HELLO...Is my HBA1C of 8.5 too high?

[showkat]

I have just joined here.A warm Hello to everybody.....My name is showkat and i am 49 male.I have been diagonosed on 26-06-10 and started controlling right from that day.I do not have much knowledge about diabetes.Thirst and frequent urination were first symptoms.I discussed this issue with one of my friends on 25th of june who advised me to have blood sugar fasting test next morning.Accordingly i did as advised by my friend and result was horrifying for me.It was 194 fasting.I did not accept it and thought there must be something wrong with lab technician and decide to have lipid profile next morning at a modern reputed lab.The results were as follows

1) S.Total lipids = 1030.6 mg/dl
2) S.cholesterol = 174.2 mg/dl
3) S.Triglycerides= 662.2 mg/dl
4) HDL-Cholesterol( Direct ) = 42.3 mg/dl
5) LDL-Cholesterol (Direct) = 109.0 mg/dkl
6) S.VLDL = 132.4 mg/dl
7) Blood Sugar Fasting = 266 mg/dl
8) Blood Sgar (PP) = 435mg/dl

It really was a shock for me.Not knowing what to do,i decided to see specialist diabetes doctor same evening ie 26th june,,2010 and somehow managed appointment.Doctor examined me throughly and went through my test records which were quiet abnormal.He prescribed a few medicines but told me that medicines cant help untill i change my lifestyle.He gave me some tips like brisk walk of at least 5kms in the morning and 3kms in the evening , change my eating habits and taking low carb diet and lot of vegetables( no fruits ),No meat and rice etc etc.
Let me tell you i have been rice and meat eater throughout my life.It was really hard decision for me.I returned home in dejected mindset.I managed to eat some vegetables,green salad that night and took my first capsule for controlling my sugar level.I hardly could sleep.But next morning was totally different for me as i decided to fight it out to my fullest .I took it as a challenge.I have strong will power right from my childhood.I started changing my lifestyle and food was the basis.Oatmeal,vegetables,egg whites were my food now.I also started brisk walking and jogging about 6 kms in morning and a little in the evenings.My nature of job is tough and stressful but still my first priority became my health.I started testing at home with one touch ultra monitor .( By the way you must be knowing it has +20% error when compared with lab results)Test,test,test helped me a lot. My BSG levels started to come down drasticaly.This encouraged me alot and i started cutting more and more carbs and covering more and more distance during my walks.My levels came down to 100 -160 range.One feels great when levels start coming down.On seventh day i made a tough decision.I stopped all medicines abruptly of my own.I know it was foolish and no body should do that.I actually wanted know my BG levels without medicine.I dont know why? But i did stop medicines.To my surprise there was not much variation in numbers just neglegible lol....I continued that way (without medicines) and i am still managing without medicines.Now i am going to give you my last four days Blood sugar levels.....

14-7-10....FASTING).......4.35 am...115 8 am...112...AFTER B.FAST ... 142....BEFORE LUNCH ...102.... After 2 hours of lunch....155....before dinner...91....2hours after dinner...153

15-7-10.... fasting...5.30 am 122...after walk...128...2 hours after b fast....133...before lunch...99....2 hour after lunch....161....before dinner 125....2 hour after dinner...163

16-7-10.....fasting 3am...111....6.30 am after walk..101....one hour after b.fast....141...2 hours after b fast 128....before dinner....82....2 hours after dinner....138

17-7-10...fasting 5am....121....7am after walk...103.....before dinner....93......one hour after dinner....128

18-7-10...fasting 5.30am 96....after walk...104....before lunch......81
.


Let me tell you one more interesting thing....I have restarted taking rice( one and half cup cooked twice a day) just 12 days back of course limited quantity (starch drained long grain basmati or paraboiled )and i also take a piece or two of chicken and sometimes lamb as well. I only use olive oil.I also take some natural remedies like i take lemon and gooseberry juice after my morning walk.I take a cup of bittermelon juice mixed with a little quantity of gooseberry juice daily.That is how i am continuing at the moment.It is turning out to be a great fun to fight diabetes.At least i take it that way.

Now i want to ask a question? During the course of my short experience with diabetes, i went for HBA1C test on 14th of july 2010 and my result is on higher side ie 8.5%...I know this is on higher side...I have been diagonosed on 26th june...SO i have controlled it for just 18 days and went for HBA1C...I need to know will it be considerably down after 90 days if i continue to control my levels? and if yes , how much percentage of HBA1C should i expect after 90 days from the date of my treatment ie 26-6-2010...One thing i forgot to tell you ais about my TG's...663...I made a Tg test some two days back..they have come down to 263...though still on higher side...

[foxl]

Yes your HbA1c is way too high.

So are those trigs. Somethign most docs do not acknowledge is if you cut back carb consumption, it will lower your triglycerides.

I would cut the rice, keep eating meat and dairy fats (but not milk -- it has quite a bit of carb), and see what happens to your A1c AND Triglyceride.

Keep testing your blood sugars before and 2 h after each meal -- your target range should be 70 - 120.

[matingara]

my opinion.

don't start eat rice again.

you can eat as much meat as you want to. i don't know what the objective of that advice was.

personally, i would also not be eating any oatmeal.



-- joel.

[foxl]

my opinion.

don't start eat rice again.

you can eat as much meat as you want to. i don't know what the objective of that advice was.

personally, i would also not be eating any oatmeal.



-- joel.

I think you misread me, Joel -- I said to keep eating meat and dairy fats, but not milk ... and only cut out the rice!

[matingara]

I think you misread me, Joel -- I said to keep eating meat and dairy fats, but not milk ... and only cut out the rice!

i was replying to OP - i was agreeing with you.

[foxl]

I missed the reference to the recommendation that he not eat meat, in his post. (that kind of day for me ... ). OATMEAL!!! Kills me, too. I would definitely cut THAT out.

[aiah23]

I have to take insulin to cover oatmeal but if I remember correctly, there are a few lucky people on this site that can handle it. I'm guessing the doc said no meats based on his lipid profile. Bringing it down the way he is, though, I'd say he can continue to eat meat but that is my non-professional opinion only I, also, agree that cutting out the rice would be much better (or at least halving the amount daily). 3 c of rice is a ton of carbs even if parboiled! He didn't mention anything about his blood pressure though, that's what I wondered about given his lipid profile.

Fawn

[stardustshadow]

Hey there! Welcome! I was diagnosed on the same day that you were! I ALSO had a blood sugar of over 400!

I have managed to bring my blood sugar down to levels indistinguishable from a non-diabetic (75-100, even after meals) by cutting carbs! (right now I am doing the Atkins way of eating!...it is great for my blood sugar and I've lost over 22 pounds...)

I quickly found out, with help from all of the lovely people on this forum, that the diet recommended by conventional medicine will NOT help you as a diabetic (only to a certain extent)

What you want to aim for is an HbA1c in the 5% range, to completely avoid diabetic complications!

If someone hasn't told you yet, there are some good books that can help you out!
Blood sugar 101 (google it, there is also a website, where much of the information is available online for free)--this will detail how you can use monitoring your BG to create a meal plan for yourself (experimenting with different foods to see what effects you) and control your BG.

The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein--a really interesting book full of tips on controlling blood sugar through carb cutting and selective eating...lots of information!

Your numbers are still too high, and like all of the other posters here, I agree that you are still eating too many high carb foods (oatmeal, for one). But don't despair!! If you research low carb eating, you can find a ton of recipes, many that provide tasty alternatives to a lot of the foods you love! Plus, you will feel even better once you get those blood sugars even further down.

Good Luck!

[showkat]

Thank you for your valuable suggestions.....As far as my blood pressure is concerned,it remains mostly in 80-130 range.I have been taking atenolol from last 10 years to control it and it has not troubled me since then though sometimes it jumps a bit higher ie 90-140 but not so often.Let me tell you i am a smoker and have been smoking from last 32 years and my average is almost 20 ciggs/24 hours.
From 26th june of this year,(the day i was declared diabetic) i started to cut down smoking and presently i smoke 5 ciggs on an average.My doctor wrote on my prescription at serial number one " stop smoking" Still i could not give it up in full till date.But i hope i will.It sounds a bit foolish but that is how it is at the moment.
Currently my blood pressure levels have come down to 75-120.It is probably because of exercise,cut down on smoking and changes made in diet.I may stop atenolol shortly(once i stop smoking in full) just to check if i can do without it.

As suggested i will also try to stop eating rice.I am just trying to work out alternative foods available here with low carbs.I dont want to force food as i force medicine into my stomach.I want to enjoy it as i used to enjoy before diabetes.So i am looking out for some delicious low carb foods of my taste.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum!

Karen

[showkat]

Welcome to the forum!

Karen

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jwags]

Welcome. Low carb diet works. Most of us do eat lots of protein and healthy fats. What causes your Triglycerides to be high is too many carbs like rice and fruit not meat. I would not add rice back in your diet, but would add meat back. It is very important to get enough protein. To avoid complications the most important numbers from your lipid profile should be the ratio of TRIGS to HDL. Ideally the ratio should be 2 or less to avoid heart complications. Even after 3 years of diabetes and lots of metformin I cannot handle more than 10 carbs per meal. No rice for me.

[showkat]

Yester evening i did not eat rice.I just had one chicken breast(not fried),a cup of cooked peas mixed with curd,little carrot.Before dinner my BSG was 81 and one hour after eating dinner it was 102.It really made me happy because my after meal readingsafter eating rice used to be around 150 or 160 level.So giving up rice is now inevitable.Out of joy i ate a medium size apple at bed time and went to sleep around 11.30 pm.
Now this morning i woke up at 5 am and checked my fasting blood sugar with the expected reading of 80 or 85.To my surprise it was 107.Oh nooooooo...why so? Somehow i left for brisk walk as usual and had a very pleasant walk of 6 kms.Inbetween i made some little runs as well.after coming back i had some rest and then i went for bath with warm water as usual.After that i had one more test and it showed 118.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I am a bit sad at the moment because of these numbers.Can anybody please explain why my blood sugar readings are higher in spite of not eating rice? When i used to have rice in my dinner, my readings used to be inbetween 93 and 97 most of the times and after walk they would further come down.
I shall be waiting for your replies....showkat

[xMenace]

Welcome.

Search for threads on "Dawn Phenomenon." An apple will raise BGs too. Many of us are choosing to heat low carb high fat diets with lots of natural foods. We don't believe saturated fats are a problem at all. All the science I've seen points to carbs and processed foods and the bad guys. Meats and saturated fats from healthy naturally raised animals is great!

Your A1C will come down with those numbers. Your triglycerides are more worrisome to me than your A1C. I like seeing them well below 80. To me your number represents a high risk of heart disease. Lower your carbs. I aim for 30g a day but often go higher.

[NickP]

Yester evening i did not eat rice.I just had one chicken breast(not fried),a cup of cooked peas mixed with curd,little carrot.Before dinner my BSG was 81 and one hour after eating dinner it was 102.It really made me happy because my after meal readingsafter eating rice used to be around 150 or 160 level.So giving up rice is now inevitable.Out of joy i ate a medium size apple at bed time and went to sleep around 11.30 pm.
Now this morning i woke up at 5 am and checked my fasting blood sugar with the expected reading of 80 or 85.To my surprise it was 107.Oh nooooooo...why so? Somehow i left for brisk walk as usual and had a very pleasant walk of 6 kms.Inbetween i made some little runs as well.after coming back i had some rest and then i went for bath with warm water as usual.After that i had one more test and it showed 118.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I am a bit sad at the moment because of these numbers.Can anybody please explain why my blood sugar readings are higher in spite of not eating rice? When i used to have rice in my dinner, my readings used to be inbetween 93 and 97 most of the times and after walk they would further come down.
I shall be waiting for your replies....showkat

Showkat,

First, Welcome to Diabetes Forum!

Second, you have made an enormous improvement in a very short period of time. Congrats! You are on the right path.

For your A1C test, your A1C will improve over time (may take 2 or 3 months to show your total improvement). Your trig's are way too high. Eating a low carb diet will certainly help, but getting this number down will take some time.

As to your questions above, please be a little patient. Your numbers are very good (especially compared to only a few weeks ago). Your body did not get in this bad of shape in a couple of weeks, and it will take more than a few weeks of a good diet to settle everything out.

Next, please realize that the meter you use is not that accurate (within 20%). That means, when your TRUE BG is 100, your meter could say 80 or 120 and still be within its manufacturing standards (and that does not include any error that you may have with something on your hands, test strip, etc). So, your reading this morning may have been fine. Again, with some time and more testing, you will learn to recognize when you did not get a good reading.

Of course, eating an apple before bed, probably did not help. Apples are not on my approved eating list.

Again, keep up the good work! You are on the right track!!!! Remember, this is a journey, not a destination.

BTW - How are you feeling now? Do you feel better? More energy?

Again, welcome, and keep up the good work!!!!