings, and "Mr. Porky" chips), which is fun.

Although my medical records at the NHS clinic state clearly that I have Type 2 diabetes (this was entered into the record when I saw the GP upon arrival here), I have not been invited to see a diabetes nurse nor been asked to have foot or eye exams. So I rather suspect I may have been classed among the "worried well" and should probably be contacting the clinic to ask them what should be happening next!
Click to expand...
Eye screening for someone with nothing worse than background retinopathy should be annual. If it is more than 10 months since your last retinopathy test in the USA, I would contact your GP surgery to check that you have been referred to the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.
 
My surgery is aligning annual reviews with birthdays so you may just be on the normal schedule.
Worth asking the surgery, though.
 
The mobile eye screening unit operates at a number of surgeries in Kent so Your GP my either get you on the list for that or refer you to the nearest hospital/optician that has a screening facility.
 
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