My Diagnosis

By Christopher Gehrke

3 min read

On November 13, 2018, I went to the doctor for a check-up and to get my labs drawn. Due to other health issues, I have my labs drawn on a fairly regular basis. Up to this point, I have never had an issue with my glucose reading.

The start of my type 2 diabetes diagnosis experience

The labs drawn this time were not fasting. To be honest, I wasn’t even thinking about it when I woke up early and had a little bit to eat for breakfast. I was honest about it when the doctor asked and he said that it wasn’t a big deal. When I reviewed the labs on the doctor's mobile app, I saw that my glucose was 157. Based on what I ate, time since I last ate, and a little research online, I knew that my sugar was a little high. The only symptom I had at this point was frequent urination which made me wonder if I had a blood glucose issue, but with my other conditions, this wasn’t out of the norm for me.

My first A1c test

My doctor never called about my sugar and I went back six months later on May 14, 2019 for another check-up and lab work. I brought up my glucose, which I told my doctor seemed a little high, even for not fasting. He agreed and ordered an A1c test. When the test resulted, I was a little shocked when I read my A1c was 9% and my average blood glucose was 212.

As expected, I received a call from the nurse at the doctor’s office letting me know of the lab results and they were calling in a prescription for Metformin. I was put on 500mg twice a day. In my mind, this was going to be the cure I needed and I made changes that were no better than my previous lifestyle.

My second A1c test

I returned to my doctor on October 15, 2019. Now I was at a new doctor that was closer to my house, but still through the same company. This made it easy because they were able to access my medical records on the spot. I had my A1c checked again, and also requested to have my insulin level checked. On top of that, my doctor ordered an insulin auto-antibody and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 antibody test.

My A1c, after what I thought were positive changes, was now 9.4% and my average blood glucose reading was 223. After a quick review of the past months, I figured out what I did wrong. My insulin and insulin autoantibody levels were normal and my glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 antibody test was only slightly elevated. I mainly wanted these other tests taken to understand if I was in need of insulin due to lack of production, or if insulin was not the main issue.

Today: Dealing with my ongoing type 2 diabetes experience

Since October, I have not had another A1c drawn. With the holidays coming up and some vacations, I knew it was going to be near impossible to do what I needed to do to lower my A1c. I know that isn’t an excuse, but I also know myself and had to make realistic goals. Now that the holidays and vacation are over, I have made much better food choices and began to exercise again. I also start started testing different foods and beverages to see how they affect my blood glucose readings.

I know it is important to make lifestyle changes right away, but you also have to know yourself and make reasonable goals. I am treating lifestyle changes like a marathon rather than a sprint. More power to the people that can make many drastic changes to their lifestyles, but I know I am not one of them. Knowing this about myself will keep me from failing or feeling like a failure when I do slip up, which I will do because I am human.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Type2Diabetes.com team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

Join the conversation

Please read our rules before commenting.

Thomas A McAtee Jr. Moderator
Very good Chris!! I was caught off guard as well when I was diagnosed back in 2012. Asked if he meant I was 'pre'. He told me that I wasn't 'pre' but was diabetic. Ouch. Hard I know. We can only do our best. Like I said in the one I posted, we fall out of the car/wagon but dust off climb back in and head on down that road that we travel on in this club of ours. Glad you're in a place weher they don't stop from having a CDL like some do. That helps a lot as well. Thanks for the article Chris. Tom
ladalu Member
Sooooo, what did you do for exercise and what food changes did you make?
richard-morris Member
My first HbA1c was 11.2%. 5 months later it was 5.7%. What changed was that before my diagnosis I was eating a high carb weight control meal replacement diet. After diagnosis I just stopped eating carbohydrates, and got my calories from fat. You might think that would be a horrible strategy as surely my circulation being full of fat instead of glucose would be even more harmful with respect to Heart disease. But that is not how human biochemistry works. When glucose is high, fatty acid transport is inhibited across into the mitochondria to be burned, resulting in fat pooling in circulation. When I was frank type 2 diabetic with an HbA1c of 11.2%, my circulating triglycerides were 1111 mg/dl. That is 11.1g of fat in every liter of my blood, in the 5 liters of blood in my circulation that is over 55g of fat. After going on a high fat diet that dropped to 147 mg/dl. Because on a low carb diet all your cells that can are running on fatty acids, and drawing down triglycerides in circulation. My HbA1c has been 5.2% for over 6 years since I started eating a ketogenic diet. My fasting trigs are now 80 mg/dl. I don't know that would work for every type 2 diabetic, but the scientific literature shows that it has worked for many type 2 diabetics .. even subjects with an average of 8.4 years since diabetic diagnosis. <a href='https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-01😧373-9' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-01😧373-9</a>
Nikki Nurse Contributor
You are such an inspiration! I loved reading about your journey with diabetes. It's always so interesting to hear from someone who has been there before, which allows me to see my own situation in new light for better management or even prevention of this disease if possible! I'm glad you could share these moments with us.