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New T2 and so frustrated!

J

JennaNim

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all, I'm Jenna from New Zealand!

Deep breath, long story coming...
I turned 45 in January and qualified for my 1st (govt funded) mammogram. I have just moved out of the city, so had to find a new GP for my (all clear) results to go to, so I chose one and went to my base-line appointment. When they asked if I was due for a pap smear (sorry if there's too much info here), I said yes, but wanted to see the doc about certain maddening itching first. The GP took swabs, gave me thrush treatment, though I had unsuccessfully tried that several times myself, and took bloods.

I was called back to the surgery 2 days later and pronounced T2 diabetic, with a random BG of 22 and HbA1c of 88, promptly set up with a BG monitor, strips etc, Metformin and a series of follow-up appointments.

Thing is, I have been eating low carb for 18 months now (for weight loss purposes), and have lost 26Kg to date. I have upped my exercise levels and have not felt different - better if anything, after losing the weight! Certainly none of the symptoms I'm told I should notice. When I went to my old GP last January to get advice on losing weight, he took bloods then, and apparently my HbA1c was 47 - pre-diabetic - and I was never told.

So Now, after 3 weeks of metformin at 3000mg/day with unsatisfactory results, I have yet another GP appointment tomorrow to get me on insulin.

****.

After all this hard work, I am only halfway to my first major weight loss goal, and going on insulin may not make me gain much weight (but probably some) but it will prevent me losing more. Which will stop the type2 from improving and will leave me the blob I've been trying to shed!

Just really frustrated, especially knowing I may have been able to change things if I had been advised of the pre-diabetes HbA1c.

I'll go on insulin if I have to - of course I will - but I'm just so angry I have to, and furious that the weight loss will stop.

Grrrr! :(
 
Hi Jenna, and welcome to the forums.

Unfortunately your story is not uncommon with regards to being pre-diabetic and the doctor issue. If your condition is not severe then T2 can be reversed with the right approach.

It is not written in stone that insulin will make you gain weight although some people do experience it. As you're already low carbing you may be able to continue losing weight, especially if you keep up the exercise regime.

Edited: I've been on insulin for 6 months and I cannot put weight on. After advice from a couple of forum members I will probably be changing my insulin regime within the next couple of weeks to see if I can change this.

How many carbs are you eating each day?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'm tagging @daisy1 who will give you the information for newcomers.

What kind of diet have you been following for weight loss? As @urbanracer said, there are dietary approaches to controlling Type 2 that you may find useful, such as low carb, fasting or Newcastle Diet Protocol.
 
@JennaNim

Hello Jenna and welcome to the forum :)

To add to the replies above, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. 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

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.
 
Hi. Keep doing the low-carb diet. Insulin will only cause weight gain if you increase the carbs, so just keep down the carbs and you may even find that the insulin eventually isn't needed, but the meter and HBa1c will tell you
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm from New Zealand as well, arnt we lucky they look after us so well here. How many carbs a day are you currently consuming as when I started doing LC I thought I was doing well until I used an app and realised I was actually eating double the amount I thought I was.
 
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