Diagnosed yesterday

[Cookey6109]

Went to the doc a couple of weeks ago for my first ever visit because I thought I had a prostate issue. Was waking up 2 or 3 times a night for a pee. Anyway after blood and pee samples I was diagnosed. I have been offered metformin but have declined. I have been given a machine which I now have to prick my finger before all of my meals. It’s very confusing at the moment as I have been told the machine should read about 7 ish. So far it’s been 16, 14, and this evening 10. So confused as I have a very active lifestyle, eat all fresh no processed foods. And I am not fat. Decided the best thing I can do is go for an extra mile on my run which I think will help get these sugars things down. Glucose, sugars. All very confusing.

 

[bulkbiker]

Best thing to do is stop putting sugars into your body.
Reduce your carbohydrate consumption and load up on fats and protein instead.
This will, over time, reduce blood glucose down to normal levels.
Depending on how far you run already that extra mile might not be enough to counter what you are eating.

If you'd care to share some sample meals we could maybe make suggestions for alternatives?

Did you have an HbA1c test?

 

[ianf0ster]

Those numbers are certainly high. Were you offered any other drugs , or just metformin? I ask because it's unusual for a BG Meter to be prescribed unless a patient is on strong glucose reducing drugs (such as Gliclazide or Insulin).

As long as you aren't on any of those drugs, then it should be safe to cut down on the carbohydrates you eat and drink - so Sugary Drinks, Fruit Juices ,grains (including Oats) , rice, potatoes , pasta (unless it's made from beans), etc.

Here is a link to Jo Kalsbeek's wonderful ''Nutritional Thingy' : The Nutritional Thingy. | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

 

[Marie 2]

Keep in mind the most common, so therefor the most diagnosed, is type 2 diabetes. You can get type 2 when you are not fat, eat right, already exercise etc but that with high blood sugars would be more of a common sign for a type 1.

So I would be really be suspicious of type 1/LADA instead. Misdiagnosed 35% of the time as type 2's at first, 50% of type 1's get type 1 after the age of 30. I developed type 1 when I was 46. When you get type 1 as an adult it is slower onset. We call that the honeymoon period and that can last years. You slowly lose the ability to make insulin, but you still make some for a while, and that helps make it misdiagnosed so commonly.

Unfortunately a lot of people find out it's type 1 by ending up sick or in the hospital with DKA. DKA is caused by a lack of insulin. I would suggest you ask for antibody tests, if positive, it's a sign of type 1. Some type 1's test negative and they don't know why but still don't make insulin. The other is a C-Peptide test. If it's low or low normal it's a sign of type 1 because you are losing the ability to make insulin. If it's high or high normal it's a sign of type 2 as type 2's still make insulin they just don't utilize it well so they usually produce more of it to try to make up for it.

I'm not saying you are a type 1. But when things don't make sense, you could be a type 1 instead.

 

[ert]

So I would be really be suspicious of type 1/LADA instead. Misdiagnosed 35% of the time as type 2's at first, 50% of type 1's get type 1 after the age of 30.

.[/QUOTE]
Would you give a reference for these percentages? 8% of diabetics are type 1, which is rarer. If you have a BMI under 25 you qualify for a referral on the NHS to a specialist to check your diagnosis. In the meantime follow @bulkbiker 's advice.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/position-statements-reports/statistics#:~:text=Around 90% of people with,have rarer types of diabetes.

15% of type 2's have a normal weight: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25515001/
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=161160

 

[Marie 2]

@ert

I believe I have even recently read it might be 40% now.................but no, I do not have any reference for 40%

The first article is mostly about kids being misdiagnosed. But drop down to the section labeled misdiagnosed and it says 16% of kids under the age of 18 are misdiagnosed and 38% of those over 18 are misdiagnosed. Later on it even says something about being diagnosed as a type 2 at first 76% of the time.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6640891/

The next article part way down under the "Discussion" paragraph states it too

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6953756/

Exeter study

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_714492_en.html

https://www.diabetesincontrol.com/m...A6rm-woyL2x2QBIYDL2lv6ftQGOtGoJza1MeLASQIpogo

EDIT TO ADD

50% of diagnosed cases occur in adults

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8546280/

United Kingdom

• An estimated of 1 in every 430-530 people under the age of 19 have Type 1 diabetes.
• Out of 3.7 million people living with diabetes, DiabetesUK estimates that 10% have Type 1.
• That translates to about 400,000 people.
• 29,000 of those living with Type 1 are children.
• The U.K. was ranked fifth among countries regarding rate of incidence of Type 1 diabetes among children ages 0-14 with a rate of 24.5 out of 100,000.
• The average diabetes cost share per month is 1.4%, according to responses received for T1International’s 2016 survey.

United States

• Approximately 1.6 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes.
• By 2050, 5 million people are expected to be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
• An estimated 64,000 people are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes each year.
• 200,000 people under the age of 20 years old have Type 1 diabetes.
• Between 2011 and 2012, 17,900 children and adolescents under the age of 20 were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
• There was a 21% increase in people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes between 2001 and 2009 under the age of 20.
• By 2050, 600,000 people under the age of 20 are expected to have Type 1 diabetes.
• Among people under the age of 20, non-Hispanic whites had the highest rates of new diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.

 

[EllieM]

OK, lets do some maths. 8-10% of diabetics are T1, 90% of diabetics are T2s.. 50% of T1s are diagnosed as adults. So 4-5% of diabetics are diagnosed as T1 as adults.

That translates to me that a max of 4-5% of T2s are actually misdiagnosed T1s, assuming that all adult T1s are initially misdiagnosed T2s.

 

[searley]

Went to the doc a couple of weeks ago for my first ever visit because I thought I had a prostate issue. Was waking up 2 or 3 times a night for a pee. Anyway after blood and pee samples I was diagnosed. I have been offered metformin but have declined. I have been given a machine which I now have to prick my finger before all of my meals. It’s very confusing at the moment as I have been told the machine should read about 7 ish. So far it’s been 16, 14, and this evening 10. So confused as I have a very active lifestyle, eat all fresh no processed foods. And I am not fat. Decided the best thing I can do is go for an extra mile on my run which I think will help get these sugars things down. Glucose, sugars. All very confusing.

7 or below is ideal the reason you are peeing a lot is because your bg is high

You may not be overweight and maybe active and may think you eat healthy but you can still become t2 with all that

And on the diet front, many think they eat healthy.. but eat a lot of high carb foods.. potato pasta fruit bread etc... it carbs that turn to glucose so reducing carbs or looking at how many carbs you are eating is required

 

[EllieM]

Just a reminder to everyone (including myself) that though statistics about the diagnoses of different diabetic types are interesting, they would be better off being discussed on their own thread and are a distraction on a thread by a newly diagnosed new member who is trying to get to the grips of their diagnosis and what steps they need to take.

Thanks @searley for getting the thread back on track.

And welcome to the forums @Cookey6109 ..

A diabetic diagnosis is initially overwhelming for anyone but it sounds as though your health and lifestyle are already in a good place so hopefully your diabetes will soon be too.

Exercise is always good but I suspect that reducing the carbs in your diet will have the biggest effect on your blood sugars. I will repeat the link for jokalsbeek's blog (already linked to by @ianf0ster )

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

It's an excellent short intro to the low carb approach to controlling T2.

Have you got an appointment to see someone about your blood test results? Hopefully you should see patterns start to develop as to how your blood sugar is affected by food and exercise.

Good luck and Happy New Year for 2022.

 

[Cookey6109]

Thanks folks, this is all very overwhelming and there’s a lot to take in all of a sudden. Looks like I gonna be eating dust for the foreseeable. No more beer. I found that one out. Had a couple of ales yesterday and the machine thingy went bozo at me. 19.6.
I can see there’s a lot of opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. I did go for a run yesterday and that did seem to bring the machine to a lower lever but only 10. First go using fitness I suppose. I have to ask do we all have different run rate levels of blood sugar though. Thanks all for the advice. Oh and greggs is now off limits?

 

[Andydragon]

Thanks folks, this is all very overwhelming and there’s a lot to take in all of a sudden. Looks like I gonna be eating dust for the foreseeable. No more beer. I found that one out. Had a couple of ales yesterday and the machine thingy went bozo at me. 19.6.
I can see there’s a lot of opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. I did go for a run yesterday and that did seem to bring the machine to a lower lever but only 10. First go using fitness I suppose. I have to ask do we all have different run rate levels of blood sugar though. Thanks all for the advice. Oh and greggs is now off limits?

Everyone is unique and so have different tolerances but what impacts many of us is carbs. Not sugars specifically as some may say but carbs, so “healthy” weetabix or oats impact just as much as eating a bar of chocolate, if not worse

pastry (sorry, but yes greggs) can have an even more significant impact, for me personally pastry is certain to spike my levels and keep them elevated for much longer than other carbs do. Fats and carbs combined are very good at making levels high and sustained (Pizza, fish and chips or anything fried, all that stuff)

whether greggs is off limit is your choice. All of this is your choice, but what the forum can do is advise. Testing an sewing the impacts is important, but one size doesn’t fit all, sone people can tolerate more than others. What levels you choose to be comfortable May mean more carbs, but the risk/benefit analysis is yours to make

exercise helps for me as it burns off energy, but it is temporary. Measure after exercise may well show a drop, but a while after it could spike back up again

for me, I do sometimes have greggs, or a pasty, or fish and chips. But massively less often and I do notice the impact. I also know they are very addictive, but I choose the risk and try to keep up my exercise and the weight loss. I am not advising it’s the right approach and am always keen to highlight that it’s not good, but I also know for me and my mind, I need to find a way to live with this. But it’s a work in progress

 

[Mungobean]

I was diagnosed as T2 last year (although apparently according to my bloods I had been diabetic for a year, but nobody had told me). I was given a trial of the Libre, which I much preferred to finger pricking and I was trying to decide whether or not to self fund this. I then started to grill my GP as to how they had got to the T2 diagnosis - and basically it was a presumption.

I pushed and pushed to get the Anti Gad and c-peptide tests, because I don’t like people presuming things about my health. Also I knew I had little hope of being prescribed the Libre as a T2. I went around the houses a bit. My GP (who is actually very good to me) didn’t know how to order the tests and told me to talk to the community D team. They told me to talk to my GP! In the end I managed to get my consultant (for another issue) to order the tests, and simultaneously my GP worked out how to order the tests.

The bloods came back, but I still had to wait for a few weeks because my GP didn’t know how to interpret the results. Next thing I know (around 6 weeks after the tests) I get a call from my GP saying that I actually have T1, and I would be getting an appointment to see a consultant very soon.

It does actually make me wonder about an ‘incident’ that I had in Tenerife in Jan 2020, when I ended up in ICU after experiencing some fits. This could have been related to my sugars I think, based on the reading I have done - although we will never know, as we have scant record of what was/wasn’t done, but it did happen 3 months before the diabetes diagnosing blood tests that nobody told me about! I guess I will never know for sure.

So I guess my moral is that in my experience you may have to push and push to get the diagnostic testing, as medical people do (in my experience) seem to presume, but it can be done.

 

[ianf0ster]

Thanks folks, this is all very overwhelming and there’s a lot to take in all of a sudden. Looks like I gonna be eating dust for the foreseeable. No more beer. I found that one out. Had a couple of ales yesterday and the machine thingy went bozo at me. 19.6.
I can see there’s a lot of opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. I did go for a run yesterday and that did seem to bring the machine to a lower lever but only 10. First go using fitness I suppose. I have to ask do we all have different run rate levels of blood sugar though. Thanks all for the advice. Oh and greggs is now off limits?

It's good that you have a BG meter and are using it.
There are some (very few) beers which are low in carbs. Because it is carbs (not alcohol as such) that increases Blood Glucose (alcohol temporarily reduces it in most cases), you can drink spirits with low calorie mixers, dry whit wine, or most (non sweet) red wines.
Over days, the carbs you eat will influence your BG levels much more than any exercise you do or don't take. Exercise up to the basic 20 min of moderate cardio exercise per day is good. Beyond that, it's better to do some muscle building exercise (e.g. weights) rather than more cardio. Also intensive exercise can temporarily either raise or lower your BG by quite a bit dependent upon whether it persuades your liver to dump glucose into your bloodstream or not. - So just be aware of the possibility.

It depends upon both your body's reaction to Greggs products and your personality (can you stop after just a little ?) as to whether they have to be completely avoided.
I still eat 90% cocoa solids Chocolate (either Lindt or Godiva) , but I know even though I often can't stop after a few squares, at least I know I can usually stop after half a bar (= 7gms of carbs) or at the very worst after a whole bar (=14gms of carbs).