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Hi there

suzie_girl

suzie_girl

Active Member
Messages
44
Hiya :D

I was diagnosed 6 weeks ago off the back of a broad blood test for an unrelated problem which has actually gone away now - irony

It took blimin weeks to double check the test and get in to see a quack, so 4 weeks back the doctor tells me I got a reading of 7 on my fasting blood sugar thingy, and the longer term test thingy says I am on 44, and so am I diabetic. Are you sure I say, yup, if you're over 40 you're diabetic. So I am diagnosed type 2 diabetic.

The doctor gives me some advice about diet, don't drink sugary drinks, I've not drunk one since I was 6 I say. Don't eat fatty foods he says, I say I can't, they make me ill on my other condition. Do some exercise he says, I said, I was at body pump at 7.30am mate. You get the picture, I am already doing all the stuff he told me to do. So he prescribes Metformin, 500mg, twice a day. I asked if i couldn't just control it by diet being as I was only on 7, he politely pointed out I'm already doing everything they say, so er, apparently not.

So from then I've been taking my pills and making a food diary in the hopes they can give me more specific advice. I'm due to FINALLY see the diabetic nurse next week for my 'checks'.

I'm just got a bit stressed just now because I felt weak and had a headache and felt tired, but I don't have a way to know how to fix it? I don't know if i should eat something, I should eat less, I should drink something..... My lovely bloke (who home cooks everything for me which is why I have a good diet) said, have one of my low fat pumpkin and cranberry muffins, and gave me a telling off for worrying when I'm doing everything right.

I think my headache is going off, but I didn't like that, I am used to knowing the right thing to fix my health, but in this instance I have no clue. Am I being harsh to think its a bit bad they've given me pills and not seen me then for like 5 weeks?...... Should I have been given more, and a way to test myself? My mum is diabetic (thanks mum) and she said the measuring stuff isn't very accurate, but I have no way to know if I'm doing good or bad......

Typical newbie I'm sure with all the same questions, so anyway, hello, this looks like a great resource so I really appreciate that. I'll have a good dig around but in the meantime, hi there :-)
 
Welcome Suzie

I'm 34 fit and slim but I've been classed as T2 (thanks to both my parents :lol: ) however my 5 siblings are clear boooooo.

I so remember when they asked me questions about fizzy drinks, the only fizzy anything is Soda water (with my wine) or slim line tonic (with my gin). :evil:

They obviously think you have no leeway on controlling it with diet/exercise as that's the first line approach for T2s.

I wonder why they've put you on Metformin? They usually give this to T2s that could lose some weight, as it is known to have this affect and also helps to bring down your sugar levels by a few points.

They refused me Metforming but I'm on Gliclazide instead which is the next standard Diabetes T2 drug they give out when the Metaformin doesn't work - it stimulates insulin production (I still don't completely understand how it really works to be honest).

However, even if you do eat heathily keeping a food diary will probably help with monitoring your patterns and portions of carbs (as you'll know from being fit and healthy carbs can spike glucose levels so for example Nachos are bad news for me). It may just be a case of watching your portion control and rebalancing the amount of protein, (good) fat and carb you have.

Can't shed light on the headache am afraid but do feel free to ask any questions and you'll find you'll get a response pretty quickly, everyone's really supportive, friendly and kind here :D

Daisy will be along soon to give some starter advice for newbies.

Regarding testing, I had a battle regarding this - got my own meter from the internet and strips and then mentioned to my Diabetes nurse and guilt tripped her into giving me a repeat prescription. So, if you can demand one! :lolno:
 
Thanks Sanober :-)

I CAN demand, I'm very demanding ;-) So I'll do that next week

I'm sure then the reason he's given me metformin is my size, I am a size 18 and 5 foot 3, so I am overweight.

There's kind of a part b to the reason I am religiously doing a food diary, which is that I'm sure they will say 'loose weight' and then we will have a real ruck, because I also have a condition called lympheodema, which is...... If you imagine like diabetes but for fats, and the problem it causes is fluid to be blocked all over you. So since I was diagnosed with that like 15 years ago, they've given me no treatment at all, the net result being I have a disproportionate swolen tummy like I'm pregnant, which hurts, and squashes my tummy making it painful to eat sometimes.

So sure, they'd look at that and instead of thinking, ups, look at our negliagence, they might think, yeah, sure bet you eat lots of pies. When in reality, not eating has no effect on the swelling, the treatment they wont pay for is the only thing that will.

On the plus side, my nice work BUPA have just done a CT scan on my tummy swelling..... Wonder if they will find out the blockage they left is pressing on my pancreas making it not work very well........ :problem: Either way BUPA will treat me so that will help. If they're thinking I'll loose weight on metformin, unless it makes lymph fluid move I won't, so we'll see. Not lost even part of an inch in 4 weeks, so let's see what Mr CT scan says :-)
 
Oh wow, I looked up Lymphedema :shock:

Well it seems like you're a lady who is more than able to take control of things, 'demanding'? I like it :lol:

I know re the drugs not doing much etc, I've already posted my suspicions re the Gliclazide not really doing anything for me

The sooner the medics appreciate one method doesn't fit all the better.

Good luck to you, great that BUPA can do test etc and please do keep in touch. I'm sure other folk will also benefit from learning about your personal journey, it's very much a two way process on this lovely forum.

x
 
Thanks twinkle :-)

On a double plus note, I feel super again, so the sir was correct to give me a muffin (tee hee).

I think this is going to be my main problem, I have a tendancy to skip meals or undereat sometimes, so I have to remember NOT to do that. We just had various veg dishes for tea, one with a bit of cheese sauce, bit mostly carrots and some purple sprouting brocolli (can't spell) cabbage and leeks, so perhaps it wasn't enough energy......

I'll see about this meter thingy, in the meantime I do carry some oat cakes and the sir is a great judge of when I'm not right and what to do :D
 
I'd agree that the decision to prescribe Metformin is questionable - diet and exercise is 1st line treatment, and various medications are added when the BG control is longer adequate; however, HbA1c targets are <58 or 7.5% (<48 or 6.5% if heart risk) - your HbA1c of 44 (6% ish) suggests that Metformin was prescribed for reaons not directly related to BG control.

Furthermore, guidelines also say that HbA1c should not be used to diagnose diabetes, and that two abnormal BG are needed to diagnose diabetes in the absence of classical symptoms.

Meters are generally inexpensive (£20ish, test strips are expensive though) so simply buying one might make things easier and you feel better.
Of course, ideally this should have been given to you when you were dignosed, and you might well be entitled to prescriptions for a BG monitoring kit but that won't help you now if you only talk to the nurse next week.
 
I remember when I was diagnosed, it wasn't that long ago really, I wasn't given a meter so decided I'd be good on the losing weight as then they'll know I did pay attention to what they said. I have read your post and know this may not happen for you but the food diary is a good idea so you can prove the effort your making. Hmmm, you can't eat excess fat or sugar/carbs now you're going to be a dieticians nightmare!
 
Hi Suzie and welcome to the forum :) As Sanober mentioned, here is some information which has been written for new members and should help you to get good control of your diabetes. If you have any questions then ask as there is always a member who will be able to help you.

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.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your advice :-)

The meeting with the nurse was good, she was helpful, and a got one of these DESMOND courses to book which my boyfriend will be really happy with because he does the cooking and he wants to be totally up on of there's any way he can help further.

I got a meter thingy, it seems great it gives you an average of your readings and it has a USB so presumably there's other clever stuff it does. She warned me not to get 'addicted' to it, she has a woman who worries and sh shouldn't as her average readings are perfect. She showed me how to use it, and we took a reading and I was at 6.2 2 hours after a meal which made me feel happy I was on track.

So...... I felt like my sugar might be off slightly in the way home yesterday, so I tested. This was just before food, in the evening just before my metformin. I was on 9.2 :-( I felt a bit down. That's the first time I've had a 'high' reading, I genuinely thought I had it well under control, and I'm not even sure what I did wrong. I hadn't eaten for 6 hours I don't get how it could be high? It made me not really want to way my tea, which in turn made me realise a meter might not be so great for someone prone to not eating :-(

I think I need to do he DESMOND thingy to try to get a handle on where I could have gone wrong, and get a very stern assurance that going off food is not then the answer to that. Mild setback :-/
 
As you had gone so long without eating your body was fasting so you probably had a 'liver dump'. Lots have it in a morning, but from what I've read it can happen at any time you are fasting. You will probably have to get into the habit of eating something at meal times to control this.

Ann
 
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Yes, perhaps that's what happened. Either way I didn't know that could happen, so I really need to think about that.

I didn't intend for it to be so long, time just got away from me, that's why I was expecting the reading to be low. Perhaps I need to have a mid afternoon small snack, sometimes I can even go 7 hours between lunch and dinner, I didn't think that could be a problem..... That's given me something to think about
 
Hi

I was told just over a week ago that I have diabetes! a shock to me as a month ago i was running around at work and outside like a mad man.. so at 34 healthly it was a complete shock!!
My blood, glocose readings were crazy to! most lowest i had was 12.5 then other days i went up to 32+

I went on Metfomin for a while ended up starting on one tablet a day.. then by the end of the week 6 tabs a day! now on the pen insulin 4 times a day and confirmed type 1

It was a huge shock to me as i'm a fire-fighter and work is being affected, but it's this isn't going to change my life and we all just need to adapt rather then let it change us.

Dont worry yourself about it as from what little time i've had this i've realised that worrying makes things worse.. and being on this site has put my mind at rest..

Hope all goes well and this site helps you

Ant
 
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