Newly diagnosed (today) and confused?????

JayneW

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi....after symptoms of extreme tiredness, mood swings, constipation, weight gain, forgetfulness/addled brain!!....had various blood tests last THURSDAY and results came back the next day....so was asked to make an appointment to see my own Dr.
He told me that my results had shown I was diabetic.....I was in complete shock so didn't really take much notice of the actual result ie the number of my blood sugar etc, also was told that my cholesterol was quite high & given tablets to start last night.
I left the surgery being told to book an appointment with the diabetic nurse & to go on a diet!!!!!....no other information at all....which led me to this forum..that's where the confusion really started for me!......although I can't remember the exact number he said to me, I'm pretty sure it wasn't very high at all....and also the blood I gave wasn't a fasting test, I gave it at 2.10pm after having a 'normal' breakfast & lunch.
So how can he be giving me a diagnosis of diabetes & high cholesterol from a non fasting test?...is this a 'safe' diagnosis?.....any thoughts would be gratefully received...thank you in advance
 

Madbazoo

Well-Known Member
Messages
209
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It sounds to me that you may have had an HbA1c test which measures your average over the last 3 months and so there is no need to fast. If you ring your surgery they should be able to give you the actual results which you may like to share with us all so we can try to provide more help and advice.

You have at least started to address your health issues so with yhe help of forum members you will soon understand your condition and get it under control.

Am sure Daisy will be along soon with a much more detailed response for you.




Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
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Cruelty towards animals.
Hi Jayne 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 and someone will come along and 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 well over 70,000 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 blood glucose 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.
 

Mud Island Dweller

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,161
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
An awful lot.
They told me to take statins for cholestrol l refused read up to much about them. A lot of folks do take them and without problems but do read up on statins. Don't be bullied into something because you are scared, do it because you want to from a position of knowledge not fear.

A lot of us are on a low carb diet that controls blood sugar, lowers cholesterol and keeps us feeling full. (Low carb foeum) There is other diets l dont do them so not sure about them but not that l am biased but low carb is the best (await a scream of outrage from a certain member!) and again peruse the forum folks here very friendly and most don't bite.... but some might drive you to distraction and give you contradictory info but generally they will get jumped on ... then it gets fun to watch :happy:
 

Andy12345

Expert
Messages
6,342
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Doctors
Hi, Welcome :)

if you are indeed diabetic, its perfectly normal to go through lots of emotions, shock, denial, anger etc etc, try not to panic though, things aren't as bad as they seem at first, have a read up on it and in time you will come to realise that its not a death sentence, it can in fact be a positive influence on many, giving them the stimulus to improve their lifestyle and live a long healthy life, often longer and healthier than they would have if they had not been diagnosed

best of luck, ask questions
 

JayneW

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks so much.....will have a little read through the forums today, and try to get to grips with the wealth of info.....I will make another appointment with Dr and take pen & paper with me this time!!!!....I think I may well have been in shock & probably didn't listen as well I would normally..lol..hopefully all will become clearer with time...thanks once again for your replies/advice :)
 
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bernie.freeman

Well-Known Member
Messages
558
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
selfish people
Hi Jayne, You will find lots of good information on this forum. It isn't all doom and gloom that you have diabetes, you need to respect the condition and test to find out what you can and can't eat. Complications are not definite, as long as you watch what you eat. I eat small regular meals and snacks, I try to keep my carbs lowish but can't eat a lot of fats as I have a problem with stomach acid ( nothing to do with diabetes)

Good luck Jayne :)
 

Mud Island Dweller

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,161
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
An awful lot.
Just keep us all updated we are all a nosey bunch (we use the excuse interested but all our computer curtains twitch a lot) as you will also be doing when you join in and find yourself hooked .. brilliant folks lots to learn and not scary.

MID ;)
 
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mrs gimli

Well-Known Member
Messages
328
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Racists or hatred. Disrespect for people.
Hiya I'm not so long ago dx as well.take your time and read this forum its got loads of help.low carb Is fab for dieting and you don't go hungry .try not to worry its scary but you can do this x
 

collectingrocks

Well-Known Member
Messages
241
Hi Jayne

Loads of good advice here but you must get your numbers from the surgery. This way, you have a clearer idea of where you are and where you need to go. Apart from statins, did your GP put you on any other medication - e.g. metformin?
 
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carty

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,379
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Jane
The best advice I got when I was diagnosed was get a glucose meter and test your bloods before a meal and 2 hours after to see how what foods you are eating affect your glucose levels You can ask your GP for 1 tell him you want to take control of your condition if he wont give you 1 try buying 1 on the internet the codefree is a cheap meter with cheap strips .Other companies will send you a free meter but the strips are expensive
CAROL
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi and welcome. The blood test your GP took could either be a random finger prick test which if high enough can confirm diabetes. He may have taken a sample from your arm which would be the HBa1c and the results will take few days to come from the lab. I suspect it was the random finger-prick test that he did. If you are overweight then dieting thru a low-carb diet will help both weight reduction and blood sugar reduction. If you are overweight it causes insulin resistance where the muscles can't use the insulin the body produces. Losing weight will help remove this. You may be put onto some tablets to help as well. Do get a meter as others have said and that will help guide you on the extent of carb reduction you need. Good luck and we're all in it together!
 
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sugartoohigh

Well-Known Member
Messages
73
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Potatoes & rice, so no problem there then :)
Yes its a lot to take in while the shock hits you Jayne. Take your pen and paper and a list of questions you may find while looking through the site wouldn't hurt. Hopefully your GP will know the subject, some don't seem to know it as well as may be they should. A little push is required every now and then. Good luck with your journey and welcome to the site.
STH
 

JayneW

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Yes its a lot to take in while the shock hits you Jayne. Take your pen and paper and a list of questions you may find while looking through the site wouldn't hurt. Hopefully your GP will know the subject, some don't seem to know it as well as may be they should. A little push is required every now and then. Good luck with your journey and welcome to the site.
STH
Mmmmmmm.....am still concerned after extensive reading today.....at how he came to his diagnosis. Had about 4 or 5 vials of blood taken, like I say at 2.10pm with no fasting. I know they did a lot of tests including liver & kidney function, thyroid function (as have a goiter that is growing rapidly) and cholesterol. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought to get a correct reading for cholesterol & blood glucose levels it needed to be fasting?.....I've had the glucose tolerance/intolerance (not sure the correct term) tests before & had to not eat anything then....I've had no other blood tests for approx 12 years so couldn't be the average over 3 months?...very confused....but am armed with my list of questions that'll be clutched in my sweaty hand tomorrow...lol...thanks chaps!!..your time is much appreciated...
 
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Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, recent research shows that a fasting test isn't essential for cholesterol checks. Your blood test will have been the full HBa1c which shows the average blood sugar over the last 3 months and is good test for diabetes. It doesn't show peaks and troughs but the average is a good measure. This isn't a fasting test. The fasting blood test is a relatively poor test as it will show if someone has advanced diabetes but is not a good measure overall.. It sounds as if the GP is doing the right thing. For info my next annual blood test is mid-day. In previous years it was a fasting test.
 

julie56

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Angry people and liver!
Hi Jayne and welcome to the forum. Re the blood test, I know when I was diagnosed in October after experiencing symptoms, I had bloods taken and results were in later that day with sugar levels of 33 - Doc said because it was high there was no doubt about the diabetes, I think if it is above a certain level it is enough for them to tell. Good news is it can be reversed quite well with diet and exercise, but you may need medication as well. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 

JayneW

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi.....have since found out that my HbA1c was 52....Jan 2014....am having another test in March, then to see the diabetic Dr, to see how the levels are....will wait and see, but have already lost over 1/2 stone and am managing to keep bg quite steady (most of the time)...Jayne