Hi....I'm a 53 y/o female, living in Houston, TX. I don't have a history of diabetes in my family (as far as I know), but was diagnosed last year when I took a routine blood test for insurance purposes. My blood sugar was over 500 but at that time I didn't have a clue what that meant. I made an appointment with the doctor and got on Janumet, went to classes as the hospital about diet and starting testing my sugars. I was pretty good about the diet, exercise and meds but have gotten lax about it. My blood sugar continues to be in the 250 range. The Janumet gives me bad upset stomaches. Does anyone have any recommendations about others drugs? Does exercise really help? I just took another blood test (more insurance stuff and they called me today and said my A1C level was 24 (and it should be 5.8). I guess I'd better start paying attention, huh? THANKS....I look forward to any advice you have.
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If you A1c is really 24 it's way beyond "better start paying attention" and is time to go to a hospital. I'm hoping that you just have your A1c wrong. 
Since you said that your blood sugar was 250 I'll use that instead. One of the quickest ways to bring your blood sugar under control is to reduce your carbohydrates. Here's a short list of stuff to cut that will dramatically lower your blood sugar: desserts, sugar, bread, pasta, tortillas, rice, oatmeal, potatoes. That's just to give you an idea of what to look for. I recommend that you read The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein, or find some good websites on low-carb (e.g. www.dietdoctor.com/lchf) to give you a better idea of what will work well.
If you don't have one, get a blood glucose meter and start testing. Test before you eat, 1 hour after the first bite then at 2 hours. There are more extensive ways to test but this is a good start. Now let's say you eat a potato. Your first reading was 100 before you ate. Then at 1 hour it was 200 and at 2 hours it was 120. Based on a reading like that you would know that you should reconsider eating that meal in the future. Either cutting it out entirely, reducing the portion size or combining it with fats to slow the blood sugar spike.
Check out Blood Sugar 101 for all the information you need on understanding how your food affects your blood sugar, how to test and tons of good information on diabetes.
Diabetes medication can usually help you control your blood sugar but it can only help so much if your diet is off. Exercise will not control your blood sugar all by itself. It's a good thing to do for your health but diet and medication have a much larger impact.
Since you said that your blood sugar was 250 I'll use that instead. One of the quickest ways to bring your blood sugar under control is to reduce your carbohydrates. Here's a short list of stuff to cut that will dramatically lower your blood sugar: desserts, sugar, bread, pasta, tortillas, rice, oatmeal, potatoes. That's just to give you an idea of what to look for. I recommend that you read The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein, or find some good websites on low-carb (e.g. www.dietdoctor.com/lchf) to give you a better idea of what will work well.
If you don't have one, get a blood glucose meter and start testing. Test before you eat, 1 hour after the first bite then at 2 hours. There are more extensive ways to test but this is a good start. Now let's say you eat a potato. Your first reading was 100 before you ate. Then at 1 hour it was 200 and at 2 hours it was 120. Based on a reading like that you would know that you should reconsider eating that meal in the future. Either cutting it out entirely, reducing the portion size or combining it with fats to slow the blood sugar spike.
Check out Blood Sugar 101 for all the information you need on understanding how your food affects your blood sugar, how to test and tons of good information on diabetes.
Diabetes medication can usually help you control your blood sugar but it can only help so much if your diet is off. Exercise will not control your blood sugar all by itself. It's a good thing to do for your health but diet and medication have a much larger impact.
Welcome to DF. Are you sure they said 24. That is unbelievelable high. All I can say to you is the Janumet is not working and insulin would be a much better choice. Are you sure you are a Type 2. A lot of times people are dx'd as Type 2's but they are really type 1's. Have your doctor run a GAD 65 Antibody test and a C-Peptide test. If you are a type 1 you definitely need insulin. But even if you are a type 2, if your beta cells have burned out due to eating too many carbs, insulin may be your only solution. Also the diabetic education classes lead people to believe they can eat carbs safely. In reality, many diabetics cannot eat the number of carbs CDE's recomend. I can only handle 30-40 carbs per day or I will go sky high. To avoid complications it is best to keep HbA1c's close to normal which is 4.0-5.5.
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Welcome
I dont think I have heard an A1C that high your best bet is to exercise really watch what you eat 250 is a high level but you can manage it. I was diagnosed with a 370 level and my A1c when diagnosed was 12, I now keep levels at about 81-121 with my last A1C at 5.9, I drink lots of water. And if nothing else always keep a positive attitude.
I dont think I have heard an A1C that high your best bet is to exercise really watch what you eat 250 is a high level but you can manage it. I was diagnosed with a 370 level and my A1c when diagnosed was 12, I now keep levels at about 81-121 with my last A1C at 5.9, I drink lots of water. And if nothing else always keep a positive attitude.
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Hi Meswyn & welcome! I'm new around here too, both diagnosis and to the forums
Sorry to hear your medication is making you unwell, i'm currently taking metformin 500mg x2 daily - gave me an upset stomach for about the first 2 days but seems to have settled now and my BG is coming down nicely - seems to sit around 90 - 108 most of the time, so I still have a little work to do.
Exercise (how I hate it lol) seems to bring levels down slightly too, so well worth doing a bit each day.
Sorry to hear your medication is making you unwell, i'm currently taking metformin 500mg x2 daily - gave me an upset stomach for about the first 2 days but seems to have settled now and my BG is coming down nicely - seems to sit around 90 - 108 most of the time, so I still have a little work to do.
Exercise (how I hate it lol) seems to bring levels down slightly too, so well worth doing a bit each day.
Welcome to the Forum.
You really have to make your's doctor's life miserable. The doctor is responsible for getting your BG levels lower. When do you see the doctor next ?
A HbA1C of 24 corresponds to a average BG of around 650. If you were at that level I would thank god that you did not slip into a diabetic coma or something. If your numbers are around the same at the moment I would strongly suggest you check yourself into the ER.
About Other drugs. None of us are doctors so suggesting medicines is something we should not be doing but I would probably discuss about insulin with your doctor ? Did your doctor tell you about insulin therapy the last time? I have come to believe that insulin is the safest drug for controlling BGs.
In any case my biggest advice here is to go see a specialist doctor. If you cannot get an appointment go to the ER
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Hello and welcome to the forum.
Like the others, I'm sorry to say that I find your numbers little short of frightening.
I was diagnosed last year when I just about went into a diabetic keto-acidosis coma with a blood sugar of 400 and an HbA1c of 8.2%. To start with the hospital appeared to treat me as a Type 1, but as my numbers settled down, they swapped me over to treatment more appropriate to type 2. Even now, no-one has "officially" told me what they really consider me. I've since found that this approach is typical - the patient is just a number!
Like you, at the hospital, numbers were thrown about without explanation of what they meant. That I had to find out for myself.
Cutting carbohydrates, losing weight and keeping the exercise going is the correct strategy.
Whilst you have to listen to the doctor on medications, don't listen too hard when they tell you that a "balanced" diet needs to be low fat and high carbohydrate.
As has already been said, do look at www.bloodsugar101.com It's a goldmine of useful information. The other trick is to talk to the members of this forum. We've all been through it and whilst we will "agree to differ" on some minor points, we're all pretty much agreed on the basic ground rules of the low carb strategy.
Good luck,
John
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400 and 8.1 is not bad not knowing you had diabetes I was diagnosed with 370 and A1C at 12.1 I have levels ranging from 87 to about 127 now ans last A1C at 5.9
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Like the others here, I really hope your A1c of "24" is a typo, and that it's more like 14. If it's not a typo, please call your doc ASAP!
I only want to echo some advice others have given: cut carbs waaaayyy down, ask for testing to make sure what type of diabetes you have, and seriously consider insulin.
When I was diagnosed after a "routine" blood test, my glucose level was 513, and my A1c was about 13.5. They put me in the hospital for 2 days, and started me on insulin right away. I was horrified, but the stuff works. Some Type 2s can wean themselves from it after some time. I don't think I'm gonna be one of those folks, but I'm happy to keep taking it since it works so well for me.
Please keep us posted!
I only want to echo some advice others have given: cut carbs waaaayyy down, ask for testing to make sure what type of diabetes you have, and seriously consider insulin.
When I was diagnosed after a "routine" blood test, my glucose level was 513, and my A1c was about 13.5. They put me in the hospital for 2 days, and started me on insulin right away. I was horrified, but the stuff works. Some Type 2s can wean themselves from it after some time. I don't think I'm gonna be one of those folks, but I'm happy to keep taking it since it works so well for me.
Please keep us posted!
Well, I got a bit better news than A1C at 24.....they mis-quoted and it was 12. I know that's still way too high, but better! I've asked my doctor for a diabetes specialist because I am currently seeing my General Practitioner. I'm continuing to seek out information and this website and all the nice people are great. LOTS of good ideas and support.
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...whew!...
wow that's a relief.... what stupid people to incorrectly communicate such a number to you. Highly irresponsible
Anyways 12 was where I was 5 months ago....
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Dear Meswyn,
As a child I saw my mother inject herself with insulin. It somewhat terrified me & I thought this will never happen to me.
Well, when I had to start taking insulin, I was plesantly surprised that the newer disposable needles were pretty much painless!
Once I took a shot or three, I realized there was nothing too it. Since you have explained your A1C 24 level was a mistake you may not need to take insulin. However, please don't let the fear of a needle keep you from taking insulin if you need it. It really is not a lot too it.
Wishing you the very best,
WhyMeWorry
As a child I saw my mother inject herself with insulin. It somewhat terrified me & I thought this will never happen to me.
Well, when I had to start taking insulin, I was plesantly surprised that the newer disposable needles were pretty much painless!
Once I took a shot or three, I realized there was nothing too it. Since you have explained your A1C 24 level was a mistake you may not need to take insulin. However, please don't let the fear of a needle keep you from taking insulin if you need it. It really is not a lot too it.
Wishing you the very best,
WhyMeWorry
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When I was diagnosed back in August 2010, the values quoted on blood glucose meters (mg/Dl) and HbA1c percentages meant nothing to me at all. No-one explained them at the hospital and it was only when I got back home and did my own research that the numbers made any sense.
I quickly found out that the normal range for an HbA1c reading was 4.3% to 5.7% and most importantly that it was the number used to assess the severity of the condition. To find that you were given a number that was double the correct value says a lot about the attitude of the individuals managing the tests. I'm disgusted with them but also relieved that your figure is more reasonably abnormal that you first thought!
Welcome to the club. John
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