Guest guest Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 Hi folks, Finally have my first A1c: I'm at 5.9% with the normal range for this lab shown as 4.0-6.0%. Just squeaked in there! Since they didn't do an A1c when I was diagnosed in December, I can't gauge progress - but I know where I am now, and I'm very encouraged. Tonight I'm encouraged. Yesterday I was depressed and watched tv all night in bed. What a strange ride. I do have comparisons for other tests - these are what I was so fired up about a couple weeks ago: 12/10/04 3/17/05 range Weight 237 182 Glucose 247 67 Cholesterol 198 130 <200 Triglyceride 262 29 0 - 150 HDL 32 39 40 - 59 LDL 114 85 <130 desirable Chol/HDL Ratio 6.2 3.3 <4 below avg risk And I asked for a C-peptide test (thanks to Gretchen's book). It showed 1.1 nt/ml with the normal range as 1.1-5.0 So... help me out on where to go with this: Since I didn't have great control in the first weeks of this " hobby " , I'm hoping the next test will be lower without needing to work much harder on control. I'll be finishing the weight loss up this month and changing over to a maintenance diet. That will be a challenge, I'll bet. I need to get a regular exercise schedule going, its rather hit and miss now. More regular exercise and increasing the good fats intake should bring the HDL's up - nuts and stuff, right? I think the C-Peptide results show that I'm producing very low levels of insulin. Which may be why I haven't ever gone hypo with the diet and exercise. I'd like to research the treatments that show promise of rejuvinating the beta cells. Any suggestions? Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 I have never seen so low a number for tris before. Wow! Another good thing I see here is that when your total cholesterol dropped, your HDL did not drop too; it went up higher. Exercise will bring it up even higher. I assume the c-peptide was fasting. That means your pancreas was not being called on, particularly with a bg of 67. It was just putting in enough insulin to maintain bodily processes. A challenged c-peptide, an hour or two after a meal will give you more of an idea of how much insulin you produce to handle conversion of food to energy. OTOH, if you don't peak really high after a meal, you know the insulin is there. Catching the diabetes this early and handling it so aggressively may give your pancreas a good chance at recovery. For how long? Maybe indefinitely, if you continue taking care. Drop back into your old lifestyle and the old problems will return. Congratulations on a fantastic job! Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Fred: Great test results! You really have accomplished alot in very little time. Keep up the good work. What type of meal plan are you on? Helen: For some reason, I have never grasped the purpose of a C-Peptide test. Can you please refresh my memory or refer me to a source? My PCP doesn't think I need it as a Type 2. Alyne T2, Dx 8-03, D & E and Metformin __________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger Show us what our next emoticon should look like. Join the fun. http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Fred: Great test results! You really have accomplished alot in very little time. Keep up the good work. What type of meal plan are you on? Helen: For some reason, I have never grasped the purpose of a C-Peptide test. Can you please refresh my memory or refer me to a source? My PCP doesn't think I need it as a Type 2. Alyne T2, Dx 8-03, D & E and Metformin __________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger Show us what our next emoticon should look like. Join the fun. http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Remember that Gretchen could explain this a whole lot better than I. The beta cells form pro-insulin which splits into two parts; c-peptide and insulin. Since science has not seen a use for c-peptide, it is not included in manufactured insulin. IMO, big mistake!** Anyway, any c-peptide in your system comes from your pancreas along with insulin. Since the ratio is known, that gives a clue to how much insulin you are producing. There are tests for insulin too, maybe they are more complicated and would include injected insulin. **There is now a suspicion that c-peptide does serve a purpose in the body, perhaps that of forestalling the so-called diabetic consequences. Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Remember that Gretchen could explain this a whole lot better than I. The beta cells form pro-insulin which splits into two parts; c-peptide and insulin. Since science has not seen a use for c-peptide, it is not included in manufactured insulin. IMO, big mistake!** Anyway, any c-peptide in your system comes from your pancreas along with insulin. Since the ratio is known, that gives a clue to how much insulin you are producing. There are tests for insulin too, maybe they are more complicated and would include injected insulin. **There is now a suspicion that c-peptide does serve a purpose in the body, perhaps that of forestalling the so-called diabetic consequences. Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Remember that Gretchen could explain this a whole lot better than I. The beta cells form pro-insulin which splits into two parts; c-peptide and insulin. Since science has not seen a use for c-peptide, it is not included in manufactured insulin. IMO, big mistake!** Anyway, any c-peptide in your system comes from your pancreas along with insulin. Since the ratio is known, that gives a clue to how much insulin you are producing. There are tests for insulin too, maybe they are more complicated and would include injected insulin. **There is now a suspicion that c-peptide does serve a purpose in the body, perhaps that of forestalling the so-called diabetic consequences. Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Helen, Thanks for the c-peptide explanation. Helen, Gretchen, anyone else-- I'm not on insulin so I'm wondering if there is any point to a c-peptide test. I have had a fasting insulin test (don't have the results here) but never could get a good explanation of what it meant. I recall I was on the low-side of normal. It was explained to me two ways (a) since there is so little insulin it indicates the insulin is going into your cells and the metformin is working, or ( your are not making much insulin. Thanks. Alyne T2, Dx 8-03, D & E and Metformin __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Helen, Thanks for the c-peptide explanation. Helen, Gretchen, anyone else-- I'm not on insulin so I'm wondering if there is any point to a c-peptide test. I have had a fasting insulin test (don't have the results here) but never could get a good explanation of what it meant. I recall I was on the low-side of normal. It was explained to me two ways (a) since there is so little insulin it indicates the insulin is going into your cells and the metformin is working, or ( your are not making much insulin. Thanks. Alyne T2, Dx 8-03, D & E and Metformin __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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