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Just found out today. Help & advice appreciated

Marieukxx

Marieukxx

Well-Known Member
Messages
240
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Diet only
I'll try and be brief. basically I am 35 and overweight. My weight piled on after always being very thin at a size 8 to going up to 15 stone 6lbs. This was all due to severe depression and I've been this way for about 4 years now.

Last year I started getting really stiff legs which I put down to being unfit. Then this year I started getting sharp stabbing pains through my legs like electric shocks but mainly when lying down and my legs were still stiff like boards and I was shuffling around. I also started to get tingling like pins and needles in my fingers. Doc said it was carpel tunnel and just muscle spasams.

Soon after that visit to the doc my appetite went. I put this down to a nasal spray I was prescribed for 2 months for fluid in my ears. I just assumed it may have affected my taste buds. It didn't bother me because I started losing weight. People noticed I had lost weight and my clothes were loose so I decided to step on the scales and had come down to 13 stone 4lbs.

But then in the last month I started to feel really really ill. I have no energy at all, boiling hot all the time. I have a very short fuse snapping at everyone. I feel dizzy all the time. My legs started tingling so bad all the way from the bottoms of my feet up my legs just buzzing like mad non stop. My hands are the same but not as bad. I even hadvethe pins and needles in the left side of my groin and my face! I have twitches all over my body that last months. One in between my thumb and index finger has been constant for months. I've been shaking and trembling some days I always bite my mouth eathing by accident all the time and in my sleep. I'm twitching in my sleep, my arms will get a jolt and twitch up. The final straw was when my legs and feet were tingling so ferociously it felt like they were vibrating or buszzing and could take off! I then realised while in the bath shaving my legs that the insides of my legs are numb! So went to the doctor last friday in desperate need of help. He took me seriously this time sne ordered a blood test which I had on wednesday.

I had a call from the surgery Thursday to say results were back and my doctor wanted to see me about them. I was given an appointment for 9am today .
The doctor said my blood sugar levels are dangerously high and at diabetic level. He asked what's been going on in my life lately straight away.

He asked if I drink which I do and how much. He says it could be so high because of alcohol. I hadn't had any alcohol for 5 days before the blood test. I told him this or He ordered an immediate blood test to check my sugar level again. I was wisked through to the nurse who did it there and then. Test results will be back monday.

He also made me an appointment for 8.40 at a nearby practice (same surgery they just have another a few miles away) It's to see some diabetic clinic and will go through my diet and stuff apparently. He got me a cancellation and advised I take it so am getting seen quickly.

In the meantime I am not to drink, which I haven't done for the last week. I've been given vitamins to take and some tablets for the neuropathy. The tingling and dizziness has eased a lot since I started eating breakfast lunch and dinner last Friday. I force myself even though I am not at all hungry and fancy nothing. But my legs are still numb and a little tingly in certain positions plus very achy sore now.

I don't know what's what to be honest. What I should or shouldn't eat or drink or if I am actually diabetic or not. I asked him and he said the sugars are at diabetic levels and I could very well be but didn't say yes or no so I'm confused. Will the next blood test be a definitive answer to that?
What will happen at the diabetic clinic appointment on Monday? Am I diabetic or what?

He mentioned my weight and how overweight I am and that's probably the cause which makes me feel even worse.
 
Hi and welcome. It must be worrying at the moment being in that waiting phase. The main thing you can do whilst waiting is to reduce your carbohydrate intake as it's the carbs that exacerbate blood sugar and weight. Set yourself a daily limit of, say, 150 gm/day and see how you go. If you are confirmed diabetic you will need to get hold of a glucose meter which will help you determine which foods affect you and by how much. Type 2 diabetics aren't normally given these by the NHS so be prepared to obtain your own. Have low-GI carbs when you can and don't worry about fats as they don't affect blood sugar in any measurable amount. Protein and veg are fine but minimise root veg and minimise really sugary fruit. Hopefully at your appointment you will be confirmed diabetic or not. The HBa1C blood test which hopefully you had or will have is a good indicator of what meds if any to be prescribed. Diet remains the key thing. Sadly I have to say to beware of NHS diet advice as it can vary from good to appalling. Ignore any advice to have starchy carbs with every meal and don't worry about having reasonable amounts of fat. You may be offered statins; if you read the press you know you will need to decide whether to have them or not. They have nothing to do with diabetes. If diagnosed you will have an annual GP review at a minimum and possibly every 3 or 6 months to start with. You will have annual retinopathy checks. Do come back with more questions after the appointment. BTW alcohol is not a problem for T2 diabetics in sensible quantities. I don't know where the GP got that info from?
 
hi, welcome :)

ask shorter questions lol, my brain shuts down after 3 lines :) best of luck
 
Thank you so much. My glucose level was 13.7 but I hadn't fasted, I'd had breakfast that morning. So if I aim to stick to a total of 150g per day of carbs that will help?

Someone advised me already (I made two posts because I realised I had posted in the wrong section, sorry) about carbs and was very helpful but then looking at getting some shopping online I saw some meals and fresh soups that like totalled 25g for a meal in carbs. Is that ok then? As long as my total adds up less than 150g Should I avoid all bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, crisps? I do like a jacket potato and a few roasties with my sunday dinner :-( And I love my crisps. Do I need to avoid all that totally? It's very daunting having to cut everything out.

Thank you for the alcohol advise once on an even keel I would like to be able to enjoy a drink now and again at the weekend. I just assumed they would provide all diiabetics with a monitor but if they don't I will buy one. I'll come back here for advice on what to get.
 
In my opinion 150g a day is too much. Others may disagree but not many I suspect. I started at 126g a day but soon realised it wasn't working for my blood sugars. Since then I have dropped to 70g a day and could really do with a bit less. I'm afraid you will probably have to do without your baked spuds, crisps, rice, pasta, cereals and bread, and any tinned or packaged foods that contain these - including soups. I can manage one slice of Hovis Wholemeal 7 seeded bread (14 carbs) with plenty of butter a meal but not 2 slices, and not any other sort of "normal bread". I can manage 2 small new potatoes or 2 small roasties (roasted in duck fat), but more than 2 and my levels shoot right up. Some people can't manage any at all. You won't know unless you test with a meter just what you can manage. For now, stick to low carb choices until you start to test..
 
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