• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

New diagnosis but no GP help

J

Jaggered

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Other
Hi, I went to my GP about hair loss, I'd been feeling really poorly and exhausted for months but working hard so assumed it was that. The Dr told me my blood results as she read them for the first time, so I got the diagnosis as she was interpreting it. She said I had other problems too with my liver and something about protein and that being a sign of infection. Then she weighed me and told me if I lost weight the diabetes was reversible and to come back in a month. And that was it. No prescription and no real explanation, my hb1 ac was 91 according to the Dr. I'm really confused, if I'm diabetic don't I need medication and is it ok just to try to lose weight fast and go back in a month? My hair is still coming out in handfuls and I'm totally exhausted. It takes 2 weeks to get an appointment with my Dr so I thought I'd try this forum. Thanks in advance
 
Jaggered said:
Hi, I went to my GP about hair loss, I'd been feeling really poorly and exhausted for months but working hard so assumed it was that. The Dr told me my blood results as she read them for the first time, so I got the diagnosis as she was interpreting it. She said I had other problems too with my liver and something about protein and that being a sign of infection. Then she weighed me and told me if I lost weight the diabetes was reversible and to come back in a month. And that was it. No prescription and no real explanation, my hb1 ac was 91 according to the Dr. I'm really confused, if I'm diabetic don't I need medication and is it ok just to try to lose weight fast and go back in a month? My hair is still coming out in handfuls and I'm totally exhausted. It takes 2 weeks to get an appointment with my Dr so I thought I'd try this forum. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
You don't necessarily need meds to get control of the condition, learn what you can about, why and how to do it.
Most of us recommend a reduced carb diet and no sugar.
More exercise is also essential, if you can, even if it is a short walk.

Have a read around the forums.
Welcome.
 
A very warm welcome to you @Jaggered . You've come to the right place to get help and advice from some generous and experienced people. Once you read the initial information from Daisy1 just ask any questions you might have. Many of the Type2 members here have had no medication and have lowered their BG levels successfully with changes to diet and an increase in their exercise.
 
Welcome...(sorry you've joined the D club!!)

The GP is correct. Please think about thinking you need medication..... Why would you want to start cramming medicines down your throat when you could stop diabetes from grabbing hold of you and making you reliant upon drugs just for the sake of it....

A GP that has been doing remarkable work with his patients comes to this forum... He is a firm believer in reducing carbs and upping fats.

You need to look at the qty of carbs (carbohydrates) that you ate currently eating... If you could list a current typical day of eating it would be useful for some T2's to give advice...

Its actually good that your GP advised losing weight if this is needed. Also good that GP probably didn't give you the standard NHS advice on diets.
If you do need to lose weight then your GP should be able to refer you to a gym... This of course depends upon your life, and activitys and mobility etc but GPs should be advising exercise and weightloss before or alongside meds.. It seems your GP has sort of tried to start you thinking...
 
Hi. At initial diagnosis GPs tend to give you a month or two with nothing but diet to see how you go. Problem is they either give you no diet advice or bad advice so you don't lose weight and they give you meds. As others have said, have a low-carb diet and your weight if in excess should reduce and so should your blood sugar. Exercise always helps, but diet is the key.
 
@Jaggered

Hello and welcome to the forum :)

In addition to the good advice above from other members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions 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

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.
 
Than
Daibell said:
Hi. At initial diagnosis GPs tend to give you a month or two with nothing but diet to see how you go. Problem is they either give you no diet advice or bad advice so you don't lose weight and they give you meds. As others have said, have a low-carb diet and your weight if in excess should reduce and so should your blood sugar. Exercise always helps, but diet is the key.
Click to expand...


Thanks very much for all the advice and info. I don't want to take medicine to answer the question two above, obviously goes without saying to be honest! I just wondered why I was being left with high blood sugar and no treatment as I understood high blood sugar damages your organs and is certainly making it hard for me to do everything I need to do at the moment.

I don't think I can go the low carbs high fat diet as if I do have a fatty liver it will make that worse. I've been recommended the liver cleansing diet but not sure how that works with diabetes and everything in it seems to need cooking from scratch which is so hard for me as I have a very hectic working life and regularly work 9-10 hours with just loo breaks!

I've not been offered any diabetic help at all. Just to go back to the dr in a month and referred for a liver scan. I can fit in 20 mins on the rowing machine every day by getting up earlier and two years ago was super fit and slim (regularly doing 2 hours a day in the gym) but a job change has quadrupled my working hours.
 
Diabetes tends not to be reversible, but can be controlled. High fat doesn't impact on fatty liver. When high fat is mentioned it should really say healthy fat e.g. avocadoes, nuts, butter, cream, coconut oil. Cutting out bread, pasta, rice potatoes will make a huge difference. Look out for fatty cuts of meat, put butter on your veg, olive oil on your salads. Basically its cutting out the junk we have begun to rely on.
 
Science is beginning to realize that a lot of the bad things we thought were due to fat in the diet, is probably caused by excess carbs instead.
 
T2 Diabetes is reversible at least early one so don't listen to the nay sayers and I talk from personal experience. Have a look at the Newcastle diet and the research by professor Taylor and also have a read of my first 3 month journey link in my signature. I went from hba1c of 94 to 40 in 3 months and gone from strength to strength
 
Some people swear to the Newcastle diet to prevent diabetes, but it's not a way to live forever, it's a diet. And it's really hard to do.
 
It doesn't prevent it it clears the fat from the liver and pancreas allowing a return of some nominal behaviour. You can do it with lchf but it will take longer and that adds to risk
factors to success. Personally I recommend low calorie then low to medium carb. If you high carb for life you will undo any benefits

Edit: oh I hate predictive text
 
Jaggered said:
... so hard for me as I have a very hectic working life and regularly work 9-10 hours with just loo breaks!
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome. Good advice above from lots of forum members. I'm just picking up on your reference to your lifestyle which may be contributing to your general health.
Good luck and keep tuning in!
 
Hi and welcome
First can I say me thinks your using excuses I work 13-15 hrs a day and it takes 45 mins to get there and up to an hour to get home so I think you could find time for a 20 mins walk if you tried , cut down on the carbs and don't worry to much about the fat you will fine good luck with this keep us posted
Keep well stay safe JJ
 
Back
Top