Hello newbie with question

[Treacle]

Hello everyone
I feel much happier having found this forum and people who can maybe actually answer some questions for me! My partner has just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, he is not particularly overweight, does not smoke, is in his early forties and pretty fit but diabetes does appear several times in his family. He is currently on blood pressure tablets and metformin, feels faint and sick every morning, depressed and very very tired most of the time. He has been told not to use a glucose monitor as it will only worry him - but how do we know what is working for him and what isn't? We have read lots and lots but are still totally confused about diet (and we really are not that stupid, honest!!). We eat a relatively low fat diet and my partner has given up all sugar products, sugar in tea etc. Some books indicate that he should eat lots of carbohydrate such as bread, wholemeal pasta etc, which we do but some that we should cut down on carbs?? Our doctor is not particularly helpful and there seems to be no monitoring at all. We don't seem to be on top of anything and the two times the depth test has been done glucose levels have been off the scale. I have no idea what to do next and feel totally useless which doesn't help. Would anyone have any advice about what we should do - sorry to have gone on so long but, even if no one answers at least I have started to get things off my chest

 

[sugarless sue]

First off,welcome to the forum,Treacle.Second...get a monitor!!!Your partner sounds as if his sugars are way too high,causing the tiredness etc. If you buy a monitor,they are not that expensive,your doctor should prescribe the test sticks.If he still goes on about ' worrying ' your partner tell him he is far more worried not knowing what his blood sugars are than if he doesn't know them. Quote the NICE guidelines at him! There is a link in this section under ' General links for diabetes' . Does your partner see a diabetic nurse at all? He also needs to have his eyes and feet checked ,this should be arranged through your nurse or doctor.
There is so much info on this site that you really need to read it in bite sized pieces otherwise you get information overload.
The basics: once you get a monitor,test before you eat.good sugar levels are below 7.test 2hours after a meal,if sugars are high then whatever you have eaten has too much carbs/sugars for you.Keep a food diary for a week and your test results.With this you can work out which foods affect your blood sugars and which don't.Everyone is different. Bread ,pasta ,potatoes can all have this effect.
Good luck with the doctor.

 

[SweetGuy]

Tiredness, exhaustion and depression are symptoms associated with many blood pressure medications. I have had similar problems with them. What is he talking? What sort of HbA1c level is he starting from?

With Type 2s just taking Metformin it is the underlying glucose level that is of interest so it doesn't need to be taken all that frequently. Most Type 2s on metformin are given a meter though if only to give them a better understanding of what is going on. The attitude of you doctor seems strange as diabetes is the type of illness where the patient needs to be able to take ownership of the management of the condition.

If you are not happy with the treatment you are getting from your GP you should ask to see a specialist. I don't think they can refuse to refer you if that is what you want.

 

[timo2]

hello treacle,
Could there possibly be an interaction between the blood pressure medication and the metformin?
it may be worth looking at the paperwork which came with both medications to see if there are
any known problems with using both together.

It sounds like you need to get a doctor who knows what he's doing and also a blood monitor.
You may also want to spend a bit of time researching supplements on the internet, although
they are no substitute for the correct level of anti-diabetic medication(s) from your doctor.
cinnamon, biotin and chromium are the supplements which may be of benefit in this case,
and i'm sure people on this forum can suggest more. Just watch out for the nutters
trying to sell you "snake oil cure-alls" - there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

hope things go well.

 

[Treacle]

Many thanks for the replies, your help is really appreciated by us both. We now have a monitor and David's blood glucose level was 11.4 this morning. We only have a few strips until we can (hopefully) get a prescription on Wednesday so he is going to test before then two hours after breakfast and before then two hours after evening meal for the next few days. We will step up to three times a day and keep a diary from next week when we have enough strips. His HbA1c test was 14 which I believe is very high?? David has not actually seen his doctor at all since he was diagnosed. Despite his symptoms and the incidence of diabetes in his family the doctor refused to send him to be tested until his dentist said he had to insist because she thought if he didn't have diabetes he must have leukaemia or something else very wrong with his immune system. After diagnosis he was asked to see the practise nurse (not a diabetes nurse) who is the one who says he shouldn't use a monitor and has issued all prescriptions (including blood pressure tablets). His feet have not been checked, eyes have and are fine, and there has been no mention of a nutritionist although we are not sure whether there should be or not. Cholestorol is 3 so pretty good I think. We are not telling any family about this as David's mum is quite poorly at the moment and he doesn't want to worry her so we are a bit on our own on this so thank you again and sorry for going on!!