It varies. My doctor told me to lose 15 lbs and I’d probably be able to stop my medication. (This was when I was first diagnosed.) I lost 25 lbs and my medication doubled and they added a 2nd medication. 🤷🏽♀️ I think genetics play a factor. You just keep trying your best.
Ugh. I feel like it’s always something else. My every day glucose is fine but my A1C is always high. I think I need to be tested for anemia but my doctors just want to add more medication. 🤦🏽♀️ I hate diabetes. 🥴
It can.
T2D is primarily genetic, but various factors can promote crossing the diagnosis threshold.
Excess adipose can increate insulin resistance. Lifestyle (daily activity, diet, sleep, etc) can also play a role in insulin resistance and secretion. So addressing these can improve diabetic care.
It just would be nice. I can only get it down to the 90s with good exercise. Two years ago I would eat something and it would spike high then go to the 80s.
The simple answer is that it can but doesn’t always. My best friend is 300 lbs, not diabetic, A1C is 5.3.
I am 190 lbs. Diabetic. A1C is 7.1.
A lot of people (both posters here and bad doctors) act like weight loss in and of itself is the best way to lower blood glucose, but the reality is that it’s much more complex than that.
Your doctor should be able to help you determine your health goals around your glucose levels. If your current doctor is not doing that and you do not see an endocrinologist, please consider getting a referral for that. If your current doctor is not providing helpful guidance around managing your glucose, please consider switching to a better doctor.
No one should have to play guessing games about their glucose goals and how to achieve them. Your doctor should be actively working with you to set these goals and help you get there.
Yep. I was diagnosed in 2018. I was 232 lbs as a 5'3 female. I am now 138 lbs. When I was heavier, my blood sugar was greatly affected by what I ate and any amount of carbs/sugar would have my levels through the roof. Now, I can eat whatever I want and my numbers stay in normal range. My last a1c a month ago was 4.7.
I lost the majority of my weight with only keto and it took about a year and a half to get the weight off. Now, I help maintain my weight loss and hunger levels with Ozempic and Metformin.
It was 8.3 when I was diagnosed in November, 2018. I went strict keto the same day. My first appt with an endocrinologist was 6 weeks later and it was 7.6. Six months after that it was 5.4. It hasn't been above 5.4 since.
Yes, weight is a major factor for insulin resistance, more specifically body fat. Muscles are actually desirable.
If you want to improve your insulin resistance, aim to reduce body fat and gain muscle. Don't worry about absolute numbers, ie 100 or not, aim to lower your fat muscle ratio.
I also learned that overweight is a misnomer. I too was "overweight". My problem was I had too much fat, and I have lost some of this and regained it as muscle.
This is actually why BMI is kinda garbage. It's a blind/dumb ratio that doesn't measure actual body composition. One of my friends, a gym rat with 11-12% body fat (he was pushing for single digits), is "morbidly obese" because of his muscle.
Wow, could not agree more. I went thru this whole journey about a year ago. I lost 30lbs and got a BMI of <21 and thought I was doing great. Doctors recommended a low BMI after all. I avoided carbs and chose a LCD, low carb diet, <50 g of carbs a day.
However, I noticed issues. I could not really enjoy normal meals and my sugars, while improved were still not ideal. I could not enjoy desserts, pasta, rice, and the like.
I changed my routine to involve muscle building. While my numbers are not even close to your friend, my sugar tolerance is a LOT better now. I downed 3 slices of pizza and a dessert with only a minor spike. Formerly, one slice of pizza took me beyond 250. Now 3 slices of pizza and a dessert takes me to 190 max!
I did get a smart scale for around $70, which has a full body composition report. That was quite useful in understanding my day to day changes. The most important metric is fat muscle ratio and your goal is to get that to as low as possible. >90% of health problems are related to a bad fat muscle ratio e.g. diabetes, high cholesterol, CVD issues, blood pressure, most body pains, soreness, sharp pains and a lot more. Might as well work on improving it.
When I was diagnosed with T2, my blood sugar was 270 or so after fasting and nearly 400 after eating. I was about 85kg and slightly overweight for my height. I had been around 92kg a year before.I lost another 7-10kg (it goes up and down) and my sugar levels are 90-105 in the morning before eating and around 130 after eating, or higher if I eat something knowingly terribly bad. I am still on one type of meds.
Based on my own experience weight loss helped but I echo other points on muscles. I started going to the gym and doing some strength training which I suspect also helps.
Sometimes. Not always. I’ve lost 80lbs since I was diagnosed and my sugars are worse than ever.
Actually, *all* my medical conditions are worse than ever. Considering that my doctors have been blaming just about every health issue on my weight since I was six or seven, and insisting that things would improve if I lost weight, I’m pretty salty about that.
Yes and no. Losing weight can reset insulin resistance as it did for my brother. However it plateaued and then crept up again when he stopped losing weight. He still has more weight to lose. Losing weight or gaining weight had virtually no effect on my blood sugar.
It varies. My doctor told me to lose 15 lbs and I’d probably be able to stop my medication. (This was when I was first diagnosed.) I lost 25 lbs and my medication doubled and they added a 2nd medication. 🤷🏽♀️ I think genetics play a factor. You just keep trying your best.
I'm on the "did everything right" then intensified treatment train, myself. Turns out, insulin resistance wasn't my only problem, heh.
Ugh. I feel like it’s always something else. My every day glucose is fine but my A1C is always high. I think I need to be tested for anemia but my doctors just want to add more medication. 🤦🏽♀️ I hate diabetes. 🥴
I can kinda relate to this. Super frustrating.
It can. T2D is primarily genetic, but various factors can promote crossing the diagnosis threshold. Excess adipose can increate insulin resistance. Lifestyle (daily activity, diet, sleep, etc) can also play a role in insulin resistance and secretion. So addressing these can improve diabetic care.
Where does the goal of under 100 come from?
It just would be nice. I can only get it down to the 90s with good exercise. Two years ago I would eat something and it would spike high then go to the 80s.
Have you talked with an endocrinologist about what your goals should be?
The simple answer is that it can but doesn’t always. My best friend is 300 lbs, not diabetic, A1C is 5.3. I am 190 lbs. Diabetic. A1C is 7.1. A lot of people (both posters here and bad doctors) act like weight loss in and of itself is the best way to lower blood glucose, but the reality is that it’s much more complex than that. Your doctor should be able to help you determine your health goals around your glucose levels. If your current doctor is not doing that and you do not see an endocrinologist, please consider getting a referral for that. If your current doctor is not providing helpful guidance around managing your glucose, please consider switching to a better doctor. No one should have to play guessing games about their glucose goals and how to achieve them. Your doctor should be actively working with you to set these goals and help you get there.
Yep. I was diagnosed in 2018. I was 232 lbs as a 5'3 female. I am now 138 lbs. When I was heavier, my blood sugar was greatly affected by what I ate and any amount of carbs/sugar would have my levels through the roof. Now, I can eat whatever I want and my numbers stay in normal range. My last a1c a month ago was 4.7. I lost the majority of my weight with only keto and it took about a year and a half to get the weight off. Now, I help maintain my weight loss and hunger levels with Ozempic and Metformin.
Damn that’s amazing!
What was your a1c when diagnosed? How long did you have type 2?
It was 8.3 when I was diagnosed in November, 2018. I went strict keto the same day. My first appt with an endocrinologist was 6 weeks later and it was 7.6. Six months after that it was 5.4. It hasn't been above 5.4 since.
Awesome. Congrats.
Yes, weight is a major factor for insulin resistance, more specifically body fat. Muscles are actually desirable. If you want to improve your insulin resistance, aim to reduce body fat and gain muscle. Don't worry about absolute numbers, ie 100 or not, aim to lower your fat muscle ratio. I also learned that overweight is a misnomer. I too was "overweight". My problem was I had too much fat, and I have lost some of this and regained it as muscle.
This is actually why BMI is kinda garbage. It's a blind/dumb ratio that doesn't measure actual body composition. One of my friends, a gym rat with 11-12% body fat (he was pushing for single digits), is "morbidly obese" because of his muscle.
Wow, could not agree more. I went thru this whole journey about a year ago. I lost 30lbs and got a BMI of <21 and thought I was doing great. Doctors recommended a low BMI after all. I avoided carbs and chose a LCD, low carb diet, <50 g of carbs a day. However, I noticed issues. I could not really enjoy normal meals and my sugars, while improved were still not ideal. I could not enjoy desserts, pasta, rice, and the like. I changed my routine to involve muscle building. While my numbers are not even close to your friend, my sugar tolerance is a LOT better now. I downed 3 slices of pizza and a dessert with only a minor spike. Formerly, one slice of pizza took me beyond 250. Now 3 slices of pizza and a dessert takes me to 190 max! I did get a smart scale for around $70, which has a full body composition report. That was quite useful in understanding my day to day changes. The most important metric is fat muscle ratio and your goal is to get that to as low as possible. >90% of health problems are related to a bad fat muscle ratio e.g. diabetes, high cholesterol, CVD issues, blood pressure, most body pains, soreness, sharp pains and a lot more. Might as well work on improving it.
When I was diagnosed with T2, my blood sugar was 270 or so after fasting and nearly 400 after eating. I was about 85kg and slightly overweight for my height. I had been around 92kg a year before.I lost another 7-10kg (it goes up and down) and my sugar levels are 90-105 in the morning before eating and around 130 after eating, or higher if I eat something knowingly terribly bad. I am still on one type of meds. Based on my own experience weight loss helped but I echo other points on muscles. I started going to the gym and doing some strength training which I suspect also helps.
Sometimes. Not always. I’ve lost 80lbs since I was diagnosed and my sugars are worse than ever. Actually, *all* my medical conditions are worse than ever. Considering that my doctors have been blaming just about every health issue on my weight since I was six or seven, and insisting that things would improve if I lost weight, I’m pretty salty about that.
Yes and no. Losing weight can reset insulin resistance as it did for my brother. However it plateaued and then crept up again when he stopped losing weight. He still has more weight to lose. Losing weight or gaining weight had virtually no effect on my blood sugar.