Diagnosed Today Still Reeling

[Tempus Fugit]

Having always had excellent BS readings (diabetes in family so I am vigilant) blood tests from 2 weeks ago have come back 57. Horrified! Had more bloods today and unless a miracle happens, I’m type 2.

 

[Resurgam]

I was diagnosed with Hba1c of 91 - I accept that I am always going to be a type 2 diabetic - but without symptoms of it, not needing medication and seeing normal numbers.
I do wish that the doctors would give good advice and some reassurance to newly diagnosed people. If you are lucky then just by reducing the carb content of your diet you should return to normal numbers, and might even have improved ability to deal with carbs. I have - but rather than hanging about in my bloodstream the glucose is stashed away as fat - so I am probably on low carb for life now - not a problem for me.
Have a look at the low carb high fat diet results and you might feel a bit better about your prospects.
I'll tag @daisy1 for a useful introductory message.

 

[Fenn]

Hi, welcome

Try not to panic, have a good read of the forum, there is a huge amount of useful info on here.

If you are diabetic or not it doesnt need to be a terrible thing, it can in fact be a wake up call to be nicer to ourselves (assuming you have room for improvement)

So more reading, less worrying

 

[HSSS]

I’m not sure what your family experiences are but they sound fairly negative from your comments. It does not have to be. Diabetes does not have to be progressive or lead to complications. Unfortunately not many health professionals are giving that message of hope or how to achieve it. Have a good read around the website here and these forums. Ask lots of questions. And try not to panic. It takes time to adjust mentally to the diagnosis.

Many in here had equally high or sometimes much higher diagnosed levels and now keep themselves complication free and with normal numbers, often without any medications at all. I started at a similar figure to you and at my second testing after 3 months low carb I was back into prediabetes ranges. Hopefully still going down.

Low carb eating is the way to go. We don’t deal well with carbs so the most obvious answer is eat less of them. People with other conditions avoid the factors that aggravate their illness. So do we in here (well the majority of us).

 

[bulkbiker]

Having always had excellent BS readings (diabetes in family so I am vigilant) blood tests from 2 weeks ago have come back 57. Horrified! Had more bloods today and unless a miracle happens, I’m type 2.

Do you recall what your previous HbA1c was?

 

[LeftPeg]

Having always had excellent BS readings (diabetes in family so I am vigilant) blood tests from 2 weeks ago have come back 57. Horrified! Had more bloods today and unless a miracle happens, I’m type 2.

In short, don’t panic.

My hba1c was almost double that, and two weeks after diagnosis I’m getting fasting bloods in the non-diabetic range, purely through diet (no exercise or meds), and I feel great.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Having always had excellent BS readings (diabetes in family so I am vigilant) blood tests from 2 weeks ago have come back 57. Horrified! Had more bloods today and unless a miracle happens, I’m type 2.

You may be a T2, but you don't have to suffer complications or high bloodsugars. Like others said, have a read around here. Quite a few of us achieve non-diabetic HbA1c 's and even remission on diet alone. Your numbers aren't very high, so I do think that if your second HbA1c comes back T2, you'll be able to tackle it just fine by low-carbing. Take a deep breath; you're not doomed or anything. Honest.

 

[Terrytiddy]

Hi @Tempus Fugit welcome to the group. It's not the end of the world being diagnosed with type 2 so please don't panic or beat yourself up about it. Now that you know you can do something about it. Your reading is not that high, many have had a lot higher!. As mentioned have a good read at threads on the forum. I put my type 2 in remission with Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) way of eating and I'm off all diabetic meds. You are in the right place for help, advice and support, so any questions ask away

 

[daisy1]

@Tempus Fugit

Hello Tempus Fugit and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

 

[KK123]

Having always had excellent BS readings (diabetes in family so I am vigilant) blood tests from 2 weeks ago have come back 57. Horrified! Had more bloods today and unless a miracle happens, I’m type 2.

Hi there. It's interesting how we all interpret just one short sentence differently, that is a bonus of this site I reckon, a wide variety of opinions. The first thing I noticed was you saying you have always had 'excellent' readings. Any non diabetic will have excellent readings because they are not diabetic no matter what their lifestyle so their readings are more down to the luck of the draw than any real effort. Do you mean yours have been excellent because you follow a healthy lifestyle (ie one that favours diabetes because it's in your family) or do you mean you follow a 'normal' lifestyle and are 'lucky' that you have been a non diabetic up to this point? I detect a tone that suggests you are kicking yourself over this 57 reading and that somehow it is your fault. PLEASE do not think that, it is not your fault, it is dependent on so many other things. Please keep us posted as well, we are all thinking of you and wishing you well. x

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi, and welcome,

I so agree with your user name.

As the others have said, panic not. This is not the end of the world, as you can help yourself with perhaps a little more vigilance, and a lot of reading and learning. This forum is the best place to do that. Good luck.

Oh .... and you need your own blood glucose meter.

 

[rhubarb73]

Hiya - welcome @Tempus Fugit
Lets not pretend this is is good news - it's rubbish and you know that already but this is controllable
57 Hba1c is deffo diabetic but with the right action, eminently reversible.
It is a reading of how weighed down with glucose your current red blood cells are
Within 3 months most of those red blood cells will have died off and been replaced by new ones.
So whatcha gonna do with the new ones Tempus?? Yep, be nice to them. Turn off the carb tap and you can turn around that HbA1C to a normal number.
I wrote a blog on my first 50 days - it may resonate. Feel free to read, comment, ask questions, ignore as you see fit
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/type-2-my-first-50-days.2190/
All the best. It's gonna be OK.

 

[Prem51]

Welcome to the forum @Tempus Fugit. It is a shock when you get that diagnosis, but your Hba1c reading of 57 isn't too high and you should be able to reduce it. Many on this forum have had higher readings at diagnosis but brought them down to pre-diabetic or non-diabetic levels by adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (lchf) approach to eating.
Have a read round the threads to see how it works and ask any questions you want.