Feel a failure

[Wend]

I am newly diagnosed & still feel overwhelmed by it. I feel such a failure as I thought I was following a reasonably healthy lifestyle. I feel embarrassed by it & still have not told my family. I am visiting the Diabetes UK website often as I want to feel I belong. Never felt such a wimp.

 

[Mrs Vimes]

You are not a wimp! You tell people when you are ready. Tbh though if you are type 1 on insulin I'd let people know asap because things can get a bit wobbly to begin with.
If type 2 and not on insulin it's not as important to tell straight away.
Me? I can't hold me own water so everyone knows.
Last thing you should be feeling is embarrassed whatever type. You have a condition that is important to control now. If others are uncomfortable about it is their problem.
Good to hear from you! Keep posting.

 

[Brillpaul]

Never! Just found out and equally surprised. It wasn't my fault. Just follow the best advise and rise to the challenge. Bless

 

[amgrundy]

We all felt overwhelmed with it at some time. But you or anyone else should not feel a failure. Why? Its just another part of life we have to adapt too. Sure your family would want to know. You do belong, best thing you can do is stick with us all, there are a lot of friendly people on here with good advice for you. Please ask anything you like someone will answer you.

 

[KateA]

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/dont-involve-yourself-in-the-blame-game.21894/

Have a read of this thread and the articles linked. Yes, it is a shock at first but only you can take control of it. I strongly recommend that you do. I was following a low carb high fat diet before my illness and am back on it again. I still get a thrill when I have my morning coffee with cream!

 

[muzza3]

Hi @Wend
I was just as shocked as you when first diagnosed. From memory kept quiet about it for a few days myself while I came to terms with it but was very relieved when I did tell my family.

There is absolutely no failure on your part.

This is a great place to ask any questions you have (there are no silly questions here) and in the time I have been here the help from members has been fantastic

So keep posting and when you are ready take a big breath and let your family know

 

[Scimama]

Hi @Wend welcome to the forum, it can be very scry and a shock when first diagnosed, you are not a failure, if like many of us you took the NHS/government/media advice and ate low-fat high carb diet you were doing the best you could at the time with the information you had at the time. I followed a "healthy" low fat high carb diet all my life until after a T2 diagnosis I found out about how to manage my diabetes from this website.

As you are probably aware the information about how bad sugar is and that fat isn't the enemy is finally getting out - still a long way to go.

I will tag @daisy1 she will give you lots of info which is great for newbies, but don't try to take it all in at once, keep coming on the forum, ask as many questions as you want, remember everyone is different - we are all unique human beings so you will make mistakes but you will learn (lots!!) .

In my opinion the most powerful tool you can get is a blood glucose meter, testing how different foods raise your blood sugar level and by how much helps you keep your levels as stable as you can.

Big hugs

 

[Klangley]

I am newly diagnosed & still feel overwhelmed by it. I feel such a failure as I thought I was following a reasonably healthy lifestyle. I feel embarrassed by it & still have not told my family. I am visiting the Diabetes UK website often as I want to feel I belong. Never felt such a wimp.

Everyone on here will tell you diabetes is nothing to feel embarrassed about. But when I was diagnosed, I felt exactly like you to be honest Wend. In my case there was little doubt in my mind the on-set of diabetes was because I had allowed my weight to steadily creep upwards and was living a sedentary lifestyle. So my embarrassment came from those things.....things that I could have changed. I was kidding myself that I was 'eating well' and that was the most important thing. Problem is I hadn't a clue about what eating well for my body type meant!

I did tell my wife, eventually. And I do recommend you tell some of the people closest to you. In my case my wife has been a fantastic support. We have both altered our diets and we do our daily walk together. It would have been more difficult without that support. I have not told my kids, but will eventually. It is no longer the embarrassment that stops me, it is I don't want to worry them just now (exams etc).

You haven't described your personal circumstances so I don't know if in your case if you have weight to lose. But for just about everyone a change in diet (an avoidance of carbs) and exercise can help. It certainly has in my case. Daisy will be along shortly and will give you some basic information. You are on the right site. I have received fantastic support here. Good luck Mate and welcome to the forum.

 

[Liam1955]

@Wend - Hello and Welcome to the Forum. I too always thought I led a healthy lifestyle (being a Vegetarian) and only weighed 10 stone when I was diagnosed with Type 2 (16 years ago). But, genes had a lot to do with it: my Mother, my younger Brother, both my Grandmothers and even 2 Cousins all had/have type 2. I told everyone that needed to know and when I went onto Insulin I told everyone, and explained to them what assistance to give me if I should go Hypo. You need to tell your immediate family and very close friends and your Boss at work. It is nothing to be ashamed about. If you have any questions? Just post on the forum - we are all here to give support and a friendly helping hand.

 

[daisy1]

@Wend

Hello Wend and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you find it useful and interesting. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 over 150,000 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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.

 

[Robbity]

I am newly diagnosed & still feel overwhelmed by it. I feel such a failure as I thought I was following a reasonably healthy lifestyle. I feel embarrassed by it & still have not told my family. I am visiting the Diabetes UK website often as I want to feel I belong. Never felt such a wimp.

I think most of us feel badly when we are first diagnosed, so you'll definitely have all the sympathy, understanding and friendship you need here. You can no way be a failure when the advice on what is supposed to be a healthy diet, basically to stuff yourself with carbohydrates and cut down on fat, is so badly wrong. The failure is with those who dish out this advice. You can turn things around now and join many of us in our success by eating a decent "healthy for diabetics" diet. If you're already eating a halfway healthy diet just cutting down on carbohydrate intake can work wonders.

Robbity

 

[Sarahkylie88]

I think you are far from a wimp, I think being open and posting a question on the forum is an amazing step in the right direction! X