• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Good Afternoon from Scotland

M

Maitland

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Location
Scotland
My name is Maitland Kelly (Maitland being the first name). I am a 47 year old married man with 3 children. I live in a wee village 40 or so miles north of Glasgow.

A couple of years ago I had some issues that warranted blood tests. These blood tests came back indicating Impaired Fasting Glycaemia (so I was informed). I was advised to change my diet and lose a little weight. I am around the 5.8 mark and about 12.7 stone.

I did make a number of changes and walk (as I have always done) about 5 miles per day.

Last year I had my review and once again the blood tests stayed at IFG levels. Unfortunately I lapsed slightly with my changes and a few habits reappeared in my diet, I did however stop drinking copious amounts of coffee with 3 sugars in each cup but the sugary cakes would appear to have creeped up on me.

Last week I once again had my annual review. My test results came back a few days later and showed a reading of 7.4mmol/l. The surgery rang me to ask me back for a further test. I had these test results back this morning and they were 8.7mmol/l.

Now it was the receptionist I spoke with this morning who has informed me that my Doctor wishes to see me on Friday. I haven't been told officially yet but I assume that I am about to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. If so I will be spending a wee bit of time here looking through other forum members experiences and any advise others can give.

I wish I didn't have to register on this forum (no disrespect to anybody here) but it would appear that I am about to become a full member ;-)

If I can I will like to post regularly on my experiences from diagnosis, my feelings on the subject and how the NHS (Scotland) deals with that diagnosis.

Finally I have had every opportunity to change my life over the last few years but have failed to do so in a manner that would of been beneficial to my health, I have no one other than myself to blame for my predicament and it would be remiss of me to even try. I look forward to getting to know some on this forum and hopefully I can contribute to it in a manner that would be of some help to to others.

I am left with the voice of my wife echoing in my ears after she phoned to ask my result "You 24 Carrot Plonker" :lol:

M...
 
Maitland said:
Last week I once again had my annual review. My test results came back a few days later and showed a reading of 7.4mmol/l. The surgery rang me to ask me back for a further test. I had these test results back this morning and they were 8.7mmol/l.

Now it was the receptionist I spoke with this morning who has informed me that my Doctor wishes to see me on Friday. I haven't been told officially yet but I assume that I am about to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
Click to expand...

Well, if you are diagnosed, you are at the junior end of the scale. You will be able to get those back down, probably by avoiding the cakes. Your GP may however want to send you for a HBA1c test first. That will give an indication of what your average has been over the past 12 weeks or so. But, there are many many people whose initial readings were much higher than yours and they have successfully brought them down.

As for blame, I wouldn't even think about it. If you left the house and were involved in an accident, maybe a traffic accident, you could say it was your own fault for leaving the house, but is there any point in doing that? Even very fit and active people get type 2 DM.
 
Hi Maitland and welcome to the forum :D

Dont feel that it is all your own fault as I bet no one has ever told you that it is carbohydrates that are processed into glucose in the stomach and are absorbed into the bloodstream in the intestines that give us high blood glucose (bg) readings have they? (sugar is just a carbohydrate)

Apparently it is a secret that no one gets told by the NHS. However this forum is full of great ideas and suggestions on how to control your bg levels so you have found a great resource for all things 'diabetes'.

Daisy will probably be along shortly and will no doubt post the "Newly Diagnosed" info pack which may be a bit of an eye opener for you.

Good luck with your appointment but if it is bad news then I look forward to your future posts here :thumbup:
 
Hi Maitland and welcome to the forum :)

This is the information that Sid mentioned which we give to new members and I hope will be useful to you. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to 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.
 
Hello and welcome :wave: What a lovely first name you have .I am Scottish too, both my names are a scottish giveaway. I love Scotland,my parents were born in Scotland and lots and lots of relatives still live there and my mum was born in a wee village as well, near Glasgow :thumbup:

Best wishes RRB
 
Maitland
It sounds as if you have espoused the "I'm to blame for this!" rationale
You are NOT.
In any case, did anyone advise you to cut back on the carbs or did you get the low fat diet nonsense?
If you cut back on the carbs, you may still be able to reverse the condition you have.
It's worth talking to your dofctor about it, because there are now one or two who would back up that approach [even diabetes UK will support a low carb diet as a short term measure!]. Most however will tell you that carbs are essential and that self testing is not. Look at the advice to newly diagnosed diabetics on this forum and get a copy of Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. If you're lucky, your library might have it.
Hana
 
Thank you very much for the warm welcome to the forum.

I was told 2 years ago to change my diet and to a degree I did but slipped off the cake wagon rather early, hence I tend to blame myself for my current test results. I am however one to look forward rather than back and if diagnosed with Type 2 will take all necessary steps to change my diet to get those numbers down.

I have had little if any advice with regards to my diet other than to change it so the advice I was given previously was limited but then with Dr Google at hand I really should have came to a forum such as this first and researched what had to be done.

I appreciate the information for us newbies. I had previously looked at it but will have a good look through once I have prepared dinner. No rest for us House Husbands.

Once again thank you for the warm welcome and as I said I hope to be able to contribute something worthwhile to the forum.

M...
 
vonbon1 said:
Hya Maitland. Welcome to the forum.
:wave:
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the welcome. Doctors this Friday. Turned up last Friday to be informed it was the following Friday I had made the appointment for so at the moment I have not been officially told I have diabetes.

A week today since I had my test results through, 7.4 and 8.7 and to date I have lost 8lbs and am really beginning to feel the benefits of my changed diet and more exercise.

Already been testing my glucose levels. Once after fasting (5.9) and 2 hours after a breakfast of 2 rolls and low fat turkey rashers (6.3).

Don't want to pre-empt the Doctor but thought I would get a head start.

M...
 
Back
Top