# 32 and got diagnosed today



## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Please tell me I’m not the only person on the forum with type 2 diabetes diagnosed so early 

My HBA1C was 7. I found out today at a 10 minute GP appointment, she literally told me the facts, prescribed me metformin and sent me on my way so I’m in shock. 

Can I not just take the metformin for a month and see how I do by losing weight loss drastically ? Is 7 very high? I feel a little lost and would have asked all these questions had I not been ushered out the door. Oh and she shoved a blood sugar monitor in my hand on the way out


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## Sharron1 (Aug 22, 2018)

Hi,

Sorry to read your news, but my experience was almost identical (three weeks ago). The GP did not tell me much and certainly did not give me a blood sugar monitor. All I can say is that the Forum has been really helpful and I also have rung the Diabetes helpline a few times - they were great.

Good luck

Sharron


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Sharron1 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Sorry to read your news, but my experience was almost identical (three weeks ago). The GP did not tell me much and certainly did not give me a blood sugar monitor. All I can say is that the Forum has been really helpful and I also have rung the Diabetes helpline a few times - they were great.
> 
> ...


Thank you Sharron 

I didn’t even know there was a diabetes helpline, I’ll definitely give them a call once I know what questions I should even be asking 
Everything is just so confusing right now


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## Drummer (Aug 22, 2018)

I tried to take the tablets prescribed, felt like death would be a kinder option so I stopped.
I was out of the diabetic range in 80 days eating a low carb diet, so I have declined to take tablets again, seem to be doing fine without them.
If you stop eating high carb foods and test to see if anything causes spikes - for me legumes seem to cause more reaction than their carb content indicates, it is easy to drop to normal levels.


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## Northerner (Aug 22, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Please tell me I’m not the only person on the forum with type 2 diabetes diagnosed so early
> 
> My HBA1C was 7. I found out today at a 10 minute GP appointment, she literally told me the facts, prescribed me metformin and sent me on my way so I’m in shock.
> 
> Can I not just take the metformin for a month and see how I do by losing weight loss drastically ? Is 7 very high? I feel a little lost and would have asked all these questions had I not been ushered out the door. Oh and she shoved a blood sugar monitor in my hand on the way out


Hi MissHippo86, welcome to the forum  How did your diagnosis come about, had you had symptoms for long? It's not unusual to be diagnosed at your age, much may depend on your family history - do you have close relatives with diabetes (of any type)?

An HbA1c of 7% is not hugely high, so I would think that you have every chance of bringing levels under control and hopefully managing your diabetes without medication - time will tell, but every effort you make will not be wasted effort, it will all help 

I'd suggest starting by reading Maggie Davey's letter, and getting hold of a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker - these will both give you far better information about diabetes and how to manage it than you appear to have received from your GP  It's really good that, at least, you were given a blood glucose meter. This is the best tool available for monitoring your reaction to different food choices, to find out what things, quantities and combinations you tolerate well, and what you need to reduce or avoid. Read Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how you can do this efficiently and effectively. Keep a food diary, and write down your fingerprick test results alongside each meal so you can start to see what patterns emerge  It all requires patience, so take things at your own pace - it's a marathon, not a sprint. If anything confuses or worries you, please ask us here and we will do our best to help out 

If you are able, some form of regular exercise will really help, so whatever you can do try and make sure it's something you will enjoy, and set yourself some small, achievable goals. People often find that the changes they make in order to bring their blood sugar levels under control actually result in them feeling fitter and healthier than they have for a long time 

Do you have any more appointments and tests coming up? Let us know how you get on  Diabetes is a serious condition, but it can be managed successfully and doesn't need to stop you doing things


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## CathyB (Aug 22, 2018)

Hi Miss Hippo,
I’m so sorry you have had such a harsh introduction to your diabetes, as Sharron has said it seems to be fairly common, mine was exactly the same with the parting shot of ‘your life will never be the same’ 
She was right about that, but to be honest it’s been a change for the better!!  I spent a week feeling miserable, convinced I would starve to death   Then I started to read, and read more.....everything I needed to know was right here from real people with a lived experience of diabetes.
I chose to follow the low carb route, i didn’t realise how our body reacts to crabs the same as sugar, so I cut rice, pasta, potatoes and bread, I tested before and two hours after eating and kept a food diary to track how my blood glucose reacted to different foods, I could then tweak and try again 
It really isn’t bad, I’m now eating less (because I get full quicker) and better and enjoy trying different things.
Take your time and read the back posts here, ask any questions you have and know you will get loads of support here


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Drummer said:


> I tried to take the tablets prescribed, felt like death would be a kinder option so I stopped.
> I was out of the diabetic range in 80 days eating a low carb diet, so I have declined to take tablets again, seem to be doing fine without them.
> If you stop eating high carb foods and test to see if anything causes spikes - for me legumes seem to cause more reaction than their carb content indicates, it is easy to drop to normal levels.


Thank you for your response, your story is inspirational and just what I needed to hear so thank you so much
It says your HbAC1 is 42, I’m a little confused. I was told mine was 7 today, is there some conversion I need to do to get it into double digits?


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## Robin (Aug 22, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> It says your HbAC1 is 42, I’m a little confused. I was told mine was 7 today, is there some conversion I need to do to get it into double digits?


Yes, basically! The system changed from % a couple of years ago,to the larger mmol/mol figures, but some surgeries still quote it in 'old money'. Here's a conversion chart for you.


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Northerner said:


> Hi MissHippo86, welcome to the forum  How did your diagnosis come about, had you had symptoms for long? It's not unusual to be diagnosed at your age, much may depend on your family history - do you have close relatives with diabetes (of any type)?
> 
> An HbA1c of 7% is not hugely high, so I would think that you have every chance of bringing levels under control and hopefully managing your diabetes without medication - time will tell, but every effort you make will not be wasted effort, it will all help
> 
> ...



Hi thank you for taking the time out to write, so very kind and I’m so overwhelmed by people’s kindness on this forum. I hope I’m able to return the favour by advising people one day 

So I’m of south Asian heritage. I have birth last September to a healthy baby boy but had gestational diabetes throughout the pregnancy. 3 months after giving birth, I had a routine blood test to see if the gestational diabetes had turned into type 2 diabetes - got the all clear so thought wooohooo no more diabetes.

So it’s been a year since that all happened. Last week went in with tonsillitis and had to have antibiotics and the doctor mentioned that I was very overweight for my height and she wanted to check if my diabetes had returned. And well today I got the news I didn’t want. I also had a cholesterol level of 5 so was given statins. I spoke to my uncle who is a doctor and asked him whether I should take the metformin to which his response was 

“With a score of 7 you are a diabetic however if you were my daughter I’d tell you to go on a strict diet, exercise and lose weight for 3 months without using the metformin. Do the blood test again in 3 months and see where you stand. If the levels haven’t decreased then yes you must take metformin. If I was your GP I would tell you to take the metformin and focus on exercise and diet” 

This is why I wondered if anyone can just control it through diet and exercise and as you clearly demonstrate it can be done 

I’ll have to check out the books you recommended, thank you


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

CathyB said:


> Hi Miss Hippo,
> I’m so sorry you have had such a harsh introduction to your diabetes, as Sharron has said it seems to be fairly common, mine was exactly the same with the parting shot of ‘your life will never be the same’
> She was right about that, but to be honest it’s been a change for the better!!  I spent a week feeling miserable, convinced I would starve to death   Then I started to read, and read more.....everything I needed to know was right here from real people with a lived experience of diabetes.
> I chose to follow the low carb route, i didn’t realise how our body reacts to crabs the same as sugar, so I cut rice, pasta, potatoes and bread, I tested before and two hours after eating and kept a food diary to track how my blood glucose reacted to different foods, I could then tweak and try again
> ...


Thanks for getting in touch Cathy and sharing your story. 
I have literally starved myself for most of The day today and that’s from lack of knowledge on the topic, I’m left with a hunger headache and very irritable. I think it was my immediate response to getting the bad news- not eating, silly really 
I know that I need to start learning about complex carbs etc and take things one day at a time


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Robin said:


> Yes, basically! The system changed from % a couple of years ago,to the larger mmol/mol figures, but some surgeries still quote it in 'old money'. Here's a conversion chart for you.
> View attachment 9721


Thank you Robin. Sorry to sound thick so if my percentage is 7% then by the new system it’s 53 mmol/mol?


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## KARNAK (Aug 22, 2018)

Yes Miss Hippo, not a bad result but you can do better. Carbs are you`re enemy but with a little bit of reading to gain knowledge you can bring that figure down even further. Read and learn, test with monitor before and 2 hours after meals, keep a note of your readings as well as what you eat in a diary this will give you the info of what suits you. We are all behind you so come back as many times as you like.


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 22, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Thank you for your response, your story is inspirational and just what I needed to hear so thank you so much
> It says your HbAC1 is 42, I’m a little confused. I was told mine was 7 today, is there some conversion I need to do to get it into double digits?



I found this graphic very useful for getting my head around things:



Your "7" is actually "7%" which is the same as "53 mmol/mol" in the newer system.  Drummer's "42" is the same as "6%" in the older system.

Why they had to change - dunno! 

Anyway, your 7% / 53 isn't very high. In the graphic you can see it's down towards the non-scary, green part of the spectrum. 

The general recommendation in the UK for T2's is to target 6.5% / 48. Getting there shouldn't be too hard and you're kind of lucky to have been diagnosed so early. Your risk of complications at current levels might be quite quite small & you don't have to be super-stressed about getting things as low as possible as fast as possible.  

These HbA1c numbers are just an approximation of your average blood glucose levels over the past 2-3 months.  Your new meter will give you a right-now snapshot of BG.  Annoyingly, this uses yet another scale, shown in the bottom part of the graphic - mmol/L.  These readings will vary a lot during the course of a day, depending on what & when you eat, exercise etc.  

With an HbA1c of 7% / 53 you could expect the *average* of daily BG readings probably to be in the 8-9 mmol/L range.  At 6.5% / 48, the average over a day would probably be more like 7-8 mmol/L.  Just rough indications - some days you might go higher, sometimes lower.  And your after-meal readings will be higher than the average for the day.

I think most people tolerate Metformin reasonably well - eg I don't have any problems with it except for some mild stomach upset for a few days when I started. Others can't tolerate it at all.  Personally, I don't think there's any reason not to take it if you don't have problems.  The effects seem to vary a lot from person to person, but from where you are now, I think you could perhaps expect to see a decrease in HbA1c from 0.5% - 1.0% from a full dosage.  

They tend to start people on a low dosage to see how well it's tolerated & then move up to a fuller dose progressively if things go OK. You probably won't see much impact on BG from an initial dosage. If you do have stomach issues, there's a slow-release version which you might tolerate better.


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

Eddy Edson said:


> I found this graphic very useful for getting my head around things:
> 
> View attachment 9720
> 
> ...


Eddy thank you for coming back to me. Your explanation was amazing, the graph really made sense as did what you wrote. In fact I read it out to my husband and we both understand exactly what my blood results were showing today. I’m so grateful 
When I had gestational diabetes I took 4-6 tablets of metformin and it did give me a stomach upset so I’ll have to see if one tablet will or if I’ll be alright
I’m a lot calmer this evening thanks to everyone on this forum
Initially it was such a big blow and then you come home to google telling me my life expectancy has just decreased by 10 years! It was all just a bit much but thanks to yourself and others on this forum I’m so much more optimistic that I can control this


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 22, 2018)

KARNAK said:


> Yes Miss Hippo, not a bad result but you can do better. Carbs are you`re enemy but with a little bit of reading to gain knowledge you can bring that figure down even further. Read and learn, test with monitor before and 2 hours after meals, keep a note of your readings as well as what you eat in a diary this will give you the info of what suits you. We are all behind you so come back as many times as you like.


Thanks KARNAK, I’ll go away and educate myself on carbs and regularly check my BG levels as recommended


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## Ljc (Aug 22, 2018)

Hello Miss Hippo.  Yes 7.0 is 53 in the newer Hb1ac measurement, which though in the diabetic range it’s not too bad
Northener has given you some very good links on here so when you have time do have a read through them.
Also your father has given you very good advise on both counts, with the right knowledge you may be able to control your diabetes with diet and exersize however not everyone can and they need to take medication as well, in time some people gain such good control that they can reduce or come off medication.

You must eat , please don’t be afraid of food, it’s only the fast acting carbohydrates mentioned earlier you need to cut down on, till you find good substitutes fill up on veg that grows above ground , those that grow underground tend to be more carby. None of us live on lettuce leaves , we do get to eat good tasty food .

We have a good recipe section on here where members put their own

Why not come and see what we eat
what-did-you-eat-yesterday

Also if you let us know what you prefer to eat, we may be able to suggest some tweaks


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 22, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Eddy thank you for coming back to me. Your explanation was amazing, the graph really made sense as did what you wrote. In fact I read it out to my husband and we both understand exactly what my blood results were showing today. I’m so grateful
> When I had gestational diabetes I took 4-6 tablets of metformin and it did give me a stomach upset so I’ll have to see if one tablet will or if I’ll be alright
> I’m a lot calmer this evening thanks to everyone on this forum
> Initially it was such a big blow and then you come home to google telling me my life expectancy has just decreased by 10 years! It was all just a bit much but thanks to yourself and others on this forum I’m so much more optimistic that I can control this



If you are overweight, my guess is that you will get the biggest bang for yr buck from losing some kilos. And it may be that the easiest, most sustainable way to do that in the short term is by cutting out obvious stuff & reducing portion sizes, helped by some more exercise. That would give you time and space to research and think about whether you want to make more radical changes.

I think it's also worth remembering that for most people, the biggest risks seem to be cardiovascular. When you see "life expectancy reduced by 10 yrs" etc etc I think that's mostly what is meant. 

If you get yr blood glucose a bit more controlled but also yr cholesterol and blood pressure & lose some weight, from what I've read there seems to be a reasonable chance that the "reduced by 10 yrs" thing goes away and in fact the expectancy might increase.


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## Drummer (Aug 22, 2018)

There is no need to starve - in fact, if you have been on low calorie diets in the past then it is probably the worst thing to do as I have seen that my blood glucose goes up when I do not eat - certainly if I miss breakfast my BG just keeps on going up.
I only eat twice a day, early and late, as that seems to work best. I have no trouble when out of the house wondering what to eat. I can usually get a cup of coffee with cream if I feel like it, though I usually take a bottle of squash or low calorie fizzy drink with me.
I have lost weight since diagnosis, but I did so quite without effort - or even realising at first, I cut out the carbs and ate the good stuff, and suddenly had nothing to wear.


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 23, 2018)

Ljc said:


> Hello Miss Hippo.  Yes 7.0 is 53 in the newer Hb1ac measurement, which though in the diabetic range it’s not too bad
> Northener has given you some very good links on here so when you have time do have a read through them.
> Also your father has given you very good advise on both counts, with the right knowledge you may be able to control your diabetes with diet and exersize however not everyone can and they need to take medication as well, in time some people gain such good control that they can reduce or come off medication.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the suggestions especially the page “what did you eat yesterday”...I like bread in the morning, usually have brown bread with peanut butter but I realised on the page a lot of people were having burgen bread so will try that from tomorrow. It has soya and linseed?


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 23, 2018)

Eddy Edson said:


> If you are overweight, my guess is that you will get the biggest bang for yr buck from losing some kilos. And it may be that the easiest, most sustainable way to do that in the short term is by cutting out obvious stuff & reducing portion sizes, helped by some more exercise. That would give you time and space to research and think about whether you want to make more radical changes.
> 
> I think it's also worth remembering that for most people, the biggest risks seem to be cardiovascular. When you see "life expectancy reduced by 10 yrs" etc etc I think that's mostly what is meant.
> 
> If you get yr blood glucose a bit more controlled but also yr cholesterol and blood pressure & lose some weight, from what I've read there seems to be a reasonable chance that the "reduced by 10 yrs" thing goes away and in fact the expectancy might increase.


Thanks for the supportive words Eddy


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## MissHippo86 (Aug 23, 2018)

Drummer said:


> There is no need to starve - in fact, if you have been on low calorie diets in the past then it is probably the worst thing to do as I have seen that my blood glucose goes up when I do not eat - certainly if I miss breakfast my BG just keeps on going up.
> I only eat twice a day, early and late, as that seems to work best. I have no trouble when out of the house wondering what to eat. I can usually get a cup of coffee with cream if I feel like it, though I usually take a bottle of squash or low calorie fizzy drink with me.
> I have lost weight since diagnosis, but I did so quite without effort - or even realising at first, I cut out the carbs and ate the good stuff, and suddenly had nothing to wear.


Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable 

Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 23, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable
> 
> Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?



You can do it but only if you feel guilty about it afterwards 

Seriously, it's probably the kind of thing you could work on cutting out completely except for extra-special occasions.  But as everybody says, start testing yr BG before & after eating to get a handle on which foods do what to you.


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## Ljc (Aug 23, 2018)

Of course we have the occasional treat, it’s when it becomes daily that it’s not good.  If you have a look through the recipe link I gave you you’ll find plenty of low carb treats that you may actually prefer.


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## Drummer (Aug 23, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable
> 
> Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?


It depends on what cake you make - after a few weeks on a low carb diet you are likely to realise just how sickly sweet 'normal' food is, and gag if you taste it - and to my mind, what sort of a treat is it to eat something which might cause you physical damage?
There are quite a of of low carb options to try out to see if they spike you or not - people do vary in what they can eat.
If you are baking be cautious about following recipes which say 'and then add a shovel full of sweetener to ruin what you are making' - or words to that effect - 'normal' people are so conditioned to the idea that we 'treat' ourselves by eating something sweet that even when devising foods for a diabetic it isn't right if it doesn't conform to 'normal' tastes.
Personally I am having a treat every time I tuck into a really fresh crunchy salad with a tasty dressing and some sort of delicious protein.


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## Northerner (Aug 23, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> Thank you for the suggestions especially the page “what did you eat yesterday”...I like bread in the morning, usually have brown bread with peanut butter but I realised on the page a lot of people were having burgen bread so will try that from tomorrow. It has soya and linseed?


Yes, I always have Burgen soya and linseed bread - it is lower in carbs than most other, similar bread, because some of the flour has been replaced with soya flour, plus it has seeds in and is relatively slow to digest so doesn't hit your blood sugar levels as quickly. The thing to do is to test and see what happens 

Forgot to mention earlier - get a copy of 100 things I wish I'd known about diabetes, free from Diabetes UK. It's full of hints and tips from people living with diabetes and tells you all sorts your doctor or nurse are probably not even aware of!


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## Martin9 (Aug 23, 2018)

There’s great advice above, I was diagnosed around 3 months ago with an initial HBA1c of 77 (slightly above 9%) I lost a bit of excess weight, upped the excercise a bit, stuck to the diet LCHF as advised and 3 months later I had an HbA1c of 35(around 5.5%) 
So if you follow advice above you could see improvements, but as we’re all different what works for one may not work for another, but it’s a great place to start 
Good luck & best wishes....


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## Flossypops (Aug 23, 2018)

Hi MissHippo86 I had the big shock last June where as you say you are told you life will never be the same. Well there can be positivity in my opinion. I lost 3 stone and I am probably the healthiest I have ever been. I am 45 so a little  older than you and have through stubbiness will not let the doom and gloom hit me. I have dropped to 5.8 - 40 in the last year from 11.9 . I have cut down on the bread, pasta and sweet foods but still eat a pizza every Friday night with lashing of red wine. I was lucky as my nurse is very supportive and said life is for living but everything in moderation. My driver (and what has work for me)  is if I go to the gym every morning I can have my pizza on a Friday. This forum is great as well as the books recommended which I ordered after reading the various posts. As another poster said watch the low fat, It appears when the fat is removed they add sugar. I eat the full fat just a little less of it and really enjoy it. Yum. Good luck and enjoy life.


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## Maz2 (Aug 23, 2018)

I think everyone needs  a treat from time to time but it depends on the person and if they don't need them that is fine.  I don't do it too often and find that, when I do, I find things very sweet so would not need too much of them. I think if you fancy a treat it would be OK as long as it was not day in and day out and also if you keep the portion small.  My GP told me it was a good idea to have an occasional treat but to keep some portion control. 

I am pre-diabetic, got back to normal, but gone back to pre-diabetic again so am battling on.

Welcome to the Forum.


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## Martin Canty (Aug 23, 2018)

MissHippo86 said:


> This is why I wondered if anyone can just control it through diet and exercise and as you clearly demonstrate it can be done


Sorry to hear the news, MissHippo,,,, Certainly Type 2 Diabetes can be controlled through Diet & Exercise.... I haven't taken any Diabetes medication for almost a year.

My strategy was to cut/reduce carb sources such as Bread, Pasta, Rice, Cereals  & starchy vegetables such a potatoes; instead replacing them with green leafy vegetables grown above ground. Pretty much all of my meals are made from scratch, very little processed food makes it's way into my pantry.

My exercise comes in the form of walking my dogs & Yoga 4-5 times a week.

Now, my A1c, at DX I was 9.3 so your 7.1 is not too bad, but there is definitely a lifestyle change that needs to be made.... I ended up on the Low Carb Healthy Fats route which definitely works for me, weight going from 230lb to 165lb, A1c foing from 9.3 to (probably in the low-mid 5's but that's a guess as I'm due a test, but for the last couple of years it has been below 6). I refer to my diet as a Way of Eating (WoE) as this helps me think of my diet in terms of my lifestyle which will be carried on for the rest of my life rather than a diet to follow until I have reached my target weight.


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