1 month into T2

[MrB72]

So long story short my wife spotted a few signs having a T1 father and suggested I visit the local GP for a check-up back in early December.


One week later my urine and fasting blood sample came back and on the 11th December 2017 I was diagnosed as a T2 with high blood pressure and high cholesterol.


December 2017

Weight 104kg

Height 5ft 8”

BP 153/90

HbA1c 113 (17.3)


Doctor prescribed

1 x 500mg of Metformin three times a day

1 x 80mg Gliclazide twice daily

1 x 2.5mg Rampril once daily


Fatty liver scan booked in for January 22nd and an appointment was arranged with the Diabetes Nurse the following day 12th December.


She checked my feet and explained foot care and issued a wavesense Jazz Blood glucose meter and talked me through dietary changes and instructed testing bloods before meals and driving.


She also talked through symptoms of Hypo’s and the effects of the pills I was about to start taking and informed me I needed to contact DVLA regarding my licence.


My d-nurse suggested I start the metaformin at 1 pill a day for the first week, two pills a day the second week and three a day the third week suggesting this may help avoid an upset stomach. (fair play to her I only had an initial 2 days of loose bowels)


She also booked me in with the dietician for March 2018 and arranged a follow up appointment for two weeks later with herself and printed off a small forest of information and sent me on my way.


If I’m honest I came home that day a little shell shocked and sat in denial for a couple of days.


Then I started stalking the forums here, which after reading many posts I realized all my emotions and fears had been aired many times.


Dropped all the sugary food groups and started a low card regime of around 120g a day.

One month in and I’m down just over 2.5kg in weight and trying to average at least 12000 steps (5.5 Miles) a day.


My morning BS are slowing coming down from the initial 12’s and 13’s and I flit around 5.2-7.3 dependent on my previous night’s meals which I am now monitoring 2 hrs after eating.


My diabetes nurse took another blood sample last week and today 15/01/18 my Doctor said my result had come down and reduced my Gliclazide to one a day

January 2018

Weight 101.5kg

Height 5ft 8”

BP 140/80

HbA1c 73 (11.5)


Lets see what I can reverse or change in the next 11 months.


Many thanks for the wealth of information in these forums.

 

[Liam1955]

Welcome @MrB72 to the Forum .

@daisy1 will post on this Thread some basic and useful information. Have a good read and ask any questions you have.

 

[Rachox]

Hi MrB72. Well done on your achievements so far! It sounds like you’ve really got to grips with your Diabetes. I found this forum in a shell shocked state the night of my diagnosis. In fact my first post was entitled “Shell Shocked”. This forum enabled me to get my HbA1c down from 70 to a non diabetic number in four months. It’s good here isn’t it?
I’ll tag in @daisy1 for her introductory info, in case you haven’t seen it yet.

 

[archersuz]

Welcome @MrB72 . Sounds like you know what you're doing already so keep doing it!

 

[Lauriem1967]

Wow, you’re doing amazing! Five yourself a big pat on the back for these fantastic changes in your life.

I was diagnosed just 4 days after you, on the 15th of December. Yup, shell shocked!

This place is so helpful, I’m glad I found it.

Keep up the good spirits and the good food and excercise plan, amazing!

 

[Lauriem1967]

Wow, you’re doing amazing! Give yourself a big pat on the back for these fantastic changes in your life.

I was diagnosed just 4 days after you, on the 15th of December. Yup, shell shocked!

This place is so helpful, I’m glad I found it.

Keep up the good spirits and the good food and excercise plan, amazing!

 

[daisy1]

@MrB72
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.