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Hello from a n00b.

E

evilkitten

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8
Hi -

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes six weeks ago, and have been reading back through the years of posts on this forum to get advice. I thought it was probably time to share my own story.

I'd been feeling a bit rubbish for a while, and was bullied into doing a private blood test with Thriva. I though this would be a waste of time and result in holes in my wallet and finger, but the results came bact to say I had a HbA1C of 60, and should probably talk to my GP as a matter of urgency. I rang my GP practice to get an appointment, and was diverted to the diabetic nurse. She rang me, I explained that I'd done a blood test and had a result of 60, and she prescribed Metformin on the back of that. Total call time, less than five minutes. I then received some T1 leaflets from her through the post, which was spectacularly unhelpful.

I've had the prescription filled (having been told by the DN it was free, but it turned out I had to pay for it). By that point, I'd done a certain amount of googling, and have landed on this forum. Many thanks to you all for your cumulative advice.

Situation six weeks ago: 44y, 5'10" bloke, 86kg. Body fat 27%, HbA1C of 60.

I haven't taken the Metformin, but I have:

- purchased a glucose meter and many strips,
- got some weighing scales (wifi ones, because this is a good excuse to get some tech),
- got a fitbit
- downloaded the mysugr app
- added a few books to my bookshelf (Fung, Mosley and a couple of low carb cookbooks).

The plan is to get down to 70kg and remove a high proportion of carbs from my diet permanently. I'm planning to stay off the drugs for as long as possible. My job is quite sedentary, and while I run and cycle a lot, I'm actively ensuring that I'm exercising, trying to do aroud 12.5K steps a day.

Removing carbs from my diet was initially painful. The week-long hangover feeling finally subsided, and I was very pleased with the 4kg loss. This pleasure was slightly tempered by discovering it was all water. There are no biscuits in the house, but I'm eating a lot of peanuts to compensate. my weight is still dropping though, and staying at around 1000 calories a day isn't proving too tricky as I'm not actually hungry. I've done a few days where I've only eaten a single evening meal, and feel better for it.

Situation now: Still a 44y, 5'10" bloke, but now at 76kg. Body fat 19%. Blood glucose hovering around 6.1 on average.

I've noticed my BG level rises if I sit at my desk all day, so I've been ensuring I go for a walk round the block every couple of hours. Not noticed any spikes, but then I'm not eating anything that should spike it.

I read that diabetics should have an eye test for retinopathy. I wear contacts normally, and when I went for my contact lens check up, I mentioned I was now diabetic. He took a pic of the back of my eye and didn't see any problems, which is reassuring. I gather feet are potentially also an issue, but I'm not clear on what I need to be looking for there.

Any advice? Things seem to be going in the right direction, but I'm still pretty miserable about the whole thing, and not really accepted that my lifestyle needs to change permanently.

Thanks for listening.
 
Well done so far. I don't know quite how it works, but you should not have to pay for metformin. You would be lucky to get a meter on the nhs, but you should not pay vat. Your surgery should arrange retinopathy and foot test on an annual basis.

If you were diagnosed during the chaos of the pandemic something may have gone pear shaped. I would make a phone call to the surgery.
 
Hi @evilkitten, are you in the UK first of all? If so, I'm betting that you have had to pay for your first prescription because you haven't got the NHS free prescription card? Make sure you order one and you should be able to claim back your prescription costs.
 
@evilkitten - To receive free prescriptions (unless you 60+, very young or on certain benefits - I might have missed something), your Doc needs to sign a form which is then sent off and you would be issues with the appropriate card. So, best get back to the Nurse.

If you still have the receipt for your prescription you filled, you may be able to have your fee refunded, but don't bet on it.

In other news, I'm astonished your GP was willing to diagnosed based on a test not done by them. My GP will look at private test results, but if they are awry, they will always repeat them themselves.
 
Thanks for the comments. I'll get back to the DN on the free prescription card. I was also a bit surprised that she'd prescribe on what I told them, but apparently they're not doing any blood testing due to covid. Same for urine testing, so I bought some multi-stix. No issues there except for high ketones, but that's not surprising given the low carb diet.
 
Peanuts - indeed, they are legumes and not nuts. Good knowledge for a pub quiz there! They aren't spiking me, but I am trying to wean myself off them as they're so high calorie.
 
evilkitten said:
Thanks for the comments. I'll get back to the DN on the free prescription card. I was also a bit surprised that she'd prescribe on what I told them, but apparently they're not doing any blood testing due to covid. Same for urine testing, so I bought some multi-stix. No issues there except for high ketones, but that's not surprising given the low carb diet.
Click to expand...

In the words on my Endo, when my GP resisted doing some bloods he (Consultant) wanted done went along the lines of "there's more going on in the world than COVID. People still need treatment for other things".
 
In my area they never stopped doing the regular blood tests, just decreased the number of tests done per hour, told people to wear masks and to keep a distance.
I had been originally scheduled for an Hba1C + lipids in late March, but delayed it until mid May since I'd had a shielding letter even though I was already back down into the pre-diabetic range and still just under 70yrs old.
 
My surgery stopped all 'routine' appointments. I saw someone once after I developed Bell's Palsy during lockdown. They just restarted this month and I had my delayed annual check this week, having missed the planned 6 month check in April. So a quick look at my feet and my bloods done, but no sign of my annual eye check at the hospital yet or the full foot check by the podiatry service.
If your surgery hasn't seen you yet to organise all the checks remind them.
 
Many thanks for all your comments. Sounds like I need to be a bit more 'proactive' with my GP surgery.

As I said in my opening post, I've noticed that my blood sugar level rises if I don't do anything and just sit at my desk. As an example, it was 5.4 when I got up this morning, but is now 7.2. I haven't eaten anything at all in that time.

I'm dealing with it by drinking water and going for a vigorous walk, but is this rise normal?
 
Your liver is being 'helpful' and providing glucose in case you need to trek for miles to find something to eat, or chase down breakfast.
I reassure mine by eating when I get up, and then I can go all day until eating again in the evening.
Maybe try various options - I have some meat or eggs and cheese with about 10gm of carbs as that seems to work best for me.
 
I'll try that, thanks. Maybe going for a walk wasn't the right thing to do - my liver might respond by being more helpful, and producing more glucose tomorrow. That's the start of the slippery slope to having to run a daily marathon!
 
Hello and welcome @evilkitten you seem to be doing everything right and heading in the right direction. Any questions just ask - they are a friendly, knowledgeable, helpful group on here - well done on getting your numbers down! and yes it is a permanent lifestyle change - if we go back to our old ways then the numbers will go back up.
 
evilkitten said:
Hi -

Situation six weeks ago: 44y, 5'10" bloke, 86kg. Body fat 27%, HbA1C of 60.

Situation now: Still a 44y, 5'10" bloke, but now at 76kg. Body fat 19%. Blood glucose hovering around 6.1 on average.

Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...

It's all a bit of a learning curve. I got diagnosed back in March (HbA1c - 89) just before lockdown. Fun time indeed. I'm 51 was a bit overweight (105kg) and not doing a lot of exercise. I went on a low carb lifestyle. I have never really done diets and used to keep fit till my mid 40's. I started walking most days and averaging at one stage about 5k a day and cut out as much carbs as possible.No bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and keeping my intake of carbs low per meal generally. Yes headaches were bad to start. Fast forward 6 months. Now 82kg and happy with maintaining that (was about 25 last time I last weighed that!). HbA1c was 36 in July. Still walking although that has reduced now back to work properly and I still keep the main carbs out with very occasionally having some bread. Pasta is often chickpea pasta, rice is cauliflower rice, sometimes I have sweet potato chips as a treat. Not really missing the carbs now most days although I do find if I have eaten too many carbs that makes me want to eat more. I try and keep some snacks like nuts etc available if I do get a bit hungry.

Just had my first eye test in August so it can take a while with the new precautions around. Next HbA1c due in October.
 
I had the eye test earlier this week. Not received the letter yet, but the nurse doing it didn't seem concerned with what she saw.

I've also taken another HbA1c test (6 weeks after diagnosis, and I'm aware that it's a three month average, but a weighted average), and I'm down to 40. I celebrated with red wine and cheese :-). Cholesterol was also much improved.

How much support do people get from their GP practice? I can't help feeling mine is a bit ****, and I'm wondering whether it's worth changing.
 
evilkitten said:
I had the eye test earlier this week. Not received the letter yet, but the nurse doing it didn't seem concerned with what she saw.

I've also taken another HbA1c test (6 weeks after diagnosis, and I'm aware that it's a three month average, but a weighted average), and I'm down to 40. I celebrated with red wine and cheese :). Cholesterol was also much improved.

How much support do people get from their GP practice? I can't help feeling mine is a bit ****, and I'm wondering whether it's worth changing.
Click to expand...
Snap .... my GP practice is xxxx too. I am surprised when people on here have been getting Hb1Ac's done - I haven't had mine done for about a year and a half now (supposed to be yearly) and well my eye appointment at the hospital (last done in October and supposed to be 6 monthly) was cancelled April and July and has now been rescheduled for November if it happens. I think if anyone has a good practice they are very lucky and I think many on here will probably agree most are not so good :banghead:
 
I should say that while the eye test was GP arranged, the HbA1c and cholesterol blood testing is something I've had done myself. Having read the NICE guidelines on what should happen in terms of diagnosis and next steps, the eye test is the only box they've ticked. Their CQC rating is 'inadequate' in all categories. I don't know how much store to set by that - I'm more familiar with OFSTED, and I know the limitations there - but together with my personal experience, I'm thinking that this might be a good time to find a new practice.
 
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