[JT Reagan]

You know, I bet if you change your diet carefully, you will stay in the low numbers for years. You don't indicate your age but if you are in your 30s you could get along with just a careful diet for years. Don't stress about the "label." The way things are going in the world, more than 50% will soon be "labeled" diabetic or prediabetic. Check out our way of eating.
P. s. If you are in your sixties, it is all probably your diet. Hopefully, your body will bounce back until your nineties.

 

[volfan]

You know, I bet if you change your diet carefully, you will stay in the low numbers for years. You don't indicate your age but if you are in your 30s you could get along with just a careful diet for years. Don't stress about the "label." The way things are going in the world, more than 50% will soon be "labeled" diabetic or prediabetic. Check out our way of eating. P. s. If you are in your sixties, it is all probably your diet. Hopefully, your body will bounce back until your nineties.

I'm 32 years old

 

[furball64801]

The a1c number clearly says your diabetic and the high numbers you posted at the beginning. The fact you have it in good control right now is a good sign, it does show your body has an issue and without changes you would still be high.[/QUOTE
The only high number I had was the original a1c

https://www.accu-chek.com/us/glucose-monitoring/a1c-calculator.html# This shows the 3 month average from the a1c just saying you were higher even though you did not see it on the meter.

 

[Gizmo]

Hi, Volfan.

He ordered a A1C test and the result was 7.7. He immediately diagnosed me as diabetic.

If you already had a life insurance policy when you were diagnosed, diabetes isn't considered to be a pre-existing condition for you because you were diagnosed while you had the policy, not before. If you change policies or companies, that would most likely be a different story.

He ordered another A1C test at that time and the results were 6.2.

The results sheet he sent me said 6.5 is diagnosis for diabetes and 5.8-6.4 is pre diabetes. I'm not trying to get un-diagnosed if I have it but don't want to pay increased rates for life insurance if I don't have it.

I guess you are hoping for a 'pre-diabetic' diagnosis instead of 'diabetic'. In the past, the question has been raised on the forum whether or not pre-diabetes is considered by insurance companies to be a pre-existing condition. I don't believe that question has been answered here, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

You certainly aren't one to sit on your hands. You have made some nice progress, keep up the good work.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Freya]

Hi Volfan & Welcome to the Forum

I was diagnosed with an A1c of 8 - not that much different from yours. It is good that your doctor has given you an opportunity to improve your numbers by diet and exercise without meds.

I was able to reduce my A1c to 5.2 within three months and 12 months later it is now 4.6. I did this by eating a low carb/high fat diet - no meds. But I am still a diabetic and always will be.

You have made a great start in lowering your BGLs and if you continue to eat correctly you will see them fall lower and hopefully postpone any need for meds.

Good Luck.

 

[Shalynne]

You're doing great!

'Tis a bit of a conundrum, isn't it? If you had sky-high numbers, but then you do the work and bring them down ... well ... now what do you call yourself?

My own Rule of Thumb: I go by what happens if I stop doing the work.

Right now, my numbers are near-normal, and they have been for some time. If I made a random visit to a new doc tomorrow, I'd get a diagnosis of "pre-diabetic" or even "non-diabetic."

BUT ... I know what happens if I drop all precautions (and meds) and eat 1/2 of a slice of toast. Diabetic-level spike, beyond all doubt. Heck, I get higher numbers for a few days when I do take the meds.

So. What's my Magic Word? Well, it's, ummmm, "Diabetic." (...goshdarnit....)

On the Good Side -- we can have normal numbers, and we can be healthy. We can't leave diabetes behind, but we sure can live with it ... and we do!

 

[Mar2a]

My highest blood sugar reading the past six weeks has probably been 130. Average since middle of Jan when I started logging has been 100.

But that's after two hours, right? Have you tried testing at one hour?

My biggest spike is usually around 45 minutes. Then my pancreas wakes up and starts producing insulin. (For some reason, it doesn't seem to remember to store some for future use.)

I have a relatively normal A1c (currently 5.7), but when I cheat, I easily go over 200 in the first hour. Most of the time I'm back under 120 after 2 hours, but not always. Sometimes I'm back to the low hundreds by then.

I still don't understand, but I do read things that say that your blood sugar has to stay high for a certain amount of time to affect your A1c.

So, maybe when you're eating correctly, you're going to be perfectly normal on paper.

And maybe if you get your A1c down further, that first test could be dismissed? I don't know. I've been wondering myself how pre-d affects life insurance rates.

 

[jademuffin]

Welcome. I'm also one of those diagnosed with 7.8%. However, my doc put me on meds immediately (knowing about my love of bread). Low carb-ing in the first 3 months had me to 5.5%. I have a ways to go, but I'm hoping to get off the meds within a year and control by diet alone for as long as I can.

Lessons I have learned about what I can eat:
Grains: I can have a little rice, or oats, or non-gluten thing but should expect my PP numbers to be high (even if under 140) for 2-4 hours after eating (and by little I mean a tablespoon)
Starches: very similar to grains, so I have to be careful about Asian noodles hiding in dishes.
Fruit (including tomatoes): I have to check at 45 and 1 and 1:15 PP to catch the spike to ensure I don't bust over 140.

So even if you're checking your PP numbers, you might be missing the spike, depending on how your body is reacting to the meal.

 

[volfan]

I was checking four times a day for the first month. Then the doctor was pleased and only wants me to check one time a day. He didn't write me enough test strips for four times a day so I had to buy some the first month. Even though my insurance covers ten times a day. I'm wondering if he only wants me to check once a day if that's ok or I should see someone who will give me a prescription for more strips.

I thought maybe initially he was seeing if I was diabetic but told me he diagnosed me on the first test results so I know that wasn't his thinking.

 

[jademuffin]

Perhaps if you asked for more times a day, you might be able to convince him. Especially if your insurance will cover it. Describe what you are doing to him, and let him know you intend to keep experimenting with food and portions in order to ensure you can come up with good choices, and to do that you will need more strips.

 

[volfan]

Perhaps if you asked for more times a day, you might be able to convince him. Especially if your insurance will cover it. Describe what you are doing to him, and let him know you intend to keep experimenting with food and portions in order to ensure you can come up with good choices, and to do that you will need more strips.

I tries asking for more m last visit. Thinking maybe he prescribed me what typical insurances cover but no deal. His nurse told me he was a stickler for not just writing the maximum. It's not like I'm going to sell them. I think after my next A1C test in June if he won't up the testing I may seek another family doctor.

 

[Shanny]

If your insurance covers ten times a day, I can't imagine why the doctor thinks he should override that. I would insist. How the heck can we control our blood sugar levels if we don't even know what they are?! Docs like this make me crazy and I'd be looking for a new doc right now.

 

[gotsomeold]

Raises hand for finding one and two hour post first bite testing invaluable. Putting those together gives a much, much complete picture of what is happening...and quickly shows results as you tune your eating.

My insurance says, you're PD, why would you want to test? So I buy my own meter and strips. Because, of course, the reason I want to test is I want to stay PD.

 

[tgrmuskego]

Raise hand here as well and for every meal. I'm new to all of this and for me I've quickly learned that all the feed back I can get helps me get closer to my goals and discovering real tasty stuff I CAN eat. My current prescription is for 50 strips 6 times per year - it's been a week and a half and I'm on my 2nd bottle of 50 strips. I don't know what my insurance will cover but I do know I will buy what ever I need when I need it.

 

[jademuffin]

Raise hand here as well and for every meal. I'm new to all of this and for me I've quickly learned that all the feed back I can get helps me get closer to my goals and discovering real tasty stuff I CAN eat. My current prescription is for 50 strips 6 times per year - it's been a week and a half and I'm on my 2nd bottle of 50 strips. I don't know what my insurance will cover but I do know I will buy what ever I need when I need it.

Watch out for that... I got a little sticker shock when my perscription for just the strips (perscription refill) came to $75 (US) from an online supplier (who gives much cheaper rates for my meds), and they were under $30 originally (from one of the most expensive places to buy supplies). So I still need to get in touch with my insurance and figure out what the heck they "cover" and then find the best place to get them.

 

[Mar2a]

There's a similar thread to this at
http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes/33401-thing-expensive.html

One comment I made is that I heard that one way is to not test every day, but instead save your strips up for a day when you test fasting, before/after every meal, and then before bed. During the days you're not testing, you try to stay with "safe" foods (foods you've tested).

I think I got that from Blood Sugar 101, but I could have read it elsewhere. (Go to Blood Sugar 101 and look for "Diabetes on a Budget" -- it's in the first column, but you have to scroll down.)

 

[tgrmuskego]

There is so much good advice here!

The strips can be expensive. I pay $10 per 50 with insurance. The first time I thought I would just buy some on my own I was shocked to see they were $89 per 50 at Walgreens. After some more reading here, I read that Amazon is a good place to find them on line and sure enough, $23 per 50 delivered.

I might one day restrict my testing once I have a good selection of safe foods but having been at this for only a week and a half I still have a lot to learn.

 

[gotsomeold]

I have a gradually increasing list of 'safe' foods that I don't test unless I feel odd after eating. Well, that is not entirely true. I do re-test occasionally just to see if anything in my body is changing. (It is kind of reassuring to see the results I expect.)