Will I Feel Better?? I Hope It's Soon....

[Claire_Terry]

Evening all,

I'm Claire, 29, married from West Sussex.

I am sure most of us are tucked up in bed wishing we didn't have work in the morning...

I have recently been diagnosed with T2 on 01/05/2025, been put on Metformin 2000mg a day so far. Blood was 8.6 (I think) when the nurse tested it on the machine. She said its high and will see me in 3 months to see if it's lowered etc. if not I will have to try other meds.

I have been thinking that I have felt so unwell for such a long time I can't remember what it's like to feel normal and heathy?!

Some of the symptoms I have are:

*urinating more often than usual, (particularly at night about 2/3 times)
*feeling very thirsty, can drink 6 or more litres a day (just water).
*painful headaches/migraines
*feeling very tired, always have naps everyday after I get in from work.
*cuts or bruises that heal slowly
* feeling sick a lot (but not being sick vomiting)
*blurred vision, more common when in artificial lighting and working on a PC.
*Velvety dark skin changes of the neck, armpit, and groin, called acanthosis nigricans
*Numbness and tingling of the hands and feet
*Leg cramps in the night which is very painful.

I know all of these are what most people experience.

My husband is very supportive and bless him puts up with my being grumpy and snappy when I am hungry or when my blood sugars are all over the place.

I feel like I want to be sick, but haven't. Since being on Metformin I don't feel that hungry, is this common?

I also have Pcos and high blood pressure which I take 4 different tablets for too.

I am trying to stay positive and motivated, I have joined this forum today and there is so much to read.

Is it worth investing in a blood glucose machine??

Also, was everyone's friends, family and work supportive? So many people don't understand when you're having a bad day or you're feeling unwell.

Sorry for all the questions!!

Much love x x

 

[sanguine]

Hi Claire

Yes definitely get a blood glucose monitor, it's how we keep a check on how we react to different foods and learn to manage our condition.

And reduce those carbs, that's how you get the numbers down.

 

[DeejayR]

Hi Claire and welcome.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Welcome to the forum. You don't sound like a run-of-the-mill middle aged type 2, like I was, but maybe I can offer some useful advice anyway. In my opinion you should be seeing a specialist. Being put on metformin without any other advice (other than maybe to "eat healthy" and lose some weight) and told to come back in 3 months is pretty typical (that's what happened to me), but with all your symptoms I think you'd be better off consulting with a specialist that treats type 2 patients.

What worked for me at reversing my type 2 diabetes was to cut out of my diet the following:

1. sugar (kind of obvious)
2. grains and anything made from grains (e.g. bread, cereal, pasta)
3. rice
4. starchy vegetables
5. vegetable oil (I do use some macadamia nut oil)
6. milk, but not cheese and full fat yogurt
7. Pretty much all factory processed food - the stuff in bags and boxes with lots of weird chemicals in the ingredients list

All the starchy food turns straight to glucose and if you are insulin resistant, your blood glucose levels stay high.

I found this web site to be very useful in understanding type 2 diabetes and how to reverse it:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

A change in diet can normalize your blood glucose levels much better than any drug (a doctor told me this, so it must be true!), assuming that your pancreas is still capable of producing sufficient insulin. The drugs treat the blood glucose levels, not the insulin resistance. If you can reverse the insulin resistance through diet and exercise, you can get off the metformin.

I highly recommend you get a blood glucose meter and self test. This page explains how to use self-testing to lower your blood glucose levels: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

They may tell you that type 2 is progressive, but it doesn't have to be. I managed to reverse mine. I also had nerve damage in my feet (numbness and tingling), but that is slowly improving now that my blood glucose levels are normal.

Good luck and ask lots of questions on this forum.

 

[Claire_Terry]

I don't eat any dairy as I am lactose intolerant and have been since I was born. I don't eat bread as it doesn't agree with me. I try and stick with meat and veg.

Thank you for your advice, I shall have a read through.

 

[Daks]

Hey Claire,

I'll give you a quick run down of my journey. I was diagnosed on the 26.01.15 with a HbA1c of 101mmol/mol, so still new myself. I was fortunate to find this amazing community straight away.

My doctor handed me some leaflets all of which told me to eat pretty much the same diet that helped me to become diabetic in the first place. I was also told that my disease was progressive, so I could expect to get worse as time goes by and the cherry on the cake was being told my life expectancy had now been reduced.

I was upset, in a dark place, and felt so ill, pretty much all the symptoms you have described above.

To cut a long story short I put my faith in the people here and started with the LCHF, it went against everything my doctor had told me and everything I thought I then knew about nutrition, I hit it hard and didn't cut corners.

Just three months later and three stones lighter my HbA1c came back at 41mmol/mol, I attend gym 3 days a week and am in the best shape of my adult life, I feel great, in so short a time and so can you!

Diabetes is not progressive, I believe I will go on to live longer now than had I not been diagnosed.

All the best on your journey.

 

[vintageutopia]

Hi Claire and welcome! You share a name with my youngest.

There is hope and yes, you will feel better. Of the following symptoms that you listed, I also experienced the following:
*urinating more often than usual, (particularly at night about 2/3 times)
*feeling very thirsty, can drink 6 or more litres a day (just water).
*feeling very tired, always have naps everyday after I get in from work.
* feeling sick a lot (but not being sick vomiting)

I was diagnosed at the end of November. I went to my GP, because in addition to the symptoms above, my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen and I thought I may have mononucleosis. They did a chemistry profile and my BS was 284. The next day, they drew a HbgA1C and it was 11.0. I had my third child a little over a year prior and my HgbA1C was normal. So, it was a complete shock.

I found this website in March and have been reducing my carbs over the past two months. Now, I eat around 20 grams per day. I no longer get up in the middle of the night to urinate, I have normal energy, and no more mental fogginess. It has proven to me that LCHF is the way to go.

I am still playing with my calorie/fat/carb ratios, but aside from my FBS, my levels are normal.

Spend time looking around the forum and gleaning helpful information. Definitely invest in a blood glucose machine as it will tell you which types of foods/meals that you can and cannot tolerate. As far as support, the only person that knows is my husband. He has been very supportive and has started to reduce his carbs, as well. Just for the pure health of it.