Bad result

dj65 said:

Well after managing to control my BG levels by diet alone I went for my 6 monthly test on the 17th of July but forgot the pee sample so dropped it off on the Tuesday morning.

Tuesday evening at 5pm call from the doctor can i come to the surgery as soon as possible (not a good sign) when I get there ushered quickly into see the doctor. I was then told that there was high levels of sugar and traces in my sample. (PANIC!!!)

Doctor does two blood tests there and then and BG at 25 (OMG) but other test for Keytone?? tested negative (sigh of relief ).

Doctor then, after consultation with the diabetic registrar prescribes Metformin twice daily and Glimepiride. Over the course of the week a couple of phone calls from the diabetic registrar and nurses to see how my BG is doing and how I am then an increase of dosages so now on 2 x 500mg twice daily of Metformin and 1 x 2mg Glimepiride daily. BG now down to between 5.5 to 7.8/

I thought I was doing well with the diet control but was brought down to earth with a massive bump.

I feel at times that there has been a lack of help/information given IE told to inform the DVLA and that was it How who where do I call, the leaflet I was given told me nothing only found the information after scanning the forum and led me to the form (diab-1) that I have to fill in and send off.

So give it a couple of months then back on the Low carb diet again.

Dave J

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Why give it a couple months? Why not low carb again and potentially reduce meds? Just curious to your thinking.

You will need to map out a plan and look at what you eat 24/7 as well as your weight. Metformin will have had minimal effect

dj65 said:

Well after managing to control my BG levels by diet alone I went for my 6 monthly test on the 17th of July but forgot the pee sample so dropped it off on the Tuesday morning.

Tuesday evening at 5pm call from the doctor can i come to the surgery as soon as possible (not a good sign) when I get there ushered quickly into see the doctor. I was then told that there was high levels of sugar and traces in my sample. (PANIC!!!)

Doctor does two blood tests there and then and BG at 25 (OMG) but other test for Keytone?? tested negative (sigh of relief ).

Doctor then, after consultation with the diabetic registrar prescribes Metformin twice daily and Glimepiride. Over the course of the week a couple of phone calls from the diabetic registrar and nurses to see how my BG is doing and how I am then an increase of dosages so now on 2 x 500mg twice daily of Metformin and 1 x 2mg Glimepiride daily. BG now down to between 5.5 to 7.8/

I thought I was doing well with the diet control but was brought down to earth with a massive bump.

I feel at times that there has been a lack of help/information given IE told to inform the DVLA and that was it How who where do I call, the leaflet I was given told me nothing only found the information after scanning the forum and led me to the form (diab-1) that I have to fill in and send off.

So give it a couple of months then back on the Low carb diet again.

Dave J

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Welcome to the forum @dj65. It's always a let down so don't take it too hard. At least you had time to absorb it. I woke up in hospital and received my diagnosis there! That you are down to 5.5 - 7.8 is a good effort.

Welcome DJ Dave (has a ring to it )
Good luck

Tony

It seems strange that if you were controlling blood sugars through diet that you would get a blood glucose reading of 25. That is massively high. You must have been eating or drinking something high in carbs to create such a spike.

dj65 said:

I feel at times that there has been a lack of help/information given IE told to inform the DVLA and that was it How who where do I call, the leaflet I was given told me nothing only found the information after scanning the forum and led me to the form (diab-1) that I have to fill in and send off.

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I agree that there is not much assistance for adults with diabetes: if you search on the interweb, there is a lot about how to care for your child just diagnoses, what to do with their school, etc. (although, I expect, as a parent, there is room for more assistance). But, as an adult you just get on with it. Given an adult has lived more years without diabetes and is used to what that means, I feel there should be more assistance/guidance around what to do with situations we are familiar with handling without diabetes such as driving and holiday insurance.

A good plan is to keep a food diary. An honest one, including portion sizes. You can then record your levels alongside the food (the before eating and 2 hours after eating levels) and watch for patterns. When the rise from before to after is 2mmol/l or more, there were too many carbs in that food. Ideally, any rise should be under 1.5mmol/l. Doing this will really help you work out where you are going wrong.

The Metformin won't have much effect, but the Glimepiride should. This works by stimulating your pancreas to produce extra insulin and if too much insulin is produced it can cause blood sugars to go too low, so you do need to test regularly, particularly before driving.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-medication/amaryl-glimepiride.html

dj65 said:

I must agree with you there but I have tried going back over what I had eaten over the past two -three months and all I can come up with is that due to the nature of my job, on the move alot, I would stop of at a garage / fast food outlet for lunch but I did this before and the highest BG reading I would get would be 10 - 12 after 1.5 to 2 hrs after I "snacked"

As Mike D said above I'll have to map out a plan and watch what I eat something I was a little bit guilty of not doing.

Dave J

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Those high readings you first mentioned might well be a blip ... but more likely an indication something must change and though circumstances (be it work or anything else) force you to "snack", the pitfalls are always there. Double figures are not to be messed with. Watch your BMI, water and up the exercise without overdoing it

No problems @dj65 but diet soft drinks (even odd consumption) are not helping you. Trust me on this one. Belt the living suitcase out of T2, get in shape and work damned hard. Once you've done that, calm waters await. Might take a few months but well worth it as opposed to a long struggle with little gain

Hi @dj65 and welcome to the forum!

The high BG reading in the doctor's office should have been repeated - GPs should know that all meters are accurate only to +/-15% and a bad reading combined with the panic you described (cortisol and adrenaline dumping sugar in case of emergency) could account for such a high reading. It would take hours for the impact of your hormonal panic dump to subside, rendering the on-the-spot reading completely meaningless.

I agree that busy working lives often require lunching on the hop, but fast food and sandwiches from garages are not a low-carb diet (sorry!). Try taking a super-simple, relatively cheap lunch of some cooked meat, cheese, boiled egg and some kind veggie and dip with you in the morning. If you have time to fly into a garage, then you can pop into a little Tesco metro (or whatever) and pick up something that fits into your diet plan. If you feel the urge to snack (another side-effect of a carby lunch), grab some peperami, peanuts, pork scratchings or mini Babybels - all readily available, low-carb snacky options.

Eating out is a different kettle of fish and I have nothing to offer in terms of advice, really. I'm about to eat out with friends for the first time since I adopted LCHF. I've looked at the menu of the place we're going to (it's carb-tastic) and have already come up with a plan of what I'm going to ask for.

Planing ahead, keeping a food diary (as @Bluetit1802 mentioned) and regular monitoring will all help you keep on top of what you eat, and you'll be amazed at how quickly those post-meal readings will drop - and how fast you get over carbs. I think, given your circumstances, a food diary will really help you understand what you're actually eating - I think you might not realise just what you're eating over the course of a day.

Best of luck and ask anything you need to know - people here are patient, helpful and happy to share their experiences.

Sock

@dj65


You say this was your 6 month check, so presumably it included an HbA1c? Can you tell us what that result was?

dj65 said:

@Bluetit1802



I would like to tell you what my HbA1C was but can not remember but do remember being told that it was "VERY" high .

I have asked the medical center when I would be reassessed so I will ask then but that could be a while

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Your HbA1c is very important to know. "Very high" isn't really good enough. Perhaps you can ask for a print out of the test results (a phone call is all that is needed). A print out of all the tests you had that day will tell you a lot about how you are doing.

Dave,

Here's the truth, and it's going to sound kinda of stark and miserable, but it doesn't have to be,

Unless you start actively engaging with your diabetes, you're looking at a future marked with increasing medication and an increased risk of life-changing complications. While you might feel relatively symptom-free at the moment, still able to work, drink, forget about it for the most part, it's not always going to be like that.

It's time to engage with your disease. It doesn't have to take over your life (but it completely will in time), and it's surprisingly easy and empowering to seize control, get healthy and look forward to a long, happy life without increasing medication and the worry of complications.

Your HbA1c is an anchor-marker for how your body is coping with what you're feeding it. "HIGH" isn't a great way to look at it. You need a number, you need to burn that number into your memory and then set yourself a target to meet in 3 months' time. You need to be aware and engaged with your health; diabetes can be self-managed, it can even be pushed back into remission.

Ultimately it's up to you. I'm neither your mother nor your wife. It's your life and your body and your priorities. But I'd feel like I was doing you a disservice as someone who has been helped by others on this forum and now wishes to pass good advice on to other people if I didn't just lay it down how it is.

It's time to engage. Get that HbA1c result. Keep a food diary, get monitoring, stop kidding yourself that you've got this. A "HIGH" HbA1c says that you really, really don't.

We're here for you. Lots of good advice, information, experiences and support ready to help you along the way.

Sock

dj65 said:

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I feel at times that there has been a lack of help/information given IE told to inform the DVLA and that was it How who where do I call, the leaflet I was given told me nothing only found the information after scanning the forum and led me to the form (diab-1) that I have to fill in and send off.

Dave J

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Not sure you need to tell DVLA anything. You are only required to inform them if you are using insulin, I believe. Not if you are only on orals. You also have a duty to inform them if you suffer 2 hypos in a year that require 3rd party assistance, regardless of medication.

You do need to inform your car insurance company that you're a diabetic on orals. It should not make any difference to the premium, but it could make the cover null and void if you do not tell them in advance and get their agreement to continue cover. You may need to inform any Life Insurance providers too since terms and conditions have changed. Private health insurance may also be affected since they may consider this a pre-existing condition and refuse to pay on a claim.

As a registered diabetic, you prescriptions charges are generally waived for most medications. You do not pay VAT on life aids and special equipment. This includes blood tast kits, meters, strips, mobility aids etc. You may need to get the GP to fill in a medical exemption request form to register formally as a diabetic to get the exemption.

Later on you may be able to get better terms on an annuity pension and possibly life insurance but in my experience it is probably not worth the hoops you have to go through first.

Edit to add: as a registered diabetic you are now covered by the disability discrimination at work legalities, and this provides some protection if employed.