Hello All, Just thought I’d share with you the results of my two months on the diabetes awareness course, courtesy of the OVIVA organisation in conjunction with the NHS here in the UK.
I’ll admit that I was ambivalent about signing up to this, not convinced that I’d find it it would yield results or that I’d find it interesting enough to follow. You may (just) recall that my new-found condition was assumed to be steroid-induced - just as I was contemplating going to zero mg Pred😡
Well.... here’s the good news - last week’s blood test results revealed all PMR, cholesterol etc conditions to be ok PLUS the blood-sugar marker to have plummeted from 52 to 42, ie diabetes reversed! In addition, I have lost 22lbs in weight and am now a positively sulphate-like 13st10lbs. The only downside is that none of jeans now fit.....🤣
So - I feel a little less gloomy as we enter UK Lockdown Mk.2. Now, where did I hide that Mars bar....? (only joking)
I attribute this result to:
a) The following (to the letter) of the nagging of the OVIVA app and, more seriously, the advice and encouragement of the dietitian.
b) the tireless efforts of wife to find all appropriate food/recipes etc, and
c) my iron resolve in the face of tempting Victoria sponge, Indian takeaways, full English breakfasts etc 😉😆😆
Take care all lovely people on the forum, wherever you are!
Written by
Rokerman
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Yip, diet controlled type two, as I have been for 15+ years.
My diet slips quite often sadly, but I am not provided with any means of testing from the NHS. I do know that steroids shoot blood sugars up in people with diabetes.
Congratulations on your great results.
The Mars Bar is at the back of the second drawer down, in the kitchen!
My HBa1c has gone from 42-46-43 and, this week I was really disappointed it got to 49. I have been attending a diabetes prevention course for the last 5 weeks and it has been absolutely useless. The nutritionist has no grasp of the technology and so lots of people are not on mute so there is constant noise. The content is all read from the slides with not much extra, and this week to cap it all, she couldn’t even get the slides onto the screen! I gave up.
My GP says it is not always accurate and I can retest in January. Given my increased mobility, reduced carbs and regular meditation, he didn’t think there was much more I could do except to carry on as I am. He thinks it is more than likely due to the steroids, which I am finally managing to reduce, if very slowly.
The HbA1c measures the average blood glucose from the past three months quiet heavily weighted toward the recent four months with the other two months having less input. It is quite accurate and I would say, given your reduction of carbs, increased mobility and regular medication (what medication are you on? I presume you are Type 2) I would agree with the Doctor and put it down to the steroids.
I remember testing one evening after having hardly any carbs, and a good 5 mile walk and my Blood Sugars were quite high - and I., like yourself, was quite disheartened.
Keep going with what you are doing though, your regime has a lot of health benefits.
I too was going crazy with my testing, after exercise, very, very low carb intake. Test very normal before taking Prednisone in the morning, by noon before lunch it was way up there, it’s the Prednisone! After 8 years, and gone back up to 15 milligrams because I’d severe back surgery, I am now to 12 milligrams. Doing the slow method and splitting my 1 milligram in half, it takes a long time.
Oh no - that’s a blow! At first, I thought I’d be going along to a physical meeting (which I feared would be like turning up at AA...) - but downloading the OVIVA app turned out to be a winner. It is on your case 24/7 - requesting you to log ALL meals, snacks etc, record your weight daily and telling you to go for your walk (not something you want to do in England’s horizontal rain..) I’d be lying if I said I’d have to find every bit of suitable food by myself - I have had unflinching support from my O/H. The dietitian was in contact every week by phone and available by chat line all the time - a mixture of encouragement and cajoling..🤣 I had to stick with it to get results - it’s easy to ‘fall off the wagon’ - but my attitude to food has completely changed.
Oh dear that’s not helpful, we need motivation & encouragement to drive through changes. Rokerman’s experience sounds really good. I’m hovering round the 42 + mark, overweight and poor self discipline so I eat wrong things at times. I can’t entirely blame steroids, I’ve just looked at a pre pmr photo & there I am, quite podgy. All the best with your efforts & I’m going to ask for a bucket of Rokermans ‘iron resolve’ for Christmas.
It was really hard for me to stop eating all those yummy carbs, but with my sugar testing high I was feeling brain fog with it, like I was walking in a fog. It scared me so I started cutting carbs, lost 10 lbs. the first week, if I can give up my pizza you can do it!!!😎
Still alive, still able to sit on the balcony in the sun (been 14/15C every afternoon this week with mostly sunshine), and hospital appointments happen - despite us being in mini-lockdown again. Managed to panic buy rose wine on Monday before it started - all good ...
Well - in effect, I did reduce carbs - I checked everything I could for low sugar content, ditched everything that wasn’t going to get the ok (cake, sweets, drink, etc), cut back heavily on bread, pasta and rice etc. Everything I ate was logged on a daily basis - much was photographed and it was commented on and advice given (eg if you’re having fruit for dessert, wait for an hour or so in order to even out the blood sugar). I walked every day for a minimum of 10mins. even tho’ some days I didn’t want to..! In the end, a bit like Covid lockdown, it becomes the ‘new normal’ and the need for sugar reduces greatly.
Yes cutting way down on carbs, and eventually you don’t crave sugar so much. Good for you, I know it’s tough at first, but don’t ever let your guard down😎
Good tactic re: the belt! They do say that putting your food on a smaller plate gets results - I’ve only done that with the cereal dish - half as much as I had before! I was supposed to have 2000mg Metformin per day but agreed at the outset to take only 500mg/day and see how things went.
That gives me hope. I am trying to stick to sensible eating and have cut the carbs.
I have 2 months to go to next blood test.
As a Rokerman do you live near the original Rokerpark? I was born close to Redby School (Original)Your wife seems familiar. Now living close to the Dambuster's training reservoir.
I must be honest - if I hadn’t had the wake-up call via the diabetes warning, I don’t think I’d have managed to cut carbs. Only by trying to avoid sugar content in food, did I also cut out the other foods such as bread, pasta, rice etc (everything I used to enjoy before 🤣). Over the 8-week period, it became 2nd nature - the only thing I could measure myself - to see that things were having a physical effect - was my weight; as that came off I could see a benefit.
I don’t come from the great city of Sunderland but I’ve been a long-suffering supporter of SAFC since my Dad first took me to see them in 1958 - he has a lot to answer for......🤨
Develop a taste for above ground veggies to replace the bulk - I think it is something a lot of doctors/dieticians tend to forget about. I can have a massive bown of salad leaves and olive oil/vinegar dressing at lunchtime with very few calories but feel full for ages. Which is what matters ...
I am fairly moderate - only 4 different varieties of leaves: field salad/valerian, rocket, radicchio and a plain lettuce. There are more - but each of those has a distinct flavour and texture. Then cucumber, radishes. Sometimes I use parsley - also a distinct flavour - or chicory. I miss Little Gem lettuce - have never seen it here but it grills well for a change, as does chicory.
But important particularly in this weather to also drink something warm with the salad. Cold food is not great for the system and can trigger diahorrhea and discomfort.
Never has yet! What "weather"? No frost here yet and 13/14C in the afternoons bears a distinct resemblance to a northern Scotland summer day! OTOH - not being American the only ice I use for drinks is for an aperol spritz or G&T.
Not yet! And they are still saying the winter season starts at the end of the month - Covid will mean few tourists to miss the snow that has all gone ...
We were pleased to hear that the Weinachtsmarkt inBad Sassendorf is allowed to go ahead (the only one for kilometres). The little huts are spread all over the Spa gardens instead of in the centre. Masks and 2 metre distancing.
Lucky you!! We have had frosts here in Wiltshire and water surfaces frozen. But I am not going to eat my food outside!! Still underlying cold. I am a fan of the Chinese Medicine approach which balances hot and cold foods and the environment. verywellfit.com/raw-foods-i...
Nothing I like more than a leafy vegetarian salad too with a punchy vinaigrette, when I get myself organised to get all the ingredients including the little gem.
That's such wonderful news. I'm truly delighted for you. Very well done. So nice to hear positive things, particularly at this time. It's definitely a cause for celebration.....but a mindful one!!😉 So pleased for you. X
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Diabetes, blame it on pred?
Steroid-induced diabetes
PMR with type 2 diabetes 
Now I'm diabetic too?
Steroid Induced Diabetes
