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Certain I will be diagnosed in a few days. Worried.

A

AnnNB

Member
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6
Hi, first off, I have been lurking in these forums for the last couple of weeks and I would like to say a huge thank you for everyone here that takes there time to talk of their own experiences.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I went to the doctor for an unrelated problem and she recommended a full set of blood tests. One of them was the fasting glucose test, which came out at 7.7.

The doctor requested that I go for another one, so I have been back for one this week. I knew from my research on various websites that another test over 7 would indicate diabetes. This last one has come out at 7.4, so no doubt I will be diagnosed next week when I have visited the doctor. Of course, I am filled with all sorts of emotions.

When I got the first result, I did not feel too bad and took it as an incentive to start eating a bit better and walking more. My father and late grandmother has/had diabetes. My grandmother was never overweight, but both my parents are. I am too, and have always carried extra weight around my stomach.

I got a test meter shortly after the first test and have been testing at varous times throughout the day. I have been getting fasting readings of 6.6, 7.1, 6.7 and even 5.8 one morning. All after fasting for 12 hrs.

The two hours after meals, I have been getting 6.9, 6.7, 6.3 type levels.

One of the main things that worries me is that I tested myself just before I went for the last test and I got 6.7, yet my test result has come in at 7.4. How is that possible? Does it mean that I cannot trust the meter I am using? This is really worrying me, if you cannot get an accurate reading, how do you try to control things.

In the last two weeks since my first test. I have significantly cut down on my carbs. I have always eaten quite well, I already had things like brown rice, whole wheat bread and pasta in my cupboard, as I genuinely like them. Where I fall down is that I love sweets, adore chocolate. But I have been very proud of myself as I have not eaten anything sweet and completely cut down on my carbs for the last two weeks.

I have also tried to walk to work (40 mins total) a couple times in the week and do some walking on the weekends. I know this is going to be the hardest thing for me, as the last thing I want to do when I get home at 6:30pm is go out again to do some exercise.

The thing that I feel most depressed about is that my husband has always had a problem with my weight, and I am getting an "I told you so" bit of attitude from him. I wanted to buy a cheapish eliptical machine for home to use in the evenings and he started harping on about a gym membership that I bought 6 years ago and hardly ever used. It' s not the attitude that I need right now.

Another thing that is worrying me is that I am not sure how on earth I am going to lose this weight. There was a time in my life once that I was fanatical about the gym (just worked part time then). I would have gone on Christmas morning if they were open. I was working with a trainer, resistance, free weights and cardio. My fitness was improving but I never lost any weight. Inches but not weight. If I couldn't lose weight doing that heavy gyming, how on earth I am going to lose it now?

My TSH levels are also elevated, maybe that may have something to do with it.

Anyway, I just feel so depressed about the whole thing and I feel like I cannot discuss with hubby as he makes me feel worse. When he talks about the fact that I am not going to lose weight if I don't exercise, I get quite defensive. It's not like he can help me out with cooking etc, to free up some evening time, he is constantly working. He literally works in his office at home until 11, 12 every evening. Anytime I bring it up, I feel so selfish for asking and he gets annoyed.

Anyway, I am going on and on. Just needed to get some of this out I guess.
 
Hi AnnNB

Welcome to the Forum. I hope that you get from it all the support that you need to deal with the expected diabetes diagnosis. Watching what you eat and looking at exercise are certainly a good beginning. Your elevated TSH count is likely to indicate an under-active thyroid function and the need for treatment with levothyroxine. This could explain your inability to lose weight.

I hope you can take all that is happening to you in your stride. I also hope that you can get the support from your husband that will make dealing with your medical conditions that much easier.

Take care

Doug
 
I feel your pain AnnNB. I was diagnosed last week with type 2, and have also got an underactive thyroid. I am currently taking 250mg levothyroxin, but I think it needs increasing when I am tested again next month. I can`t exercise right now as a recent chest xray showed my heart is slightly enlarged, and the doctor thinks I should wait for all the tests to be finished, and hopefully clear, before I start a regime.

I am eating low carb,high fat since Monday, and already my blood monitor is showing I am at normal levels. I am amazed :D
 
Thank you Doug and Jeannemum, just worried as to why my test at home was so different to the one at the doctor. I feel like I cannot trust the monitor now.
 
I am not sure how accurate they are, but I am thinking of mine like weighing myself on the same scales every time. If you can reduce your blood sugar readings on your monitor, they are reduced. I think the send off tests must be the most accurate or they would just do finger prick tests in the surgery. Try not to worry.
 
Hi AnnNB

The difference between 6.7 and 7.4 is within the tolerance of most meters. They are normally only accurate to around plus or minus 0.5ish. If you are diagnosed T2 then don't worry about it at the +2 hour readings you've posted they are all under the magic 7.8 number so you are doing great before you even start. As T2 and registering those kind of levels at most you should only be prescribed Metformin (you may not even need that) so you will have no worries about hypos as they are only a problem for insulin users or in some cases people on powerful insulin stimulating drugs. I would actually try eating a meal with a few more carbs just to try and work out how intolerant you are.
 
Thank you for your responses. I am going to see my GP tomorrow and I have so many questions, I am not certain how I will fit them in the 10 min slot!

Yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks I ate a chocolate cookie, plus my husband dished out a larger portion of pasta than I probably should have, but I figured I would use it as a test to see how my body handles it. It is the first time in 3 weeks that I 'let myself go' and eat things I probably should not have had. I checked my levels 2hrs after and it was 5.1 ! I thought the machine must be wrong, so I checked my husband and he was 5.3 ! So confused, isn't good for 2hrs after meals. Yet I have now had two fasting readings from the doctor at 7.7 and 7.4.

Also, yesterday was the first time I ate something bad. I have been eating an incredibly low carb, low fat, almost no sugar diet and have increased my exercise by walking most days to work, which I was not doing before and I have lost 0 kgs of weight. Not even a 1/2 .....nothing! How can that be?

Well we will see what the doctor says tomorrow.
 
Hi Ann, and welcome!

The first thing is, that while exercise helps to speed up your metabolism and firm up your muscles, it's not easy to lose weight just by exercise! I have not been very mobile over the last 3 or 4 years (back problems) but in the 2 years since diagnosis I have lost 4.5 stone, and brought my blood glucose levels down to pretty well non-diabetic levels, by eating a low-carb diet. So don't worry too much over that. If you do have an under-active thyroid, it won't be helping, but it's something that can be worked out once you have a proper diagnosis on everything.

Once you've talked things over with your GP, come back here to let us know what he said. There are lots of experienced people on here who are only too willing to answer your questions. Diabetes is not the end of the world - it can be controlled. You've already seen how cutting the carbs a bit can help.

Higher readings first thing are not unusual - search for 'Dawn Phenomenon' on this site. It's just your liver giving you a kick-start of glucose to get you going in a morning. It happens to everyone - but if your insulin is working okay your blood glucose is quickly controlled. If ithe BG stays that bit too high, it shows you have problems, perhaps with not enough insulin, perhaps with insulin resistance. Mine took about 4 months to come to lower levels - 6s or 5s.

Try not to worry until you've had your proper diagnosis and talked with your GP. There's a lot to take in, so take it steady :D

Viv 8)
 
Well Guys Actually i think I can`t exercise right now as a recent chest xray showed my heart is slightly enlarged, and the doctor thinks I should wait for all the tests to be finished.
 
Just thought I would update. I did get the diagnosis update yesterday from my doctor, as I suspected I would.

She has said that at the moment, there is no need for any medication, as my levels are not bad and that I seem to be motivated, as I was telling her how I have already changed my diet and increased my activity levels.

She is sending me to a diabetic nurse and a dietician, as well as for an eye test.

I was questioning her as to why she thought that in three weeks, with my diet and exercise, I had not lost any weight at all. She just said she thought that it was much harder for some people. I questioned if my elevated thyroid level had anything to do with it and she said he didn't think it was that elevated. I pressed a bit harder and she agreed for me to go for another TSH test at the end of this month, but I am getting the feeling that the level will have to be a a lot higher for her to prescribe me treatment for it.

I am convinced though that something is not right. Maybe I am just being delusional and have no idea how difficult it is to lose weight. I just thought that in 3 weeks, with a much better diet, no sweets or desserts, much less carbs, low fat and the extra walking that I would have lost at least half a kilogram. I am not expecting for the weight to drop off in 3 weeks, but even half a kilogram?

Hubby says that I would have to do something like a 1000 or 1200 calorie a day diet in order to lose weight. (He has been a strict dieter in the past). He thinks what I am doing is not enough. Years ago when I was very into the gym and used to do 45min of cardio and 1/2 hr of weights 5/6 days a week, he felt that it was not enough to lose and that is why I never did lose weight back then. Well, if that was not enough back then how the hell am I going to do it now?
 
Ahh, okay yesterday.

Breakfast - small dessert plate of cut up fruit - slice of melon, some strawberries and a dollup of low fat cottage cheese. One slice of Burgen bread buttered. As little as I can get away with.

Lunch - M&S lentil and chicken salad thing. One of their low glycemic range. Think it was less than 25gms carbs from memory.

snack - half pack fat free plain yohgurt with strawberries and black berries. About 6 walnuts and a very small drizzle of honey.

Dinner - half a roasted sweet potato with a rosted red pepper. Green salad. Chicken on a skewer seasoned with plain yohgurt and cumin mix.
 
Oh I do have one cup of tea a day, in the morning and I put one spoon of brown sugar. If I ever have a 2nd cup, which is rare I will use sweetener.
 
Hi Ann.

If you join my fitness pal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ You can plot each days food. It will work out how many grams of carbs you are having a day, and also tell you how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.

As a matter of interest, what are your TSH readings? At one point, whilst on 150 mgs levothyroxin, my doctor said that 15 was ok, and to leave my medication where it was, I said ton please raise it. He did, yet now my reading is nearly 17! With luck that has fallen since the lastest increase. I don`t think they have the slightest idea how debilitating an under active thyroid is :thumbdown:
 
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