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Some doctors are incredibly unaware of the basics of diabetes

I have had similar experiences with doctors ... even the diabetes clinic I used to attend gave me dietary advice that didn't help much. I was diagnosed about 20 years ago. My diabetes got gradually worse. I developed problems in my feet and could hardly walk so I took matters into my own hands about 10 years ago and researched the matter myself ... with a bit of will power diabetes is reversible ... nowadays I am pretty healthy and enjoying life again. Here's my diet:
I eat mainly natural foods that are … low sugar … low fat … low salt … high fibre … low GI … mostly plants ... with lots of water. I also exclude eggs and dairy products
I also exercise in the morning ... 2x30 squats, 60 press-up, stretching exercises ... and walk in the afternoon or evening.
Hope this helps ... get back to me if you have any queries
 

From what I've heard, Hba1c is an average, rather than a diagnostic tool. Also I've heard people without diabetes don't exceed a much smaller glucose value 30-45 minutes after eating. It will take a long time to see my GP again due to waiting times, but I may ask if they've heard of the glucose challenge thingy, as most of my symptoms and strange readings are postprandial. Until then I will just have to keep watching out for those spikes and note them accordingly.
 
Hb1ac is the main method of diagnosis. It has largely replaced the glucose tolerance test which I think you refer to. People without diabetes can still have spikes after carb heavy meals, but they return to normal far quicker and spike less than those of us with diabetes.
 
Somewhere out there are libre traces for non diabetics - I’ve seen them linked to in here. You may or may not find them reassuring.
 
Point of note: it’s thought that metabolic derangement is so rife these days that the line between non-diabetic and non-diagnosed diabetic is blurred. The HbA1c diagnosis criteria is so woefully inadequate for early detection of insulin dysfunction and glucose dysregulation that I dread to think how many fall through the cracks. In medicine, ‘normal’ is not much more than a frame of reference.
 

They look at Hba1c as though it is the guiding light, but never look at insulin levels.
 

Have to agree on this BUT the differences between the types of diabetes is totally misunderstood thanks to the nation press etc
 
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Tophat1900 said:
They look at Hba1c as though it is the guiding light, but never look at insulin levels.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Hyperinsulinemia can precede glucose dysregulation by years or even decades, yet typically, no one tests for it. Not even upon diagnosis of hyperglycaemia! Obviously it’s unreasonable to expect every GP to be a world authority on diabetes, but this really should be basic stuff by now. It does my swede in

EDIT: and then we get the NHS complaining how much it costs to treat T2DM. My annual reviews at the surgery feel like I’m there to teach them
 
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It should be part of a yearly basic health check and for those on diagnosis. It is imo ridiculous to see so many people show here on gliclazide and no one has tested insulin levels. So people with insulin resistance are put on a drug that has detrimental out comes for those with insulin resistance. It would surely be a cost saving test and one that doesn't speed up insulin resistance.

You are right, can't expect hcps to know everything, but this is basic stuff that would be so easy to advise on. I had to ask my gp to do it and he had no clue what a c-peptide test was...lol
 
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