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Diagnosed Yesterday

SugarLabRat

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Other
Hi,
Newly diagnosed yesterday. Still really overwhelmed.
Have a blood glucose of over 100, and I have absolutely no idea where to start. I'm not in ketosis but I feel like absoulute ****.
I have already started looking at low carb pre-packaged meal services while I get my head around this.
I haven't started medication yet, but I think I'm starting on metformin when I next have more appointment.
I'm kinda terrified and really angry. My symptoms started about 3 years ago, with worsening symptoms for over a year and couldn't get into a GP because I wasn't dying. (I thought I was developing arthritis). Not from lack of trying though.
I know, at least I have answers now, but I was packed off with a couple of booklets, told to exercise more and lose weight. That was it.
Losing unexpected weight was one of the reasons I was trying to get into the GP. I've lost at least 20kg if not more.
Any way I'm pretty scared right now, especially because now I realise I'm suffering from diabetic neuropathy, not arthritis. I don’t know where to go from here right now.
 

Firstly, don't panic. It improves nothing, but you likely know that!
With bloods (am assuming that is your HbA1c test) at over 100, your diagnosis of diabetes is pretty certain. You mention you have lost a significant amount of weight. Was that weight you needed to lose anyway, or have you ended up too light?

The reason I ask that last bit is to ensure you may have had all the sensible checks along the way (or they are in the masterplan, somewhere).

I would urge against buying low carb meal plans. Just focus on eating good protein (meat, chicken fish) and vegetables that grow above ground, or salads. That will likely save you a cash and begin good habits from the get-go.

I'd also urge you to consider buying a blood glucose testing kit, so that you can get to grips with what helps or hinders you in your diet.

Finally, really don't panic about neuropathy, if that is indeed what you have. Many experiencing it at diagnosis find it improves and often disappears, as they get their blood glucose levels in order.

My post feels scant, but there's already likely enough to take on board for day one.

The thing is; we've all walked in your shoes, handling a new diagnosis, so we can help you shorten your learning curve as you come to terms with things.
 
Hi @SugarLabRat and welcome to the forum.
I would just like to echo @AndBreathe about both everything:

The neuropathy may not be caused by diabetes - unless diagnosed as such. I had a bout of Sciatica soon after being diagnosed as T2D, but Sciatica is caused by a trapped nerve - nothing to do with diabetes. If it is diabetic neuropathy, the if you manage to control your Blood Glucose (or better yet get into remission) then it may well go away .

The Blood Glucose Meter ( or a CGM if you are rich). I consider this vital in seeing which foods best suit your body, it's individual, but will generally be low(er) carbohydrate than you are currently eating.

If you can control your own meals (not necessarily cooking them yourself), it will be much cheaper and much more flexible than any food service!
 
I've got a fairly extensive family history. I don’t know why it's a surprise. I'm also horrified, and here's where the embarrassment comes in, because I'm a health professional/NHS worker and my diagnosis didn't even occur to me.
Anyways, to answer peeps questions; I'm a big girl, so I've a ways yet to reach a healthy weight. However, the weight came off in the last year, pretty rapidly. I was concerned, but also had an incredible amount of stress, so maybe didn't press harder about an appointment than I should have. I was being investigated for autoimmune arthritis as I have a lot of MSK issues including osteoarthritis in my right knee. I also had tingling in my feet, and issues with my hands.
The extreme fatigue has in truth been only in the last week or so, BUT I do have a brutal work schedule at times, and any tiredness I felt I put down to that.
I get what y'all are saying about the prepackaged route but my work schedule can be horrendous which is probably why I'm here now. I didn’t think my diet was that terrible, but I did rely on prepackaged meals and what I thought was healthy takeaways. It's more of a backup while I get my head around this. My life is going to have to change significantly. I also wasn't worried about excersize. I walk everywhere, and my step count is nothing to sneer at. This maybe the wake up call I needed.
It did not help the practise nurse was patronising as all get out, but that's another post for another day. My knee, I feel has played a significant factor in this diagnosis, as I definitely haven't been putting in the miles I used to.
I'll calm down in a bit, especially when I feel a little bit more in control. I'm glad I found this forum so quickly.
 
Honestly, don't sweat too much over the exercise element. For those with T2, what we eat and drink is so much more important. We have several members on here who are unable to exercise for a plethora of reasons.

In terms of eating, many of us found reducing the carbs we eat helps enormously, so cutting back on the spuds, rice and pasta as well as the obvious sweet stuff is a great start.

If you feel you are time poor, then things like bacon and eggs, a pork chop with some veg. We love roasted Mediterranean vegetables with a chicken portion, or high quality sausages even.

A high beef content burger us even fine with some salad. The roll is more the issue in terms of what we usually see on a plate.

If you feel a burger and some salad (just as an example) wouldn't fill you up, have another burger. Meat and that containing a bit of fat can be very filling.

For inspiration and ideas, have a look through this thread in the link. These are real people, living real lives - some busier than others, but hopefully it might help a bit. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...y-low-carb-forum.75781/page-2837#post-2621444

Just as a final aside; you'd be surprised how many NHS employees/current and former health care professionals we see. Human nature helps us think we are invincible, and that "those things" happen to others.
 
A low carb diet is really easy to cater for and has the added advantage of reducing appetite so it isn't all that urgent to find food as quickly as possible.
I just thought about eating for the first time today, it being 5pm, and so I took a tomato and some cheese from the fridge and ate that. I buy eggs regularly these days, even if I don't need them that day, but scrambled eggs with grated cheese mixed in at the end of cooking is a standard breakfast for me when I remember.
I have frozen stirfry, mixed veges and mixed berries in the freezer - plus meat and fish, cream and eggs, several different cheeses in the fridge. I buy swede and cauliflower quite frequently. I cook the swede in a pressure cooker to get it soft enough to mash in ten minutes or so.
The added bonus of eating low carb is the effortless weightloss, having struggled so hard to lose anything at all eating low fat high carb at the GPs insistence I was suddenly having my clothes sliding south after a few months sticking to low carb after diagnosis.
 
I threw some chicken pieces in the oven yesterday, added a pack of ready sliced mushrooms near the end. I then microwaved a pack of pre-prepped green cabbage. If I had cauliflower rice in I've had added some to the pan.
Sometimes I'll wrap salmon portions in foil and bake them with lemon juice, then add a pack of any green veg.
Today I quickly stir-fried some cooked chicken&veg from the last roasted chicken meal with a little soy sauce. I'll have a bowl of full fat Greek yogurt with a few raspberries in a minute and a couple of squares of 85% chocolate at bedtime with a mug of cocoa made with cream and hot water.

Easy snacks if you don't have access to a fridge include Cheesies (expensive but zero carbs), nut butter balls (if you aren't in a nut free place) or I boil several eggs or make a cheese omelette-style bake and cut it into portions, and have a couple each day.
I also make a low carb cake and store pieces in the fridge to take with me - depending on the recipe that is between 3 and 6g of carbs.
 
Thank you everyone for your reassurance and ideas. I have a few challenges ahead of me but nothing insurmountable. I'm much calmer tonight, and some of the issues I'm worried about are small change in the scheme of things. It's gonna be a journey, but I guess it's my body's way of telling me I need to look after myself now.
 
As well as a bg monitor, I'd suggest getting some keto sticks or a keto monitor. (Carefree, or is it caresense?, dual does both but the strips cost more) as there's still a slight chance you might end up diagnosed t1. Ketosis isn't bad (it's good) but diabetic ketoacidosis (dka) is a medical emergency .
Doctors tend to always go for t2 diagnosis if the patient is overweight, but a 20kg unexpected loss is unusual in t2 where one of the symptoms is weight gain.
Just keep an open mind and watch for symptoms... not everything is diabetes related
 
In my next appointment I will bring the weight loss up. It's closer to 30kg, but seeing as I moved last year, and they don't know me, I guess the Nurse didn't take it on board. My manager at work (who was absolutely brilliant yesterday) has type 1, also suggested it's a possibility, especially as my BG is so high, (and she's personally witnessed how much weight I've lost). I'm not in DKA though so probably not . I'm wondering if I might be LADA though and I did try to bring that up yesterday but the Nurse was too busy doing the "You're fat" speel. I only say this because of my family history, there's both type 1 and type 2, and also autoimmune issues in the mix. I guess we'll see if I respond to Metformin first though when they prescribe it. (I might see if they'll test for GAD antibodies ect.)
I'm also guessing the Nurse wasn't used being questioned right off the bat of diagnosis, and I was in too much shock at the time to really push it. I was expecting a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.
I have to bear in mind, the last year has been extremely stressful and I'm still recovering from all that entailed, the weight loss could have been just down to that.
 
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The expression Physician heal thyself comes to mind. The advice on getting a meter to see how various meals / snacks affect your sugars directly will be invaluable. The need for exercise is overrated IMO. I have a very low step count, but I managed on a low carb intake and zero exercise for 8 years now.

It is summer, so any meat or cheese and salad with mayo or olive oil dressing is simple and cheap. I use an english breakfast to start my day, and it keeps me satiated till evening (I only have 2 meals a day now, with minimu snacking)

The diet to avoid which most of us here do, is the NHS Eatwell platter. starchy grains go down the drain IMO. they are evil. so are sultanas.
 
Ha, ha! I already knew the recommended NHS diet (it's standard workd wide) wasn't good from the experiences of other family members diagnosed with T2. In some ways I have a bit of a head start in that regard. Forewarned is forearmed.
Didn't know about sultanas, but it figures they are little sugar balls, and luckily I don't really like them
 
Sultanas are Nature's cluster bombs. Lots of little bomblets. Raisins are much the same. I know, as I recently bought some sultanas for my kedgeree the other night. I also added them to a shop bought Bombay Mix to jazz it up. Both failed the sugar test.
 
I'm with you and been there , check out the book carbs and Cals amazon it really did help me full of illustrations with whats on your plate. as i said really heled me in the early days.
Derek
 
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