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New to this and worried!

J

Johnboy59

Member
Messages
20
Location
Maidenbower, West Sussex
Hi, I'm John, live in West Sussex, 53 years young.

I visited the doctors this Tuesday as for the last month or so I have had a raging thirst, dry mouth, and finding it difficult to sleep.

Doctor took a blood sample and I got a call same day requesting that I go back to the surgery urgently. Doctor said by sugar level was over 18 and it should be around 6. He gave me a prescription and I've started taking the pills. The thirst has gone and I'm already sleeping better. He has now had 3 more blood samples and I'm awaiting the results. I also have high blood pressure. He has provisionally diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Today I bought an Accu-Chek mobile and have taken 2 reading 20.8 and 20.9

I know very little about diabetes but the more I read the more worried I am becoming. Crazy thing is I've never felt better. Apart from the thirst and sleep I feel fine. I have to attend a long clinic session next week where I guess they will give me the other blood test results and talk me through the actions they and I need to take.

A few questions

1. I know 20.8 is a high blood sugar reading but is it dangerous?

2. What can I do immediately to try and bring the level down and how long will it take?

3. I know I need to exercise and change my diet (this is a good thing anyway) but how massive a change to my lifestyle must I expect?

4. Is diabetes fatal or life shortening?

5. Am I entitled to any financial help with prescriptions, Accu Chek supplies etc? (I'm full time employed and not on any benefits)

6. Is this something that can be controlled or does it gradually get worse and what are the symtoms of it getting worse?

Lots of questions :crazy: but this has been a complete shock to me.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.
 
Hi John and welcome to the forum. The tablets will make you feel better, but you can do so much more with changing your diet. It depends how drastically you want to change your diet as to how quickly you will get your blood sugar readings back into the normal range.

Diabetes can be life shortening, but possibly worse is that you can suffer really debilitating complications, such as amputations, kidney failure, and blindness. If you don't fancy any of these things then I would recommend a change to your diet. Daisy will be along in a minute to post the advice that is given to new members re: diet.

Diabetes doesn't have to be progressive from now on - its in your control.

If you are getting meds for your diabetes then you are entitled to a medical exemption certificate which makes prescriptions and eye tests free. You get those through the surgery so ask at your big appt. Doctors sometimes provide a meter and strips but that is a bit of a lottery depending on the surgery, so I recommend you ask. If not then you might want to switch to another meter with cheaper strips.
 
Hi John and welcome to the forum :)
Some members will be along soon to share their personal experience with you and try to answer your questions.
In the meantime, here is some information that we give to new members which you should find helpful. Any more questions, just ask. Following the advice in here your blood sugars should drop. I recommend you get yourself a testing kit - from the doctor if he will prescribe it, or by your own means, and test before and 2 hours after meals so you can see whether what you're eating is OK for you.


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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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 blood glucose 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 John. Sure is scary when you're first diagnosed. I was diagnosed with initial BG of 27 mmol/L back in May. Like you, I was really worried, confused with so many questions. Happy to report 6 months down the line things are much improved - mainly through diet and exercise. Learned lots on this forum. Best help for me in first few weeks was the book "Type 2 Diabetic: The First Year" by Gretchen Becker which I picked up secondhand on Amazon - it answered a lot of my questions. Best of luck getting to grips with things. :thumbup:
 
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