30, newly diagnosed Type2, not handling it well.

Well, you've reached out to us, so hello and welcome. I can see you're in a state of guilt and fear, both destructive, but now you're asking for help, which is good. I'll tag @daisy1 to give you some info which is full of positive ways of coming to terms with T2 and the associated complications. From what you say I would give your doctor the benefit of the doubt. She may be a bit direct but that means she's probably being honest with you. Try not to worry until you've seen her.
Meanwhile learn as much as you can from the forum. Lots of people here can help.
PS My feet feel the same as yours but I'm honestly not bothered. I can still walk, run and balance ok. They're not getting any worse and I just think of it as part of T2, in the way that certain aches and pains are part of getting old (which I am).

@farfromhomedk

Hello and welcome to the forum I hope you are feeling more confident now that you have joined this forum and started to get advice. There will be more coming during the day today I expect. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and will help you to keep your diabetes under control. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to answer.

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 over 150,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

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 bloodglucose 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.

Hi and welcome.

I would suggest that educating yourself thoroughly about T2 diabetes is the next step.
It will enable you know when/if your doc is giving out incorrect info, or witholding info.

T2 is no longer the degenerative death sentence it has been so often int he past.
New dietary ways of eating, and a much better understanding of the disease, insulin resistance and the effect of high blood sugar on the body is making it much more manageable than in the past.

When I started finding out about T2 the best source I found was www.bloodsugar101.com
It is written by a T2 without loyalties to the pharmaceutical industry, or any health organisation, and shows an analysis of numerous studies on diabetes.

It offered me tremendous hope that this condition IS manageable, and did a wonderful job at calming my concerns and helping to formulate a way forward.

Information - of the right type - is the best way to get a handle on things, in the period after diagnosis.

Hi welcome to the forum

You've been given lots of good advice already so I won't overload you right now. I just want to say one thing. Stop blaming yourself. It is not your fault. That's hard to accept when you see things in the media several times a day telling you otherwise. I hope you can get help with your eating disorder soon, but please don't blame yourself.

Keep posting. You are in the right place to get the advice you need.

Hello and welcome to the forum!
You say you don't know how to handle this, but you've joined the forum which is the best thing you could have done. There will be lots of advice available from people with experience of the same issues on how to live really well with diabetes. Well done for posting.

Hi and welcome. I'm sure you are worrying too much about long-term problems but it's good that you understand that diet will be the key as well as meds when needed. Whilst you do need to reduce the carbs, other foods are fine such as proteins, fats, veg & fruit. So, try to snack on cheese, fruit etc when you need to rather than the sweet, carby things we have all loved. You can have a nice steak and not feel guilty!

I hope you get the help you need and this forum is a great place to get it. Please don't feel guilty. Much Type 2 stems from genetics and we can't help our genes. There is much support here so just ask for help whenever you need it. There are no stupid questions and everyone understands your worries. However there is much that can be done especially with diet (just ignore the NHS advice and stick with the people who know better because they're diabetic!) Wishing you all the best.

How's it going today, @farfromhomedk ? Hang in there.

Hi @farfromhomedk
There's been good information already given. These people know how to help you.
You haven't mentioned what your eating disorder is. Maybe telling us, we can help you with more information on what to eat and drink.

I had anxiety! In shed loads! I was anxious about my anxiety and the spiral of being anxious and my anxiety made it worse!
My lifestyle change, has stopped my anxiety and many other symptoms because of the help I got from here!!!!

Do have a look at the low carb forum and read the success stories, there has been plenty others including myself who has benefited from the great help and knowledge on this forum.

Ask questions, someone will answer.

Best wishes.

farfromhomedk said:

that is EXACTLY how my anxiety works too. and the fact that i dont know what symptoms are anxiety and which are real is making me crazy. and anxious. my anxiety even made me go completely insane the first couple of weeks and i became so strict with food my bloodsugar dropped from 56 to 49 so fast. eating from anxiety is stressfull though.

i know a lot about nutrition and eating low carb already, but i appreciate everyones help so much. thanks. my eating disorder is BED with bulimic tendencies, and i have previously lost 50 lbs through low carb eating, but gained it all again and then became diabetic. another thing i blame myself for, even though i know that an eating disorder is not my own fault. i cannot get away from feeling it is all my own fault.

i could live with this disease, if i just have to eat low carb for the rest of my life. but the shame and the idea of complications is so so so scary.

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Hi again, anxiety is worrying about things that you shouldn't worry about or you worry about worrying!
None of this is your fault, I've been there and wore etc! A lot of this is because you were unaware of what was happening to you! You just can't blame yourself!
This problem with being scared of what's going to happen, is unnecessary and makes you needlessly anxious.
You know what to do, we can help, but if you continue to low carb and keep doing the right thing and be in control, you can forget about the other stuff that you think is going to happen, because it won't !
Low carb works!
I was approaching seventeen stone, I am now under twelve.
My Vital life signs were showing that I should order my coffin!
Now, I am full of life and healthy and fit! Everything, all my vital life signs are great!

If I can do it, by being in control of my blood glucose levels, then any one can!

You just need to be determined and get knowledge about how to do it, keep asking questions.
Learn more by reading through the forums, there is so much to learn and it will help you.

Best wishes, if you can see my links below, have a read, it's about me and my condition!

nosher8355 said:

you can forget about the other stuff that you think is going to happen, because it won't !

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Yep, that rings a loud bell for me. Putting it simply if I have a sore thumb and then get toothache I forget about the sore thumb. I could easily be overwhelmed with worry about other health issues plus the advent of old age, but by concentrating on managing my T2 I feel a lot better overall (more energy etc) and tend to forget about everything else.
I don't discount the very powerful effects of fear and guilt, having lived in their shadow for years, but believe me you can come out from under
The exact moment I gave up being afraid was on an internal flight over the Amazon jungle in Peru while were supposed to be playing bingo, and I was so terrified of life I just gave up and decided I might as well die on the spot and didn't care what anyone else thought.
I'm pretty sure that was when I started getting better.
Btw Mrs DeeJay claimed a full card at bingo but it was a mistake and everyone laughed at the funny foreigners.

I feel your pain! No judgment here AT ALL; you never know what people are battling -- and we are all just fighting the good fight the best we can. I am also 30 and was diagnosed about the same time as you. I wrote about my similar feelings if this makes you feel any better: https://mermaidtailsblog.wordpress.com/nautilus/

farfromhomedk said:

also i found this. it affected me deeply.

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Take it on board, mate, you now know it makes sense, and low carb lifestyle will help with everything else that is going on!

farfromhomedk said:

i am a 30 y o man and i was diagnosed with type 2 a couple of months ago. i have been feeling like hell since then. i have regular fits of crying and i have contemplated suicide. mainly my anxiety is towards losing a limb or eyesight. and then theres the massive guilt.

i am overweight because of a diagnosed eating disorder, that i am currently waitlisted for treatment for. all the men on my fathers side are diabetics, so its in the genes, but mainly i blame myself for this, and that feels horrible. this disease is my own fault. i feel that ive brought this on myself and the embarrassment of that is unbearable and the idea of letting anyone know is frightening. i have told no one and i dont plan to. i cant reach out.

i dont trust my doctor. she is harsh and direct generally, but i feel she is hiding the truth from me. i forced her to test me for nerve damage, which is my biggest fear and when i called her to get the results she told me there was no nerve damage but to come to her office day after tomorrow. i think she is lying because she knows im not good at handling this and she doesn't want to tell me over the phone. she has previously said that new research shows nerve damage actually starts in the beginning of the disease. this has sent me into a suicidal thought spiral. i have called the suicide hotline a few times over the last few months, because i think that a life like that is not worth it.

my feet hurt in a way where they feel cold, but are actually hot. and i was stupid enough to google symptoms, and nerve damage was the first that came up and now i am freaking out. i work on my feet and with my eyes and hands. i am a visual creative person. it is all i am good at. if i lost either of those, i wouldnt know how to be.

i am on some non-insulin medication, i am eating healthier (though not healthy enough), my blood pressure is very good and i am taking my vitamins.

i do research, but every time i do, it freaks me out more. but not knowing just creates anxiety.
i dont know how to handle this.

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I can empathize with the way you are feeling, I have suffered suicidal depression for 30 years and have been diagnosed as type 2. I used to worry a lot, to the stage that if I wasnt worrying, I would start to worry that I had missed something to worry about. All this was put into perspective when I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer aged 47.

I suddenly thought if it can be cured then it will be, if not then I will die. No matter how much I worry I cannot change the outcome, This put an end to my inceasant worrying and a radical prostectomy has put me into remission. I wont say cured because it could always come back in the future.

I have done the same with my diabetes diagnosis. I will do all I can to manage it and the future is too far away to be worrying about. I am 53 now and as I tell everybody at least I am too old to die young.

An ex girlfriend hit the nail on the head when she said

"its not life that gets you down its the thoughts and the feelings that go with it".

If you can change the way you think it will alter the way you feel which will alter the way you are,

I wish you good luck and my thoughts are with you