[amfox1]

I went in for an annual physical and was told that my fasting blood glucose was 291, an increase from 117 the prior year. My cholesterol actually decreased from 177 to 160 (with HDLs increasing from 28 to 30 and my LDLs decreasing from 94 to 61). My triglycerides increased from 269 to 345.

I am 43 years old, never smoked, drink infrequently and, with the weight loss, at my lowest weight in more than ten years. On the other hand, I ate a ton of carbs and didn't exercise nearly enough, even though I was told to do so many times.

Prior to the physical, I had suspected that diabetes was likely, given a number of symptoms over the year, including excessive thirst, frequent urination, loss of weight (25+ lbs. since January) and some occasional blurriness.

My physician has advised me to change my diet radically over the next month in order to establish a blood glucose baseline, which will then be used to determine whether medication will be needed. My main focus over the next month will be to understand what I can and should not eat, in order to come to a dietary lifestyle I can live with (figuratively and literally).

No more bagels, rice cakes, cookies, pineapple and watermelon.

 

[Richard157]

Hello amfox, welcome to Diabetes Forum! this is a very friendly place, and you can get many questions answered here. Is your doctor an endocrinologist (diabetes specdialist)? An endo is more likely to give you a correct diagnosis and presctibe the most appropriate treatment. My concern is that you may be a type 1 diabetic, and you may need insulin to control your blood sugar level. many diabetics are misdiagnosed as type 2, when they are actually type 1. An endo would not make that mistake.

Good luck to you in the months ahead!

Richard

 

[foxl]

Hi, AM, I am Linda Fox ... no relatives known in NJ, though!

Too bad they did not start you on a better road with that 117, huh?

But, your doc recommended low-carbing ??? WOW -- lucky you!

 

[amfox1]

Hello amfox, welcome to Diabetes Forum! this is a very friendly place, and you can get many questions answered here. Is your doctor an endocrinologist (diabetes specdialist)? An endo is more likely to give you a correct diagnosis and presctibe the most appropriate treatment. My concern is that you may be a type 1 diabetic, and you may need insulin to control your blood sugar level. many diabetics are misdiagnosed as type 2, when they are actually type 1. An endo would not make that mistake.

My physician is not an endo, and I have not received a type 1/type 2 diagnosis as yet. I will explore this with him after my December results come back.

Too bad they did not start you on a better road with that 117, huh?

But, your doc recommended low-carbing ??? WOW -- lucky you!

Sorry, no relation.

My fault, not his. I was advised to eat better and wasn't able to do it consistently, especially as I was dropping weight consistently over the last 10 months. Seemed too good to be true, and it was.

Yes, I was advised to follow a glycemic index diet for the next month to establish a baseline. I am keeping a diet journal and working with my wife to make sure I have foods consistent with this diet.

 

[Shanny]

Hello and welcome, AMfox. Considering your drastic weight loss, I share Richard's suspicion that you could be type 1. I hope your doc recognizes that type 1 is no longer "juvenile" diabetes, but can strike at any age. The diagnosis can be determined by a simple test for GAD antibodies. If I were you, I would insist on getting that test.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Welcome to the forum

i hope that you visit us regularly. This is by far, THE best place for us diabetics to talk freely and openly about whats going on with us.

Please feel free to ask any questions that you might have, as i feel that there are no "dumb" questions

You can do this, you can.

-Eric

 

[amfox1]

Thanks.

Should also mention, for sake of completeness, that my A1C was 12.8.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Thanks.

Should also mention, for sake of completeness, that my A1C was 12.8.

it will come down, just work on changing day by day, one day at a time

 

[BadThad]

Sorry to hear, your experience is similar to mine in some ways. I'm 47 and was diagnosed last Monday. The good news, we are young enough to start controlling it and live a "normal" life.

Best of luck to you!

 

[amfox1]

So, I have been adhering to my eating plan for the last 10 days, and one interesting thing I have noticed over the last 3-4 days is that I have become farsighted (things are blurry close up but fine further away). Prior to this year, my eyesight has been nearly perfect but I experienced some blurriness in the months leading up to my diagnosis.

I take this to be a good sign, as I understand from my research that increases and decreases in BG cause vision changes and that farsightedness is a function of decreasing BG. Anyone have similar experiences when they were first starting out? If so, how temporary were the vision effects?

 

[Richard157]

I have had diabetes for 65 years. I used to have a lot of high blood sugar, but in 2007 I started using an insulin pump and had very few highs. I have much better control now and have much blood sugar in the 60-100 range. Now my vision is just like yours. Sharp vision in the distance, blurry close-up. It is somewhat annoying when looking at my computer screen, but I have adjusted to it. I have set my screen to 150% to make the printed material larger. That helps very much.

 

[amfox1]

Just to update. I have been adhering to my diet plan for a month. My vision has stabilized - a little farsighted but nowhere close to where it was back earlier in the month.

I go for a full checkup next Thursday and will report the results. I expect significant decreases in BG levels; if not, I assume I will have to go on medication.

 

[Shanny]

Just to update. I have been adhering to my diet plan for a month. My vision has stabilized - a little farsighted but nowhere close to where it was back earlier in the month.

I go for a full checkup next Thursday and will report the results. I expect significant decreases in BG levels; if not, I assume I will have to go on medication.

Sounds positive - good to hear from you again. Looking forward to hearing how it goes with your doc next week!

 

[jeanie]

Good luck next week. If you can control your diet, you are more than halfway there. I don't take insulin but take metformin (4 years) and it was keeping my fasting blood glucose in the 110-130 range, even though for years I ate the wrong foods and too much of them. Don't resist the meds, it's better than suffering the high sugar levels. Now that my eating is under control on a very locarb diet, I just need to start exercising on a regular basis. Hang in there and keeping setting a new goal for yourself. Keep reading as much as you can get your hands on. The book that changed my prespective was "Blood sugar 101". It explained so many things to me. I hope you continue to report your progress to us. There are many people on here who have helped me in the short time I've been active on the site.

 

[amfox1]

Results are back:

Fasting BG was 109, A1C was 9.4. Last month, they were 291 and 12.6, respectively.

Will go back for a full set of blood tests in two months, but this is a good start.

 

[Shanny]

That's a very good start in only one month. Are you testing at home throughout the day?

If it begins to slow down, you can always cut back some on the fruit . . . many of us spike on almost any fruit except avocados! I know I could never eat a pear, and I can handle half an apple only IF it's slathered with peanut butter. Grapes/bananas/citrus/cherries/etc - fuggedaboutit.

 

[jeanie]

Good to hear from you. just keep coming back and letting us know how you're doing. I've ben struggling the last two days but reading the postings on this site and my diabetes book really gets me back on track. Stay focused and hope your numbers keep improving.

 

[amfox1]

Results are back:

Fasting BG was 109, A1C was 9.4. Last month, they were 291 and 12.6, respectively.

Will go back for a full set of blood tests in two months, but this is a good start.

Full quarterly blood test results are back.

Fasting BG down to 101 (Feb 2011) from 109 (Dec 2010) and 291 (Oct 2010).

A1C down to 6.1 (Feb 2011) from 9.4 (Dec 2010) and 12.8 (Oct 2010, not 12.6 as above).

This is mainly on a diet where carbs do not exceed 120g per day and I am eating very little sugar, outside of apples, berries and grapes. I have lost 9 pounds since Oct 2010.

Cholesterol - 153 (Feb 2011) from 160 (Oct 2010)
Triglycerides - 121 (Feb 2011) from 345 (Oct 2010)
HDL - 39 (Feb 2011) from 30 (Oct 2010)
LDL - 90 (Feb 2011) from 61 (Oct 2010)

Given the results, I will be able to avoid meds and daily monitoring for three more months.

 

[foxl]

Great job! And without insulin .... good for you!

 

[jeanie]

Congratulations! I've been offsite for a while, but your good news prompted me to check back in. You seem to really have things under great control. It's amazing how paying attention to your diet can affect so many of your numbers. Great job!