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New confused scared

J

Jasperleah

Member
Messages
9
Hello
As I’m sure there are loads of new people who are newly diagnosed and equally as confused and scared as me. I got newly diagnosed last Tuesday with a brief phone call from a doctor at my surgery who I’ve never spoken to before as I never need to see a doctor. My blood was taken from a nurse who did my smear test as she checked my blood pressure and picked up I had pregnancy diabetes 8 years ago and have never had a follow up check as I’ve never been told or asked too. So anyway this doctor rang to tell me I’m diabetic and that I should take metformin 3x daily. This was the only thing she said to me, I was stunned and on the school run so I said all I have to do is take this tablet 3x a day and she said yes and she said do I have sugar in my diet? I said yes, she said swop it for sweetener and goodbye.. when I picked up the metformin it said on the box twice daily ‍ I’m so over welmed and sad I would like to check my blood sugar levels myself to see what I am working with, so I guess I shall just go ahead and purchase one. I obviously know I need to eat healthier and get moving so I look forward to reading through all these handy post for tips and tricks.
If anyone’s still reading, thank you I just needed to get it off my chest as it seems like this life changing diagnoses was given to me like I was being told I had nothing wrong and just take this
 
Jasperleah said:
If anyone’s still reading, thank you I just needed to get it off my chest as it seems like this life changing diagnoses was given to me like I was being told I had nothing wrong and just take this
Click to expand...
Hi @Jasperleah , yes, someone is still reading, although I'm just about to go to bed!
I just wanted to welcome you, and let you know this is sadly the way many of us get our diagnosis.

Have a read around the forums, and ask as many questions as you like!

I'm sure more people will chip in, but in the meantime you might like to have a read of this to get to know a bit more about diabetes: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

Wish you all the best!
 
Sadly that's an all too common story.
Firstly don't panic, you've come to the right place and will get lots of help.
Secondly it's very late and I'm off to bed. Many others will be along in the morning with info and positivity I'm sure
Meanwhile have a good read round the various threads and you will see you are not alone. Don't try to take it all in once, there's a lot to learn, but it isn't urgent, there's plenty of time
 
Hello and welcome @Jasperleah.

Gosh, what a brutal way to find out that you have diabetes - I really feel for you! However, you have come to the right place for information, help and support, so try not to be too scared.

I found out my blood test results in March this year by looking at my records on line and it was quite a shock for me too. It took 3 weeks for the nurse to phone me with the “You’ve got diabetes……take this metformin” news. However, those 3 weeks were actually a godsend because in that time I researched, and cried, and researched, and cried, found this forum and gained enough knowledge about diabetes and my situation to put together a plan (well at least a basic plan to be going on with) that I felt I could live with.

As lots of people have had success in lowering their blood sugars by adopting a LowCarbHigh(er)Fat type diet I decided to embrace that lifestyle. So, when the phone call from the nurse eventually came, I felt confident enough to decline the Metformin and tell her that I wanted to try diet and exercise first. In 3 months I reduced my HbA1c from 68 to 44 and lost 21lbs. Some people have had success with low calorie eating, others are completely carnivore, some are advocates of fasting but you have to find a way that feels right for you.

No doubt some of the more experienced members will be along soon to ask you lots of questions about your test results, diet, weight, lifestyle. It’s not an interrogation but that’s how they will be able to provide you with more specific advice.

One of the most important things is to get a meter and test your blood sugars relentlessly! By testing before a meal, and then testing again 2hrs after the first bite, you will be able to measure how the food you have eaten has impacted your blood sugars. Then you will develop an understanding of which foods are “safe” for you and which foods you need to avoid. You will gradually test less and less as you gain confidence. Many health care professionals don’t advocate testing for T2 people but that is quite wrong! How else can you gain an understanding of how your body is responding to food?

So, I don’t actually measure or count how many gms of carbs, protein, fats I’m eating at the moment, but I only eat 2 meals a day, snack very infrequently and walk much more. I don’t eat bread, pasta,breakfast cereals, rice, potatoes, root vegetables, biscuits or cakes. I eat meat, fish, chicken, cheese, salads, leafy veg, broccoli, cauliflower, cream, butter, full fat yogurt and a few berries. I’ve even done some baking with almond flour. The whole family love coming for brunch when Nanny makes keto pancakes . It’s been quite a shift and sometimes it feels very hard, but the results have encouraged me.

Read this forum avidly. You will gain so much information and some of the success stories are truly inspirational! Ask any questions you need to - nothing is daft or silly - and someone will no doubt be able to provide an answer or offer advice, and good luck.




 
Change your doctor Honestly though that's terrible to be told without a consultation, and also she ought to have told you to begin with just one tablet for a couple of days before increasing to two and so on, as they may affect your stomach badly!
 
Appalling way to be told. Welcome to the forum anyway - did they tell you what your HbA1c reading was? I would strongly support getting a meter (checking the cost of the strips is important, which will work out at a lot more than the cost of the meter itself) and testing regularly before food and two hours after finishing - that tells you what effect - if any - the food has had on your blood glucose. Cut out the foods that cause unacceptable rises and you're on the way.

The real issue is that you need to unlearn all the "healthy eating" advice you've ever heard. What we're told by the media and the health service may be OK for some, but definitely not for type 2 diabetics. The advice to "base your meals around starchy carbohydrates" is probably what pushed me into diabetic problems to begin with. The low-carb route for me means no pasta, rice, bread, sugar, potatoes, pastry, etc. Tough at first.

I can't help you with metformin - have never taken it. Like many others here, I managed to reduce my blood glucose through a low carbohydrate diet alone - in my case going to around a maximum of 20g carbs/day.

best of luck. This forum is excellent, ask questions!
 
Thank you so much for all your kind insightful messages, I’m hoping my doctor or diabetic nurse rings me soon because she never even told me if I was type 1 or 2 but by googling the metformin I gathered it was type 2, I’ve been on metformin for about 6 days and upon googling it I’ve made sure to only take one and increase it slowly.
I’ve made sure to start with a low carb, low sugar healthier diet.
I’m sorry to say I don’t know what hba1c stands for and was never told anything more. I shall ring the doctors tomorrow and try and get through to ask someone about this.
 
They really left you in the dark with this. Well done on the low carb/low sugar start. It worked for me really quickly.

HbA1c is a proxy measure for your average blood glucose over the lst three months. It is how the medics now "diagnose" T2 diabetes via blood test - above 48 millimoles per mol, you're diabetic. 48 mmol/mol was chosen because diabetic retinopathy (damage to eyes caused by diabetes) is relatively rare below a reading of 48. "Normal" range is under 42; between 42 and 48 is an odd place called prediabetes, where people often have diabetic symptoms but aren't officially diabetic. It is basically an indication of your blood glucose level. The fingerprick test does the same thing but measures your blood glucose directly: it's a snapshot rather than an average and is affected by the food you eat, exercise, illness, and many other things. It tells you what your BG is right now, but not what it was an hour ago or might be in three hours.

Generally you'll want your blood glucose to be back in normal range, because that should avoid you developing diabetic symptoms, or any you have getting worse, and if you do have symptoms, they should improve as your BG improves. Once you have your meter you can test what each food does to your BG, and cut out the things that lift your BG unacceptably.
 

wow thank you so much for explaining all this too me, I’d really like to know what my average was, I’m not sure if I was having any symptoms or just use to feeling how I did. I wasn’t having any symptoms that was making me not cope with daily life so to speak so if I was it would’ve be some what mild I guess, So with a improved diet and checking my own blood sugar levels I should see how it makes me feel better to how I feel at the moment but would be interested to know what levels I was for the diagnosis.
One thing I was going to ask and I’m not sure if to put it here or ask somewhere else was I’m getting like a pulled muscle feeling in my lower calf muscles as if I’ve done a big walk but I haven’t been doing any exercise this week and im sure I read somewhere about metformin and lactic acid? I can’t seem to find it now to look back on but I’ve noticed my lower legs tight and wondered if that was a direct response to metformin or if I should be worried or not.
Again thank you for taking the time to explain to me it’s really helped me
 
I'm not so clued up on Metformin, never taken it - others here will know much more. You might be thinking of lactic acidosis which is a rare and serious side effect of Metformin? The Handbook of Diabetes says it can be avoided by not prescribing metformin for "patients with renal, hepatic, cardiac or respiratory failure, or those with a history of alcohol abuse" . If you fall into any of these categories - in your shoes, given the way your surgery has dealt with you so far, I'd stop taking it and contact your surgery immediately.
 

Hi keto pancakes sound lovely do you have the recipe please I’ve just bought almond flour would love to try these thank you
 
Hi
I am also pretty new to all this, had my first HbA1c which was 54 ... put straight onto metformin twice a day. Cholesterol was ok at 3,9g. Since taking the metformin i have lost weight, but i have also cut out completely all sugar. Since taking the Metformin have started with a rash on hands on feet and have also had this weird feeling in my calves like tightening and burning - I was advised that having only taken the Metformin for such a short time it was unlikely to be Lactic Acidosis but might be a B12 deficiency which seemingly is common. Have only had it a couple of times but was really painful.
Fast forward to my 3 month blood test and have managed to drop my HbA1c to 42 which is almost normal but cholesterol is now up to 4.5 so need to focus on that now. Also been advised to stop Metformin completely to see if that is what is causing the rash and also the pains in legs.
 
Mezza n said:
Hi keto pancakes sound lovely do you have the recipe please I’ve just bought almond flour would love to try these thank you
Click to expand...

The keto pancake recipe is from www.wholesomeyum.com
125g almond flour
2tbsp Erythritol
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
80 mls unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)
2 tbsp neutral oil (plus more for frying) I tend to stick to cold pressed rape seed oil

Enjoy
 

Ooh Thank you so much for the recipe
can’t wait to try, i will take a look at the website too x
 


Hey, welcome I am new as well, and pretty much had the same experience, GP told me over the phone, told me to google Glycemic Index, and change your diet and exersize, oh and here are some tablets.

That was all I got. My mum is also Type 2 so she helped with some info, the rest I just had to search and look in places like this site.

I got my meter free, if you go to Ascensia Diabetes Care UK, you can request a free meter online, mine only took around a week to arrive, and then I chased my GP for test strips.

Still learning loads, and a month later having to change things again after changing medication.
 

If you dive into low carb/keto, you may find you need to pay attention to getting enough electrolytes. I've watched videos explaining why but honestly it doesn't stick in my brain - here's a post from the Carb Manager app with a brief explanation. https://www.carbmanager.com/article/xtqunbeaacaacgdw/importance-of-electrolytes-on-keto/

Anyway, depletion of those electrolytes can definitely be behind muscle cramps. Maybe add a sugar free sports drink and see how you react.
 
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