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What to do next ....

C

CoastGirl

Well-Known Member
Messages
105
Location
Hampshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I was diagnosed with type 2 in December 15 with an HbA1c of 64. I did not go on any meds but decided to try and lower the HbA1c with diet and immediately found this site. In March of this year I reduced it to 40 and then again to 39 in June. I have just had my December 2016 result and it is 40. I have cut out all grains, rice, pasta, bread, starchy veg, sugar and all fruit other than a few berries. Unlike many of you on here I do not seem to be able reduce my HbA1c any lower. Ideally I would prefer to be in the mid 30s so that I am well clear of dangerous levels but can't seem to achieve this. My fasting levels are not great at about 6.1 or 6.2 and was wondering if there was a correlation between higher fasting levels and HbA1c. I have tried fasting from evening meal at 8pm through to lunchtime the next day (16-17 hours) but my levels just keep rising until I eat something. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try next or do some people's glucose levels just like to run a little higher? I have lost about 18kgs in weight and now weigh 60kgs so don't really want to lose anymore. My daytime levels are normally between 5 and 6.2 and I try not to go above about 6.8 after a meal.

This site and all it's knowledgeable members have really kept me going over the last year and I can't thank you all enough for your insightful posts

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
 
It is my personal belief that each and every one of us has a level at which our body wants to run at (other than food induced rises), and there is nothing much we can do about it once we have reached that level.

My base level is low to mid 5's. The only time I see a 4 is before evening meal, and not every day. I am rarely above 7 post meal and I eat around 30g carbs daily. My current HbA1c is 41. I have to accept that is me. No matter what I have tried, and I have tried several things, I can't get lower. I have been doing an 18/6 fast for about 6 weeks, eating lunch and evening meal in a 6 hour window, no snacks other than cups of tea. I have seen a marginal drop in base levels but nothing to write home about.

Some people will naturally run in the 4s with some 3s for good measure, but I know it is highly unlikely to happen to me, so I accept that 5s is where my body wants me, and maybe my body has a very good reason for this.
 
I agree with @Bluetit1802 that we all have different base levels. My fbgs seem to have levelled out at around 6.3 and my last HbA1c was 39, in line with those fbgs. I don't expect to be any lower at my next HbA1c test, though I would be chuffed if I was. As long as I don't go above 42 I will be happy.
I envy, in a way, those who get lower fbgs and HbA1c results, but I know our bodies are all different and I just want to avoid going into diabetic levels again.
Your weight and fbgs are good. Do you exercise? I find my fbgs are usually higher if I haven't done some walking (at least 10,000 steps) the previous day, so if you don't exercise maybe some would lower your fbgs a bit.
 
I'm a very similar position, doing all the right things, low carb, exercise, weight loss and my blood sugar, particularly fasting levels are just going up and up. It's disheartening.
 
Don't be disheartened @Juicetin

Personally, although I do test my fasting levels, I take very little notice of them if they are higher than I like. There are so many things that influence them that are outside our control. I use my before evening meal test as a guide to how my base levels are behaving. By that time I have eaten one meal 5 to 6 hours earlier, done all my daily tasks, and my liver has gone to sleep.
 
Thanks, good advice. As CoastGirl says, it's the affect of constantly high fasting levels on A1C results which is a potential worry.
 
Juicetin said:
Thanks, good advice. As CoastGirl says, it's the affect of constantly high fasting levels on A1C results which is a potential worry.
Click to expand...

Yes, I can understand that. How much do you rise overnight? (I assume you test at bedtime and again as soon as you get out of bed and wash hands?)

I have always been flat overnight, even at the beginning, but whatever level my breakfast took me to stayed there until not long before lunch. Even though this rise wasn't a very big one, it concerned me. That's when I realised I can't eat any carbs at all in the morning, so stick to one egg. That improved matters after a few days. Since skipping breakfast apart from a cup of tea or two, it has improved a little bit more. Not a lot, but a little.
 
I agree with the others our bodies have an ideal baseline level we are all different my levels rarely go below 5. Your HbA1c is good at 40 and your levels at 5 to 6.2 are also really good and your weight loss is excellent so keep on doing what you are already it works
 
It's important to remember that HbA1c isn't just a measure of how much sugar your blood cells have been exposed to in recent weeks, it is also an indicator of how quickly your blood cells die off and are replaced. I have read (somewhere, goodness knows where) that the lower your sugar intake, the healthier you become and your blood cells last longer. A longer lasting blood cell has longer to become glycated, i.e. pick up some sugar and, therefore, as you become healthier your HbA1c measurement drops more slowly.
Sally
 
Thank you @Bluetit1802, @Prem51 and @Pinkorchid. That makes me feel a little better and were my thoughts too. My only concern is if this means my levels of insulin are elevated too much as well. I guess I will never know the answer to this so just need to be positive and move forward as I am.

@Prem51, as far as exercise goes, I do yoga and Pilates twice a week and am constantly on the go from 7am to 9pm ish without hardly sitting down but not sure how many steps this equates to. You are right, I should probably try some more cardio work so will try to incorporate a 20 min walk into my day somehow and see if this makes a difference.





="Bluetit1802, post: 1332073, member: 94045"]It is my personal belief that each and every one of us has a level at which our body wants to run at (other than food induced rises), and there is nothing much we can do about it once we have reached that level.

My base level is low to mid 5's. The only time I see a 4 is before evening meal, and not every day. I am rarely above 7 post meal and I eat around 30g carbs daily. My current HbA1c is 41. I have to accept that is me. No matter what I have tried, and I have tried several things, I can't get lower. I have been doing an 18/6 fast for about 6 weeks, eating lunch and evening meal in a 6 hour window, no snacks other than cups of tea. I have seen a marginal drop in base levels but nothing to write home about.

Some people will naturally run in the 4s with some 3s for good measure, but I know it is highly unlikely to happen to me, so I accept that 5s is where my body wants me, and maybe my body has a very good reason for this.[/QUOTE]
 
sally and james said:
It's important to remember that HbA1c isn't just a measure of how much sugar your blood cells have been exposed to in recent weeks, it is also an indicator of how quickly your blood cells die off and are replaced. I have read (somewhere, goodness knows where) that the lower your sugar intake, the healthier you become and your blood cells last longer. A longer lasting blood cell has longer to become glycated, i.e. pick up some sugar and, therefore, as you become healthier your HbA1c measurement drops more slowly.
Sally
Click to expand...

I wish you could remember where! I know I am a high glycator, meaning my HbA1c is always higher than other testing methods indicate, and quite a lot higher at that. Equally, some people are low glycators so see lower HbA1cs than might otherwise be the case. It would be lovely to be able to blame my high glycation on being healthy!
 
Sorry, made a mess of my response above. Not too sure what to do. I clicked on reply and all of @Bluetit1802 message came up again. I think I need to watch a tutorial!!
 
Brilliant info in all the posts above.

My blood glucose levels are just about on a par with yours, @CoastGirl - including HbA1c, fasting and so on.

We do have one difference :) and that is that I have found a way to stop my morning fasting readings from rising and rising and rising. I eat something very low carb, or even no carb, and my rise just seems to stop.

By that I mean a single Brazil nut, or 3 cashews, or an ounce of cheese, or a coffee with a dash of cream in it.

I am not 100% certain why it works, but I speculate that my body thinks that it needs to pull glucose out of my liver to face the day. But as soon as I introduce a tiny bit of low carb food, my body thinks 'aha! food incoming, no need to liver dump' and chills out a bit.

Obviously, I don't know if it will work for you, but give it a go.

(I just keep a few Brazil nuts on my bedside table, and pop one when I wake up)
 
@CoastGirl Please try not to worry about the figures, but go with how you feel. Your haemoglobin is fine. Mine is higher and I'm not expecting it to reduce but I can stop it going up. My cholesterol is way above the recommended level but I don't care because I feel good and anyway I'm a man so I can only concentrate on eating the right stuff while keeping active. That's two things. I must be doing better than I thought.
We're all different.
 
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