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I think I have been a bit naive - help needed

N

nicolah

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi all,

I was diagnosed with diabetes late last year as I had an infection after a lumber puncture and whilst the nurses were looking into that, they found I also suffered with diabetes. After attending a clinic I was told I had type 2 and was given a booklet and got told to read up on the internet and control my diet. That's more or less all that's happened since diagnosis.

I have been feeling extremely tired, I have been experiencing lots of nausea and yesterday afternoon/evening I was moody without having any reason to be, I had been clumsy and walked in things, I had been very confused over a couple of things (thinking I'd dreamt things when they'd actually happened for example), thought I was going to be sick, felt dizzy and really confused. I went to bed and woke up several times - still confused, had black dots in my vision and really wasn't very with it. From looking it up on the internet today, I think that it's possible that this could have been related to my diabetes. I'm ashamed to say I haven't taken it very seriously since meeting the nurse last year and maybe haven't looked after myself properly of late.

I have found conflicting advice but can those with type 2 experience hypoglycemia? Has anyone else experienced this type of feeling?

I have now arranged to have a diabetic review at the end of the month and get myself sorted out once and for all as I don't want to go through another night like that again anytime soon.
 
hi there @nicolah
welcome to the forum.

I am tagging @daisy1 for her excellent starter reading pack.
have a good read and then feel free to ask any questions.

difficult to say about the experience of hypos( lows ) -- but if your bloods have been hyper( high ) you could experience similar symptoms.

all the best !
 
@nicolah

Hello Nicola and welcome to the forum :) Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. Maybe improving your levels, whether low or high, would help. Have you been given a meter and testing strips as that could give you an idea of what the problem is. Other members will be along soon with their advice. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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.
 
Type 2 diabetes are no more likely to experience hypos than people without diabetes UNLESS they are on insulin or a sulfonylurea medication (one that creates a steady background of insulin, whether or not there is any incoming good). It doesn't sound like you're on any meds at all. BUT extreme fatigue, brain fog, and vision problems can all be symptoms of uncontrolled hyper (high) glycemia.

I'd buy or borrow a blood glucose meter and take some tests - and glad to see you've already scheduled a medical appointment.

In the mean time, you might want to look at some of the information on low carb eating. That made an immediate (under 3 days) change in my symptoms (blood glucose down, fatigue and brain fog cleared shortly after that, I never had vision problems).
 
Hi and welcome!

The info Daisy1 gives is a great starting point, and yes, those symptoms you experienced may well be to do with your diabetes. If they occur again, I would trundle off to the doc asap and get checked out.

Your avatar says you have type 2 diabetes, and that means that diet and exercise is actually a better way of controlling your condition than any of the drugs. The drugs work, and they work well, but diet and exercise is a huge part of it. There are many here on the forum who have actually managed to reduce or stop their T2 medications by changing food and altering their lifestyle. :)

But don't worry! It is never too late to start making a BIG difference to T2, and with a bit of effort you can get your old energy levels and sense of wellbeing back.

Have a good read of the forum, and then start asking questions. :)
 
@nicolah - Hello and Welcome to the Forum.:). Read the information posted by daisy1 and ask as many questions as you need! You will soon get to grips with Diabetes just take one day at a time.
 
Neohdiver said:
Type 2 diabetes are no more likely to experience hypos than people without diabetes UNLESS they are on insulin or a sulfonylurea medication (one that creates a steady background of insulin, whether or not there is any incoming good). It doesn't sound like you're on any meds at all. BUT extreme fatigue, brain fog, and vision problems can all be symptoms of uncontrolled hyper (high) glycemia.

I'd buy or borrow a blood glucose meter and take some tests - and glad to see you've already scheduled a medical appointment.

In the mean time, you might want to look at some of the information on low carb eating. That made an immediate (under 3 days) change in my symptoms (blood glucose down, fatigue and brain fog cleared shortly after that, I never had vision problems).
Click to expand...

Type 2s can also hypo if they have reactive hypglycaemia, which is surprisingly widespread although often unnoticed or mis-diagnosed by health care professionals, and people have been known to hypo when on metformin, and no longer hypo when their dose is appropriately reduced.

Sorry for that off topic interjection (and apologies to Neodiver, too. I totally agree with your post, except for that one small addition), but I felt I had to clarify, even though it isn't relevant to this thread.
 
Brunneria said:
Type 2s can also hypo if they have reactive hypglycaemia, which is surprisingly widespread although often unnoticed or mis-diagnosed by health care professionals, and people have been known to hypo when on metformin, and no longer hypo when their dose is appropriately reduced.

Sorry for that off topic interjection (and apologies to Neodiver, too. I totally agree with your post, except for that one small addition), but I felt I had to clarify, even though it isn't relevant to this thread.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but my understanding was that reactive hypoglycemia was not diabetic hypoglycemia (and thus not confined to diabetics). I wasn't trying to exclude diabetics from the possibility of having hypoglycemic episodes, just to point out that they run no more risk than the general population, unless they are taking drugs that affect the background availability of insulin.
 
Yes. :) But unfortunately, the water gets muddied where a heck of a lot of T2s start off with mild RH as a precursor to pre-diabetes, then continue with mild hypo symptoms (basically the gnawing carb hunger) throughout pre and full blown T2.

I had no idea about this til i read The Diabetes Miracle by Kress. She is a dietician and started testing her patients for RH as standard - and discovered a surprising % - enough to state clearly that RH is one of the well trodden paths through glucose intolerance and T2. Fascinating stuff. But not mainstream thinking because few health care professionals have even heard of RH.

Anyway, once again, sorry for the derailment.
 
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