Type 2 overwhelmed and lost

[Joandollie]

Hi everyone
So please bear with me as this could be a long post. I was diagnosed type 2 about 8 years ago. In all that time I have somehow managed to stay off meds. However, although I was pretty anal about testing and following what the DN and doctor said, each subsequent test came back well within 'normal' ranges (normal, non diabetic) and I stopped being so fastidious. When I queried my results with a new doctor she said it was impossible to be a 'little bit diabetic' but then asked my permission to investigate, which she did. The next time I saw her she said she had checked all of my test results and other than the first test for diabetes, every test came back normal. I've had eye checks done very year and feet etc are fine. I haven't had bloods done for a while though so I've starting testing again and coming up high for me. I have gained weight over time and I am currently 4 weeks into Slimming World with good results so far. However I don't feel like I know enough about tests, results, the impact sw may have etc etc. If my sugars have been running high for a while without me knowing, would I be showing any physical signs? I apologise if this is long winded and to some of you this may seem a little late for action. I guess I got complacent because the doctor told me everything was 'normal'. I have a cold and a sore throat atm so feel pretty grotty. What impact, if any, would this have on my bg? I do feel I should know all of this already and probably did when first diagnosed. Any and all advice would be gratefully received. Jo

 

[asparagusp]

Welcome. Illness will take it's toll on blood sugar. Drink plenty of water.

Daisy has just popped out but I'm sure she'll be here shortly with her welcomie pack!

 

[Squire Fulwood]

. If my sugars have been running high for a while without me knowing, would I be showing any physical signs?

Not necessarily. Many people are diagnosed with diabetes when they went to the surgery on another matter which suggests they weren't complaining about diabetes. It is unwise to lose sight of your blood sugars since insidious damage is caused if your sugar is high.

I can't say I have ever tested during a cold but others who have say that it raises their blood sugar levels.

 

[Joandollie]

Thank you for responding

 

[KateA]

Hi Jo,
Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of infoirmation here, which may initially add to your confusion, but stick with it. Two things to remember, we all react differently to our condition and a lot of the stuff posted here is based on personal experience. It is unfortunate that our medical support want to lump us all together as identical but that is not exclusive to diabetes. As others will no doubt advise, get your hands on a meter and take control of your monitoring yourself. There is plenty of information about meters, testing and results on this website. Absolutely fantastic that you are getting results regarding weight loss, that could help but is not the only factor to consider. Look into low carbing, again lots of information on this forum, it works for a lot of us.

I do believe that illness can affect your blood sugar, in fact I think that happened to me. I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic and subsequently became ill with a quite severe infection which hospitalised me for 4 months last year. It is very likely that I had the infection prior to my diabetes.

Now, my hbA1c has been within the non diabetic range for almost a year. I still test and still follow a low carb diet. There is a school of thought that I may not have been diabetic in the first place but really who knows? Low carb is now a habit I like and testing a habit I have gotten used to.

I would recommend that you test your bloods yourself regularly to see your reaction to the foods you eat. That gives you more information if you need to consult a GP regarding how you are feeling. Please don't just presume anything about the condition, arm yourself with knowledge to enable you to take control.

Read and ask lots of questions, you have a huge support system right here.

 

[Joandollie]

Thank you. I now have a new meter and have bought buckets of test trips which arrived today, and plan to get things moving in the right direction. I may ask stupid questions along the way though so be warned

 

[ExD]

Oh my dear, I'm not surprised you're feeling overwhelmed and I'm sorry I have no answers - but one thing you will get from all of us on here is empathetic suggestions and constructive help.
I don't know if there is a specific test for diabetes type 2 apart from abnormally high blood sugar readings, but as a complete beginner I'd have thought even people who aren't diabetic could get high readings in certain circumstances. I do know that my OH was diagnosed when at the GPs for a completely different matter, and he came home in a state of total panic saying he had to lose 3 stone and was going to die young. (He was 70!). I was furious when I saw a print out of his hba1c (I forget what it was) but there was no need to frighten the bloke in order to make him take notice. I wonder if this has happened with you?
You don't sound as though you have anything to worry about too much, and a few months on the straight and narrow should settle things down soon.
Do keep us posted.

 

[Joandollie]

Thanks for your reply ExD. The original test they gave me was bloods, bottle of glucose, wait two hours and (try very hard not to be sick), more bloods. Voila. You are diabetic. As I said in my original post, one GP was flabbergasted when she checked my regular results and they were all 'normal'.
Any suggestions on diet? I'm doing ok on slimming world which is naturally low fat, but their carbohydrates are not restricted and its so easy to over indulge. I've seen all the lovely recipes and am thinking I may adapt them to suit......

 

[ExD]

Oh dear. My bible is based on LCHF which stands for Lowb Carb High Fat which your Slimming World instructor will not be happy about - the thinking being that we need the higher fat content to give energy as we're cutting down very severely on carbs.
Some people (me included) have found losing weight on this LCHF regime quite difficult so I have interpreted it to mean Low Carb HIGHER Fat, but have only lost a pound or two. If Slimming world is working I should stick with it but mention to your leader that you are diabetic and perhaps show her a printout of http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/low-carb-explained-in-60-seconds.98116/ which is also on the top of these pages as a 'sticky' pinned thread.
Dr Cavan's book ;Reverse your Diabetes' which although somewhat optimistic, is quite reasonable from Amazon and is helpful too. Christmas is coming!

Edited by Mod

 

[AndBreathe]

Thank you. I now have a new meter and have bought buckets of test trips which arrived today, and plan to get things moving in the right direction. I may ask stupid questions along the way though so be warned

Joandollie, when you say you're doing fine on Slimming World, do you mean you're losing weight, or that your fingerprick tests are fine?

Whilst a great many T2 posters have adopted the LCHF way of eating, the site supports those who wish to adopt whichever diet regime they choose. For those who would like to adopt reduced carbing, the site has a structures online Low Carb Programme, which is free to join, and works with you to reduce your carbs in a managed way. If you are considering LC, then it could be worth a look.

@ExD, if I could remark, briefly, on your post. To reiterate the above statements to Joandollie, I would just say that "Our bible here is based on LCHF...." statement could be read as suggesting it's absolutely the only way forward here, on this site. That's not the case. That a meaningful percentage of T2 have adopted the LCHF way of eating, is true, but it's no rulebook.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. First the GPs comment about being 'a bit diabetic' not being possible is stupid but a common view. There is a complete spectrum of blood sugar levels from 'normal' to seriously diabetic. NICE has defined arbitrary, but sensible, levels which define being diabetic for records and treatment purposes. Good that you will be testing more as diabetes is an insidious condition and often has few symptoms until too late. The best overall measure for blood sugar is the HBa1C test. This website and others can guide you on good levels for the HBa1C and meter blood tests.

 

[Indy51]

Since nobody has tagged @daisy1, I'll do the honours.

Welcome to the forum

 

[daisy1]

@Joandollie

Hello Joandollie and welcome to the forum Here is the information which we give to new members and I hope that you will find it useful. It gives a lot of info on low carbing and also the link to the Low Carb Program. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to 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 well over 210,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.

 

[Joandollie]

Joandollie, when you say you're doing fine on Slimming World, do you mean you're losing weight, or that your fingerprick tests are fine?

Joandollie, when you say you're doing fine on Slimming World, do you mean you're losing weight, or that your fingerprick tests are fine?

Whilst a great many T2 posters have adopted the LCHF way of eating, the site supports those who wish to adopt whichever diet regime they choose. For those who would like to adopt reduced carbing, the site has a structures online Low Carb Programme, which is free to join, and works with you to reduce your carbs in a managed way. If you are considering LC, then it could be worth a look.

@ExD, if I could remark, briefly, on your post. To reiterate the above statements to Joandollie, I would just say that "Our bible here is based on LCHF...." statement could be read as suggesting it's absolutely the only way forward here, on this site. That's not the case. That a meaningful percentage of T2 have adopted the LCHF way of eating, is true, but it's no rulebook.[/QUOTE

Whilst a great many T2 posters have adopted the LCHF way of eating, the site supports those who wish to adopt whichever diet regime they choose. For those who would like to adopt reduced carbing, the site has a structures online Low Carb Programme, which is free to join, and works with you to reduce your carbs in a managed way. If you are considering LC, then it could be worth a look.

@ExD, if I could remark, briefly, on your post. To reiterate the above statements to Joandollie, I would just say that "Our bible here is based on LCHF...." statement could be read as suggesting it's absolutely the only way forward here, on this site. That's not the case. That a meaningful percentage of T2 have adopted the LCHF way of eating, is true, but it's no rulebook.

 

[Joandollie]

Hi AndBreathe.

I meant slimming world is working from a weight loss point of view. I have only just restarted finger prick testing. Coincides with me having a cold and sore throat so I'm not sure how accurate testing will be right now.

 

[Pinkorchid]

Yes a lot of people with diabetes and weight to loose do well on SW and I have heard others say they will adapt the eating plan to suit you as a diabetic. A lot here will say you don't need slimming groups to loose weight just do a LCHF diet but for some people it is the face to face contact...there is nothing like a cup of tea and a chat with people who are doing the same as you and for many is the incentive to keep loosing the weight so anything that helps that is good

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi AndBreathe.

I meant slimming world is working from a weight loss point of view. I have only just restarted finger prick testing. Coincides with me having a cold and sore throat so I'm not sure how accurate testing will be right now.

it's quite possible your cold may be pushing your numbers up a bit, but I would continue with your plans to test nonetheless. I've re-scanned the thread, so forgive me if I missed it, but most T2 folks find their numbers nudge up a bit, maybe around 1 (that's 1, not 0.1), rather than up by 10. I say that with the usual caveat that we're all different. Personally, I'm fortunate not to suffer many colds, but should i have one, my numbers only nudge up around 0.2-0.3, which in the bigger picture, I personally, consider to be immaterial.

Good luck with it all.

 

[ExD]

Joandollie, you seem to be on the right way to success, and I understand a bad cold can give worrying readings so maybe let us know how you're doing in a few days when you're feeling better.
AndBreathe, I had to scroll back, as I thought, from what you wrote, that I'd mistakenly make a sweeping statement on behalf of the other members which was not my intention, however what I actually said was that' MY bible' ..... and not 'OUR bible' as you'd read. I thought that the OP might like to discuss this with her Slimming World leader to get her recommendations about LCHF and the SW programme with regard to her diabetes and taking into account the good results she's getting with weight loss.
Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

 

[Joandollie]

Good Morning all and thanks for your input, it is appreciated.
Just to clarify as I feel I may have unintentionally mislead about Slimming World. Whilst I am following SW, its an online group and I don't attend class. Therefore although I am losing weight, I will happily try a different way if it means keeping my bloods at a decent level. At the moment I'm in 'suck it and see' mode because of this blasted cold. I've been feeling under the weather for a few weeks but am in full on cold mode right now. My plan is to continue with SW for now and cut back on the carbs whilst testing to see if I can get numbers down this way. This morning my fasting reading was 12 and it was 10.6 before bed last night. So far, in the few days I have re-started testing, the lowest has been 8.2 and highest 13.9. I know these are not massively high but they are not within ideal range either.