A1c

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er5234
er5234 Posts: 19 Member
My A1c is 12.6 smh!!!! Doctor got me on a low carb diet
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  • EdinTx
    EdinTx Posts: 87 Member
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    Welcome! My A1c was 11 something 8 months ago, and now is 4.9 - diet and especially exercise made a huge difference for me. We have a couple of low carbers in the group who may be able to give advice. My advice is, test often after meals and learn how foods affect you. Good luck!

    4.9!! woot woot!!!
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
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    EdinTx wrote: »
    Welcome! My A1c was 11 something 8 months ago, and now is 4.9 - diet and especially exercise made a huge difference for me. We have a couple of low carbers in the group who may be able to give advice. My advice is, test often after meals and learn how foods affect you. Good luck!

    4.9!! woot woot!!!

    In 8 months, no less. So much for the ADA and its decades of hand-wringibg about diabetes being chronic and progressive. You folks are living proof it needn't be so. B)
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
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    More living proof!
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    EdinTx wrote: »
    Welcome! My A1c was 11 something 8 months ago, and now is 4.9 - diet and especially exercise made a huge difference for me. We have a couple of low carbers in the group who may be able to give advice. My advice is, test often after meals and learn how foods affect you. Good luck!

    4.9!! woot woot!!!

    In 8 months, no less. So much for the ADA and its decades of hand-wringibg about diabetes being chronic and progressive. You folks are living proof it needn't be so. B)

    Well, I'm definitely still diabetic - it's not like I can go guzzle a Coke and be fine now. I have to be careful and work hard every day or my numbers go up.

    I expect my next A1c will be somewhat higher since I don't have the lows I used to have while taking glimeperide, but my testing indicates I am staying in high normal / prediabetic range.
  • trackercasey76
    trackercasey76 Posts: 780 Member
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    Mine was 11.8, I just had a blood draw last week and I'm waiting on the results...hoping it is much lower!
  • 2t9nty
    2t9nty Posts: 1,576 Member
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    Mine was 11.8, I just had a blood draw last week and I'm waiting on the results...hoping it is much lower!

    How long has it been since the 11.8? What has your diet been? What are daily readings looking like?

    [Sorry for the rapid-fire questions.]
  • trackercasey76
    trackercasey76 Posts: 780 Member
    edited August 2017
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    2t9nty wrote: »
    Mine was 11.8, I just had a blood draw last week and I'm waiting on the results...hoping it is much lower!

    How long has it been since the 11.8? What has your diet been? What are daily readings looking like?

    [Sorry for the rapid-fire questions.]

    It was mid February that I was 11.8, that was when I found out I was diabetic. Since then I have been very carb aware, took a diabetic awareness class and have been testing once daily (alternating between morning fasting and 2 hrs post dinner). According to my tracking app my average has been 101 with a high of 144 and a low of 70. I have also dropped about 25 pounds since march and about 40 since Christmas. I really expect my A1c to be much better. The app estimates my A1c to be 5.0 but I doubt it dropped that much.

  • trackercasey76
    trackercasey76 Posts: 780 Member
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    2t9nty wrote: »
    Mine was 11.8, I just had a blood draw last week and I'm waiting on the results...hoping it is much lower!

    How long has it been since the 11.8? What has your diet been? What are daily readings looking like?

    [Sorry for the rapid-fire questions.]

    It was mid February that I was 11.8, that was when I found out I was diabetic. Since then I have been very carb aware, took a diabetic awareness class and have been testing once daily (alternating between morning fasting and 2 hrs post dinner). According to my tracking app my average has been 101 with a high of 144 and a low of 70. I have also dropped about 25 pounds since march and about 40 since Christmas. I really expect my A1c to be much better. The app estimates my A1c to be 5.0 but I doubt it dropped that much.

    Could very well have, mine dropped that much in 4 months. Particularly if you went on any meds. Fingers crossed!

    I know the ADA says test at 2 hours post prandial, but my peaks hit for most foods at about 45 minutes, and start rapidly coming down after 1 hr. If I only tested at 2 hrs I wouldn't have anything like an accurate idea of my actual spikes, and two hours four times a day is a third of a day... a long time for glucose to be elevated.

    There's a mistaken notion - supported by insurance companies who don't want to cover the cost of testing strips - that testing frequently isn't helpful for non-insulin dependent diabetics, which goes back to one badly run study, in which the subjects were not instructed what to do if they tested and their sugar was high. So, the test subjects tested, found their sugar was high, said, "Shucky darn, that looks bad," and did nothing different. And then the study found that testing didn't help them. But there are many possible interventions you can do when your sugar is high, such as immediately exercising, and remembering that you can't tolerate that combination of food in the future. I really recommend testing more often than once a day.


    I'm on Metformin 2x Daily, I check more often if feel "off". I have not experienced any major spikes or drops
  • 2t9nty
    2t9nty Posts: 1,576 Member
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    I'm on Metformin 2x Daily, I check more often if feel "off". I have not experienced any major spikes or drops

    Did you ever get those lab results?

  • trackercasey76
    trackercasey76 Posts: 780 Member
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    2t9nty wrote: »


    I'm on Metformin 2x Daily, I check more often if feel "off". I have not experienced any major spikes or drops

    Did you ever get those lab results?

    I go back to the Doctor on the 20th to discuss the results. They did not say what they are.

  • amyfrogred
    amyfrogred Posts: 187 Member
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    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    edited September 2017
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    amyfrogred wrote: »
    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.

    Awesome!

    How low have you gotten your carb intake?

    IMHO, the diabetes classes can be fertile breeding ground for dubious advice that educators believe, right or wrong, is likely to be followed by "average" T2Ds. My guess is that it will be years until standard diabetes education advises T2Ds to avoid the one thing they have the biggest trouble handling - carbs. :s
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited September 2017
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    amyfrogred wrote: »
    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.

    If you have dawn phenomenon, like I do, the reason is that your body produces stress hormones first thing in the morning to get you up and running for the day. Try testing at some other time of day while fasting and see if your glucose is lower. I check mine in the middle of the night sometimes for this reason.

    There's nothing you can really do to prevent dawn phenomenon but it lasts a short time out of the day and isn't as harmful as if your fasting sugars were high all the time. "Normal" range of dawn spikes for a diabetic is anything under 130, so 120 isn't too bad. My experience is that the only thing which really lowers it is a lot of exercise late in the previous day.
  • amyfrogred
    amyfrogred Posts: 187 Member
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    amyfrogred wrote: »
    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.

    Awesome!

    How low have you gotten your carb intake?

    IMHO, the diabetes classes can be fertile breeding ground for dubious advice that educators believe, right or wrong, is likely to be followed by "average" T2Ds. My guess is that it will be years until standard diabetes education advises T2Ds to avoid the one thing they have the biggest trouble handling - carbs. :s

    I have cut my carbs in half, what I'm doing is substituting any carb I eat for a complex carb when I can like breads and opting for quinoa instead of rice... it works for me. I don't have a sweet tooth but have a salty crunchy addiction...I could eat a whole bag of potato chips with sour cream, now I'll have one serving size of corn chips and cottage cheese, popcorn or some nuts like walnuts almonds instead. I'll let you know how my diabetes class goes.
  • amyfrogred
    amyfrogred Posts: 187 Member
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    amyfrogred wrote: »
    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.

    If you have dawn phenomenon, like I do, the reason is that your body produces stress hormones first thing in the morning to get you up and running for the day. Try testing at some other time of day while fasting and see if your glucose is lower. I check mine in the middle of the night sometimes for this reason.

    There's nothing you can really do to prevent dawn phenomenon but it lasts a short time out of the day and isn't as harmful as if your fasting sugars were high all the time. "Normal" range of dawn spikes for a diabetic is anything under 130, so 120 isn't too bad. My experience is that the only thing which really lowers it is a lot of exercise late in the previous day.

    I'll look into this phenomenon, it sounds terrible.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    I like salted sliced radishes for my salty crunchy addiction. Low carb and very few calories.
  • trackercasey76
    trackercasey76 Posts: 780 Member
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    amyfrogred wrote: »
    Hi, 2t9nty I have taken your advice... up protein and lowered carbs added some cider vinegar. So, when I was diagnosed T2 in May my A1c was 7.1, Today I went to my Dr. To get my recent lab results and my Dr. Was happy with my results A1c down to 6.3 also my cholesterol was reduced to half from 199 to 98. I'm going to a diabetes class soon. I also got a hepatitis B shot along with pneumonia and a flue shot recommended for diabetics. Dr. Informed me the shots could spike my blood sugar, but it's normal and not to worry. I asked why with all my progress I still can't keep my BG under 120 in the AM fasting, Dr says not to worry about the number as long as I maintain it and there are no high spikes.

    Awesome!

    How low have you gotten your carb intake?

    IMHO, the diabetes classes can be fertile breeding ground for dubious advice that educators believe, right or wrong, is likely to be followed by "average" T2Ds. My guess is that it will be years until standard diabetes education advises T2Ds to avoid the one thing they have the biggest trouble handling - carbs. :s

    I learned A LOT in my Diabetes ed class, I was so happy I took it. I have heard nightmare stories from many other people but mine was great.