Seven weeks ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes with a HBA1C of 94 (having had gestational diabetes a few years previously). I'm 46 and my children are now primary school age, so I want to be around and be fit and healthy for many years to come.
However, I'm feeling very deflated after only just having had my first appointment with the diabetic nurse. I had a second HBA1C test five weeks after my first (to confirm the diagnosis) and brought it down to 60 mmol, having made diet/lifestyle changes, lost 15 pounds, and having started on metformin four weeks ago. I thought this was great progress (given almost half the period my blood sugar was averaged over was pre-diagnosis), but the nurse was very dismissive of low carb diets, said they weren't sustainable and just credited the drop in blood sugar to the metformin with doing its job. While she talked about diet (the standard NHS advice), she didn't even discuss weight loss (I am overweight), isn't even aware that I've lost weight post diagnosis (as I was never weighed by GP on diagnosis and she didn't ask). She made the future sound bleak with taking multiple medications for life being inevitable, high risk for stroke, heart problems and so on. She just seemed to want to push more medication on to me, which I declined for now until I have another HBA1C test in three months, and other test results back (kidney function etc.) so we can review the full picture. She didn't mention the path to remission programme either, and when I asked her about the possibility of getting numbers back in a normal range she seemed very sceptical.
To top it off my blood pressure was a bit high, so now I'm having to monitor that too and potentially face more medication should it not come down. I've never suffered with high blood pressure before, so that was a bit unexpected.
Anyone been in my shoes / able to give me something positive to cling on to?! I was trying to face everything in a positive way, and having previously had gestational diabetes in two pregnancies, it wasn't a total shock (although the level of my initial HBA1C was), and I feel fairly well versed on the subject, but I guess I was just expecting a bit more positivity from professionals and a greater focus on diet and lifestyle changes, at least to begin with, but I've left feeling far more negative about it all, and wondering if I was deluded to think I might be able to get this under control with diet and lifestyle changes. I'm not averse to taking medication if I need it, but if I am able to reverse the diabetes and eventually come off medication, I certainly want to give it a try.
However, I'm feeling very deflated after only just having had my first appointment with the diabetic nurse. I had a second HBA1C test five weeks after my first (to confirm the diagnosis) and brought it down to 60 mmol, having made diet/lifestyle changes, lost 15 pounds, and having started on metformin four weeks ago. I thought this was great progress (given almost half the period my blood sugar was averaged over was pre-diagnosis), but the nurse was very dismissive of low carb diets, said they weren't sustainable and just credited the drop in blood sugar to the metformin with doing its job. While she talked about diet (the standard NHS advice), she didn't even discuss weight loss (I am overweight), isn't even aware that I've lost weight post diagnosis (as I was never weighed by GP on diagnosis and she didn't ask). She made the future sound bleak with taking multiple medications for life being inevitable, high risk for stroke, heart problems and so on. She just seemed to want to push more medication on to me, which I declined for now until I have another HBA1C test in three months, and other test results back (kidney function etc.) so we can review the full picture. She didn't mention the path to remission programme either, and when I asked her about the possibility of getting numbers back in a normal range she seemed very sceptical.
To top it off my blood pressure was a bit high, so now I'm having to monitor that too and potentially face more medication should it not come down. I've never suffered with high blood pressure before, so that was a bit unexpected.
Anyone been in my shoes / able to give me something positive to cling on to?! I was trying to face everything in a positive way, and having previously had gestational diabetes in two pregnancies, it wasn't a total shock (although the level of my initial HBA1C was), and I feel fairly well versed on the subject, but I guess I was just expecting a bit more positivity from professionals and a greater focus on diet and lifestyle changes, at least to begin with, but I've left feeling far more negative about it all, and wondering if I was deluded to think I might be able to get this under control with diet and lifestyle changes. I'm not averse to taking medication if I need it, but if I am able to reverse the diabetes and eventually come off medication, I certainly want to give it a try.
I suspect I will be doing a lot of nodding and smiling at professionals in future appointments, but either way, I hope to prove that nurse wrong, should I have the pleasure of seeing her again!