Any experienced advice welcome.

In a routine annual blood test ten days ago my A1c was 11 and blood sugar 269. Am told that is very high, maybe dangerously high. My regular doctor put me on 1000 mg of Metformin each morning and evening and referred me to a diabetic specialist, who is to call me to set up an appointment.

Meanwhile, I started a Mediterranean diet for several days, while researching. 36 hours ago started a mostly protein and veggie Atkins type diet. Today I feel the best that I have in ages, and my blood sugar after breakfast and a walk this morning is 132. Wazzup with that? Hope this holds up long term without other complications.

Any tips/cautions till I get in to see the diabetic doc? After all the 24 hourCampfire is the ultimate in medical (and all other) information! And seriously, a lot of real life experience.

Not a doctor but have been battling Type 2 diabetes for years and 11 is dangerous. Can damage kidneys.

Change your diet, and monitor your sugar daily for a while and learn to control it.

A specialist will guide you in the right direction.

It has gotten harder for me to control as I age.

Good luck.

Keep doing what you’re doing (new diet), until you see them. A few weeks of slightly high blood sugar (130’s-150’s) won’t cause any real damage.

Letting it get up to 300/400/500 CAN cause some real problems, and long-term poor control (a1c at 11), certainly will.

If you’re already down in the 130’s, stay the course until you see the specialist. Don’t be surprised when they recommend that you lose 10-20 pounds, at a minimum..

Was the 269 a fasting blood draw?

Change to a low carb lifestyle.
Read all labels.
Stay under 50 carbs for 2 weeks then just eat meat and greens.
Your life will radically improve.

Put the brakes on sugar and carbs especially white carbs like potatoes, white bread, rice, etc. Use artifical sweetners or drink water. This shows you are already type II diabetic probably. Be careful with pastas.

Mine was around 290 and I started using Splenda. Took about 2 weeks to get used to it. Now sugar products and sweets tastes too sweet. Meat and green vegetables as well as fruits are better than white carbs and candy. I drink mostly water at a meal now. Exercise daily, like walking, riding a bike or exercise bike about 20 minutes a day. I was about 252 lbs at 5'9" and have dropped to around 210. I really need to go down about 20-30 more lbs for my height.

Good luck. You will be surprised how full you feel eating meat and green vegetables. You can eat more and it won't hurt you.

If it's sweet or if it's white, don't eat it. Eat green stuff and red stuff and yellow stuff and some brown stuff. Make water your beverage of choice. Exercise regularly but begin gradually if you've not been doing it already. Depending on your specifics, weight loss may be needed. You're right to be concerned. 11 is quite high. If this leads you to a more healthy lifestyle, then maybe it is a blessing in disguise. It sounds like you already got the wake up call. Best wishes. Oh yea, if you smoke, quit now.

Can't help but just curious. I do all the wrong sh-t diet wise, but no flags are being waved with my annual physical/blood draws. Some of Cookie's buddies talk A1C all the time. My understanding is its more of an index of long-term sugar intake and blood balance. A day or so of laying off has little to no effect, so it's more difficult for one to out-fox the medical team with pre-physical short-term good behavior.

A few months ago my son had about the same experience as you, even higher numbers. Went on diet and exercise and Metformin, and in just a very short time, a month or so, lowered his numbers way down. Last A1C was 6.5.

I was diagnosed a dozen years ago, but my numbers were never that high. It's your choice and your life, but I don't agree with the drastic no whites, no sugar recommendations. I am careful what I eat, but indulge in small amounts and occasionally. I've consulted dieticians, and they seem to approve. In any event, I'd consult a dietician and follow their advice. Don't let the diabetes control you.

In addition to what's been posted regarding low carb diets, if you exercise regularly, focus more on weight lifting/resistance training than strictly cardio. My doctor suggested both to me when I was struggling with elevated A1c numbers and that helped bring it down.

An A1c tells you your average sugar for the last 3 months. So it’s been high quite a while. Diabetic drugs make you body except insulin you pancreas makes. For some reason your body kind of rejects your own insulin.
A target for A1c for type 2 diabetics is 7.0. Which if I remember correctly is about 150 average.
This nothing to fool around with . See the specialist. Hasbeen.

As written above exercise, lose fat, build muscle, eat simple one or two ingredient foods. Eat twice a day with lots of good fat meat. Stay away from every carb you possibly can. Nothing processed. Looked to Dr Ken Berry and Dr Shawn Baker on YouTube for advice.

Your A1C will plummet
Your triglycerides will plummet
Your HDL will rise substantially
Your testosterone will elevate
Your joints will feel better
Your blood pressure will improve

It is not a diet. Make it a lifestyle.

Get off the medicine. It is not the answer to type two diabetes.

I know all this with first hand experience.

Added: When I was diagnosed in 2011, my doctor wanted me to go on Metformin right away. I bet him I could lower my numbers by diet and exercise, and I did it. Close to 190 down to 150 in about 7 months, A1c less than 6.0 and cholesterol down too. After about six years I needed to add Metformin, so I've been taking 500 mg. I've had MSK and breathing issues so haven't been able to exercise like I used to, but I'm working on that as well.

No, test was in the middle of a normal day for me, nothing special to eat or not eat before.

I'm fortunate to have lots of deer and elk meat, plus plenty of salmon and white meat fish, and I like most veggies, especially raw. Except for a piece of wild huckleberry pie or little Trailing blackberry once or twice a month, sweets and white flour don't tempt me.

Tangent: Wife and I like tart pies, so I make mine with about 1/4 of the sugar recipes call for, and use raw demerara sugar that is not as sweet and adds a hint of molasses flavor. Rendered black bear lard for a super flakey and tasty crust!

Okanagan,
Mine was that high once upon a time. I walked out of that doc's office quite defeated. But, I knew how to fix it. I faced it & told myself that if eating foolishly got me to this point, the opposite had to be true. I began intermittent fasting, drinking 1 ounce Apple Cider Vinegar twice daily (nasty stuff), but it works to lower your Glucose by 40 points after each dose. I eventually progressed to one-meal-per-day on the Carnivore eating plan. Every day I eat some combination of beef, butter, bacon, eggs, cheese, sour cream, avocados, salt. I eat until I'm full.

I lost 65 pounds spanning 8 months in 2020. I began at 268 lbs and now hover between 200-205. I am off my diabetes meds. My A1C is now below 6. The doc's happy and so am I. I sleep better, feel better, eat better, increased energy and walk 1 mile per day.

Cut the carbs and exercise. Walking is fine. You need to do something that elevates the heart rate for 20 minutes per day.

The first six months after I was diagnosed as being type 2 I thought I was going to turn into baked chicken, chopped steak, and green beans. Your numbers were very high. Sounds like you are better now.
Good Luck to you!
Rick

Isn’t it amazing how much first hand experience is being shared here?

Carbs are the devil.

Two things I’ll add:

DO focus on the kinds of fat you’re eating. Don’t solely consume processed or modified fats, and make sure to add plenty of fat from plant origins, PARTICULARLY olive oil, tree nuts (walnuts, pecans), avocados, etc. anything with substantial quantities of MCT’s. The right quality of fats are the key to long term health. Do NOT avoid fat, increase it. Wild game grass fed beef, pastured eggs and fish are also excellent.

DON’T take this as an excuse to go nuts on processed meats, and pay particular attention to avoiding significant quantities of cured meats containing sodium nitrite.

Metformin is available in both regular and extended release pills. One of the more common side-effects of regular release Metformin for some is persistent diarrhea. The extended release (ER) version can help reduce the diarrhea occurrences a bunch.


As to sugar, it is pretty much unavoidable as it's in practically everything to some extent, especially processed foods. Read the labels and what you want to watch for besides carbs is, "added sugars", which is something you can avoid.

This ^

11????

Holy fugk

You on a gravy iv drip?

JFC

get rid of that ribbon candy and tell nana no more peanut brickle

Low sugar low carb diet combined with cardio exercise will help a LOT. Been there done that. It you happen take a steroide for some reason, it worsen the diabtetes too.

Ken Berry is DA MAN. More of a straight shooter than ANY other medical professional you're likely to meet, and he brooks no foolishness.

Trying to treat dietary issues with additional high-power chemistry is NOT the answer...that schidt is POISON.


Eat.
More.
Bacon.

Pops wouldnt exercise, ate crap ( bad sweet tooth ). Carried 50.extra pounds for at least 20 yrs. Type 2 and took the meds. Meds cause other problems.

Do what ya can to get off the meds. Lose the weight and keep it off.

Not everybody clogs up and has a massive heart attack to get out quickly. Vascular dementia, amputations....can be a nasty 5 to 10 yrs before death.

Do not go to a real low carb diet quickly!!!


I'm a keto believer! It's not for diabetics though. Not quickly anyway.

Cut carbs, look at nutritional info.
Subtract fiber from carbs to get an accurate number, carbs tied up in fiber
are 💩, not digested.


Foods to avoid are the ones everyone knows about, obviously.


Hints...
If it grows underground, if it is a seed, if it surrounds a seed, it is highly suspect and you need to check how many carbs it has. Plants store energy(carbs) in roots, seed have energy for the growth of seedlings, the flesh surrounding seeds often has energy stores for the seedling.

Tomatoes for example have a good many carbs, onions, some squash, fruits...

Do not get caught up on the BS about sugar and sweets, cutting carbs a bunch is much harder than that.


Oh, no idea how much you move.
Unless you are moving hours a day with real purpose, start working toward an hour or two of solid activity. Not meandering, but brisk movement.

I work on my feet all day, it is not the kind of movement needed.

Dr. Jason Fung has lots of good info on reversing type 2 diabetes.

Basically you need to move towards a low glycemic diet and gradually spread eating time with no calories in between. It's intermittent fasting. I've been eating like this for years. The key is to gradually extend the time between meals. Personally, I do my best eating in a 4 hour window once every 24.

This

That is very high. Similar thing happened to me. Stop eating obvious carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes), avoid anything with added sugar, and lose 10-15% of your body weight. The weight loss alone will make your liver and pancreas start working like it used to. Reversing type 2 diabetes is possible for most people if you do what is suggested.

Be proactive, call the endocrinologist yourself.

You’ll likely stay on the metformin plus an SGLT-2 inhibitor and probably a GLP-1 agonist.

Do what they tell you. High blood sugar is no joke.

Assuming you like your feet and vision.




P

Typical medical industry response to treat a problem caused by processed food/chemicals with more chemicals. This is treatable with diet, but then how can the drug companies sell crap like Ozempic for thousands per year per patient.

My nephew’s A1C was 12 (I did not know it could go so high). He worked on his diet and exercise, last time he tested it was 5.6. No medicine needed. I lowered mine from pre diabetic number to normal.

Take the meds to put out the fire.

Change your diet and exercise to lose weight. This requires a lifestyle adjustment which is usually really really hard.

When your A1c is under control and you’ve lost weight and kept it off, discontinue the meds.

Your body is in trouble now. Explain how taking meds to gain control is bad? If he can maintain the changes and doesn’t need the meds, by all means discontinue.

Most people can’t maintain the changes.





P

I have heard of a diabetic man's penis having to be amputated. It's not just toes and feet.

John Bobbit? I don’t think he was diabetic.

A1C will not drop instantly on or off meds. You can get your blood sugar and insulin in good shape quickly, and since your A1C is a three month average of blood glucose levels it will take a little time for the A1C to fall.

And you’re right, most people cannot maintain a healthy diet. Too easy to take a drug to compensate even though it is far better to lead a healthy lifestyle. It will also keep you off blood pressure medicine, etc

The thing to do is to keep it monitored and controlled by medicine as you use lifestyle changes to wean off the meds.

Thanks. You put it better than I did.




P

Berberine and Ceylon Cinnamon are herbals that help to lower A1C.

Try to stay away from white food items eg. bread and potatoes.

Good Luck

This comes in handy too...

You need to make an appointment with an endocrinologist ASAP, also a visit with a diabetic dietician to make appropriate changes in your diet. That much Metformin will cause explosive diarrhea, you'll be s hitting thru the screen door uncontrolably. Trust me on that one BTDT, the endocrinologist will get you on the proper course of meds to lower your a1c. An a1c of 11 is in the dangerously high range and requires immediate attention. An a1c above 7.0 carries with it the risk of damage to kidneys, liver and eyesight to name a few. Elevated a1c is nothing to be taken lightly, hope you seek out proper professional care without delay.

1000 mg metformin b.i.d. is associated with diarrhea but it’s usually not that bad. In clinical trials only 6% of patients discontinued the med because of diarrhea.





P

Diabetes is rampant of the maternal side of my family. I’m type II diabetic myself. Have to monitor my glucose and diet. I advoid the starches and intake of sweets. Lost a bunch of weight too and was able to get by on 500 mg of Metformin now. Used to take 1000 mg 2X daily. It’s a cruel disease. My mothers sister ent blind and was completely bedridden before dying all because of diabetes. 2 of my first cousins died of it at an early age. Dean was a farm manager on a farm and lived alone. It was the winter and the mail carrier was the last to see him and his dog. Brother couldn’t reach him via the phone and had the landowner do a wellness check. He was lying on the floor in front of a gas heater with his dog. He had been dead several days. His brother had to borrow HazMat garb to clean out his home. Had to burn everything, HS diploma, military records, clothes, photos, etc - like he never existed. Deemed a Biohazard inside the house.
His younger brother was a plumber and went on a call where he had to crawl under a house. End of the day, he didn’t show up to turn in his tickets. They backtracked his jobs. Boss found him under the house. They surmise his glucose went too high and he went into a diabetic coma. EMTs had to tie a rope to his feet and pull his body from under the house. Bad situations. So sad. Don’t play around; get it under control.

Thank you for the excellent counsel, and within these guidelines I will sort out my exact path. I picked up a blood glucose monitoring kit today so I can check blood sugar level myself. Day before yesterday I had an optometrist check my eyes for diabetic damage, and there was no trace of damage.

I think this high blood sugar is a recent rise. It did not show up on blood tests a few months ago. Hoping we are ahead of serious damage and can bring it down.

I added daily cinnamon several days ago and walk a half hour per day so far, plus whatever I do working the garden, calling lions etc. Don’t have it all together but I’m getting there.

Dillonbuck, what’s the problem of starting a virtually all protein, veggie and some fat diet all at once?

One of the better threads on The campfire.

Since you mentioned your eye check, don’t buy new glasses now as your vision will change again as your sugar comes down.

As others have mentioned, your A1C is an indirect measure of your average sugar level over the past 3 months. A reading of 11 likely means this didn’t just start in the past few weeks. Fortunately, most of the damage that this does takes a little time to develop. You can win. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

A few posts have noted it exercise in addition to diet and meds if you're going that route...how often do you have to exercise? Only on the days that you eat.

Go ahead and quote all the study statistics you want, 1000mg. of Metformin had me s hitting uncontrolably at a moments notice often with little or no warning. The endocrinologist reduced the Metformin dosage by half and added other meds. Now I can keep my a1c below 7 and often close to 6 without any unpleasant side effects of any of the meds. Diet, exercise and weight loss work together to make diabetes something you can live with.

I was miserable my skin when I was 270 lbs.
I was diagnosed as diabetic at 8.5 A1c.

I just said no.

I've kept my A1c at 5.5 for 4 years now.

Weight at 193-200.

I get on the scale every morning and eat accordingly for that day.
193 is perfect for me.

My life changed so incredibly when I realized I had to do this.

I was never overweight when I was young, but somehow in my 50's it caught up to me.

I'm sorry if I sound preachy Sometimes, but my life was so radically transformed that if I can help just one person...

Another good Campfire thread with some heartfelt and useful information. The place is on a roll!!!

My tidbit of info to add (and I heard it alluded to) is to avoid Metformin and tree stands in combination... holy [bleep]!

Metformin is a first line drug and you will likely be on it, at least for awhile until you can get some weight off and make other needed adjustments to your diet/life. As mentioned, sustained relief metformin can help with the bowel issues. Rybelsus(oral)or Trulicity(weekly injectable) are newer drugs that really help as well and help with getting the weight down, too if that is a big part of the issue. The latter two are VERY expensive if you don't have insurance that covers them but they do work.

Hard to describe how nice it is to get off the meds and re-establish some peace of mind.

The intermittent fasting combined with smarter eating helped me get over the insulin resistance hurdle and back into the tree stand!!! Remember persistence and discipline are required, too. With time, it will become your new habit and will feel "normal." As Dr. Fung spells out in his book, you can still enjoy celebrate special moments and holidays, etc. with traditional foods and "reward" yourself on occasion... just can't be the routine any longer.

This. "it doesntwork for me" is a cop out. Its proven. Do it.

^ bingo

With an A1C of 11, your long term is a little shorter than most.

Tag

Do as pharmseller says and get an appt. with the diabetes specialist as soon as possible. You're doing good with the low carb diet, keep that up.

Your doc proscribed the metformin as a stop gap until the specialist can evaluate you, forget about diarrhea, with an A1C of 11 your issues are much more important than the squirts.

Don't listen to anyone that tries to talk you out of using medicine to control it. You need to get it under control NOW, getting off of medicines through diet and exercise is a laudable long term goal but right now you need to get it under control to stop the damage it's doing, that means taking the medicine.

Get to the specialist ASAP and do exactly what he says.

[quote[b][/b]=gunswizard]Go ahead and quote all the study statistics you want, 1000mg. of Metformin had me s hitting uncontrolably at a moments notice often with little or no warning. The endocrinologist reduced the Metformin dosage by half and added other meds. Now I can keep my a1c below 7 and often close to 6 without any unpleasant side effects of any of the meds. Diet, exercise and weight loss work together to make diabetes something you can live with.[/quote]


“That much Metformin will cause explosive diarrhea, you'll be s hitting thru the screen door uncontrolably. Trust me on that one BTDT”


The quote above is from your first post. You tell the OP that he will experience explosive diarrhea. Not might, not can, but will. Just because you did doesn’t mean he will. Stating definitively that your experience will be his experience is irresponsible.





P

😳

Very possible, but only if it stays there. If a new diagnosis motivates a fellow to eat right, exercise, stop smoking and control his B/P, it can add years to his life and life to his years. I’ve seen it go both ways.

Cut the carbs way back. Get some exercise at least 3-4 days a week. You might try intermittent fasting. Eat during an 8 hour window during each day, then fast the other 16. Only water, black coffee, or tea during your fast. Works for me. It takes some discipline, but when you think about the effects of high blood glucose (heart damage, eye damage, kidney damage, foot amputation) it makes it a little easier. Good luck on your journey buddy.

Ron

It is beneficial to exercise every day. You don't have to do 2 hours at the gym though. Find something you enjoy doing that gets you out of breath enough that you would need a minuet to talk. I cycle nearly every day. My knees couldn't take running, but I can get that run in on the bike in just 10 minuets. If you make exercise fun and do it enough to make it a habit, you will want to do it every day. Get that out of breath exercise every day and just strength train at specific times.

After reading this thread, I watched some of Dr. Berry’s vids, and his thinking makes a lot of sense to me. I am not going totally carnivore right off, but am cutting the carbs and sugar(redundant, I know) out to start, limiting dairy severely, and reworking my exercise routine a bit. I am not sick, pretty healthy actually, but at 50, the aches and pains have been getting to where they rob me of sleep, and it is getting a bit harder to stay at my ideal weight. If losing the sugar and other carbs fixes or improves these things, dairy will go next, and I may end up at simple meat and very select vegetables before its over. I am more interested in staying healthy and feeling good than I am in eating any damn thing I please.

Food in this country has become for many something to satisfy cravings and please the mind, rather than something used to nourish the body first and foremost. I have been as guilty as anyone of this, and can start to see the toll it takes on a body. For me, that is unacceptable, so changes will be made.

OP, thanks for starting this one. With the wide experience and knowledge here, we have the ability to help one another with a lot of things, and that sure beats a lot of the inane conversation that seems to prevail this time of year.

No carbs.

The less you can eat, the better.

But no carbs.

Start moving. Exercise is an aggressive position for your current condition. Just move, doing something,every day.

FWIW interim report for anyone dealing with high blood sugar or who wants to try out a low carb eating plan. Informational rather than prescriptive.

After three full days of meat, veggies, a big tea spoon of cinnamon, no sugar and almost zero carbs, my morning blood sugar is 138 before any breakfast or exercise. Breakfast yesterday: two slices bacon and two eggs; lunch, home ground venison patty and eggs; supper, ling cod speared that afternoon; veggies raw as snacks all day. I feel very good, for a change. Also intake about a table spoon of olive olive oil and walk for a half hour, with short segments of fast walking to get heart going. I have no convenient way to power lift so for now that is wish. Give me a break, I’m 77 and well past expiry date.

12 days into 2K mg of metformin, had some loose stool yesterday, but no diarrhea. Re the cinnamon: I regard claims about it askance, but figure it won’t hurt and if the boosters of it are right, it might do me some good.

Ain’t read it all

But ai would repeat the labs

With nothing in your piehole or in your stomach.

Go do a 24 hour fast and then pull that lab, just get a pull-order on labs and pick a day and go do it.

24 hours may add some spurious data to the effect but would give you a chance to REALLY see what is swimming around in your blood.


I might even start 2 days before kind of chill out on any gravy, 28 ounce Ribeyes, 12 egg omelets and gawd what ever else. 😱

I’d be interested in your triglycerides if you have that data

Good on you tolerating the metformin.

I suspected as much.




P

I take Metformin.
Yeah things get runny sometimes.
Still better than being fat and miserable.

This is such good advice. It's the same for me. I can tell what my blood sugar levels are simply by my weight. Once you get down to the weight where your levels are perfect you need to just stay there. It's hard to put on extra weight if you are avoiding carbs in the manner which got you out of the danger zone in the first place.

Read Jason Fung's book titled The Diabetic Code. He explains why insulin kills us slowly while papering over the disease. I have been doing Low Carb High Fat since Nov. 2021. My initial numbers were 11.4 A1C and 416 Glucose. Now I run around 6.0 A1C and before lunch today, my glucose was 112. No insulin or Metformin, ever. I credit my wife for her research, her work, and her support.

For a year I have eaten almost no carbs, l eat protein and fat. My triglycerides were 121 at the start and now they are 58. VLDL dropped from 22 to 9. LDL remained flat over the year.

Also HDL (good cholesterol) is up from 37 to 57.

My sons FIL found out that he had diabetes recently, when he started having vision problems. An A1C that high can cause blindness. This is serious and needs immediate attention. You should see an endocrinologist asap. Time to pay attention to what’s going on. Good luck.

I have a friend about 60 yo, that hasn’t been paying attention, he’s lost several toes, and his feet could be next.

I got a wake up call a couple of years ago at the eye doctor’s. They found out my A1C and they told me it doesn’t happen often but 2 or 3 times a year someone comes in that’s already blind. Once it happens there’s no coming back.

You probably will lose many of your aches and pains very soon after going
low carb. Only took a couple days for me. Sugar is an inflammatory, young
folks with great joints don't notice, us older guys start to feel some effects
from years of abuse.


Proud to say mine are from work,
not some stupid ball chasing game.

JARDIANCE 10MG TAB