Has anyone successfully got their HBA1c back to within normal levels?

[fixingmylife]

I'm after some positive stories from people who have managed to reverse their prediabetes or diabetes back into the normal levels? My HBA1c was sitting at 42 for a while and it has now gone up to 45. It's really been a wake up call, and I'm trying very hard now to get it back down with diet and exercise, mainly following a low GL diet, but just wanted some inspiration and advice and to read about your successes with this. Thanks.

Hopeful bump..

I lowered mine from 43 to 39 by doing 16:8 fasting on the advice of a GP friend. I don't really have a sweet tooth so didn't really need to cut out sweet stuff but I did cut down on carbs.

That's great. Thanks. How long did it take you to get it down?

I think I had about 9 months between blood tests. I managed to lose about one and a half stone doing it as well. I was referred to the diabetes prevention programme and they advised that I needed to lose 6lb which would take me to the top end of a healthy BMI. I found that the 16:8 was very easy to get used to. I would have breakfast about 10/10.30 a small lunch (because I wasn't really that hungry) and dinner for about 6ish. On 16:8 they do advise no milk in tea or coffee outside of the "eating hours" but I couldn't do that so I did have a small amount of milk.

Yes, I can’t remember the exact figures now, but was pre diabetic. I have a very sweet tooth and had been eating a lot of sugary stuff, also not exercising. I cut back on sweet stuff and started walking a lot and came out of pre diabetic range and have remained in normal range for many years now. I can’t comment on the weight side of things/whether weight loss would have impacted, as an unrelated (to diabetes) digestive disorder means I have to limit intake of a lot of certain foods (although ironically not cake!) so don’t really gain weight.

I managed to reverse my diabetes and get my HBAC1 down to 37 with the Fast 800. Took about 3 months and I lost 3 stone in that time. It's an effective diet if you follow it.

Saying that I've put 2 stone back on and I'm trying mounjaro along with the eating principles of fast 800 now.

But it's worth a try!

Down from 33 to 26. But took wegovy/mounjaro and lost 3.5 stone. So probably a combination of wiefht loas and the direct impact of the WLI. Which is why I did it

That's very encouraging that you managed to do it in 3 months. I'll look into the Fast 800. Thank you.

I'm in the same boat OP and annoyingly I got out of pre diabetic range about a year ago but started a new job this year and piled weight back on. Now just in diabetic range and slowly loosing the weight again at a pound a week.

I lost 6st over 18 months, and increased exercise, which reduced my HbA1c to 37.

I was diagnosed type 2 early summer. I’ve dieted and lost 2 stone and am waiting to hear if that’s helped things.

Mine was 97 or 11% when I was diagnosed last August. I didn’t know I was diabetic, just that I felt awful. Ended up in A&E and they put me straight on insulin and metformin. I was really struggling to get my fasting and post meal levels in range even with high med so in September last year they put me on Mounjaro which was amazing. Sugars went almost immediately into normal range, was able to reduce then completely drop the insulin and the metformin and last 2 HbA1C tests have been under 6% which is in the non- diabetic range.

Still on MJ, have never gone above 10mg dose and will probably try to reduce at some point but will need to keep a close watch on sugar levels when doing that. Have also lost 6.5 stone so now firmly in the healthy BMI range for the first time ever, I was obese in primary school so have never been this thin.

Wow! @InfoSecInTheCity thats absolutely brilliant!

I have never had diabetes and was slim, my level was around 20. I then gained weight and I think my level was 39. So under a diabetes threshold and didn’t need to be monitored, but increased massively compared to what it was. I’d say it kickstarted a fire in me to lose the weight as it was the first sign of weight impacting my health.

I lost the weight and my level is back to 20s. I lost 25kg.

How are you doing it? I don’t want to go on fat jabs and just cannot seem to get started. I have loads of stressful stuff going on in my life and just feel overwhelmed.

With respect, you might need to look at multiple things here.

Yes, nutrition and exercise are important but you need to tackle the stress too. I personally find going to the gym and Pilates classes to be a stress reliever so it’s a win win for stress and weight loss.

Beyond that, you may need to ask yourself what do you do for stress relief? And are you genuinely doing as much as you can to reduce stress? For example, a huge issue causing stress for me was a horrible job I had - I did have to leave that employer to feel better. Are you getting any mental health support? I found counselling useful.

I take Metformin. I have accepted this is part of my life now. My last HBA1C was 35.