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I suppose I knew it was coming.

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yuffiesam

Member
Messages
8
Location
Near Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Spiders! Moths!
Hi. I was diagnosed as diabetic almost 2 weeks ago, a week previously my dr told me I had high blood pressure and angina. I have an appointment with the practise nurse tomorrow for a diabetic check up and I'm waiting for an appointment to go and see a dietician at the hospital. Since being diagnosed I've had no information from anyone, is this normal?
The dr said from the results of my blood test, that my glucose levels had been 9.5+ for the last 3 months, sorry I can't remember any other figures. I have been taking linagliptin 5mg daily since diagnosis.
I'm 44, I have back problems which reduce my mobility. I also have under active thyroid for which I take thyroxine 125mcg daily. I eat a healthy diet and since reading posts on here I have started using My Fitness Pal. I am in the main managing to keep my carb intake to around 150g daily. Although I do tend to go over on my protein and under on my fat goals. I'm having a hard time getting enough calories in in a day. My glucose levels seem to range between 7.6 to 12.3.
Mum and dad were both diabetic. Mum was diagnosed in her early 50s and was on insulin twice daily. Dad was type 1 from around the age of 10-12. Mum passed away last September, the death certificate said she suffered from atherosclerosis and it contributed towards her death, although it wasn't the main factor.
I'm not letting it get me down. It's a chance for me to live my life differently as far as I'm concerned. I lost my husband to lung cancer and septicaemia just over 4 years ago so I have to appreciate what I have and make the best of things.
Diabetes may be a life sentence but it needn't be a death sentence as far as I'm concerned:). I just have to be sensible and change what I can to live with it.


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Hi Yuffiesam and welcome to the forum.

If you haven't already done so, please read the information for the newly diagnosed: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/

Personally, 150g of carbs is way too much for me - I can only keep my BG under control at around half that amount.

If you need to lose weight, I'd highly recommend the diet doctor site: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

If you want to learn more about diabetes, then I'd also highly recommend the Blood Sugar 101 site: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

The information about how to lower BG is particularly useful: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php - in addition, I'd also test before your meals so you can estimate how much particular meals/foods are raising your BG.

Have you got a glucometer to test your BG levels? It's a very useful tool to have in the early days of diagnosis.

Ask any questions you need to as there are some very experienced people on this forum and I'm sure they'll be able to help you.

Best wishes,
 
Hi Indy51. Thank you. I'll check the websites out. I've had a look at the newly diagnosed section. I'm learning as I go along.
My Dr seemed to be of the opinion that as I had lived with mum and her diabetes for almost 20 years I should know what I was doing. It's totally different when it happens to you though.
I do need to lose weight and although I eat healthily I have a hard time doing enough exercise to make a difference.
I am using mums Accu-Check compact plus meter and I'm testing before meals and again 2 hours later.
Thank you again, I'll be back here often I think in the weeks and months to come x


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hi and welcome, ask anything you want to help you, the links indi put up will help you a lot.
metformin is normally the first drug of choice and I would talk to your dr why it was clinically necessary to start on a pancreas stimulator, normally a T2 has an excess of insulin from insulin resistance. which is handled by diet, some exercise and metformin
 
Hi Jack412. Thank you. I've been looking at the Diet Doctor site Indi suggested. My Dr was trying to decide whether to put me on metformin or linagliptin. My aunties partner has been on metformin for a few years now and he can barely leave the house because of violent diarrhoea and he can't get his BG below 10 on a good day. It's normally nearer 12-14. I mentioned this to my Dr and he said he would try me on the linagliptin to begin with and see how I went. He went through a typical weeks meals with me and decided there was little I could do with diet alone as far as he was concerned. Exercise isn't an option at the moment. I was diagnosed with angina and high blood pressure. Most days I have difficulty walking more than a few yards, coupled with my back problems and the fact that my legs and feet go numb I can't exercise for long enough or at a rate that makes a difference. I walk my dogs every day but instead of a long walk they get lots of short walks. I have to sit for nearly an hour when we get back from walks just to get feeling back in my legs and feet. I'm hoping the nurse will suggest something later today when I go to see her.


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I should have said the numbness in my legs is from my back problem. I've had it for 14 years now. It's not something that's just started. I have concave scoliosis and a prolapsed disc which presses on my sciatic nerve, when it isn't causing pain it's causing numbing of my legs and feet. Neither one is better than the other but the numbness is nowhere near as limiting as the pain. I can't stand when the pain takes over. I'm on painkillers for it but they have just stopped my anti inflammatory tablets as they were increasing my already high blood pressure.


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get your uncle to try the slow release metformin, or perhaps he's one of the few who can't take it. Unless you and uncle have an impaired pancreas output, chucking more insulin at what is most likely insulin resistance will only make it worse.

the DR can do a GTT of sugar and insulin and a couple of other that will show whether you are insulin deficient or not.
if metformin is off the table, of the new drugs, there is one that secretes sugar in the urine by acting on the kidney and could be suitable for insulin resistance and I would tell your uncle about it
 
Hi. If you are not overweight just put into the back of your mind that as you have had T1 in the family it's possible you may actually be a Late onset T1 not T2. If despite low-carbing and tablets your blood sugar keeps moving up then T1 becomes more likely. Hopefully your blood sugar will settle to a good level. If it doesn't then come back for more info or ask the GP for some specific tests
 
Morning Daibell. I am overweight and have been all my life. No matter what I've done I've never been able to shift the weight. All my current dr wanted me to do was join slimming world "because it worked for his wife". When I was at school the school dr had mum enrol me at silhouette slimming club when I was about 10-12. I did everything I was supposed to and everyone else in the family lost weight except me! Then they diagnosed me with hypothyroidism and poly cystic ovary syndrome, my old dr told me it would be difficult for me to lose weight because of these health problems. My current dr doesn't think it should be a problem though. I do want to ask the nurse if it's more likely to be late onset type 1 as mum and dad were both type 1, Mum late onset. I am lucky in that my dr is happy to give me prescriptions for my testing strips so I can test as and when I need to.
I'll no doubt be back with lots of questions and things that need clarification after seeing the nurse in a couple of hours time.
I don't know how much diabetic checks have changed in the last year, since mums last one, but when I asked the receptionist for a sample bottle to take a urine sample with me to my appointment today she said that I didn't need to. I have a sample ready to take with me just incase. It almost seems like the drs surgery think their work is done now they have given me a label and put me into a little box with said label on the front! It really doesn't fill me with confidence to know that one of the drs at our surgery declared a patient dead and was only corrected by a policeman at the scene who saw the patient move. They were diabetic and in a coma! This is the same dr who told me 8 weeks ago that I didn't need a random blood sugar blood test just because there was a family history of diabetes. Sorry. Rant over.


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If you also have PCOS, it's even stranger that they haven't tried you with metformin as that is also the first drug of choice for treating PCOS - as is a low carb diet.
 
I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 25/26, around the same time they discovered my hypothyroidism. I had one appointment with a gynaecologist who gave me a brief explanation and some leaflets and sent me away saying I had to get my dr to refer me again if I ever wanted to start a family. If I mention it when I see my dr I'm just told it doesn't really affect anything and not to worry about it. Mum was nursing all her life and we weren't brought up in an ignorant bubble. But getting any useful info out of medical staff at our surgery is like getting blood out of a stone! I'll ask the nurse today about the PCOS and metformin. BG this morning before breakfast was 9.5, 8.5 at bedtime last night. Thanks for the info :). I'm going in armed and ready this morning :)


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Unfortunately there seems to be a growing trend of HCPs completely ignoring the concerns of their patients. Since I started learning and reading about diabetes, it becomes clearer and clearer to me that no doctor will ever care about my health as much as I do - seems like we all need to educate ourselves because those who are supposed to take care of us treat us like mushrooms.
 
If mum hadn't been a nurse all her life I wouldn't know half of what I do. Like I said earlier it just seems as long as they can put you in a box and slap a label on the front they are happy to leave you there. It doesn't affect their wages does it. As long as I go for my 6 monthly check ups for asthma and another for a well woman clinic! Haha. What a joke. When I said I had health problems I was told to make an appointment to see the dr again as the nurse couldn't deal with it. Funny as the dr said to chat to the nurse about it. They are great at passing the buck! But not so great at giving answers to questions.


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Hi. Sounds like your surgery isn't the best around. At least once a year you should have a full assessment and Diabetes UK website lists what should happen. This includes a urine sample test. Make sure around a year after your last review that you setup a diabetes appointment and ask for a blood test form 2 weeks before. I hand over my urine sample to the phlebotomist. At the review with your GP of DN they will have the test results to discuss.
 
I've just got back from the Drs. The nurse was lovely and spent ages explaining things. My HBA1C was 78 when I had my blood test a fortnight since, I have to go for another in a months time. On the plus side I've lost 1st 2lb in the last month. Apparently part of the reason the Dr gave me linagliptin is that I'm already taking 17 tablets a day and he wanted to try to control my glucose levels with one tablet rather than adding 3-4 more a day. If my levels don't drop they will look at changing my tablets after my next blood test. I haven't had a blood test for cholesterol since I've been at this surgery so probably about 15 years! That's been added to my next blood test form. So no following a low carb, high fat diet until after then.
I've come home with a booklet explaining everything and a referral to the dietician has already been sent so I just have to wait for the hospital to get in touch. Hopefully things are moving in the right direction now :).
Thanks everyone for your advice x


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yuffiesam said:
I haven't had a blood test for cholesterol since I've been at this surgery so probably about 15 years! That's been added to my next blood test form. So no following a low carb, high fat diet until after then.
Click to expand...

Hi, glad you feel more positive, good for you.

I don't understand the connection between the cholesterol test and not doing lchf diet?

It is really important to cut the cards right down. Why? You may ask. Simple: Carbohydrate (starch) = sugar. Sugar = high blood glucose, high bg = lots of problems.

Really, your potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, root veg - all those lovely things we crave actually equates to sugar, no ifs, no buts.

I'm sure you wouldn't go and eat a dozen sugar cubes, well you are if you eat a plate of potatoes - I don't actually know if that's equivalent. but I'm sure you get the point.

In fact there is lots of evidence (Dr Bernstein, Blood Sugar 101) to suggest that cholesterol will improve with lchf (but apparently not with low carb, low fat??? someone correct me if I got that wrong)

Tell us a bit more about what you are eating if you don't mind, there may be something there that you didn't realise was potentially high in carbs. For me it was a slice of Vogel bread. Just one slice of this beautiful healthy bread toasted and I was toast!

Hope this helps :)
 
yuffiesam said:
Diabetes may be a life sentence but it needn't be a death sentence as far as I'm concerned:). I just have to be sensible and change what I can to live with it.
Click to expand...

That's quite right and it sounds as if you have been diagnosed early. I too was diagnosed via a routine check up and had bloods not much less than yours. Early changes make a huge difference. Start right away. Eat sensibly, eat smaller portions, retrain your palette and become more active. When I was dignosed 18 months ago I was in a terrible state. I had difficulty walking anywhere, even from the car park to the shop. It was hard putting my shoes and socks on. Now I've just sanded down and put on a new coat of paint on a boat I am building, mowed the lawns and am starting to tackle the hedge. It's 10 ft high and there's 240 ft of it so I have come in for a well deserved breather. I can potter around like this all day now, a minor miracle as far as I am concerned. I never thought I'd be able to it these things again. I cook all my own food from raw ingredients and with all this activity, my bloods are mostly in the 5s.

Just learn about food, work out a new diet that suits you and try and discover some more active life. You will get the rewards, but you need to be patient.
 
yuffiesam said:
I have back problems which reduce my mobility.
Click to expand...

I've a dicky back too but my main problem is osteoarthritis in my ankle. I had to work out how to even start exercising. Going for walks was out of the question. I worked my way up to low impact exercises like rowing and cycling though sometimes rowing hurts my back but the bike is fine. I keep a high sitting position, there is no strain on my back and my ankle doesn't bear much weight. Once you start to think about things and experiment a little, you can find solutions to your lack of mobility. I found that using two trekking sticks allows me to walk for long periods now. I can keep a nice straight back and they help me balance better, so I don't have lots of little twisting adjustments in my ankle that really inflame the arthritis. I've managed a few walks in the Dales and in the Lakes this way. You may find that an activity like nordic walking allows you to walk locally without putting any strain on your back.
 
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