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**** I have diabetes

S

S0RTED

Member
Messages
9
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Type 2 apparently, 2 non fasting readings a month apart of 52 and 63 respectively.

I'm a 46 year old male btw and although I've been overweight for around 6 years I believe my problems really started when I put on 4 stone in 12 months after packing in fags. I've since started again because of the weight gain and have lost 3 stone since doing so. I also have Bipolar Disorder and a love/hate relationship with food which further complicates things.

Anyway I've been given a script for Metformin and booked in to see the practice nurse at my surgery...not best pleased about the 3 week wait for this tbh!

Since the diagnosis I've gone through a whole range of emotions and am currently sandwiched between periods of feeling really quite angry and full of self loathing for myself and periods of positivity insofar as its the kick up the backside I need to make the lifestyle changes that will improve my quality of life.

I look forward to getting to know y'all within the coming weeks and thank you in advance for the support that will no doubt be forthcoming along with some great advice and imparting of knowledge.

Speak soon

SORTED (Lee)
xx
 
Hi Lee personally I'd hurry your appointment, call each day because if untreated diabetes could cause problems for you. These problems can go on unnoticed til its to late


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Hi Lee and welcome to the forum.

The mixed emotions are the norm when diagnosed with a condition like diabetes and we have all felt how you feel right now, but fear not you've come to the right place for help and support, hopefully @daisy1 will be along shortly to provide some basic information that should help somewhat. Take care.
 
I wouldn't worry at all about waiting 3 weeks to see the nurse. You already have a prescription for your medication, your diagnosis, and your HbA1c results. The next step for you is to find a suitable diet and get yourself a blood glucose meter and strips. (essential).

Your nurse may give you a foot check, complete a referral for annual retinal screening, weigh and measure you, take your blood pressure, give you some rather useless leaflets, and tell you to lose weight and come back in 3 months. Nothing more than that. She may also churn out the usual NHS dietary advice, which you should take with a pinch of salt. Your arrival on this forum is the best thing that could happen, so welcome!
 
stealthy said:
Hi Lee personally I'd hurry your appointment, call each day because if untreated diabetes could cause problems for you. These problems can go on unnoticed til its to late


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Click to expand...

Why? He already has a script for Metformin. The nurse won't do any more "treating", and 3 weeks won't make the slightest difference. He is Type 2
 
@sorted

Hello Lee and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information mentioned above which should give you a better idea of how to look after yourself. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


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 over 150,000 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-and-whole-grains.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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.
 
@sorted - Hello Lee and Welcome to the Forum. Just take each day one step at a time - a lot of us have been in your situation. Don't be afraid to ask questions, we help and support one another as much as we can. :)
 
Thanks for taking the time out to afford me such a warm welcome folks.

Having used this site to arm myself with a little knowledge already I'm just hoping the nurse does indeed go over the stuff like foot and gum care, retinal eye checks etc

By the way is there any particular model of glucose meter that I should be looking to procure from my appointment with the nurse or do I just get what I'm given?

Thanks again guys
Lee xx
 
Welcome to the forum @sorted I'm a relative newbie here, if you invest time you will soon get the hang of it and learn from the many great people here.

As for monitors, type 2 aren't provided them generally - although I was given one by my nurse. Many people self fund as it helps you to understand your BG levels. You need to consider the cost of the strips - the one supplied to me is like 35p a strip, the one many people use, the SD Codefree, is more like 15p a strip. You can get through many strips! Hope this explains it?

Don't feel alone, ask anything - someone here has been through it!
 
@sorted - Lee, You really ought to have a meter now and get testing. Your appointment is 3 weeks away and you may not automatically be given a Meter, a lot of people now buy their own. I will tag @Bluetit1802 who has details of a SD Codefree Glucose Meter that is popular.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the meters and strips Penfold & Liam.

I was under the impression that NICE guidelines stipulated the prescribing of them if they were deemed to be beneficial in educating the patient and in aiding their mananagement of the condition. Is that not the case?
 
S0RTED said:
Thanks for the heads up on the meters and strips Penfold & Liam.

I was under the impression that NICE guidelines stipulated the prescribing of them if they were deemed to be beneficial in educating the patient and in aiding their mananagement of the condition. Is that not the case?
Click to expand...

Theoretically yes, in practise, no. It is highly unlikely you will get one, and if you do the number of strips will be insufficient for you initially, which means supplementing them with the type of strips required for the meter you get - and they will be expensive.

Try here for the Codefree meter

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/

Pharmacies don't sell them, and don’t forget to declare you are diabetic in order to avoid any VAT.

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833
 
Well I finally got to see the nurse and am pleased to report she was very through in explaining Diabetes to me and gave a load of handouts to take home and read at my leisure. I'll receive a date re the special eye exam in the post and podiatry will be contacting me soon to check my feet and provide advice on foot care etc.

I also managed to bag myself an Accucheck Nano monitor after quoting her the NICE guidelines on offering testing equipment to patients.

The reading I provided whilst she was showing me how the meter worked threw her (and me tbh) bit when it showed 6.9mmol and this was after a breakfast of ready Brek, several coffees, a couple of rich tea biscuits and a handful of salted peanuts.

Maybe my watching my carb intake has started to have an affect already?





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S0RTED said:
Well I finally got to see the nurse and am pleased to report she was very through in explaining Diabetes to me and gave a load of handouts to take home and read at my leisure. I'll receive a date re the special eye exam in the post and podiatry will be contacting me soon to check my feet and provide advice on foot care etc.

I also managed to bag myself an Accucheck Nano monitor after quoting her the NICE guidelines on offering testing equipment to patients.

The reading I provided whilst she was showing me how the meter worked threw her (and me tbh) bit when it showed 6.9mmol and this was after a breakfast of ready Brek, several coffees, a couple of rich tea biscuits and a handful of salted peanuts.

Maybe my watching my carb intake has started to have an affect already?





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Click to expand...

Well done, it seems lime you have one of the good nurses there. Stick hold of her.

However, Ready Brek, rich tea biscuits? Not really a good idea.
 
Lol I know the ready Brek and a couple of rich tea wasn't a great idea but I'm early days yet and still getting my head around it.

Did my first before and after meal earlier too.

Before was again 6.9
2 hours after eating was 9.1

For tea I had:

4 pork Chipolatas, 4 Bacon, 1/4 tin of beans, 1/4 tin of tomatoes, 2 eggs scrambled. 2 Burgen Toast with butter.

...and about 20 Ringos


I reckon if I really got my head round it it and started planning my meals a little more carefully I could really get my levels down.

Ps
This is without any meds either.

How does this all sound?


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S0RTED said:
I also managed to bag myself an Accucheck Nano monitor after quoting her the NICE guidelines on offering testing equipment to patients.
Click to expand...

It's a very good meter as are all the Accu-Chek :)
 
S0RTED said:
Lol I know the ready Brek and a couple of rich tea wasn't a great idea but I'm early days yet and still getting my head around it.

Did my first before and after meal earlier too.

Before was again 6.9
2 hours after eating was 9.1

For tea I had:

4 pork Chipolatas, 4 Bacon, 1/4 tin of beans, 1/4 tin of tomatoes, 2 eggs scrambled. 2 Burgen Toast with butter.

...and about 20 Ringos


I reckon if I really got my head round it it and started planning my meals a little more carefully I could really get my levels down.

Ps
This is without any meds either.

How does this all sound?


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Click to expand...

If you changed the chipolatas for high meat content sausages (like 97% Black Farmers), kill the beans and Ringos, and halve the bread, you may have done even better! Try to keep your rise from before to after lower than 2mmol/l and preferably no more than 1.5mmol/l/. Trial and error with foods and portion sizes.
 
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