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Understanding mmol/l

P

pb0706

Member
Messages
8
Location
North West
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Afternoon

Recent newbie here after my wife @karenb1410 messaged asking for help and encouraged me to join the forum. After taking some advice I've drastically changed my diet and have already started to feel the benefits. More energy, better mood and even took part in my first 5k run.
I've drastically cut down on my carb intake and we are both following advice from DietDoctor and other suggested websites/cook books.
I started the new diet on Thursday 6th February and instantly seen a reduction in my mmol/l readings. Beforehand I was getting readings between 9.0 and 11.9 most days. These were taken first thing in the morning and 2 hours after meals.
Since the new way of eating I am getting readings between 6.3 & 7.5 after meals, but the readings I get most mornings are in my opinion still high and are between 9.0 and 10.5

I am due for my review at the end of the month. My DN said at my last review that my HBA1C has got to come down otherwise she was going to have to put me on another tablet. If I remember correctly my HBA1C was 63.
Obviously I don't want to be taking another tablet, my ultimate aim is to reduce my tablets and live in hope that I can stop taking them altogether.

I am wondering if the above figures are about right or do you think I should be getting better readings by now. And why my readings are so high first reading of the day ?
If any of you can offer any advice I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance
 
Fasting readings in the morning are typically higher due to a natural and normal process called dawn phenomenon. Basically your liver dumps glucose thinking it’s being helpful as it’s a while since you ate. In type 2 it doesn’t switch it off as soon as it should and overdoes it. Eventually once it gets used to you having lower levels throughout the rest of the day it catches up with the idea you don’t need as much glucose as it thoughts and sorts itself out and readings improve. Some of us still have a bit of it years down the line.

If the rest of the day is much improved then the hb1ac will reflect this. No doubt mornings were even higher than they are now. And if you’ve only been doing low carb a month remember the hb1ac covers the last 3 months so there will still be a couple of months of old eating style in there raising this average. The one after will be even better and a true reflection of what low carb can do for you.

Also the nurse can’t make you take anything. They can recommend stuff and explain why they recommend it and offer options alternatives. But it is your choice.

Well done on your achievements so far and stick around in here. It really helps.
 
The celebrity couple! Glad to hear things are still going well for you @pb0706. Yes this is very typical of type 2, so try not to be too concerned by it for now. In the fullness of time it should settle down. For what it matters, it took me the better part of a whole year's worth of hardcore ketogenic eating to get my dawn phenomenon under control. If you're already low-carbing, then anything spilling back into the blood is a good thing. This may seem paradoxical, but at least in the blood it can be burned off instead of causing toxicity elsewhere.

Totally to be expected in a low-carbing insulin resistant type 2. You're doing all the right things, by the sound of it. Keep calm and carry on
 

Thanks for your reply. I suppose I was expecting instant results and much lower readings by now. I am guessing it will take a while to start getting the results I want.
Are the readings I am getting 2 hours after meals in the range I should expect ?
 
pb0706 said:
Thanks for your reply. I suppose I was expecting instant results and much lower readings by now. I am guessing it will take a while to start getting the results I want.
Are the readings I am getting 2 hours after meals in the range I should expect ?
Click to expand...
How many meals a day are you eating? You might find that by only eating twice in a restricted time window your levels will start to drop even faster. Sure did for me.
 
bulkbiker said:
How many meals a day are you eating? You might find that by only eating twice in a restricted time window your levels will start to drop even faster. Sure did for me.
Click to expand...

Currently eating 3 times a day.
 
pb0706 said:
Are the readings I am getting 2 hours after meals in the range I should expect ?
Click to expand...

You probably shouldn't expect anything right now except improvement, which you are already seeing. I don't think it would be very constructive to get too far into the numbers game just now, but suffice to say I've seen worse. Much worse. My advice at this early stage is just to mindfully keep an eye on the principles of what you're doing and why. The numbers will follow in time. Continue to stop putting glucose in, keep burning off what is already there, and nature will take care of the rest for you.
 
If your nurse suggests more meds, just ask for 3 months to try the diet out and then review. Then you can knock her socks off!

We often see newbies who turn around their lives pretty quickly after they join us, but you are way out in front.
 
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