Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsened!

[ian1968]

Hello everyone,

I was given the news on the phone on Tuesday that I have T2 (after a fasting blood test level of 7), and I saw my doctor this morning. She did a pinprick test on me and my level was 10.2 or 10.3.

I'm worried that since Tuesday my symptoms seems to have become a lot worse - I'm thirsty all the time, I often feel dizzy, I felt very heavy headed this morning. Before diagnosis, I drank a lot of orange juice every day, mistakenly thinking I was being healthy, so the first thing I did was cut out the orange juice, which was a bit part of my daily intake. I also stopped eating all the obvious things like chocolates, etc, and cut out tea. I'm a vegetarian, so I think my diet is fairly healthy. But two days after diagnosis and changing my diet, I feel worse than ever - thirsty, dizzy, etc. I asked my doctor if this might be my body reacting to my sudden change in diet, and she said she didn't know. I was sent for another blood test today. I'm 43 and a stone overweight, so they're testing to see if I may actually be T1. I'm also getting a renal test.

I'm trying to keep calm about this but I am worried. Any ideas why I'm suddenly feeling so terrible? And will I ever stop going to the loo? I assume once I've got my blood levels under control, the toilet trips are less frequent - is that right?

I'm very pleased to find this forum. Reading some of the other posts has been a big help in a hugely stressful week.

 

[tree-peony]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi Ian and welcome. Daisy will be along any minute with a pile of useful info for you to digest!

 

[daisy1]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi Ian and welcome to the forum
When your levels start coming down you will start to feel better. Don't try to do it too fast though as that could make you feel worse. Here is the information we give to new members to help them to get started. Ask all the questions you like and someone will 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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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 blood glucose 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.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.

 

[MaryJ]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi Ian

Welcome to the forum

1968 - good year lol

Firstly well done on finding this forum.

Re the loo visits etc - had you noticed this b4 diagnosis or has it come to light since. It could be they were there but you put it down to other things - had a drink b4 bed, a bit too much to drink etc.

when I was diagnosed I thought and trully thought i was A symtematic. about 6 weeks into low carbing I realised my hands werent hurting in the morning ( i thought i was starting with Artritis at 43). My hands no longer hurt and still dont.

Getting your BG under control will help many things - the weeing, thirst and lose weight (if you need to)

Ditching the orange juice is a good place to start

Maryx

 

[didie]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hello Ian

Welcome to the forum

 

[ian1968]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Thanks everyone. I asked my doctor if I was making too quick a diet change and she said no. She said the quicker you get your blood sugar levels down, the quicker you'll start to feel better.

I think there were more than usual loo visits before the diagnosis, but they've definitely increased since. I'm generally more thirsty and more dizzy. I guess it's going to be a process of testing to find how I react to different foods...

 

[Daibell]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi. Welcome to the large family of those with diabetes. Do keep up the diet changes; it's essential. Do obtain a meter so you can find out what affects you most and by how much. It's good that your HCPs are doing tests for late onset T1. This is always a possibility in those below 50'ish. Hopefully your blood sugar will gradually reduce but if it doesn't then do check back with your GP.

 

[Nikkig]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi Ian - I too am a Newley diagnosed T2 and it was the thirst and weeing for England that made me go and see the doctor, that and knowing that it ran in the family.

I am also a vegetarian and thought I ate healthily but when I looked at the carb contents of foods which are recommended in some diets, I realised the carb count was very high. I have now reduced my intake to less than 35 a day and my BG reading has not been in double figures for a week now (on diagnosis it was 19!)

The people on this site are wonderful and it's down to them that I have managed to get this far!

Onwards and downwards!

 

[ian1968]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't been back on here, as the last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster, and I wanted to get to grips with everything - and wait for the final diagnosis. Turns out I'm T2 rather than T1. It's a relief knowing for sure, as I now feel like I can really get on with learning how to be a diabetic.

I've had a bit of a rollercoaster few weeks, as I say - literally having good day followed by bad day. I think part of this has been down to me just feeling my way through what I can and can't eat, and coming to understand that the timing of what I have is really crucial. If I miss or mistime a mid morning snack I think that might be enough to induce a bad day - which for me is feeling sick or dizzy.

I went back to the doctor's last week, and she did a blood sugar test and I was really depressed to find out that it hadn't improved at all - 10.4 - even after my radical diet change and a fair amount of weight loss. I've lost something like 9 pounds since I was diagnosed.

However I went for my first visit with the diabetic nurse yesterday, who was absolutely brilliant - the first person I've spoken to who could really answer my (many) questions and who I felt was talking the same language as me. At the end of the session, she tested me and I was amazed to find my BG was 4.9. She gave me a meter and I tested myself this morning at roughly the same time as yesterday's test, and I was 6.9. The difference between the two days, I think, is that I walked for about 50 mins to go to the doctor's, whereas today I haven't left the house, so the exercise must account for the difference in readings.

Anyway, I'm feeling more positive now. I'm still having moments of dizzyness or sickness, which to me actually feel like I'm having a sugar low, but the diabetic nurse seems to think that as my BG has been running high for a long time undiagnosed, this is actually me experiencing a normal BG level, and my body is still readjusting to my new diet and regime. That makes sense to me. I haven't tested myself while I've been feeling sick or dizzy - that's the next step. We'll see what that says.

Anyway, it's a long journey, I know, with some lows to come I'm sure, but I feel like I might just be able to cope. Fingers crossed.

 

[SouthernGeneral6512]

Re: Diagnosed on Tuesday - worried that symptoms have worsen

I actually agree that changing a long established diet quickly (even if it's from an unleathy one) can make you feel worse. It is important to get your BS under control so worth sticking with the improvements