Am I Allowed Two Questions In One Morning?

[Newdiabetic]

Are there any posters here who have not been prescribed medications yet? Does this make a difference in if I should be posting here? I read about bolsters, insulin, pumps, metformin, and other meds...and I feel a little out in left field... I know that all of our goals and objectives are the same.... but does it matter that, at this point, I haven't been prescribed...(not that I want to be).

And sometimes I wonder if my doctor didn't let me down just giving me a meter and saying see you in two weeks, then in two weeks saying..keep on keeping no...No suggestions, no ideas or nothing.

OK, for my third question this morning...then maybe I'll quit:T
How do you all get your A1c's so quickly when I have to wait for three months just to get a second one?:confused:

[jer.lawrence]

Yes, you're definitely allowed to post here, and you should post as much as you'd like and ask as many questions as you'd like. Since you're not yet on medications, I think that knowledge is your most powerful weapon. :)

I don't think that everyone NEEDS medication right away, but I'm not intimately familiar with your circumstances. I think that I would have managed fine without it, as I'm only taking 500mg of Metformin at the moment anyway. If YOU feel that he let you down, though, then he did. You shouldn't ever leave the doctor's office feeling let down, I don't think.

I'm going on 3 months in now and I haven't gotten my next A1c. My next appointment isn't until January (16th or something) and I'm going in on the 2nd or 3rd to actually do the bloodwork. I won't get the results until my appointment.

[foxl]

1 or is it 2 -- your MD thinks you can control this with just DIET and EXERCISE -- lucky YOU! Give it your best shot, the meds can have side effects you might not enjoy.

2 or is it 3 -- WalMart has A1c kits under their relion brand name, for 9 bucks!!!

I only get A1c every 3 months, myself. That is often enough! :T

And KEEP asking!

[princesslinda]

There are many here who manage on diet/exercise and no meds. I think it's great that your doctor is giving you the opportunity to try controlling w/o meds. My initial A1C was
9.6, and the doctor felt it was best that I immediately start on metformin to help them come down quickly. Our goal is the best blood sugars possible, and for some, meds are needed for the best control.

Regarding your A1C...it's measures a 90 day average blood , that's why the doc wants you to repeat it in 3 months, to see how you've done since diagnosis with the diet/exercise.

I'd encourage you to continue to test often, and if you don't see the numbers you want even with all the lifestyle modifications you've made, when you see your doc again in 3 months, you might want to talk about potentially starting medications.

It sounds like you're doing really well though.

[fgummett]

No shame in not having meds :T

Seriously, they are only one of the tools available to managing BG... so the question(s) becomes how successfully are you managing your BGs without meds AND even if your BGs are OK with diet and activity, is there a possibility that meds might improve your long-term outcome -- for example it has been suggested that early use of insulin can help to "rest" the beta cells and prolong their useful life.

A1c is effectively an average (mean) of all your BG levels over the last 90 days or so (3 months - the average life of a red blood cell), weighted towards the last 30 days or so. In that case there is little benefit to doing a weekly or even a monthly A1c... every 3 months seems to be pretty standard... at least in my experience :)

Next question... :D

[TommyC1]

Are there any posters here who have not been prescribed medications yet? Does this make a difference in if I should be posting here? I read about bolsters, insulin, pumps, metformin, and other meds...and I feel a little out in left field... I know that all of our goals and objectives are the same.... but does it matter that, at this point, I haven't been prescribed...(not that I want to be).

And sometimes I wonder if my doctor didn't let me down just giving me a meter and saying see you in two weeks, then in two weeks saying..keep on keeping no...No suggestions, no ideas or nothing.

OK, for my third question this morning...then maybe I'll quit:T
How do you all get your A1c's so quickly when I have to wait for three months just to get a second one?:confused:

Please ask away. I've learned an awful lot by reading the answers to others questions.

Did your Dr. tell you how often and when to test? Did he/she look at your test numbers? Did he/she explain what those numbers mean?
If the answer to any of those is no then you are right to feel let down.
There are some good articles here, Diabetes Basics :: Diabetes Self-Management (http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/articles/Diabetes-Basics/) and here, Blood Sugar 101 (http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/) that might help you get a handle on things.

A1cs are generally taken once every 3 months. You can get them done more often if you want to pay for them. There are home A1c kits that you can buy. You send the sample to a lab and they send you the results.

[Hammer]

Ask as many questions as you want. This forum is titled "type 2 diabetes", not "what meds are you taking?":D

The more questions you ask, the better your understanding of diabetes will be.

As Linda mentioned, the A1C test gives you your average BG over 90 days, so if you had an A1C now, it wouldn't make much sense to have another one until another 90 days had gone by.

As someone mentioned, you can get the home A1C test kit at WalMart for about $9. You send it in and they send you back the results.(snail mail or e-mail.) The results are fairly accurate too.:)

[Newdiabetic]

You guys are simply THE BEST! I'm leaving to pick up my little darlins' with a smile on my face!

[Abra]

My doctor gave me, at my request, one year to see what I could do with just diet and exercise. And although I don't know how accurate it is, you can calculate your A1c with this tool https://www.accu-chek.com/us/glucose-monitoring/a1c-calculator.html I imagine that the more often you test the more accurate it becomes, owing to having that many more data points. Currently it's telling me that I've dropped mine from 7 at Dx in July to 5.5 for the last 30 day average, but I haven't been testing super-often, so that might be a bit off. That's with diet and (not enough) exercise.

[Hammer]

My doctor gave me, at my request, one year to see what I could do with just diet and exercise. And although I don't know how accurate it is, you can calculate your A1c with this tool https://www.accu-chek.com/us/glucose-monitoring/a1c-calculator.html I imagine that the more often you test the more accurate it becomes, owing to having that many more data points. Currently it's telling me that I've dropped mine from 7 at Dx in July to 5.5 for the last 30 day average, but I haven't been testing super-often, so that might be a bit off. That's with diet and (not enough) exercise.

Abra, with all of the national healthcare discussions going on here, I was wondering if you could tell us how your health care is in France? What about it do you like, and what about it do you hate? Also, what is the opinions in France about the health care in the US?

[jwags]

I tried for about 4 months on diet and exercise and couldn't get number much below 160 so I talked to my doctor about metformin. Since then I have upped the dose 2x and now am finally seeing almost normal numbers. Different doctors have different schedules for lab tests. My doctor only does them once a year since I have to pay for them out of pocket. You can buy your own test at Walmart for $9.99 and send it in and your results will be emailed to you in a couple of days or you can buy a Bayer instant test. I think it is $15.99 and you get the reults instantly.

[yannah]

try a half of slice of bread a few months down the road, after control is pretty consistant...if you must! and put real butter on it, that will help.

or by then you just might be over the whole bread thing.