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steveng

Active Member
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31
Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

I have been diagnosed a couple of weeks ago (new years eve) with type 2 diabetes. I have just attended the local GP's to start monitoring. I am having appointments made for Retinopathy and with the Dietician to sort out a balanced diet.

I was placed on metformin immediately but i am unsure as to what to expect. My immediate symptoms were continual thirst which has now just about subsided since taking the metformin.

Has anyone any other advice on what to look out for to help judge wether the tablets are working correctly.

I have another appointment with the GP nurse in a couple of weeks and it would be nice to feedback some more information.

thanks.

Steve

Steve
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by steveng</i>
<br />Hi all,

I have been diagnosed a couple of weeks ago (new years eve) with type 2 diabetes. I have just attended the local GP's to start monitoring. I am having appointments made for Retinopathy and with the Dietician to sort out a balanced diet.

I was placed on metformin immediately but i am unsure as to what to expect. My immediate symptoms were continual thirst which has now just about subsided since taking the metformin.

Has anyone any other advice on what to look out for to help judge wether the tablets are working correctly.

I have another appointment with the GP nurse in a couple of weeks and it would be nice to feedback some more information.

thanks.

Steve

Steve
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Before seeing the dietitian check out http://www.diabetic-talk.org/jennifer.htm and evaluate what YOU think.. and then evaluate what your dietitian says.

Patti
On Levemir/Novorapid. Last hba1c 5.3
 
Thanks Pati,

I have read the article.

It mentions testing your BS levels.

I have had the levels tested at the DR but presume you can get something to test your BS levels at home.

Sorry for being naive but this is all new to me.


Steve
 
Hi Steven, I know its all so confusing when you first get that diagnosis, well done for joining the forum, read through it here as well as the old forum, there is so much information in here, you will be surprised how much you will learn from every single post.

Yes you can test your bg at home, in fact the clinic should offer you a meter and prescribe you with test strips too though some people have to be quite stern and demand these, seems that some areas in the country the medics are not so keen on prescribing test strips, if this is the case then stand your ground how can you achieve good control when you dont know which foods send your bg high and which are keeping your steady, etc

In the beginning it is all trial and error, for example some people do really well on porridge for breakfast others cant handle it and their bg shoots through the roof. So you really do need your meter and testing strips.
There are many ways to help yourself to control this disease, its not all bad news you know, so dont worry too much about it, but please do take the time to learn as much as you can and do read both this and the old forum.

All the best

Karen
 
Hi Steve, and welcome. In this section you will find a topic called "Sticky: Links for type 2 diabetes". That's a pretty good place to start for anyone who is newly diagnosed and wants to find out more. It's actually quite surprising just how many don't want to learn about their condition, but for nearly all of us on the Forum we want to learn as much as we can in order to help ourselves.

I think Karen was being a little optimistic when she says you can ask your diabetes clinic for a test meter. Although the test strips should be available to you on prescription, the test meters aren't. So you can ask but you won't get one unless one of the manufacturers sales reps has dropped off a few samples to the clinic and they are prepared to let you have one. All the meters use different types and sizes of strips so you will need to let your clinic know which make and model of tester you end up with so they can prescribe the right strips for it.

To answer your question about thirst, this is a reaction to having very high blood sugar levels and the fact that it is subsiding is proof that the metformin is doing its job and lowering your blood sugars. I think all of us will be very interested to hear what the dietician's recommendation is for a "healthy" diet. If you have already done some trawling through the topics posted on the forum, you will have spotted that diet for type 2 diabetics is a thorny subject.

If you have any questions then please ask - there are some very knowledgable people on this forum who will be glad to help you.
 
Ahhh ooops sorry about the meter, but so far I have been really lucky, as the diabetic nurse at my surgery does give us free meters and no hassle with prescriptions for strips.

Steve when you open this site, look ao the blue stripe on top, there you will see 'register, diabetes insurance, diabetes shop, the last one is diabetes forum, this is the old forum, if you click on the orange link you come to this one here.

Good advice Dennis as usual :-)

All the best

Karen
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by steveng</i>
<br />Thanks Pati,

I have read the article.

It mentions testing your BS levels.

I have had the levels tested at the DR but presume you can get something to test your BS levels at home.

Sorry for being naive but this is all new to me.



<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Steve
Have a look at http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/testing.html
It's a comprehensive guide to testing for newbies and includes links to all the major meter manufacturers who supply to the UK market so that you can compare features of meters. It also has a link to the Government Response to the petition not to restrict prescription of test strips to T2 diabetics which you can print out and show to your Dr if he/she is reluctant to prescribe. In addition there is a link to the new NICE guidelines (they're the people who tell the PCTs what to do), which clearly states (Page 12 IIRC) that all newly diagnosed diabetics should be prescribed test strips - you can also print that out to show your Dr.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

Patti
On Levemir/Novorapid. Last hba1c 5.3
 
Thanks everyone,

I have basically tried to cut out sugar from the diet after being diagnosed on 31st December. Subsequently lost 5 ponds in 2 weeks. This was even more suprising as i have been on hols to Egypt between diagnosis and the first meeting with Nurse. I must admit it was difficult watching the wife and kids eating and drinking things i can't but i guess that is what i have to adapt to. Although as i do the food shopping i can 'inflict' some changes into their diets also.

I work at the local hospital and i am going to pop into the diabetes clinic and see if they have any spare testers and try and get some more advice as i feel slightly short changed so far by my GP.

I have been trawling the internet for natural help as i hate pill popping. Found some useful stuff and will let you know how it goes. I stopped the nurse giving me "Statin", i think she said, for my chlorestyrol, as she had just added a daily dose of asprins for my blood pressure.

I want to try and diet and lose weight for the Chlorestyrol rather that popping more pills. Any advice, comments welcome on that topic.

thanks

Steve
 
Hi Steve,

If you look under the topic "Sticky: General links for diabetes" in the Diabetic Discussions section you will find a whole section on cholesterol that I posted a while ago. It certainly is possible to reduce your cholesterol level without popping pills, although of more importance is to get the LDL and HDL levels balanced correctly rather than just looking at the cholesterol total.

Also have a look at the various posts by Carefix and Chocfish covering the use of oils. Omega-3 and omega-6 oils have the effect of reducing LDL and triglycerides and increase HLD, but to make a real impact you need quite high doses and over a sustained period of time.
 
Popped into the clinic at the hospital today and as mentioned on another thread they have testers in abundance. The only draw back is getting the GP to prescribe the test strips.

I asked the nurse why the GP had not asked me to monitor my BS and she said it was common for type 2 people not to self monitor.

I think it should be the other way, i think you should monitor, i want to monitor, i want to understand what is happening, i want to know what things effect me and what don't. Maybe later i can then stop monitoring or monitor less frequently.

Will bring it up with the practice nurse on my next visit.


Steve
 
Good for you ,Steve! Take control of your diabetes,understanding it and knowing what affects your BS is the first step.When you get the tester,test first thing in the morning,before you eat.Keep a note of result. If it is over 7 think what you ate the night before,what time you last ate etc.If your BS is high( I suspect it may be if you are constantly thirsty)test again 2 hours after eating to see what it is again.Once you get the hang of it you will be able to cut down the testing but initially it is worth testing at least twice a day,morning and before evening meal to see what your BS is up to.Note that you will probably only get 50 strips on prescription so if you use them too quickly the doctor might not be very eager to re prescribe too quickly.Might be worth buying strips privately for a stock.Once you test less frequently 50 should do for the month.I got mine on-line.

Knowledge is the key to control
 
If I remember right I think someone mentioned a while back that they had got test strips on Ebay at around half the normal price.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by sugarless sue</i>
<br />Good for you ,Steve! Take control of your diabetes,understanding it and knowing what affects your BS is the first step.When you get the tester,test first thing in the morning,before you eat.Keep a note of result. If it is over 7 think what you ate the night before,what time you last ate etc.If your BS is high( I suspect it may be if you are constantly thirsty)test again 2 hours after eating to see what it is again.Once you get the hang of it you will be able to cut down the testing but initially it is worth testing at least twice a day,morning and before evening meal to see what your BS is up to.Note that you will probably only get 50 strips on prescription so if you use them too quickly the doctor might not be very eager to re prescribe too quickly.Might be worth buying strips privately for a stock.Once you test less frequently 50 should do for the month.I got mine on-line.

Knowledge is the key to control
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Once again I urge you to use "Jennifer's advice" for testing. It's a very controlled way to test and gives sensible and usable results. I have today seen my nurse for the results of the latest blood tests. She agrees totally with me on the use of tests, but tells me that the PCT are penalising doctors for prescribing "expensive test strips"

Patti
On Levemir/Novorapid. Last hba1c 5.3
 
Just thought i would post an update as it has been a couple of weeks since my last post.

Seen the nurse again, suggest testing strips, she does not think i need them but will review the situation after my next full blood test which is due in March.

She followed that up by putting me on Blood pressure tablets as it is still high. I have accepted that for the time being , but i am hoping that if i can shift enough weight that i will not have to stay on them indefinately.

I have had my retinopathy appointment, results came back today OK so i can forget about that for another year.

Had my appointment with the Dietician this week. She is happy with the changes i have made and has advised me to make sure i have some quantity of starchy carbs in each meal. So far so good.

I have an podiatry appointment soon to get my feet checked and another blood test due soon for a liver function test and my original tests showed some abnormality.

Anyway enough for now, will post more updates in the coming weeks.a

Steve
 
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