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Diagnosed with type 2 yesterday, bf dumped me

@Brunneria Yep I caved and had a big drink of water at lunchtime, LOL. I wasn't feeling what I'd describe as "excessively" thirsty. And all your info about what actually triggers thirst makes perfect sense, obviously! I actually usually drink about 2L a day, as that's what I had drummed into my head as a teenager, the 1L is what I have in the office during the work day, as it's convenient to measure in my drinking bottle.
 
@Adm_Mad
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.

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 147,000 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.
 
Hi
I don't post much but saw your post.....
Theres lots of good advice given already and I'm not bright enough to add any more.......however.......

If you do see your ex again stick you hand in your pocket and pull out 2 fingers and either poke him in the eyes or stick them in his face!

Generally I'm a good natured individual but what he's done made my blood boil and whilst its safe to play out the 2 fingured scenario in your head I'm not being serious about doing it in the flesh.......although...............tony wanders off at this point whistling a jaunty tune.......

I wish you well

Tony
 
Welcome to the forum, and I'm glad you're here. Like others, I have generally not compassionate feelings towards your boyfriend's reaction. We're much nicer people!

I didn't think I had symptoms, as I was diagnosed at a very down point in my life anyway, and hey - they happen to be disturbingly similar symptoms. And I'm female, and mood swings can (and still are, sadly) be attributed to other things too. They can also be attributed to people just being annoying...

But... cutting down on the carbs did actually allieviate a lot of things I didn't know I had and made me feel better and more alert.
 
What an ass, he doesn't deserve you! Be glad he ended it, you don't need that negativity in your life.

Keep eating salt, we need it to function properly. We've been told all these years we need to cut down on salt and its bad for our hearts, its rubbish. Since being keto I eat a lot more salt and my blood pressure has actually gone down! Go figure!

Definitely keep the carbs down. All carbs are sugar. I've only Seen improvements since cutting carbs, I don't even look at sugar anymore just total carbs. I'm really glad you were given this advice.

Good luck with your journey =)
 
Welcome to the Forum, and sorry to hear you may be a new menmber of the club that no one wants to join

Firstly may I suggest you take a comfy seat, take a deep breath and learn to relax. Listen to music or do some yoga. Diabetes is not a Code Blue illness, especially as a T2. You do not need to solve all the puzzle in one go, but can afford to live with high blood sugars for a while. It will take you some time to do research and learn to understand your condition. You have made a good start by coming onto the Forum - there is loads of helpful advice and people here who have been through this and many come out like me with a success story to share. It is not that fast acting at all, so relax.

A Couple of worrying items in your post. You seem to be wanting to induce a hypo by fasting. May I suggest this is not a good idea, and most probably will not occur. As a T2 your body will prevent that occurring by dumping glucose stored in your liver to keep blood sugars up, and it takes a lot of effort to deplete that store even when trying.

Second, I would caution you against getting your sugars too low without having a blood glucose meter to hand. Many here are what is termed hypo unaware in that they can go into hypoland without any warning signs. Do not risk it unecessarily. Second , if you are having daily levels in the lower 10's then it will take a lot of fasting to drop them and this again is something you should only attempt when more experienced. The main site of this forum used to run an online hypo awareness training course whuch I found to be useful. On the day I completed this course, I happened to have had my first hypo as I came out of the chemist with a packet of glucose tabs in my hand. I knew what to do. was prepared for it, so I was ok, but I recommend it if you can.

Again from my own experience I can say I did not have any excessive thirst or excess toilet visits or any urgency in that department. I was TOFI, fairly fit, and my BMI was fine. Because my mother was T1D, I passed a stall run by Diabetes UK, that was offering free testing, and as a laugh I volunteered. OOOPs. Here I am a veteran T2. I would not try to induce thirst if you have not been noticing it. Normally people report needing copious fizzy drinks and colas, and it seems fizzy is a necessity. You are not drinking fizzies, so any thirst you find will probably be genuine, and not diabetes related anyway. I do not think you will prove that point. Wait for the blood tests and the follow up HbA1c test that will be oofered soon to confirm diagnosis. As I said, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and you can take your time.
 
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@Smallbrit For sure, I am DEFINITELY open to the idea that there were symptoms that I just failed to notice LOL. Like blurry vision - I’ve worn glasses since I was in primary school and the prescription has changed over my life so it’s totally possible sight degradation over the years has been due to diabetes not natural causes. And I have a full time day job plus a night job and can get as few as 4 hours sleep some nights a week depending on if I get a call out and at what time, so sometimes I am tired in the morning but thought it was because of that, not diabetes.

Regarding whether my arguing with my ex were me acting irrationally because of my diabetes, that’s totally possible. I’d get upset when he said I was stupid for not understanding something, or criticised me by saying I was being too sensitive or taking things too personally like if he told me how beautiful he thought one of our friends is or wouldn’t come to a family dinner.

@West335 I will see what my GP has to say at our next appointment but yeah, I really doubt I could cut salt entirely. That plus cutting sugar would be setting myself up for failure.

@Oldvatr Thanks. I’ve been reading SO MUCH on this board today and learning a lot. I’d been under the impression that type 2 diabetes exclusively means always having dangerously high blood sugar unless you control it with calorie control and/or medication and that it’s impossible for a type 2 to get blood sugar low enough that they experience any bad effects, that’s exclusively a type 1 problem. Obviously I was wrong! Having said that I am still fasting and don’t feel particularly bad. Which matches all my other experiences of 24-48 hour fasting, so I guess my blood sugars have been so out of control high that they never go low enough for me to get hypo. It will definitely be useful when I can go over all the blood stuff with my GP, although I’m aware tests aren’t going to be able to tell me how long I’ve been diabetic for without knowing.
 
Several contributors have said exactly what I would have done. You are starting a new chapter in your life, it is better to start with a clean sheet. You get to choose who you take with you and who to leave behind. Some members of your family sound less than supportive so I would make excuses not to meet up with them until I knew what I was doing with my new diet and just say that it is advised by my doctor if they question what you are eating. Perhaps take along something that you have found that you enjoy as a snack which you know would not normally be provided. You may have to find alternative accommodation, be able to spend extra time at work, spend more time with a hobby group, keep contact but at arm's length. Take time out for yourself, relax and enjoy life, have a laugh even if it is just from going online. Aim for at least one laugh a day.
Eating the odd potato or handful of croutons should not blow the entire diet. Put the bg monitor as being a priority for spending, with the information that you get from using this you will find your own diet that fits you and your lifestyle. Initially the numbers can seem scary but as they come down and you learn what your body can process you get a tremendous feeling of achievement as your new body emerges. By next Christmas you may find that you need a new wardrobe. The occasional carb initially may help to avoid 'carb flu', but make sure that it is occasional, perhaps think of it as a daily treat, then gradually wean yourself off that. If you are eating away from home as part of your work schedule then most places now offer salads as an alternative and you can always ask for something to be left off, cheese as an alternative for dessert. It is not being awkward it is putting your health first.
You are starting on an adventure, finding out more about your body , what it needs and how it works. There will be days when nothing goes right but there will also be days when you feel amazing, everything goes to plan and you have achieved a great deal. Best wishes on your adventure.
 
Hi @Adm_Mad and welcome to the forum. You have already received loads of good advice, I just popped in as I wanted to say that if you stick around here, I’m sure it won’t be long before you change you’re avatar to the pic below (Brilliant film btw!)

 
Adm_Mad said:
he said I was stupid for not understanding something
Click to expand...

well @Adm_Mad that proves that you are better off without him! No decent human would tell someone they truly care about that they are stupid.

Leave him in the past and concentrate on yourself and your future, with the help of your doctor (who sounds great!) and all the info & support on here you're going to be just fine
 
You seem to have had rather a wild time of it - I can only suggest that you take a deep breath or three and look calmly into a future where you are not doing crazy things - not making yourself sick would be a good one to start off with - it is really bad for your tooth enamel for a start, and you can get dreadfully bloodshot eyes too - it is not a good look - really.
The foods to avoid are the heavy starchy and sugary ones - your doctors advice is really not that good. Eat low carb salads and stir fries, and you need salt. I put a tiny little pinch of salt into my coffee each morning as otherwise I get the most excruciating cramps at night. I don't put salt on my food or in my cooking - but salt is required.
As a type two you are unlikely to have a hypo - though if your blood glucose drops quickly you can feed a bit wobbly - but a drink of water and a short rest should sort you out - it is just your brain throwing a tantrum at the loss of the lovely warm sugary bath it has got used to. If you need to rush about them eating a small amount of carbs should restore order - but three grapes is what did it for me, you don't need to call out the medics.
 
Well said!
 
@Adm_Mad
In safe hands here....just don’t ask @Jim Lahey for driving lessons
 
I’d add my tuppence worth that along with reducing carbs the best thing for your physical and mental health is ditching the useless, mean and manipulative ex boyfriend. He’s done you the biggest favour he can. Although we’re only hearing your side it sounds very much like emotional abuse the way he spoke and treated you.

I’d also add that drastic things like inducing thirst or hypos or any other symptom has no benefit and definite risks, especially if you don’t yet understand the process and what fasting seeks to achieve and how. Whilst you do your research for sure cut the carbs but also take care of yourself. Salts are definitely still required too.

If you feel very wobbly and haven’t yet got a meter I’d have a very small snack and then reassess and repeat til you feel ok. Once you have a meter you’ll be able to check if it’s a genuine hypo or a false one where your body is objecting to the change of levels. Type 2 not on glucose lowering meds anywhere in the world rarely get a meter and strips on prescription but it is definitely still required to learn what foods, and other things too like lack of sleep, stress and illness do to your levels too.
 

I’d be pretty irrational too if my other half said and did these things. So stop blaming yourself. And as many have said on here, keep loving yourself. And enjoy the warmth and support from folks here. They are all amazing
 
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