I hope you can get a definite answer soon, at your age, with type 2 is unusual, but not set in stone, as we hear of very young children being diagnosed with type 2.
Be assertive, (you could even be Mody or Lada) as you are obviously concerned, so good luck
Hey Courtney,Hi Jo,
I have no clue how to go about asking for specialists and the people I originally saw were in hospital. I was supposed to see the doctor I saw in hospital last week as he thought I was type 1 but instead it was changed last minute to a different doctor. My GP is pretty useless too. I have a really nice nurse though who checks up on me now and again.
I now feel like it was a waste of a day if they have told me completely wrong. I am just sticking to my blood glucose meter. My sugars go up a lot, should I be ringing when this happens? Even though they are classing it as type 2 should I just wait and see.
I am hoping I get the answer soon as these tablets just seem to be making me put on weight and are making me feel rubbish often. But I am eating all the right foods and a lot of veg now. I have cut on sweets, a lot of fruit, bread, pasta and I am just trying to see what is best. Thank you!
Courtney
PS: I find it horribly hard to stick up for myself. For my health though, I've had to, on quite a few occasions. From your posts you sound like you can write just fine, and eloquently get your point across... If you can express your worries in a letter or e-mail, you don't have to feel pressured to voice your concerns in the alotted 10 minutes, and get it off your chest within a certain time frame.Would it be best to request my doctor to do more tests? Aha I am not a very assertive person but I will try. Thank you!
PS: I find it horribly hard to stick up for myself. For my health though, I've had to, on quite a few occasions. From your posts you sound like you can write just fine, and eloquently get your point across... If you can express your worries in a letter or e-mail, you don't have to feel pressured to voice your concerns in the alotted 10 minutes, and get it off your chest within a certain time frame.
Hey Courtney,
Okay, so what are you eating now? As you know, carbs translate to bloodsugars, so... How many carbs are you eating in a day? The medication you're on (gliclazide) can make you go hypo if you go very low carb, so keep an eye on that eh. You don't want to face-plant. Test your heart out. Going from the assumption that the T2 diagnosis is correct, you could just go low carb and discuss dropping the meds with your doctor as you're not happy with them. That'd mean eggs, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies and leafy greens, (no legumes or underground veggies for the most part), berries, heavy cream/clotted cream, full fat greek yoghurt, cheese, extra dark chocolate, mushrooms... That sort of thing. Stuff you want to steer clear of: Spuds, pasta, cereal/muesli, rice, corn, bread and anything else made of grain. If you keep your bloodsugars in range with low carb eating you could indeed be a T2. (Or, admittedly, a T1 in the honeymoon period). If that's not doing anything for your bloodsugars at all, and you're seeing double digits more often than not, then T1 becomes ever more likely. I'm not a doctor, I'm just a T2, mind... Just make sure you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, see what happens. You shouldn't have a rise of more than 2.0 mmol/l in that time. (It'll spike at about 1 hour after eating, the 2 hour mark is you seeing whether your body is adequately tackling the glucose/carbs.).
Go back to your doc and ask for a referral, name the specialist you originally saw. Hopefully that'll help you get back in touch with them. (I have at some point taken matters into my own hands and written to specialists myself. Usually got an answer too, but that was in the Netherlands and Canada). Something's going on and I can advise my head off, but if you're a T1 in disguise this advice is about as useful as a rake is to a cat.And whatever people advise, be it here or on the Desmond course, go with what your meter tells you. Diabetics are all individuals with different needs, but your meter'll always tell you what yours are. Hold on to the 2.0 mmol/l rise maximum, 2 hours after the first bite, and that'll steer you right. If that's not do-able for you on a low carb diet, then other types are really an option. You could possibly need a basal and a bolus insulin. That's fine, loads of people do it. But you do have to know whether that's what you need.
Hugs,
Jo
Hey Courtney,
Okay, so what are you eating now? As you know, carbs translate to bloodsugars, so... How many carbs are you eating in a day? The medication you're on (gliclazide) can make you go hypo if you go very low carb, so keep an eye on that eh. You don't want to face-plant. Test your heart out. Going from the assumption that the T2 diagnosis is correct, you could just go low carb and discuss dropping the meds with your doctor as you're not happy with them. That'd mean eggs, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies and leafy greens, (no legumes or underground veggies for the most part), berries, heavy cream/clotted cream, full fat greek yoghurt, cheese, extra dark chocolate, mushrooms... That sort of thing. Stuff you want to steer clear of: Spuds, pasta, cereal/muesli, rice, corn, bread and anything else made of grain. If you keep your bloodsugars in range with low carb eating you could indeed be a T2. (Or, admittedly, a T1 in the honeymoon period). If that's not doing anything for your bloodsugars at all, and you're seeing double digits more often than not, then T1 becomes ever more likely. I'm not a doctor, I'm just a T2, mind... Just make sure you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, see what happens. You shouldn't have a rise of more than 2.0 mmol/l in that time. (It'll spike at about 1 hour after eating, the 2 hour mark is you seeing whether your body is adequately tackling the glucose/carbs.).
Go back to your doc and ask for a referral, name the specialist you originally saw. Hopefully that'll help you get back in touch with them. (I have at some point taken matters into my own hands and written to specialists myself. Usually got an answer too, but that was in the Netherlands and Canada). Something's going on and I can advise my head off, but if you're a T1 in disguise this advice is about as useful as a rake is to a cat.And whatever people advise, be it here or on the Desmond course, go with what your meter tells you. Diabetics are all individuals with different needs, but your meter'll always tell you what yours are. Hold on to the 2.0 mmol/l rise maximum, 2 hours after the first bite, and that'll steer you right. If that's not do-able for you on a low carb diet, then other types are really an option. You could possibly need a basal and a bolus insulin. That's fine, loads of people do it. But you do have to know whether that's what you need.
Hugs,
Jo
I was lucky to be diagnosed fairly soon (my glucose and HbA1c were fine a year before), and I already knew that people might get into remission by going low carb instead. I refused to go on the old Desmond course (they have been very anti-low carb) but sat through an appointment with a dietitian telling me to eat more carbs even though my 3 month blood tests were good.
£ months after I was in remission, all my BS results are in the normal range as long as I count my carbs. And in spite of eating more fat, including butter and cream, my blood fats are much better too and my liver test.
I started on 100g of carbs a day then down to 85g - others find they need to go lower, and the longer since your BS went high often means it takes longer to reduce it.
Good luck with this.
Tropical fruits are unfortunately one of the worst enemies of decent blood sugar readings.Pineapple is my biggest enemy aha
Tropical fruits are unfortunately one of the worst enemies of decent blood sugar readings.
can you give us an idea of what your previous usual daily/weekly diet was please? maybe we can help you tweak it?It is killing me not to eat it but I am trying my best. Is grapefruit any good? Just trying to find fruit that I can still eat to keep me sane
can you give us an idea of what your previous usual daily/weekly diet was please? maybe we can help you tweak it?
Hey Courtney,Hey Jo,
Sorry just seen this reply on the way home from work, I have mainly cut out a lot of carbs. I think I had my first hypo that I know of today I was really shaky, luckily had some sweets at hand and I tested at work it was 4.6 after. I am going to try keeping some carbs in my diet I think as I never want to experience anything like that again. Luckily I eat a lot of veg already although I have been having granola lately is that bad? Often when I eat it goes up by a lot so if I am in 7 before it spikes to above 10 or even higher.
I am going to ring my doctors tomorrow completely forgot about their closing times today. But I will definitely pester them now. I just want a definite diagnosis aha but it seems far away to find out I hate needles but I am trying with this glucose meter so if it helps I will have to ignore my needle fear. Thank you for the advice though it has helped loads I will take on board what you have said
Hugs, Courtney
Hi I was diagnosed aged 54 and like you attended a Desmond course and found it very useful now 56 i have had to progress to insulin 6mega ago but am still coming wellHi my name is Courtney, I was newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in April and at 22 it was a massive shock. I have been struggling to come to terms with it but today I attended a Desmond course.
I really struggle in groups as I am quite shy but it was the best thing I could do. I gained so much knowledge and learned different things to try to eat and what is best to avoid.
I am really feeling happy now about getting this under control. It was so nerve wracking as I was the youngest person there (over the age of 50) but everyone understood and reassured me. So if anyone gets the opportunity go to the Desmond course it has helped me understand so much more.
Although I am just wondering if anyone around the same age has advice on how they are coping as it has been a struggle to find people of a similar age with Type 2 diabetes.
Thank you, Courtney
Hey Courtney,
That would've been a hypo, yeah, if you're in the low 4's after sweets... That's what happens when you lower your carbs and still take gliclazide. With only metformin that doesn't happen. I've had a few, and yeah, they're no fun... But you did exactly what you had to do. So well done! As long as you're on glic, always have something handy. Like jellybabies or dextro. But if you cut carbs -and truly are a T2- you might be able to ditch the glic, and the metformin, in time. T2's don't hypo, usually. (Still... There are exceptions to the rule. I hypo when it's extremely hot, my bloodsugars bouncing up and down all through the day.). It's usually medication that'll make someone go hypo, either glic and it's bedfellows, or insulin. I was on gliclazide for a little while, but with the LCHF diet I could ditch it, three months after diagnosis. As well as the statins they put me on.
As for granola, yeah... Not the best option. (Personally, I wouldn't go near it.) But your meter already told you as much. If you want to have breakfast-y stuff that's not eggs with bacon and whatnot, there's a keto porridge somewhere on dietdoctor.com, or you could just toss some crushed nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamia's, bit of coconut flakes), and maybe some berries, into full fat greek yoghurt. Yum, and simple.And that shouldn't spike you. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/fruits has the best and worst fruits listed for a T2. I know it's hard to let the bulk of fruit go, but after a while, you don't miss it so much. And then when you do have a bite of something, it's horribly, horribly sweet, because your palette changes. It takes a little while, but it's a good change. For me, it made other, non-sweet food actually taste better. More lively, somehow. I really, really enjoy food these days. Where before it was just something I needed to sustain me.
None of us enjoyed handling needles, it's not exactly anyone's hobby (well, maybe some, haha), but you get used to that too... When I started with the finger pricking the hairs in my neck used to stand on end and I'd feel tingly all over. Now it's just pull-out-my-kit, stabby-stab-stab, done. Took about a week or two to get to that point. It's surprising how quick you can get used to something. Good thing too. The good news? If you're a T2, and you know because you test a lot at the start, what foods do to your bloodsugars, you don't have to test all the time anymore. You'll already know eggs don't spike you, or that granola does, so you won't have to test those: you'll know your safe foods from your risky ones. These days I only test when something's up. If I feel off/ill, if the weather's really hot, if I get a steroid shot, or a flu jab... Or if I ate somewhere and I'm not too sure they listed all the ingredients properly. (Two weeks ago I was served a salad with apple and honey. That did not go well. I was halfway through before I figured it out, and I didn't have the heart to not finish the plate. I walked it off though). All in all... This is temporary. And even if you aren't a T2 but a T1, you could try going for an insulin pump and/or a continuous monitor. That's basically stuck on, and while you'd have to check every now and again to make sure it's all working properly, it would simplify things.
Still... If you're seeing numbers this low on just metformin and gliclazide... I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's T2. That can be managed through diet-only, relatively easily. If that's the route you choose. I know it's what I went with, and I haven't had diabetic complications since. It's been 3 years since my diagnosis, almost, and I've spent most of it on a diet. And honestly, I don't feel like I'm missing out much. And I'm certainly a lot healthier and have more energy than I did before.
In any case, read the Nutritional Thingy in my signature, and be careful with low carbing while on Glic. It's a bit of a balancing act. And you already know you don't enjoy hypo's.
You'll get the hang of this. Good luck with the doc!
Jo
If you are type 2 : then low carb will replace the gliclazide and in the long term probably be far better for you in reducing insulin resistance, the cause of the issue rather than just tackling the symptoms ie high glucose.They want to take me off gliclazide but when I ran out before I felt rubbish when I did not take them unless taking more metformin balances it out
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