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Type 2 and normal HbA1c with just diet/exercise

FantomPoet said:
Congratulations @NoCrbs4Me the system will slowly catch up with us one day until then we have this forum !!!
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I hope so. I met with my diabetes nurse this morning and she was definitely impressed with my results. She said it was "very rare" that she sees someone go from type 2 diabetes to normal blood glucose levels like I did. I tried to convince her that it shouldn't be rare if people reduced carbs. I'm going to email her a few website links, including this forum. She seemed somewhat receptive based on my results so far, but I think she wants to see the results from my next cholesterol before buying in. Interestingly, she did say she thought the carb recommendations in the official government diet are too high. I do enjoy talking with her and she is very nice.
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
That's probably it. Your liver probably thought that you needed some extra glucose since you must have gotten up to fight off some lions or something like that.
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Brilliant...those **** lions!
 
I am new to the forum but I hope I can add to this message that might help others. I was diagnosed as Type 2 about 18 months ago. My doctor told me I have a choice, lose weight and control it or risk the usual complications that come in your 50s. I took her advice as I did not want to enter my 60s as a statistic waiting to happen. In 1 year I lost 75lbs and my last HbA1c figure was 5.5% which has been steady for the last 6 months as has my weight.

My advice to anyone is don't wait and heed the advice of Henry Ford "if you think you can, you can. If you think you can't you're right".
 
beatdise said:
Yes it is unusual recently has been 5's...clearly system not used to being up at 4.30...
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It's likely that in the absence of nourishment in the 2.5 hours between rising and testing, your liver will have made a contribution to your score. No matter what time I get up, if I'm intending to test, I test immediately. By that I mean, feet on the floor, visit the loo, wash hands, test. That gives me consistency.
 
That's interesting....I've been trying to get back to grips with my diet as I was getting out of control, and the last time I was at the doc's she said I need to start on metformin....I don't want to if I can help it, so I've gone back to testing and eating low carb. But my result in the morning is always higher than I would like. The other day for example I was 5.9 when I went to bed and 7 when I got up. I don't usually test straight away like you, but I do it when I go downstairs and after I feed the cat and put the kettle on....do you think it would make any difference if I do as AndBreathe does and test before I do absolutely anything?
 

It might, or might not, to be honest. Some people do experience a rise either just before, or on rising, which is often referred to as Dawn Phenomenon. I don't particularly get that, unless I've been awake ages, and reading or something.

The reason I approach it in that way is for consistency. I know I won't have eaten anything, drunk anything or had any exercise, except tripping to the loo and back. It just all adds to the robustness of my testing regimes. I'm a bit of a data monster.

Have you tackled your diet, if you're trying to get decent control?
 
Wow! 75 pounds! Congratulations!
 
I had a Freestyle Libre (continuous glucose monitoring system) going for a couple of weeks and it showed the same for me. I used to think maybe I was having a liver dump in the early wee hours of the morning, but instead it showed a steady rise starting after I woke up. So now I test as soon as I get up like you do and I'm getting very consistent results.
 
I have controlled my Type 2 with diet and exercise ever since I was diagnosed about 10 years ago. I don't count the carbs I eat BUT I only eat low GI carbs. I managed to get a HbA1c out of the doc about 2 months ago and it was 5.8 so I am still happy with that. My fasting figures are between 5 and 6.2 depending on the current batch of strips!!!! This really irritatesd me but the Freestyle allow 10 -20% error!! I do a lot of exercise and when on holiday and don't do my normal 2 aerobic classes a day my blood sugar does creep up.
 
That's really good to hear. I am really hoping I can continue with normal blood glucose levels without meds for the rest of my life. You certainly show it can be done for extended time.

How were your medical appointments in the beginning when you told them how little carbs you ate? My diabetic nurse was sceptical, but I think I'm winning her over. On the last consult she didn't even suggest I replace the bacon and eggs with porridge once in a while.

As for strips, I get them for free, but I am thinking of tapering off them. The frequent measurement really don't seem necessary any more.
 

From my experience in the last 4 months...the fact that she says it is "very rare" is sad..i went from A1C 8.6 to 5.6 in that time through VLC diet only. With rampant blood sugars in the 20-30s for the last 10+ years, if i could do it, i reckon most all T2's could do it...very enlightening NoCrbs4Me. thanks
 
Absolutely! It mad me angry and sad at the same time. I wanted to scream at them: "It's because you tell us to eat lots of carbs!!!!"

However, I'll try more subtle means: by personal example and by giving my nurse a few of my books on it. When I think of the billions of tax payer money that could be saved by this simple change, I can only hope that it happens before we all go bankrupt.
 

Fantastic!!!
 
I just got an appointment with an actual endocrinologist - only a year and a half after I should have been diagnosed and a year after I was diagnosed. And after I've reversed my diabetes. I will ask him or her why they seem to want us to get sicker and sicker. Hopefully they won't say 'job security'.
 
Appointment is next Monday. Apparently there is a huge backlog to see a specialist doctor for diabetes here and the rate of newly diagnosed is increasing. It's shameful. The company monthly health and safety meeting was this morning. Food was provided: doughnuts, muffins, and fruit. Arg! Fortunately I wan't actually hungry, so I just had some tap water. I imagine if they stopped the doughnuts there'd be a revolt. Maybe I'll ask that they supply a cheese tray in the future.
 
This an an update 1 year later. I had the appointment with the doctor that specialized in diabetes. He had a look at my lab data and he confirmed that I did indeed have type 2, but that I now didn't. His wording was "you've fixed yourself". He said I didn't need to see him again and I didn't need any meds. We had a nice chat about food and health. At the time I was on a LCHF diet, but I didn't tell him that. I just told him what I ate on a day to day basis and he said it was fine. We agreed that factory processed food should be avoided like the plague and that was likely the main cause of increasing type 2 rates.

I've stopped plotting up my morning fasting readings, but I was looking back at an old graph and it looked like this:


The start of the graph in June 2014 was when I got a blood glucose meter, about a year after I was confirmed type 2. I wish I had gotten a meter back in 2013. Anyway,these days it's always under 5.0. There's definitely no indication that my type 2 is getting worse, despite a promise from my diabetes nurse that it would.
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
There's definitely no indication that my type 2 is getting worse, despite a promise from my diabetes nurse that it would.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]
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Looks like a fantastic success. Brilliant result.
 
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