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New and worried

D

David Swales

Member
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22
I was diagnosed the day before yesterday and I guess in common with other new diabetics want to find out as much as possible. I found the Diabetes in the UK report (http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Professionals/Publications-reports-and-resources/Reports-statistics-and-case-studies/Reports/Diabetes-in-the-UK-2010/ there is a link to the actual pdf report on the page).

Having read the impact section I am now very worried. I knew that diabetes was a life changing condition but the full impact as set out in this report is scary. :( . The one thing that it has made me decide is that I will do absolutely the best I can to control my BG level and to encourage the rest of my family to improve their diet and exercise. I have 2 children and would want them to do everything possible to reduce their risk factors.

Whilst I am worried I desperately want to be positive.
 
Hi and welcome.

I was diagnosed in early December 2010 with type 2. I have found taking control and changing my lifestyle has been empowering.

I found this forum to be very supportive and you will find lots of information about diet and treatment of diabetes.
 
all these figures are for people dying, going blind etc in the past. Treatment has improved, so I'd assume those figures will too, eg someone diagnosed now will probably live longer than someone diagnosed 40 years ago. They also include data from people who don't care at all about their health and don't bother to control their diabetes. So it's not as bad as the figures make it look.
 
Welcome here David,
You have the right attitude and you will soon have things under tight control, I deduce this from your post and the positive attitude it conveys.

Diet is very important, watch the carbohydrates, try not to eat to many at any one meal.

Exercise is imortant to, I have found even half an hour a day makes a big difference.

Get yourself a meter, GlucoRX is cheap and the test strips are also cheap, but you should be able to get them from your Doc. , but it's a post code lottery I am afraid.

Do not expect to much to soon, things take time, maybe a month or more before you start to see big improvements. You need to educate yourself, (and you are doing that) and take control of your treatment, your Doc is boss, of course, but you have to be pro active and look after yourself, keep records of what you eat, and your Blood Glucose levels after 1 and two hours, check your fasting BG,
and keep a record, there is some software to do it or use Excel.

Make some targets, do you need to lose weight? What HbA1c would you like to be at, 6.5% is nice or even lower (I got mine to 5.2 and I am on Metformin pills) but as you will read many times, we are all different, you might have to accept a higher figure.

Now, as regards the nasty things that T2 can do to your body, you have to accept that they can happen, but they don't HAVE to happen, tight control of your BG, Blood pressure and all the other body functions that your Doc will check for you, hopefully every 6 months or if you are lucky 3 months, will minimise the risks. Certain medication is proven to be protective for us and you should listen to what your Doc has to offer on this. Ask him/her about it if you feel it might be of benefit to you, certainly my Doc has been ready to listen and has, I think, been very good in prescribing certain things and saying no to some suggestions from me. Like I said, it's all about being pro active.

I have been T2 for 8 years, I take Metformin, Ace inhibitors, Statins, Asprin, and various vitamin supplements, but whether the supplements work or not is open to debate, they make me feel happier anyway :)

It's early days for you, so much to learn, so many questions,

There is a lot of help available here, so ask away.

H
 
I felt exactly the same as you when I was diagnosed just before christmas. I went from feeling confident that I could control this, to helpless that my body was doing things I didn't want it to. I am still learning about the condition and feel I have a long way to go before I am confortable in controlling it. For now I am going to rely on the community here to help me and hopefully be able to give something back once I know what I am doing.

Good luck and stick around. We can help each other :)
 
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