Back from GP scared and dont know what next

[keri1962]

Hello All, where do I even start?

I am 35 years old with 3 children the youngest 14 months old. My problems begun at the end of my last pregnancy. My blood pressure shot up, I had bad swelling and had put on a considerable amount of water weight. When my daughter was born there were complications with her size and she is subsequently disabled from delivery procedures; it turned out that she was in larger than expected waters and weighed a whopping 10lb 4 oz.

Fast forward, the last 14 months have been filled with operations on my daughter, physio, occupational therapy, eye specialists and consultants appointments and I admit, I let myself totally go thinking once she is ok, i will concentrate on myself. I comfort ate for a while and in addition moving from sometimes 2 appointments in one day, i generally eat cereal for breakfast, noodles for lunch and dinner.

Today I have just come back from the GP who in a childish tone said "you have been filling yourself with sweeties and sweet stuff, you've been eating cakes, biscuits and sweets haven't you?" i said that i occasionally have biscuits and sometimes afters on Sunday but she didn't want a conversation, she said "you have type 2 diabetes and I am putting you on metformin 3x a day before meals and book an appointment to see the diabetic nurse" followed by "diabetes is for life"I asked her what this meant and she said I need to cut back on carbohydrates and eat better and that the diabetic nurse will go through it with me.

Just before I left she looked at my baby and said "be careful what you feed the baby as you don't want her to get ill"

The appointment with the nurse is 4 weeks away and i have not a clue what I am supposed to be doing and what the tablets are for. I don't know what I should eat/shouldn't eat, I've just come back and made some cereal and feel physically sick about whether I should have eaten it or not. I have a print out of my results but have not a clue what they mean either and no way of understanding the levels or what this means for my diet for another 4 weeks.

My results following a 12hour fast are HBa1c 60 mmol and Blood glucose level 7.5mmol, what do I do now, please help

Just feel for you so much was diagnosed 3 weeks ago Type 2 and absolutely confusedI have to wait until July for the clinic and have no diet sheets or anything, I have self researched thanks to this fab website. However I have high cholesterol and put on medication and trying to control diabetes with diet I have lost 9 pounds but totally hungry, eat fruit,, dont eat fruit etc etc I just dont know what to do to control both at the same time any advice would be greatly appreciated,, confused.com

 

[mandybuss]

I know how you feel I was diagnosed 4 weeks ago with type 2 just 3 months after my son was diagnosed with type 1 he's 21 and I'm 43 ... At first I thought how bizarre what are the chances of both of us being diagnosed, I had supported him in coming to terms with Type 1 he's fine so I just need to deal with it until I went to bed and read various sites on diabetes and all I read was Obese, Over Weight .... Within an hour I felt so depressed I couldn't sleep and thought to myself this is your own faulty your a fat lazy b&tch but then I realised I wasn't alone I've read forums on here I've picked myself up and at times I feel I'm running and getting no where with my blood readings but after 3 weeks I'm in single numbers although still double digits in the morning

Your GP needs reporting that's shocking to read

There's lovely support in this community from a newbie best of luck to you

 

[Mrsmac247]

Thanks guys, there have been some high and low points this evening. I've shed a few more tears with more to come especially as I am seeing that the only way to manage this seems to be by cutting out carbs completely. The idea feels so foreign to me. This is one of those times where I want to pause life to look on it from a bird's eye view but that is not possible so for now I'm reading and reading.

Is there anyone who has named to get their blood sugar under control with reducing their portion intake of carbs instead of cutting them out all together?

 

[Quiller]

Thanks guys, there have been some high and low points this evening. I've shed a few more tears with more to come especially as I am seeing that the only way to manage this seems to be by cutting out carbs completely. The idea feels so foreign to me. This is one of those times where I want to pause life to look on it from a bird's eye view but that is not possible so for now I'm reading and reading.

Is there anyone who has named to get their blood sugar under control with reducing their portion intake of carbs instead of cutting them out all together?

See this thread, where peoples describe their different approaches.

I think it differs between type 1 and type 2. I believe type 1's can inject insulin to cover their carb consumption (I'm type 2 so if I've got this wrong someone will correct me). As the thread shows people eat differing amounts of carbs, but this will affect the medication which is necessary. I used to happily munch away on too many and accepted that I needed the appropriate meds. I'm now trying to reduce my intake to about 100 g a day, and hopefully will be ok on just the metformin - previously I was on gliclazide and pioglitazone.

 

[Clivethedrive]

Thanks guys, there have been some high and low points this evening. I've shed a few more tears with more to come especially as I am seeing that the only way to manage this seems to be by cutting out carbs completely. The idea feels so foreign to me. This is one of those times where I want to pause life to look on it from a bird's eye view but that is not possible so for now I'm reading and reading.

Is there anyone who has named to get their blood sugar under control with reducing their portion intake of carbs instead of cutting them out all together?

Hi mrs mac, have a read up on the "what have you eaten today" tonight i had a lovely chicken curry with cauliflower , just having fresh rasberries and a dollop of clotted cream ...it's a hard life :)

 

[Mrsmac247]

Hi mrs mac, have a read up on the "what have you eaten today" tonight i had a lovely chicken curry with cauliflower , just having fresh rasberries and a dollop of clotted cream ...it's a hard life :)

Lol now that doesn't sound bad at all except the cream, it always made me feel a bit nauseas lol

 

[catinahat]

Hello @keri1962 welcome
Congratulations on your weight loss, you have made a great start.
You do have to watch the fruit it can send your blood sugar quite high, but we are all different and some people can tolerate more than others. The only way to find out what you can eat is to use a glucose meter to discover how different foods effect your sugar levels.
This web page explains how http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php.
The reason you are feeling hungry all the time is probably because if you cut down on carbs, you need to increase your fat intake to make up for the calories in the carbs that you are not having. I know you are worried about cholesterol but I'm not suggesting you eat a block of lard! Some extra virgin olive oil on your salad, full fat yoghurt, a few nuts, maybe a small knob of butter on your veg.

 

[Katiesgran]

Sorry to hear about your unsympathetic doctor, that was appalling. Just to warn you that his attitude may also have rubbed off on the diabetic nurse so don't be upset if you get more of the same. You have had great advice on here and if you also need yo lose weight even a few pounds off can make a big difference to your bs figures. I have found joining Slimming World a great help and their diet, with very few tweaks, is very easy to keep yo long term. On that I have been able to reduce my meds and as a bonus have lost some weight. Good luck, you will be fine with the support u out can get here. Wish I had found it sooner.

 

[Mrsmac247]

Sorry to hear about your unsympathetic doctor, that was appalling. Just to warn you that his attitude may also have rubbed off on the diabetic nurse so don't be upset if you get more of the same. You have had great advice on here and if you also need yo lose weight even a few pounds off can make a big difference to your bs figures. I have found joining Slimming World a great help and their diet, with very few tweaks, is very easy to keep yo long term. On that I have been able to reduce my meds and as a bonus have lost some weight. Good luck, you will be fine with the support u out can get here. Wish I had found it sooner.

Thank you very much, can I ask what SW plan you are on?

 

[Safi]

Hi Mrsmac247

Just wanted to welcome you to the forum & assure you that you've found the best place for a wide range of advice from a wide range of very helpful people. I'd also like to join the queue to give your appallingly condescending Doctor some cyber stink eye :***:

safi

 

[Phlogiston]

Hi Mrs Mac,
Welcome lots of good advice here. It takes a while to get your head round all the stuff to do with diabetes, you've had a lot of other stuff to deal with too.
Firstly, relax. Although spikes are not good in the long term, the odd mistake isn't going to kill you. If you find that you've over-indulged, exercise will help to bring the spike down (not so easy with dependant family though!)
Secondly, focus on the food you can eat rather than the food you can't eat. Everyone responds differently, there are some on here who can have only tiny amounts of carb, others can manage small amounts. If I'm doing rice, I mix in other things to trick myself that I'm getting more than I really am. Meat, fish and cheese are great, leafy vegetables also. Pulses have some carbs, but tend to be metabolised more slowly.
I have cut my weight and now seem to be responding better to my diet.
Beware of cakes and biscuits. People (nhs staff!) who don't suffer from diabetes like to say "everything's all right in moderation". Cake moderation means a meaninglessly small piece in my book. Part of my mental readjustment has been to say "no cake". This is partly because of the sugary carbs, but also to try to re-educate my palate and brain for a new lower carb lifestyle.
Best wishes
stay low carb!
Adam

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. You've had a lot of good advice already from posters. You don't need to stop carbs but just keep them sensibly low. This may be 150gm/day or less but see what the meter shows you over the coming weeks. Your HBA1C reading isn't too bad but needs to come down to 42'ish if possible. The Metformin helps reduce insulin resistance and is a safe drug but doesn't have that much effect on blood suagr as the diet is key. Increasing it gradually makes sense. If it gives you bowel problems which don't clear up then do ask the GP for the Slow Release (SR) version. By reducing the carbs, both blood sugar and weight should come down. As your HBa1C isn't too bad I suspect the right diet will help your diabetes to come under good control so don't panic. Have proteins and fat instead of carbs where you can.

 

[PerfectStorm]

Hi Mrs Mac.

I'm sorry you too have had to face this and that your doctor was such a ..................in fact, I won't say what he is, I'm too much of a lady!

I am in a very similar position to you, in that I have just been diagnosed and have an 19 month old son.

When I was about 28 weeks pregnant, I found out I had gestational diabetes; I couldn't control it with diet or metformin and had to take insulin. As soon as he was born, it went away.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at the beginning of April (Hba1c of 53 and fasting blood test of 9.) I was told over the phone by my GP, told to avoid sweet things and he made an appointment for me with the practice nurse - that appointment was on Tuesday, so 3 weeks away! I had plenty of time to read up about diabetes on the internet - it left me ashamed, scared, crying and in all honesty, I am still feeling like that, although now interspersed with the very occasional moment of feeling positive and acceptance. In fact, just writing this message has set me off crying again!

I still had a testing kit from when I was pregnant and had been taking blood sugar tests before seeing the practice nurse. Some of the results were high depending what I had eaten, but others not so bad. When I saw the nurse, she was pleasant enough but didn't really provide me with a great deal of information. She told me to book onto an Xpert patient course (likely to be a few months before there is space!) and told me that someone would get in touch with me within a couple of months for an eye and foot check. She told me to avoid sugar and eat fewer carbs and to go back in 3 months - she mentioned Metformin but agreed that I should attempt to control with diet if I wanted to. I asked for and was given some testing strips so that I could test my blood sugar.

I am determined that I am going to lose weight (I need to lose just over 1.5 stone) in the hope that I can control this with diet. I am eating low carb to try to control it and hope that once I lose weight I may be able to eat a little more carb (but hopefully by then I will be so used to a low carb diet that I won't want them!)

Like you, my evening meals have often consisted of rice or pasta dishes - I try to batch cook sauces to put in the freezer so we can have something quick for tea. I now find myself in a position of having to completely rethink the way I eat.

I had a portion of keema curry in the freezer so decided to make that the other night so I could try out cauliflower rice. It was easy and quite nice actually and I didn't feel cheated out of rice. Last night I made a chicken, chorizo, pepper, mushroom, tomato sauce for pasta but I had mine on top of some roasted courgette and topped with parmesan. I really enjoyed it and wasn't bothered that my husband had pasta whilst I had courgettes.

I haven't told anyone other than my husband and Mum about the diagnosis and don't know when I will. I don't want to be judged.

Even though I had some decent blood sugar results yesterday, I was having a really bad day, crying and angry at this diagnosis. I think the emotional roller coaster is going to be here for a while yet. If you want someone to join me on your own roller coaster ride then please feel free to drop me a message. It would be nice to have someone to talk to who is experiencing the same things right now.

x

 

[Mrsmac247]

Thank you both so much, today is day one and it has been slot to take in. I am still reading as much as can and am going to start cutting down the carbs. I need to do this right add this is for life. I have also been looking at some low carb high fat diets as well as low calorie diets to see what I feel I could manage long term, I don't want to rush in and get disheartened because I can't maintain.

On close examination of my emotional state I can't say I don't know how I got here, I guys I just thought even with a family history if it, it would skip me. Actually didn't realise there was a generic link until yesterday. My grandmother died of bowel cancer and my mother is at the higher end of a size 20 but I have little chance of finding out history as I'm adopted.

Anyhow less tears today and more researching what to do now. If I hadn't found you guys I would truly have been lost!

 

[Croc]

Please dont worry about being judged. Despite the media going on about it being a 'fat' persons disease I know that far from true in a huge proportion of cases. Im not really overweight though I'd like to lose about 7lb. Genetics plays a huge part too and sometimes it just is. WhenI went on a Desmond course I was with a French lady who was about 6ft and a size 6. If she can get type 2 then anyone can.

 

[Fairy88]

wow, how you controlled yourself with that DR i don't know, horrible woman! bless your heart, the last thing you needed to hear!

i know exactly how you feel with the emotions, like literally how could i let this happen, everyone is going to judge me, only people with horrible eating habits get type 2 etc etc. its embarrasing! especially at just turned 27 :-/

you know from reading my post that i'm also a slimming worlder - i love my group and actually don't want to give it up so i think i'm just going to try and fit it in around the diabetes and see how that goes, low carb is hard though! i'm a proper carb freak and could quite happily never eat meat again aslong as i had carbs.

feeling pretty meh about it all though as i imagine you are too. a lot to get your head around.

hugs! x

 

[Mrsmac247]

@Fairy88 hopefully you don't need to quit your class but I'm unsure as quite a lot of folks seem to recommend the high fat low carb way of things. I understand the logics behind it and as a former slimming world attendee on extra easy, if you went in my kitchen right now you'd find mullerlights , fry light, passata, low fat spread, 1% milk and splenda to name a few! At least the weekend is here which gives us more time to read and ask questions, keep your head up if you can and allow yourself the emotions of the first few days I am x