New T2 - struggling.

Any idea what your result was?
And you're in the right place and by the sounds of it doing exactly the right thing to control your errant blood sugars.
Obsessive over food/BG readings can also mean taking control of your own health for which I generally advocate strongly as being in control will usually lead to the best results.

Onlinecaroline said:

A little bit of a complicated and long one to start so apologies - had symptoms last July and went to the Drs in August to be checked. Was told if I heard nothing back not to worry. Heard nothing so great.

Fast forward to last week went for annual blood pressure review and was told that the results from last time were high and its T2 diabetes. This was all a bit of a shock - my father was diagnosed at the same age (33) and suffered almost every complication you can think of. Resulting in a double amputation, transplant and then eventually his death.

I have taken the low carb approach and am trying to keep it under 30g a day and have to go back in a month for another blood test. Hoping this will lower my results.

However mentally I’m struggling to cope; I find myself very worried about ending up like my father and can feel myself getting a bit obsessive over the numbers in my food/ BG readings. I’m not really sure what help anyone can give but I felt I had to get it down somewhere where others might understand.

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Hi there

I was diagnosed when I was 31 and like you Inhad a father who had pretty much every complication going. But he also didn’t really work very hard to keep his condition under control, you’d often go to his house, open the cupboard and fall under an avalanche of chocolate

Sharkos(spelt wrong I’m sure), ulcers, blindness, stroke and death. No amputation by fluke more than anything...

he also never low carbed or changed his way of eating. But to be fair to him he was guided by the whole NHS being diabetes is progressive, carbs are okay blah blah

However, for 10 years I didn’t massively do any better to be fair, my bloods were controlled (ish) by meds. But earlier this year I was up to 78 hba1c and on a track to insulin. Then the pandemic...

Daily exercise, lowering my carbs (< 150, often better) and a calorie reduction and I am pretty much 30kg down in weight (now healthy bmi) hba1c of 38 and only 1000mg of metformin. Possibly zero drugs in a few months. I’m now plateaued in weight though would like to lose a few more kg but we shall see!

so, it can be turned around. I personally can’t go as low carb as you but It makes an amazing difference to blood levels

hardest for me is giving up bread, pasta etc and pretty much all fruit except strawberries. That’s tough. I also do have occasional treats but I do have an impact so it is occasional. But if the exercise and other stops that, then I will have to cut back that too

good luck!

Onlinecaroline said:

Thanks for your reply.

I think my fasting result was 11.6 and my other (hbca1?) was 9.6 but it wasn’t a very clear line. I will make sure I find out when I see the nurse next month. Both those figures were definitely mentioned just unsure which was which.

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9.6`% could be right .. it translates to 81.4 mmol/m and implies a 3 month "average" BG reading of 12.7 mmol/l which kind of fits with your fasting reading and is what a meter will show. Be great to get all the details for sure though so you can monitor progress.

Onlinecaroline said:

As a side note I’m not keen to take medication, but unsure with high readings it low carb and exercise would be enough to get it down.

Thanks for your reply Andy - it has reassured me a lot. I think when you watch someone go through that sort of cycle it can be hard to imagine anything different for yourself. But I am trying!

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On diagnosis mine was 87 mmol/m and I only took the meds for 3 weeks (too many toilet issues).
Dietary changes were what brought it down to the current levels of sub 30 mmol/m.

Onlinecaroline said:

As a side note I’m not keen to take medication, but unsure with high readings it low carb and exercise would be enough to get it down.

Thanks for your reply Andy - it has reassured me a lot. I think when you watch someone go through that sort of cycle it can be hard to imagine anything different for yourself. But I am trying!

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Personally speaking, I am not against meds if needed. You and I personally know the impact of long term uncontrolled bloods. We have seen it and that can make a difference.
However... it is possible to do this by diet and correspondingly weight changes perhaps. If you keep doing what you are doing and tell the doctor you want to do that for 3 months to see if it can work then that’s an option. Or you can take some meds to help bring it down and then use the low carb too

the answer though is that yes, for many on here and myself included, low(er) carb and other changes like exercise has reversed the bloods by themselves. I cannot say for me which had the most impact as it’s a massive weight loss and exercise and low calorie and lower carbs. Maybe, for me, it’s all of the above. What I can agree with as I can see it myself is a higher carb meal does cause higher bloods, and well into the next morning

we are not medical experts, can only give our experience and I did use meds and they were helpful, but I am now finding there is an alternative. I might stay on small dose of metformin, I might not but all I can say is that it’s not a failing to need drugs as I see it, the alternative is far worse

Hi @Onlinecaroline (lovely ring to your screen name btw!)
Welcome to the forum. I’m another one who has made huge improvements in my readings with the use of Metformin and a low carb way of eating. I halved my HbA1c in a few months, (see my signature for the numbers).Three and a half years later still using the same regime, I continue to have a non diabetic HbA1c. A happy side effect was losing a shed load of weight too

bulkbiker said:

Obsessive over food/BG readings can also mean taking control of your own health for which I generally advocate strongly as being in control will usually lead to the best results.

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I like this, theres a saying that goes something like, “obsessed is what the lazy call the dedicated”

Totally understand, my dad also died of complications, I have no answers, im sorry but understand for sure. Best wishes!

hi @Onlinecaroline
Remember there have been great advances in both knowledge and medication since your father was first diagnosed, and there are discoveries still to come.
He probably never knew about how much low carbing can help, for example.
His history need not be yours

You can learn and take control of your health. Dont be hard on yourself. Diganosis hits most of us hard initially. Remeebr its a marathon not a sprint and you will get there

Hi and welcome,

I was also obsessive early on but what helped me was seeing the results of going very low carb in my lower blood sugar levels. I personally think being obsessive at the beginning was good for me as I found the transition to very low carb very heard. Seeing good results helped keep me motivated.

More than 18 months later I still test every day but usually only 3 or so times. This is my life I am talking about so I need to keep on the straight and narrow. I know most of the result of the food I eat but it can be too easy to carb creep and have just a little bit more and testing means I won't go too far wrong. This is what works for me.

Good luck and welcome.

Onlinecaroline said:

Thanks for your reply.

I think my fasting result was 11.6 and my other (hbca1?) was 9.6 but it wasn’t a very clear line. I will make sure I find out when I see the nurse next month. Both those figures were definitely mentioned just unsure which was which.

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I was at 9.4%, got it down to 5.2% in 90 days by going low carb and following the advice here. Get a meter and test your meals until you build a meal plan. Lifestyle changes can be hard, just stick to your plan and things will normalize. Best of luck on your journey!