Struggling after high hb1ac bloods result

[Primroseprimula]

Apologies in advance that this is a bit. Long, also crosses over into general health/mental health not just diabetes

À bit of background, I'm 31 I've suffered with my blood sugar going low usually late afternoon for a few years, which doing some googling appears to be reactive hypoglycemia along with sublicinical hypothyroidism, which I finally managed to persuade the GP to prescribe levothyroxine for about 6 months ago. This is along with extreme and constant fatigue.

In recent months the blood sugar drops got worse, and I was resorting to sugary drinks to feel okay. Some of the crashes got to the point where I felt faint/like I would pass out. I think it's in the last year that the healthiness of my diet has slipped - I've been overweight forever, the classic eating nice normal food but just too much of it, its only im the past year that I've turned more towards eating more carbs and sugar to prop up my energy levels.

My most recent blood test à few weeks ago showed that my thyroid was still undertreated (ongoing issue with getting GP to let me increase thyroxine dose) but also that my hbA1c was 52.

I had a call from the practices diabetes nurse who said to cut out sugar and carbohydrates and that I would be referred to a dietitian. They want to test again in 3 months, and hopefully the number will be low enough that I can avoid a diabetes diagnosis.

After this appointment I have immediately made dietary changes. I've cut carbohydrates, cut sugar, eating lots of veg.

The good news is that I seem to have already stopped having the blood sugar crashes after only 2 weeks. The bad news is that my mental health has basically gone titanic.

I'm really struggling to cope with the réalisation that this will have to be a permanent lifestyle change, especially as I don't really know how strict it has to be, if I can actually successfully stave off diabetes, if I will ever be allowed to eat a slice of bread or a biscuit again. The thought of having to be constantly vigilant like this forever just makes me feel completely depressed. I feel like I must be a shitty person to have damaged my body to the point I develop diabetes.

I just feel like I'm in such a downward spiral 😭

I just wanted to let you know you’re not on your own. I’m not great with advising on diabetes (my daughter is newly diagnosed type 1 so I’m still learning!), but I know how the idea of food never being fun and easy again feels and the spiralling that can happen. You’re not a shitty person. Being overweight doesn’t make you shit. It sounds like you’re working really hard on it, and I’m sure it won’t be the case that you’ll never have a biscuit again (I get it, I really do. I worried my daughter would never get an ice cream again - she has). Do you have people around you for support?

I'm newly diagnosed 3weeks ago type 2 got such a shock as had no symptoms. My hbAc1 was 87 my sugar levels are very high 15.7the first test I got, doctor did another test as thought might be a mistake it came back 17.1.

I felt the same after seen the doctor I went home and cried couldn't believe what I did to my body. As I started a health kick in January as I put on so much weight for my height I'm 5ft 4 I have lost 2st and exercise 5days aweek. I'm now at a healthy BMI. I've cut out all crisps, chocolate,sweets,cakes fizzy drinks.

I hope I can get it down so doing everything I can. But still testing high every morning 😔 even tho I stop eating after my dinner and just drink water till I go to bed. I'm on medication one tablet a day was on a different one metformin it made me very sick. Take it one day at a time and be kind to yourself!

@TweezerMay thankyou for your kind reply, I am sorry to hear about your daughter. You've articulated the feeling well about food never being fun or easy again, it's hard to come to terms with because food is so tied up with other things like socialising and family and enjoyment.

@ilovetea14 that sounds so frustrating that your still testing high, it sounds like your doing amazingly with diet and exercise. It's reassuring that I'm not the only one going through this. My partner and family are being supportive, but I think it's hard for them to understand why it's so upsetting. I feel so stressed about getting tested again in three months, even though I know logically that even if I'm high again I just have to take it as it comes. All I can do in the meantime is put the effort in to clean up my diet and be kind to myself.

OP it sounds like you have made a really determined start. I wasn't in the same boat as you as my hba1c was only 47 (so only pre-diabetic), but I managed to get it down to 39 over 9 months when my GP referred me to the NHS Diabetes prevention plan (this was a 1 year subscription to WW). I don't know the ins and outs of a full diabetes diagnosis, so please ignore anything I say that doesn't fit - but I wanted to address your point about never being able to have nice things again.

It sounds like you might almost be being too strict with yourself. I don't think I could have sustained my change of diet it if I'd cut out absolutely everything I was eating that was unhealthy. Overall I ate a much healthier diet - loads of veg, lots of healthy meals (stir fries, soups, casseroles cooked with almost no oil) that I made in bulk and froze, so I always had something healthy that I could microwave in about 10 minutes. I cut out bread, white rice/pasta and snacked on things like the homemade vegetable soup, boiled eggs, tuna with salad. I combined this with lots of exercise (often seated due to an injury).

But I had to still allow myself some treats or I simply wouldn't have stuck to it long term. For me it was all about replacing things with alternatives that were much better for me, and always having something healthy available to eat when hungry. But I love crisps, so I allowed myself up to a packet of walkers french fries a day. I like chocolate, so instead of having a whole bar, I had a single square of 'premium' chocolate that I could savour and enjoy (no more than 1 square a day). As for cakes, there were many recipes that only use small amounts of fat/sugar/flour - I often made the WW pear & cinnamon oat muffins (you can google the recipe). Again - I stress that I was never diabetic, so please ignore if this isn't an approach you are able to take. But by being very strict with my overall diet, I was able to include at least one 'treat' every day and still get my hba1c and my BMI down to healthy levels, where they remain a year later. The only thing I had to be careful about (and still do) was not giving in to emotional eating. I enjoyed that square of chocolate so much more if I ate it when I was in a good mood, than if I was eating it purely because I was miserable and wanted to cheer myself up. I wish you all the best, OP and hope that you can find a balance that you can stick with.

@ilovetea14 . Having high blood sugar in the morning is known as the Dawn Phenomenon . Google it [sorry, I don't know how to link] , there's loads about it , something to do with the way your body works during sleep . Well over half those type 2 have this .

I've had type 2 for over 20 years and I still get high readings when I get up. Don't make the mistake of missing breakfast as your body should automatically lower the early morning levels. I just had my HbA1c and it was 50 .

Metformin is well known for having bad side effects . I started off on them with awful results so I was given slow release metformin , so much better . It happens to many of us.

Good luck .

Are you overweight op?

@butterpuffed thanks for that I will look it up. This is all new to me but doing my best to get it down.

Im slightly different as ended up in hospital with an infection and BS of 26 plus ketones 1.7 and diagnosis of diabetes but at the time they were not sure type 1 or 2 but now 2. My HAb1c was sky high but i not sure what it was
Went straight onto insulin novomix 30 twice a day slow release metformin.
I have just reduced carbs and where ever possible swapped to wholemeal ie rice the gallo 4 grains etc , desserts are home made yoghurt or icecream with fruit and i eat a lot of nuts, which lower blood sugars

My last Hab1c was 39 but i actually got told off for being too good and the dietitian said they only expect 70 to 80% not 100%. The worry was i was getting an occasional 3.9 by lunch time. So if im going to the pool i have a banana with breakfast and or a nairn low sugar biscuit half way through .
My insulin has gone from 32 units a day to 18 as well.

Metformin is well known for having bad side effects . I started off on them with awful results so I was given slow release metformin , so much better . It happens to many of us.

I had a really horrendous reaction to metformin in hospital and refused to take it again, so they swapped me to the slow release and touch wood apart from metallic taste at beginning and dodgy eyes from the insulin i now dont get any side effects now.

I forgot to say a walk at lunch time and excercise really makes a difference to my blood sugar readings, especially after lunch. I used to swim and aqua up to 4 times a week but due to covid and the pool extended closing due to a mechanical failure i had to give it up and i am sure that had something to do with the diabetes (as well as genetic
Now got back to swimming and aqua and i have not lost weight but lots of inches, so getting my muscle back that i had lost.

Sorry to hear that you are so upset @Primroseprimula and well done for making so many positive changes. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that especially in the early years after diagnosis that it can be possible to reverse or put diabetes into remission. Of course the risk of relapse remains but lifestyle changes may not need to be so strict going forwards.
The magic number to lose in terms of weight seems to be 15kg. Please have a read of “Life without diabetes” by Professor Roy Taylor a prof of medicine from Newcastle. It is well written and clearly explains a lot of the recent research in this area. His research group use a 800 calorie a day restriction to achieve the weight loss but he acknowledges in the book the amount lost is the important thing not the method of doing so.
I'm sitting here having lost about 20kg over 16 months and I can honestly say I no longer crave the crisps etc. Largely because I am well aware from work the complications diabetes can cause and I’m pleased that after many years of being obese I have done what I can to reduce my chances of developing the condition.

Oh op, you could be describing me back in January when I was diagnosed with type 2. That feeling of food never being fun again, when to be honest it was my main source of fun / comfort / socialising before. And I didn't feel like anyone really understood why I was upsetting me so much. I was weepy about it for weeks. Your post has really reminded me of how I felt them and made me realise how much better I am now!

Haven't got much time now so will come back later and say a bit more about how I've been coping, but just to say I am much happier now and have got my blood sugar back down to normal levels in the manageable way. You need to be kinder to yourself!

Sorry posted too soon. You need to try and flip your thinking. You have taken positive steps, you avoided more of those horrible wobbly episodes where your sugar levels are dropping quickly, you have the chance to beat diabetes before it becomes long established with all the possible complications associated with that.

Easier said than done I know but look to the positives in the situation.

I would also be careful looking at internet.
There are 2 UK websites Diabetes.org which is the UK charity and diabetes.co.uk which is a commercial website that makes money selling low carb diet plans and books. I would be very wsry of the advice on there

Also it doesn't take long to retrain your taste buds. Lots of food taste way too sweet to me now

Hi, back again. So I wanted to say earlier my blood sugar was 69 in January when I was diagnosed following a routine test (previous gestational diabetes). I was also overweight. Like you I decided to tackle it with diet (GP agreed to trying without medication for 3 months as I wasn't having symptoms and I'd controlled GD through diet).

I was really down about it as I've always been a total chocoholic and love all forms of carbs and sugar! I also have a family of fussy eating children and a lactose intolerant dh and life is busy for too much cooking different things! I looked on some of the diabetes forums and got a bit freaked out by the people who were on really strict diets (someone described having 3 raspberries as a treat and i cried!) and felt like nothing would be fun again. I even turned down an invitation to a social event where the food would be pizza, which I wish I'd attended now!

Anyway, I decided i needed to set some aims which actually seemed realistic, and hope that was enough! What works for you will be different, but I decided to use my fitness pal and aim for 1200 calories and under 90g carbs a day. I cut out sugary treats completely and switched white wheat products to wholemeal. I still have pasta, rice etc with a meal, just much much smaller quantities, and brown. I'll have half a jacket potato, or just a few chips. I allow myself dark chocolate (at least 70%, usually 85). I eat 2 slice of seeded bread, the lowest carb i can find, if i want toast, and oatcakes or ryvita instead of bread at other times.

I've lost over 2 stone doing that and blood sugar was in normal range at 3 month and 6 month tests. I've relaxed a bit now and stopped recording and counting food, but keeping up same habits. I have allowed myself the occasional evening off to have pizza or a takeaway, or a slither of cake at a special occasion, bit my day to day habits are much better than they were. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed my next results are ok. I bought myself a finger price blood sugar monitor to spot test occasionally and check I'm on the right track, but trying not to obsess over that or spend too much on the strips!

Like others have said, you'll adapt and taste buds change, but I think you need to be less strict - it's a marathon not a sprint and it sounds like, like me, you will be happier if you feel you can have an occasional treat. Also, I've also noticed exercise helps blood sugar- nothing major, just going for a walk.

I forgot my dose of dark chocolate at night!

Hello everyone, Thank-you for all your kind replies, it's comforting that others have been through the same thing.

I've felt a little better over the past few days - still a bit emotional and anxious but not as doom laden.

I'm also pleasantly surprised to have lost about 7 pounds, which just seems inexplicable as I've never had any luck shifting weight before. I know this is all probably water, but I had really puffy feet before which appear to have instantly de-puffed before my eyes, and I can now get back into shoes that had got too tight!

I'm also managing to do some meals that I'm enjoying by adapting things I'd usually cook to be lower in carbs and smaller portions and with a larger proportion of green veg. I think lpart of my panic was the thought of having to start cooking completely different unfamiliar meals. I don't cope well with any changes in routine, so having to eat anything too off piste makes me feel anxious!

It's great that you're feeling better and seeing progress in the right direction, I really admire the way you've tackled this. I'm going read your posts to my sister in the hope it will give her some inspiration (she's in the pre diabetec range).