First nurse appointment

[Itsdare]

Diagnosed last week after a 2nd Hba1c of 53, first one 50.

Am quite knowledgeable on diabetes as my dad has lived with T2 for years. I've been taking my fasted blood sugar at around midday (around 14 hours after last eating and its still around 11.

That's bad isn't it? But yet 53 isn't too terrible in context of diabetic range.

I feel awful, and have done for the last year now I think about it. Mainly bone crushingly tired. Will they put me on metformin with these levels do you think? I sort of hope so, in the hope it may make me feel a bit better. I've started to reduce carbs.

Hi, one thing to bear in mind is that your HbA1c shows the average glucose level of the past 8-12 weeks, so it’s possible that if you did nothing and retested in 12 weeks then you HbA1c would come back higher still, more reflecting your current fasting levels.

It might be an idea to check your levels when you first wake up, before doing anything else. Getting up and getting going can trigger your body to release stored glucose to provide you with energy until you eat and refuel. There could be some difference with first waking readings and pre lunch readings.

Also one or two pre and then 2 hours post meal readings (with a note of what the meal was) might help show how your body is coping with food and guide any medication decisions you make with your nurse.

Ask them what education courses are available in your area that you could attend.

Metformin is a great medication. It has lots of positive health benefits on top of controlling glucose levels. It sometimes takes a few weeks to get used to it (it can cause gastric side effects initially, they do usually settle down). If it does cause you issues there is a slow release version you can swap to that’s often better tolerated.

We have a gp surgery near here that runs a great online low carb resource for pre diabetes and type 2 diabetes. You might find that has some good resources.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.com

Good luck op, I hope you find your appointment really useful.

Thanks for the info.

I have lower readings throughout the day even after eating which is interesting.

I'll definitely check first thing after waking to see what those readings are like.

Not eating breakfast can make you high as your liver will release glucose to make up for lack of breakfast

Thank you for that information, it's confusing as I thought fasting was good for diabetics so I'll have to check what works for my body I guess!