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Hi!

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SilverTiger83

Member
Messages
7
Location
Inverness
Hi everyone, I am new to this so just wanted to say hi to you all, looking forward to chatting with people as I don't have much info and desperately needing support.

MY STORY:
I am a 28 year old female. I am of average weight, but generally not healthy in the sense i have a lot of problems, I do eat the right things but i am not very active due to joint problems and lack of control of pain. I have been diagnosed with slow progressing type 1 (LADA), I am on Gliclazide at the moment with little control so a backup insulin has been prescribed, although i am waiting for the Prof at my clinic to give me the go ahead before i start using it. I don't sleep well anyway and I am exhausted all the time, which makes me irritable. I don't have the best relationship with food so i have had to train myself to eat 3 times a day with snacks too if i need them, which may sound ridiculous but it has probably been the hardest part of having diabetes i have had to deal with up until now. I am literally bored thinking about food, with planning what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, what i will be doing to know if i need to eat more carbs for energy etc. I find it exhausting.
I am struggling to keep my BG low, it ranges (on a good day) from 10 in the morning to 21 before bed, although i do have the occasional lower reading but that only happens when i just haven't eaten enough. I have had readings up to 27 before bed which is always a shock to see. So generally I am feeling tired, extra thirsty and out of it all day every day. It gets to me that I am not seeing my BG reducing at all, I want to see results but I have been told by my doc (someone i completely trust coz she doesn't sugar coat things for me, she says it like it is!) today to write off this year and the first part of next year coz i just won't feel great. I must have been naive to think these tablets would help to cut down my BG within a few weeks and that would be it for a few years til i needed insulin. I didn't realise it may take 6 months or longer to feel like myself again but at least i know now that there is no 'quick fix' so I can hopefully start to deal with it.

I was diagnosed after a random blood test to see why i was feeling so exhausted all the time, which showed i had a bacterial infection in my stomach and also showed a high BG. I have other health problems and my symptoms could easily be explained by the medication or my issues, i never thought they were all linked! I have been thirsty for about a year, I don't sleep well and get up to the loo several times a night, I have a history of having shaky spells but around the time of diagnosis they got much more frequent. I feel sick if my BG is low, (11 is my normal so if I'm 9 I am shaky and feeling ****) so the mornings are the worst until i have eaten something. It turns out from these blood tests I had a BG of 9.4 so a fasting glucose test was done. My fasting reading was high as it was but then my post-glucose reading was 14.8, at the time i had no idea what these numbers meant but i know now they are normal for me, I can't remember the last time my BG was under 14 after food. My HBA1C was high, and the GAB test was positive with a 'significantly high result' but I wasn't actually told the numbers.

So now i am trying to get my head around using insulin, which is scary for me but only because i hate the unknown and I'm a bit of a control freak.. I like to have every little detail of information i can get which then helps me to deal with things. It's the not knowing that gets me down. As does the feeling of resenting my body for failing me.

Anyway, that is roughly where I'm at.
x
 
SilverTiger83 said:
Hi everyone, I am new to this so just wanted to say hi to you all, looking forward to chatting with people as I don't have much info and desperately needing support.

MY STORY:
I am a 28 year old female. I am of average weight, but generally not healthy in the sense i have a lot of problems, I do eat the right things but i am not very active due to joint problems and lack of control of pain. I have been diagnosed with slow progressing type 1 (LADA), I am on Gliclazide at the moment with little control so a backup insulin has been prescribed, although i am waiting for the Prof at my clinic to give me the go ahead before i start using it. I don't sleep well anyway and I am exhausted all the time, which makes me irritable. I don't have the best relationship with food so i have had to train myself to eat 3 times a day with snacks too if i need them, which may sound ridiculous but it has probably been the hardest part of having diabetes i have had to deal with up until now. I am literally bored thinking about food, with planning what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, what i will be doing to know if i need to eat more carbs for energy etc. I find it exhausting.
I am struggling to keep my BG low, it ranges (on a good day) from 10 in the morning to 21 before bed, although i do have the occasional lower reading but that only happens when i just haven't eaten enough. I have had readings up to 27 before bed which is always a shock to see. So generally I am feeling tired, extra thirsty and out of it all day every day. It gets to me that I am not seeing my BG reducing at all, I want to see results but I have been told by my doc (someone i completely trust coz she doesn't sugar coat things for me, she says it like it is!) today to write off this year and the first part of next year coz i just won't feel great. I must have been naive to think these tablets would help to cut down my BG within a few weeks and that would be it for a few years til i needed insulin. I didn't realise it may take 6 months or longer to feel like myself again but at least i know now that there is no 'quick fix' so I can hopefully start to deal with it.

I was diagnosed after a random blood test to see why i was feeling so exhausted all the time, which showed i had a bacterial infection in my stomach and also showed a high BG. I have other health problems and my symptoms could easily be explained by the medication or my issues, i never thought they were all linked! I have been thirsty for about a year, I don't sleep well and get up to the loo several times a night, I have a history of having shaky spells but around the time of diagnosis they got much more frequent. I feel sick if my BG is low, (11 is my normal so if I'm 9 I am shaky and feeling ****) so the mornings are the worst until i have eaten something. It turns out from these blood tests I had a BG of 9.4 so a fasting glucose test was done. My fasting reading was high as it was but then my post-glucose reading was 14.8, at the time i had no idea what these numbers meant but i know now they are normal for me, I can't remember the last time my BG was under 14 after food. My HBA1C was high, and the GAB test was positive with a 'significantly high result' but I wasn't actually told the numbers.

So now i am trying to get my head around using insulin, which is scary for me but only because i hate the unknown and I'm a bit of a control freak.. I like to have every little detail of information i can get which then helps me to deal with things. It's the not knowing that gets me down. As does the feeling of resenting my body for failing me.

Anyway, that is roughly where I'm at.
x
Click to expand...

Hello and welcome :wave: best wishes RRB
 
Hi Silvertiger :wave:

Hopefully Daisy will be along soon to give you the info for new members. I'm type 2 so can't help you much, but there are people on the forum with LADA and are getting to grips with it. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask and somebody will be able to answer.

Ann
 
Hi SilverTiger and welcome to the forum :)

As mentioned by Ann19, here is the information which we give to new members and I think you will find it helpful. Ask all the questions you like as there is always someone here to help.



BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
hairreplace said:
Hello friends your most welcome in this site. If you have diabetes then this sites is the best for remove your diabetes.
Click to expand...

?? :***:
 
Bio, agree, 10/10 for spelling, 0/10 for grammar and content.
Perhaps HP would like to elucidate.

Superchip
 
Thanks everyone :)
I am having a bad day, doc has tried me with a new painkiller which is making me sick, so I haven't been able to keep even water down for long, luckily my diabetes nurse was just on the other end of the phone and reassured me that it is ok to take my tablets (as they aren't doing too much for me, but still doing something, so I'm not at risk of hypos as still in double figures) and to try to drink a sugary drink (1 glass every 2 hours) to keep my levels up, as nothing stayed down i would drink water as soon as i threw up so i don't dehydrate.

Thankyou for the info Daisy :)

I bought a Diabetes For Dummies book which i find to be useful now I know what type i am, when i bought it I didn't know so couldn't take much from it, so I have been reading that today while i've been ill.

Hope your day is going well guys?

Jen x
 
Hi. Sorry to hear you have LADA and that the Gliclazide isn't controlling it. Yes, I guess insulin is round the corner. The postings from many in recent months who have to take insulin indicate that in general they rapidly get used to the regime and it isn't as bad as it may appear. You can have fat to keep your overall calories up; unsaturated of course is always preferable. Did your nurse really say 'have a SUGARY drink'? I assume you will be checking your blood sugar during this difficult time. Infections do cause your blood sugar to rise so this may not be helping with any high blood sugar. Although high blood sugar can cause tiredness etc it sounds like there may be other remaining health issues that your doc is trying to manage. Once on insulin and with reasonable blood sugar I would hope you would quickly start to feel normal again; having to write of a year sounds a bit pessimistic perhaps? Anyway good luck with the insulin.
 
Hi Silver, for a good book read Diabetes Solution by Richard Bernstein. Hes a T1 and low carbs, but its a good book for T2s' also.
Have you been told what you can eat? Read the low carb bit on the forum for some good ideas.
Eating alot of carbs will make you tired and thirsty, good luck.
 
Hi Daibell, yeah i was advised to drink a sugary drink if my readings were low as i couldn't eat anything, but i had a sip here and there, so it was controlled, not guzzling a whole 2L bottle or anything ;) It took me 4 days to feel better from the sickness, i think i may have lost some weight too seeing as the only thing i could eat were cream crackers LOL

Hi Dawnmc, thanks for that, I will look it up, i could never have too much info! :)

I have since been started on a fast acting insulin to cover meal times, first time was yesterday. I haven't seen a difference yet but i still have gliclazide in my system so not getting 'true' readings, hopefully by tonight things will improve so i can adjust the dose accordingly (I was still getting a reading of 21.8 two hours after dinner) But i only used 2 units as advised by my nurse. Today i have to try 3 units so hopefully i will see an improvement and learn how to judge it..
Jen x
 
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