New T2

Ice-Man said:

Hi All.

Hi my name is Ian I was told by the doc when I went for my yearly MOT, the reason for the MOT is I had a Heart Attack in 2014 a week before my 51st birthday.
But since that time I have been on beta-blockers and ace inhibitors to slow my heart rate, it no longer goes above 80 BPM stopped smoking that week and sadly put weight on I went from 13 stone to now 17.5 stone.

I have lost 2lbs since the last MOT so I have stopped the weight, as I no longer have any sugar at all but last year was told I was pre-diabetic and had to have 3 blood test.
This year it has gone up and been put on metformin 500mg twice a day, I got a free meter today in the post I don't know how they knew I had been diagnosed with type 2.

The meter is a Contour next one so I just tried it and it comes back with 6.5 should I worry, as I'm new to all this plus I drive a class 2 Tipper on the roads doing asphalt. So I am very active during the day and I never knew I had any symptoms, as my legs swell to twice the size and have to wear compression tights.

I always feel tired due to my meds for the HA and a slow heart, rate and being a truck driver I have always got a cuppa tea by my side....

But looking forward to getting to know people here as I can see this is going to be a long haul.

Regards.

Ian

Click to expand...

Good morning Ian,

6,5 Doesn't actually tell us anything, so can't say whether you should be worried or not. Why? Because it is a completely random reading: we don't know when you took it, what you ate and when, etc... The Contour is a perfectly fine meter, but the strips are rather dear: I don't know whether you self-fund or not, but you might want to look into getting another one with cheaper strips, as you'll be using them rather a lot if you want to test in a manner that'll give you some actual information. @Rachox will have more info on that, so I'm tagging her in. If the Contour strips are funded though, no problem.

So what is useful testing? Before a meal, and 2 hours after the first bite. Forget fasting blood glucose in the morning for now, because that's the very last number to come down: you can check and tackle the other ones first, then that will follow. You're looking for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l between the start of the meal and the 2 hour mark. If it is more, it contained more carbs than you could process back out again. Practically all carbs turn to sugar/glucose once ingested, so not just sugars, but starches too, as in bread, cereal, rice, corn, pasta, spuds.... (And "natural" sugars like honey, dates and other fruit etc are still sugar too, so best avoided, with a few exceptions.). All in all... If you change your diet you could well be back into the normal, non-diabetic range pretty soon.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- is as good a place as any to get started for information on T2 nutrition, but there's so much more out there.... This forum's website, www.diabetes.co.uk , www.dietdoctor.com , and for instance. Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. (Lifesaver, that one). It's a steep learning curve so take your time to absorb it, it doesn't all have to be 100% right overnight. But especially on the road, and with heart issues already in place, you want to keep from further damaging your organs and arteries.

Good luck!
Jo

Hi Ian,
Nothing wrong with the cuppa, keep on truckin’... welcome to the Forum.

Hello and welcome,

I see @JoKalsbeek has already provided very helpful links. I suggest you read those and then read around on this site and ask questions.

Good luck and welcome.

Hi Ian and welcome to the forum.

Here’s a link to the post with info for newbies we provide:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

Thanks for the tag @JoKalsbeek , here’s some info on meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned. For a meter with cheap strips go for the Tee2 + found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-plus-blood-glucose-meter/ with the strips found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-testing-strips/


With more expensive strips is the Caresens Dual which I currently use, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual


And to be totally transparent I used to use the SD Code Free which has the cheapest strips available. However I found itto be becoming less and less reliable, although I hear reliability may have improved now. Here it is for anyone wanting to give it a go:

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/

and here for the extra strips

http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833


Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)


Home Health have recently bought out this one too, but I haven’t heard any reviews yet:


https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/gluconavii-blood-sugar-meter-glucose-monitor-starter-kit/

Hi. GPs normally guess T2 by default at diagnosis even though T1 is a possibility if you are slim. As you do have some excess weight then T2 would almost certainly be a good guess by the Doc.

I used to use sd codefree but I changed to Tee2. I phoned them and ordered 200 strips they threw in the meter for free.

Hi I think if you are on metformin or any diabetes medication, you should be able to get a Medical Exemption certificate from your GP. This entitles you to free prescriptions. You might get the strips for free.Worth asking. Regards Karen

Yes, metformin means exemption. The pharmacy will tell you how to claim and you get a refund for any additional payments you make past the start date.

Tesco pharmacy have meter for £10 and strips for £10 for 100.