Type 2 No GP follow up after diagnosis

Mscmhs1

Active Member
Messages
35
I’ll start by saying my GP is great. In fact, actually, she isn’t my designated GP but I see her over anyone else as we’ve developed a good rapport and so feel comfortable talking to her.

We’d been discussing my general health for some time and she recommended losing weight (I’m probably about 3/4 stone overweight and small framed). So it was having a detrimental effect overall.

I’ve been a large drinker all my adult life and so the majority of calories and weight has come from that. I was also experiencing signs of significant liver damage and so I cut down and liver tests return to normal functionality. In fact, I often take significant breaks, but I when I do drink, I drink excessively.

It was about March when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It’s devastated me and I feel very embarrassed. I don’t want to speak about it with friends etc for fear of judgement as I feel there is stigma around type 2. I was also diagnosed with ADHD at a similar time and have been trialling medications which hasn’t been easy (although a food suppressant so every cloud).

Diagnosis came just as covid19 was spreading and lockdown was being enforced. So I wasn’t able to really sit down with my GP to discuss it all and find out what it all means. I’ve tried educating myself by learning the basics. I’m aware that the glucose levels in my blood are so high that the insulin produced to combat it becomes less effective or is unable to cope with demand so to speak.

But I don’t really understand testing my bloods. I do it randomly at multiple times during the day. I haven’t yet found any associated trends because I don’t know what I am looking for. I’m starting to become quite fearful of eating at all because I’m scaring myself with the long term consequences.

My last Hba1c was 53. I’m not being medicated for it, just been told to make lifestyle changes. Today I’ve purposefully not eaten anything to see if the bloods remain the same but they don’t. I have gone without food for twenty four hours. After about 10 hours, they were about 8.8 but despite no food they continued to rise before going back down to 6.9 on the last check.

I was referred for the annual eye test (all fine, no signs of damage) and I also had an annual check up with a nurse who checked my feet, measurements and stats. She did not express major concern but did stress I needed to cut down drinking and change my eating habits.

But that’s all I’ve had. Is that all we get to understand such a major disease that’s likely to have huge benefit. No one has told me what ideal blood levels are, at what times, how often I should be checking and what I am looking for. I feel a bit left to deal with it without knowing how. I’ve learned a bit but still feel so in the dark.

Anyone else feel this way?

Sorry for the rant. Felt I needed to vent. Hope you won’t mind.
 

miahara

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,019
Type of diabetes
Type 3c
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @Mscmhs1 . You are in exactly the same boat as countless others in being somewhat dismayed with your diagnosis.
Now, to start with, a diagnosis of T2D ought not to carry any stigma apart from that from those who are ignorant and they don't really matter at all. The fact that you are also trying to manage ADHD makes you challenge a bit more difficult. However the numbers you are recording are actually pretty darn good and if I could manage to get those I'd be a very happy chappie.
It's a really shame you can't get a decent face to face chat with your GP, but the nurse if a specialsit diabetes nurse possibly understands diabetes better than your GP. (my GP was very nice but cluesless).
As far as testing goes, I'd suggest you test just before meals and then 1 hour and 2 hours (or 3 hrs) after, keep a record of the levels and record your carb intake and that will let you see how various food impact on your levels.
No apology needed for a rant - it's not a bad thing to vent now and then!
Here's a link to a chart that may help clarify levels _
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
 
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Mscmhs1

Active Member
Messages
35
Hi @Mscmhs1 . You are in exactly the same boat as countless others in being somewhat dismayed with your diagnosis.
Now, to start with, a diagnosis of T2D ought not to carry any stigma apart from that from those who are ignorant and they don't really matter at all. The fact that you are also trying to manage ADHD makes you challenge a bit more difficult. However the numbers you are recording are actually pretty darn good and if I could manage to get those I'd be a very happy chappie.
It's a really shame you can't get a decent face to face chat with your GP, but the nurse if a specialsit diabetes nurse possibly understands diabetes better than your GP. (my GP was very nice but cluesless).
As far as testing goes, I'd suggest you test just before meals and then 1 hour and 2 hours (or 3 hrs) after, keep a record of the levels and record your carb intake and that will let you see how various food impact on your levels.
No apology needed for a rant - it's not a bad thing to vent now and then!
Here's a link to a chart that may help clarify levels _
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

Thank you for the reply. It’s great being around people that understand.
 
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Metabolism_Boss

Well-Known Member
Messages
170
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Reality TV shows. Celebrities that are famous for being famous
Sorry to hear that you have felt isolated after being diagnosed with type 2 at the beginning of the COVID 19 outbreak. I think you may have been seeing little movement in your blood sugar readings due to the stress you've put yourself under, for example by going without food for 24 hours. Your numbers are not bad, and so you can afford to start slowly and work out what foods you can and can't eat. Many of us have settled on some form of low carb diet, as not only does it effectively control blood sugar, but it also helps with appetite control. The good news is that you have quite a bit of weight to lose - which means you are likely to see good improvements in your blood sugar numbers as you lose weight. The liver takes a bashing when its owner has diabetes and controlling the amount of alcohol you consume would help it a lot.

There is lots of information on this site on diet and diabetes management in general, and this forum is a goldmine when you need answers to specific questions. Good luck!
 
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Mscmhs1

Active Member
Messages
35
Sorry to hear that you have felt isolated after being diagnosed with type 2 at the beginning of the COVID 19 outbreak. I think you may have been seeing little movement in your blood sugar readings due to the stress you've put yourself under, for example by going without food for 24 hours. Your numbers are not bad, and so you can afford to start slowly and work out what foods you can and can't eat. Many of us have settled on some form of low carb diet, as not only does it effectively control blood sugar, but it also helps with appetite control. The good news is that you have quite a bit of weight to lose - which means you are likely to see good improvements in your blood sugar numbers as you lose weight. The liver takes a bashing when its owner has diabetes and controlling the amount of alcohol you consume would help it a lot.

There is lots of information on this site on diet and diabetes management in general, and this forum is a goldmine when you need answers to specific questions. Good luck!

Thank you for reaching out. It’s a great forum for support!
 

VashtiB

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,283
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello and welcome,

I could have written part of your story- maybe I did,

I was also so embarrassed as I agree there is a stigma about type 2- thankfully the folk on here do not perpetuate that way of looking at it. We type 2s have bodies that do not deal with carbs well. Someone without that type of body (like my husband) could eat way more carbs and never become diabetic.

Patterns can take a while to emerge for testing. My suggestion is to log your food- particularly what amount of carbs and the readings before and 2 hours afterwards. Then try reducing your carbs significantly and see the results. Rely on your meter- out is not biased.

It is sad you were given so little guidance but in my personal view- the information on this site is better than the advice from many medial professionals.

Some people- including me find that their levels rise in the day until they eat something- not all of us just some of us. In addition stress, anxiety etc can increase your levels- and also illness as well. We human beings have complicated bodies.

Many of us have been where you are now- overwhelmed, embarked, sad, stressed and feeling in despair- we have had the necessary information and support provided by people here- it will get better. The link below is helpful so you may want to start there.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/


Good luck
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
It is only a major disease if you let it be.
An inability to deal with carbs really has to be dealt with, the worst thing to do is pretend it isn't there and go on eating the frankly crazy amounts of carbohydrates in the modern diet.
If you test just before you start to eat and then again two hours later that should give you a really good idea of how you are doing. The ideal would be to have no more than 2 whole numbers increase, but that is something to aim for by assessing the amount of carbs in your meals. That might mean eating more fat than advised - but the fuel has to come from somewhere and ever since the advice to eat less fat came out, things seem to have been going downhill, plus when checked, the supposed benefits of eating a low fat diet just aren't there.
My Hba1c was rather higher than yours, and I am probably far more sensitive to carbs than most type 2s, so you might well find that you don't need to be anything like as low carb, but just to show you what is possible, I find that I get the best results eating just 10 gm of carb in the morning - in addition to the protein and fats, and the mug of real coffee with cream, cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt to stop night time cramps, and then I can go all day and eat again in the evening. I only need a maximum of 40 gm of carbs a day for flavour and variety, plus the micronutrients they bring - which keeps me at the top end of normal for Hba1c, which is fine by me.