Diagnosed with Type 2

[Neo88]

Hi all,

Just wanted to introduce myself.

I'm 26 years old and have just been diagnosed with Type 2 (HbA1C 56mmol/ml) and leaking protein (urine creatinine 17.7 mmol/l) with blood results showing normal kidney function.
I was born prematurely (26 weeks) and have so far been fit and healthy, with no obvious problems. However, having done a little digging I have found research that strongly links being born prem with a much higher incidence of developing Type 2 (GP not at all interested - still assumes it is my diet). I am not overweight (just over 7 stone and 4ft 10") and have now gone on to a reduced sugar/low carb diet.

I have been prescribed 1000mg of Metformin (requested by me, as glucose levels just seem to be going up!) and 2.5mg Ramipril.

I originally went to the doctors having had joint pain and clicking for a number of years - I have now been to see the Rheumatologist who suspects previous hypermobility which has now led to osteoarthritis (still waiting on the report) so this has come slightly out of the blue with general blood tests!

I am currently waiting for an appointment with the Diabetic nurse - so I suppose I just have to wait and see now.

Would it be worth buying a glucose monitor to check my levels in the meantime?

Also, I often take Ibuprofen for my joints - though the Metformin leaflet says not to. Not quite sure what to do about that!

Thanks for reading
Neo88

 

[Marieukxx]

I'm new myself so can't give much advice sorry. You'll get loads of brilliant help and advice here just like I have from the regular forum members. Diet is key.

Everyone recommends the Codefree BG meter, its available on Amazon at just £12 odd for the whole starter kit. And the test strips are the cheapest to buy so you save money in the long run.

I was lucky I've just been diagnosed and had my appointment with the diabetic nurse the week after. I too have suffered terribly with sore joints for years especially my legs which I say are like boards. They are so stiff in the morning I can barely walk. I take painkillers for them.

 

[Neo88]

Thanks for your reply

Will have a look on amazon now!

Did you find the nurse appointment helpful?

Has your Dr never referred you re: leg pain? I know I had to go back and forth multiple times before I was referred on.

 

[Marieukxx]

Thanks for your reply

Will have a look on amazon now!

Did you find the nurse appointment helpful?

Has your Dr never referred you re: leg pain? I know I had to go back and forth multiple times before I was referred on.

Yes I did, I felt more positive afterwards. She was really nice and talked through my diet and how to use a BG monitor. She said I can ring her anytime if I have any worries or questions. I was given a booklet with lots of information about diabetes and testing and diet. It's nice to know someone is looking after you I suppose and that they will check up on your regularly rather than feeling alone with it all.

I've changed my diet with help from people on this forum and I feel better for it already. No my doctor has done nothing about my leg pain even though I've been moaning about it for years. Like boards my legs are. So stiff and the joints hurt.

 

[Marieukxx]

I can't really give much more advice as I've only just found out myself last week. Others will be along to help you. They are lovely here.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

Hi Neo

Sorry about your diagnosis. I agree with Marie that you should get a monitor as soon as possible and start testing (regardless if anyone tells you otherwise). You do not sound like the typical profile for a type 2 (sorry to generalise) so I think careful self monitoring is even more important.

Your pharmacist will be able to advise on combining metformin with other drugs. Best wishes.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome to the forum. This forum is full of lovely supportive and helpful people, so please jump in and ask as many questions as you like. Also have a good browse round all the threads. You will see that a meter is an essential piece of kit if you want to control your diabetes, and as Marie said, diet is the key. You may find your nurse isn't as enlightened as Marie's was. Most of them churn out the out dated and poor dietary advice, but on here you will find much more help in this respect. Good luck.

 

[daisy1]

Hi Neo and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you like and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 100,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Yes, do get a meter. Your profile of normal weight and low age is not a normal T2 profile but a Late onset T1 profile (LADA). The meter will enable you to check how things are going. Metformin may help just a bit. There are further meds that can be added such as Gliclazide which can be useful for those not overweight. If your blood sugar doesn't come under control despite low-carbing and tablets then do ask the DN for the two tests for LADA.

 

[ally1]

i,ve been diagnosed type2 2 months ago.
iwas donated a monitor and been testing my BS since last thursday and has been proved very useful

 

[Neo88]

Hi everyone,

Thank you ever so much for your kind welcome.

It is reassuring to know that others are also slightly doubtful of the Type 2 diagnosis. I will ask the nurse to test for LADA (I didn't know that existed, thank you) so I at least know what I'm dealing with.

Are the meters all pretty much the same - just varying on cost / cost of test strips?

Does anyone know anything about Creatinine? I have also read (maybe I should stop!) that there is also a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in prems due to structural changes in the lower ventricles. I suppose I'm just wondering if that is the cause of the raised creatinine levels, as my kidney function is "normal"?!! I know that's probably a slightly random issue.

Thanks for the info daisy1, really useful.

Sorry for all the questions - I think I'm still getting used to it and a little angry/scared as there seem to be other issues as well which don't seem to fit with the diabetes. If anyone knows of anyone that was born with a low birth weight/very early, please advise them to get checked out - even if they now look fine!

 

[Nyxks]

Welcome to the diabetic club one of the only clubs i the world that you get to join that you didn't wish or ask to join in the first places (like any medical condition - you join the club and its not a club you wish to join).

Not much help for meters in the UK, but I use a FreeStyle brand because it takes the lest amount of blood to test glucose with (but not sure how costly in the UK the strips are for it, here in canada strips are all the came cost regardless of meter type (in general at least). I don't trust buying things online medical wise (had to many issues over the years to trust it fully unfortunately) but other;s seem to like amazon.co.uk for diabetic supplies so its worth a shot.

I'll second the idea of getting testing for T1 because like you I was early 20s when told I had D and I was an athlete as well (not over weight and was at 20% body fat plus vegetarian for over a decade at the time, so getting told I was T2 was like you sure that doesn't sound right (despite me having a parent who is T2) turned out the GTT was right about the D but wrong about the type (lucky for me I was able to stay in the honeymoon phase of things for a few years before insulin became my own option).

I'm also a premie (was do in mid december born start of october instead) and I've heard about various things related to being born to early such as learning disabilities (which I do have) and other social issues including diabetes. I never really put much credit towards it because well I might have been born early but early testing had me without issues and it was only after whopping cough that I developed a learning disability (cooked my brain to many high fevers - or so I was told).

Taking one day at a time and learning all you can about Diabetes in general, T1, T1.5 and T2 knowledge is power and ya it can get overwheaming at times but you can do it your strong (or you'd not been seeking help and taking pro action about your health) and you can do it.

 

[Neo88]

Thanks Nyxks - plan for tomorrow is to arrange the test. I never gave much thought to the research either - I was always told that I was "over it" and "normal now".. and the Drs have always been dismissive of any link between current ill health and being premie - how they can know that from zero monitoring past the age of 3yo I'll never know. I also have a parent who is T2 and granddad was T2 was as well.

Knowledge is definitely power

 

[Anie]

I take ibruprofen every day for arthritis and metformin, both on repeat prescription. I see the pharmacist every year for a medicine review and she's never said anything either.

 

[Neo88]

Thanks Anie

 

[Daibell]

Hi. It is possible your parents were actually LADA. Many HCPs think T1 only occurs in the very young and that T2s eventually need to go to insulin (some do some don't) but some that do were never T2 in the first place but had a declining pancreas and not insulin resistance. You may find your surgery dismisses the idea of LADA; my diabetes GP did despite never being overweight etc. In many ways the treatment path is the same and the diet advice the same but, annoyingly if you are a LADA then insulin will be needed eventually but I didn't need it for 8 years and to be honest it's not the problem it once was. The meter will put you in control.

 

[Neo88]

Hi Daibel

My dad has never been tested for LADA - he was a bit overweight and his glucose levels were very high before he was diagnosed, he was also in his 50's. Not so sure about my Grandad but his didn't develop until he was much older either and then he never did change his diet. I'm quite happy to fight my corner if they refuse to test me for LADA. My DR did mumble something about not usually giving Metformin to people who are not overweight?!