Newbie

[Dj75]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse? Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated

 

[copilost]

I cried when the nurse told me! This is a great site, I was diagnosed just under 3 weeks ago and I've pretty much moved in
Read around....it's a lot to take in.

 

[Antje77]

Hello, @Dj75 , and welcome to the forum!
Getting a diabetes diagnosis is a shock, but definitely no death sentence. We have various members who are thriving more than ever since their diagnosis, and I hope it will be the same for you in a couple of months

Here's the basic information about diabetes we like to give new members. It'll give you something to get started with, and you can ask any question on this forum. Have a look around on the forum as well, you may find interesting things or jump in a conversation.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/

The blurry vision is most likely due to high blood sugars, or to changing blood sugars. It's normal and should settle again when your blood sugars are somewhat stable for a while. If you have trouble reading, you can buy a pair of cheap reading glasses for the time being. Don't buy prescription glasses right now, as your eyesight will change with your blood sugars.

Good luck!

 

[Dj75]

Thanks so much

 

[ert]

Welcome. I didn't believe the doctor when I was phoned with the diagnosis. You are a lot further along making changes and moving forward than I was initially. So it begins. You're in good company here.

 

[Bec in Brighton]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse? Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated

I'm 18 months in and my hba1c is down to 49 through diet and excercise. I'm feeling more well than I have in a very long while. It's become a positive journey and I felt just like you 18 months ago. The people on here are very kind so well done for finding this site so early in your diagnosis. Good luck with it all.

 

[1spuds]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse? Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated

No,not a death sentence by a long shot.You are going to learn a lot and this is the place to learn it.You are about to go from newbie to expert really fast,hard to believe but true.

For starters,do you know your HbA1c number? Smart smart smart move is get a meter and start home testing.
Finally,can you tell us what your daily run of the mill meals consist of? This is a biggie.

Folks here will start easing you into the type 2 changes.They arent that hard at all,and a lot of us are in normal ranges now just with a diet/lifestyle change that is surprisingly easy to go with.

This is not a death sentence by any stretch,and its never been a better time to get this diagnosis than now,there is so much more knowledge just in the last few years how to manage this.

Dont panic,this is doable.There are many many worse things than diabetes,this is very manageable nowadays.

 

[Resurgam]

Were you told what your Hba1c was at diagnosis, or your blood glucose?
Those are the numbers of interest rather than weight, which will usually reduce if you get those numbers down towards more normal levels.
Quite a few people on the forum have concentrated on eating a low carb diet, and using a meter to check on the effects of meals. It might be quite a shock to the system to stop eating the normal levels of carbohydrate, but I seem able to live quite happily on salads and stir fries with meat, fish, eggs etc. and coffee with cream, oh, and berries, yoghurt and sugar free jellies. By keeping the blood glucose levels to a rise of two whole numbers difference between the just before and 2 hours later tests, for any meal good things seem to happen.
I seem to be stuck at the top end of normal, but I suspect that I have not been able to deal with carbs for quite a long time. A lucky type two can keep normal numbers just by diet, some need tablets or other help - some go on to need insulin - but it is by no means a death sentence. I seem to be fitter and feel a lot better than I did on the low fat high carb diet to lower cholesterol - which failed.

 

[1spuds]

Here is thread you might find helpful.Dont worry about the fasting part right now or the stricter very low carb KETO.... vrs low carb/high fat LCHF diet,both approaches work for some people,we are all different (those are something you may or may not incorporate at a later date in the journey),and look at the diet changes and results.

The easiest approach for most here is to start at LCHF and see where it goes.

You arent on any meds for type2 yet are you?

This will affect what we will tell you that we did on our journeys.If on meds Dr is going to have to know if you make diet changes.Folks will explain that too as you progress on your plan.

Its a very uplifting and encouraging thread.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/another-slightly-freaked-out-newbie.166454/page-3

 

[Route 66]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse? Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated

Welcome
I am nine weeks in from being diagnosed and it is very very scary when someone tells you

My eyes have been very blurry some days, but it will get better.
I had my retinopathy test for my eyes three weeks ago and received the results through the post today. I was very relieved to find out that despite the blurriness, I got a clean bill of health on the eyes. I am sure that once you have this test it will help put your mind at ease.
I have been told that the blurriness will get better soon.

This is a great site where you will find a wealth of information and lots of friendly people who offer great advice.

Good luck and I am sure that you will find that day by day things will improve as I have found.

 

[bulkbiker]

Getting the diagnosis is great.
Now it means you can take control and regain your health.
You'll learn loads of new things and get to hang out with us lot!

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse? Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated

It feels like a death sentence, I know... Thought I had one foot in the grave when diagnosed. Turns out it gave me a new lease on life. It helps to know what's going on, why things are going wrong, so you can actually do something about it. You don't have to be a victim to this condition. You have a say in it.

Your eyes have been filled with sugar all this time, and your brain compensated for the distortion to your lens. Now you're getting lower bloodsugars, your eyesight'll be blurry for a bit as your brain has to quit the compensating, so you might want to get cheap reading specs for a week or two. There'll be a retinopathy test coming, and all that... You'll be thoroughly checked out. Breathe... All of this is normal, and you will be okay.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ Have a read there, at dietdoctor.com, at diabetes.co.uk and Dr. Jason Fung's the Diabetes Code. It's a steep learning curve, but you don't have to get everything right overnight.

Just remember, you WILL be alright.
Jo

 

[Dj75]

Great thanks for the advice

Welcome
I am nine weeks in from being diagnosed and it is very very scary when someone tells you

My eyes have been very blurry some days, but it will get better.
I had my retinopathy test for my eyes three weeks ago and received the results through the post today. I was very relieved to find out that despite the blurriness, I got a clean bill of health on the eyes. I am sure that once you have this test it will help put your mind at ease.
I have been told that the blurriness will get better soon.

This is a great site where you will find a wealth of information and lots of friendly people who offer great advice.

Good luck and I am sure that you will find that day by day things will improve as I have found.

 

[Dj75]

Fab thank you

It feels like a death sentence, I know... Thought I had one foot in the grave when diagnosed. Turns out it gave me a new lease on life. It helps to know what's going on, why things are going wrong, so you can actually do something about it. You don't have to be a victim to this condition. You have a say in it.

Your eyes have been filled with sugar all this time, and your brain compensated for the distortion to your lens. Now you're getting lower bloodsugars, your eyesight'll be blurry for a bit as your brain has to quit the compensating, so you might want to get cheap reading specs for a week or two. There'll be a retinopathy test coming, and all that... You'll be thoroughly checked out. Breathe... All of this is normal, and you will be okay.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ Have a read there, at dietdoctor.com, at diabetes.co.uk and Dr. Jason Fung's the Diabetes Code. It's a steep learning curve, but you don't have to get everything right overnight.

Just remember, you WILL be alright.
Jo

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Hi i was diagnosed with type 2 last thursday and feel like ive been given a death sentence. Im am emotional wreck and very confused. Im overweight so trying to diet. Im worried about my eyes being blurry will this get better or worse?

Hi, welcome to the forum. Treat this as a wake up call and that it's something to be aware of sooner, rather than later. An opportunity to take action and be in charge of your health outcomes. It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom.

For me, there were two additional blood tests that were very useful. A c-peptide test which tells me how well my pancreas is doing and in my case it was and still is in the normal range. The other test is an insulin resistance test and the number that they come up with is an indicator of how much your body is resisting insulin, 1 is ideal, my has varied from 1.7 to 2.4. The problem is that you will not be be routinely given these tests unless you're lucky and have a nice GP. I pay for my own tests.

Insulin resistance, apart from being one of the causes of type II is also associated with being overweight. The explanation I have read is that your body produces more insulin to overcome the insulin resistance and insulin is the fat storing hormone so you're more inclined to gain weight.

You will have noticed on this forum that a lot of people lower the amount of carbohydrate in their diet, despite NICE guidelines, the eatwell plate and the advice of quite a lot of our GP and DNs. The NICE guideline is that about 1/3 of our calories should be in the form of carbohydrate (this number may vary slightly). As a very rough guideline, that's about 800 calories and at 4 calories per gram of carb, that's about 200gms of carb (I did say roughly).

Different forum members will cut their carbs by different amounts, I keep mine below 50gms per day, but some will go lower, some can manage higher. It's going to be different.