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help needed - newbie

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norman423

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Hi Guys

Just got on to the site and must say some great valuable information is to be found.

I am 31 - recently was going to the toilet alot so got checked by the dr - went for bloods - resultas as follows:

First test - plasma gloucose level - 8.6 (31/03/2009)

Second test - plasma gloucose level - 8.0 (03/04/2009)
Hba1c was 9.1%

Also have slightly high cholestrol levels

So does this make me a diabetic? Dr seems to be sure I am but cant come to terms with it. Could I just be going through a bad patch?

Wanted to put me on pills straight away but I said no I want to change diet and exercise to see where i get to.

Does this make me a type 1 or 2 diabetic if i am?

sorry for the long post - its hit me hard - but i am going to fight it.

Thanks in advance for all the replies.
 
Hi Norman and welcome to the forum.

I am sorry to have to say it, but welcome to the club - yes, you are going to have to come to terms with the fact that you have diabetes. With test results like these, absolutely no shadow of a doubt!

The good news is that you have landed in the best possible place to get advice on how do deal with it. Have a good read round the various threads and you will pick up loads of information that will help you. Anything you are not sure of, just ask.
 
Hi Norman,

Welcome aboard; only just joined myself. I think you've no choice but to go with the diagnosis; if it's wrong you've lost nowt except a carb or two, and if they're right, you may just save your feet/ libido/ eyesight/ sanity.

Problem is, how to get good impartial advice. There's a lot here, (most of it good, but avoid anything I write like the plague!) and others have pointed me at Jenny Ruhl (9780964711617), Dr Bernstein (9780316167161) and the Carb Counter (9780007176014). Amazon is yer mate in these respects, search their site for those numbers. Read this site from end to end, buy the books and make your own decisions.

I'm still trying to weigh up how to deal with the doctor and nurse. I'm reluctant to dismiss their ideas out of hand without first trying them, even though I am absolutely opposed to them. It'll only get their backs up. In truth their reluctance to "get to grips with it" in my terms is giving me time to research and reach my own conclusions. It doesn't come naturally, but I think we may just have to nod at the right time and quietly do our own thing until we have a base to argue from.

I'd like to say it's rocket science, but it isn't - I've decided on a "minimum change to achieve the objective" approach. It's quite liberating in many ways - "I'm just having this to see what happens" is one of them and "I've always told you these were good for me" (AKA "my kippers are in the fridge") is another. After that, you just have to knuckle down. And avoid black pudding.

If only Baz Lurhman was from Bury...
 
Hi Norman
this does look like diabetes, but the numbers are far from being the highest we have seen
You might be able to get on top of them by diet alone
First you need a Blood glucose Meter. they aren't expensive and if you search the web you might find a really good deal. It's the consumables which cost.
A reduced carbohydrate diet and careful monitoring to find which foods affect you most might be the
answer.
the Collins Little Gem calorie counter book gives information of the carb count of many foods. Gi Tables also tell you how Fast different foods are boken down into blood sugar.
Combine that information with what tyou can find on this forum and you will be on the way to getting in control of your condition. If you have so use medication, so be it! It's a metabolic error rather than an illness.
Many of us on this forum, have got control over our metabolism and are very fit and well.
 
Norman - When you were peeing a lot, did you drink a lot as well? I had the same symptoms but I made the greatest error of drinking a lot of Tropicana fruit juices. Afterwards I looked at the sugar/carbs content and realised that this was the worst thing possible for a diabetic to drink. When I had the blood tests, my GP told me that I would probably have to go onto insulin straightaway. Fortunately, my blood sugars were high because of the sugar I had been absorbing via the Tropicana fruit juices. Once I stopped drinking them, my blood sugars dropped to a more manageable level. I am, of course, still diabetic, but a Type 2, so by following a low carb diet and a bit of exercise and medication I have it under control. You can do it, as well.
 
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