Hello from a n00b.

Hi -

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes six weeks ago, and have been reading back through the years of posts on this forum to get advice. I thought it was probably time to share my own story.

I'd been feeling a bit rubbish for a while, and was bullied into doing a private blood test with Thriva. I though this would be a waste of time and result in holes in my wallet and finger, but the results came bact to say I had a HbA1C of 60, and should probably talk to my GP as a matter of urgency. I rang my GP practice to get an appointment, and was diverted to the diabetic nurse. She rang me, I explained that I'd done a blood test and had a result of 60, and she prescribed Metformin on the back of that. Total call time, less than five minutes. I then received some T1 leaflets from her through the post, which was spectacularly unhelpful.

I've had the prescription filled (having been told by the DN it was free, but it turned out I had to pay for it). By that point, I'd done a certain amount of googling, and have landed on this forum. Many thanks to you all for your cumulative advice.

Situation six weeks ago: 44y, 5'10" bloke, 86kg. Body fat 27%, HbA1C of 60.

I haven't taken the Metformin, but I have:

- purchased a glucose meter and many strips,
- got some weighing scales (wifi ones, because this is a good excuse to get some tech),
- got a fitbit
- downloaded the mysugr app
- added a few books to my bookshelf (Fung, Mosley and a couple of low carb cookbooks).

The plan is to get down to 70kg and remove a high proportion of carbs from my diet permanently. I'm planning to stay off the drugs for as long as possible. My job is quite sedentary, and while I run and cycle a lot, I'm actively ensuring that I'm exercising, trying to do aroud 12.5K steps a day.

Removing carbs from my diet was initially painful. The week-long hangover feeling finally subsided, and I was very pleased with the 4kg loss. This pleasure was slightly tempered by discovering it was all water. There are no biscuits in the house, but I'm eating a lot of peanuts to compensate. my weight is still dropping though, and staying at around 1000 calories a day isn't proving too tricky as I'm not actually hungry. I've done a few days where I've only eaten a single evening meal, and feel better for it.

Situation now: Still a 44y, 5'10" bloke, but now at 76kg. Body fat 19%. Blood glucose hovering around 6.1 on average.

I've noticed my BG level rises if I sit at my desk all day, so I've been ensuring I go for a walk round the block every couple of hours. Not noticed any spikes, but then I'm not eating anything that should spike it.

I read that diabetics should have an eye test for retinopathy. I wear contacts normally, and when I went for my contact lens check up, I mentioned I was now diabetic. He took a pic of the back of my eye and didn't see any problems, which is reassuring. I gather feet are potentially also an issue, but I'm not clear on what I need to be looking for there.

Any advice? Things seem to be going in the right direction, but I'm still pretty miserable about the whole thing, and not really accepted that my lifestyle needs to change permanently.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for the comments. I'll get back to the DN on the free prescription card. I was also a bit surprised that she'd prescribe on what I told them, but apparently they're not doing any blood testing due to covid. Same for urine testing, so I bought some multi-stix. No issues there except for high ketones, but that's not surprising given the low carb diet.

Peanuts - indeed, they are legumes and not nuts. Good knowledge for a pub quiz there! They aren't spiking me, but I am trying to wean myself off them as they're so high calorie.

Many thanks for all your comments. Sounds like I need to be a bit more 'proactive' with my GP surgery.

As I said in my opening post, I've noticed that my blood sugar level rises if I don't do anything and just sit at my desk. As an example, it was 5.4 when I got up this morning, but is now 7.2. I haven't eaten anything at all in that time.

I'm dealing with it by drinking water and going for a vigorous walk, but is this rise normal?

I'll try that, thanks. Maybe going for a walk wasn't the right thing to do - my liver might respond by being more helpful, and producing more glucose tomorrow. That's the start of the slippery slope to having to run a daily marathon!

I had the eye test earlier this week. Not received the letter yet, but the nurse doing it didn't seem concerned with what she saw.

I've also taken another HbA1c test (6 weeks after diagnosis, and I'm aware that it's a three month average, but a weighted average), and I'm down to 40. I celebrated with red wine and cheese . Cholesterol was also much improved.

How much support do people get from their GP practice? I can't help feeling mine is a bit ****, and I'm wondering whether it's worth changing.

I should say that while the eye test was GP arranged, the HbA1c and cholesterol blood testing is something I've had done myself. Having read the NICE guidelines on what should happen in terms of diagnosis and next steps, the eye test is the only box they've ticked. Their CQC rating is 'inadequate' in all categories. I don't know how much store to set by that - I'm more familiar with OFSTED, and I know the limitations there - but together with my personal experience, I'm thinking that this might be a good time to find a new practice.

Ah, joy. Just got the letter, and apparently I do have background retinopathy. This disease really is the gift that keeps giving.