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Newbie - diagnosed today

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kaydee

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Hi. I've been diagnosed with type 2 today after two fasting blood tests came back high - 15.8 and 11.2. I expected my GP to give me advice on diet and exercise intially to get my BG down, but he's put me straight onto 1 x 500 mg Metformin per day for the first week then to increase to 2 x 500 per day. When I said that I thought I would have to adjust my diet first he said that would have been ok if my readings had been around the 7 mark. Is this correct? I'm disappointed that I haven't had the opportunity to get my levels down through diet and exercise first before going onto prescription drugs. From what I've read so far I assumed the normal course was to try adjusting diet first and if this didn't work then go onto medication. Would be grateful for your views. I'm a 52 year old female (by the way, I didnt realise night sweats were a sign of diabetes until I came across this forum - thought it was the dreaded M!)
 
hya,
sorry youve been diagnosed but now u have this forum will help no end,the dr probably gave meds as your bloods were very high and exercise and diet may not have got them low enough,you must have some exercise and an healthy diet from now on and it will definately benefit you,
take care :D
 
Hi kaydee,
Welcome to the forum. You are quite right, the British National Formulary recommends that patients be given 3 months of carbohydrate (and calorie) restriction and exercise to see whether blood glucose levels can be controlled without medication. Your doctor may argue that your blood glucose was too high for this to be successful and that oral meds were a preferable option, but others might debate that. The BNF doesn't specify a cut-off point at which diet and exercise alone would not be sufficient to normalise blood glucose.
You can still make a big impact on your bg levels through diet and exercise, perhaps enough to make the metformin uneccesary, if you act quickly.
Take a look at the Success Stories thread to see how others have tackled this issue.

All the best,

fergus
 
I had similar readings to you on diagnosis and was put straight on to medication too. Like you I was told there was no alternative. I was not overweight and no history of diabetes in my family.May I ask if you've had a c-peptide test done? If not, I would ask for one, as this can help confirm the Type of diabetes you have.
 
I do think that many medics tend to turn to medication as a first resort, which is unfortunate when it is often possible to control diabetes without it. I guess that it is generally easier to write a prescription for tablets than it is to work with you on your lifestyle :evil: That said, you do want to get your blood glucose into the normal range as quickly as possible - and metformin will help you to do that.

I suggest that you very substantially reduce your carbohydrate intake (if you have been told to "eat lots of complex carbohydrate with each meal", then be aware that is very dated advice that causes some people serious problems). If you look around these forums you will find lots of advice on diet - for example you might like start out by reading the "Newly diagnosed and so confused" thread. If you don't already have one then get a glucose meter and monitor your blood glucose. Once it gets down to safe levels (under 6 mmol/l), then you could try reducing the dose of metformin. When you do this keep monitoring. Don't worry about occasional glitches but if you see a trend of rising BG then go back to the original dose. You might eventually be able to come off the metformin completely, but then again you might not - this all depends upon what the state of your pancreas is (the longer you have had undiagnosed diabetes, the more damage will have been done).

It is far better to have a low and stable BG with the assistance of drugs than it is to have a high BG. However, if you can achieve a low and stable BG without drugs, or with low doses then that is better still.
 
Many thanks to you all for your very helpful replies and I apologise for the delay replying - I've been trying to set up my new pc most of the day! I'm really pleased I've found this forum - it clearly has some very knowledgeable and helpful members. I'm not sure if a c-peptide test was carried out - I just assumed I have Type 2. I'll add that to the list of questions I'll be firing at my doctor on my next visit! Thank you again and no doubt I'll be back with more questions soon!
Kind regards, Kaydee.
 
kaydee said:
I just assumed I have Type 2. I'll add that to the list of questions I'll be firing at my doctor on my next visit!.
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Your doctor certainly thinks that you are a T2 - metformin won't do anything for T1. You have probably had a c-peptide test as a part of a general blood screen - if not, then your doctor is guessing, and I would ask for the test to be sure.
 
Thank you - I certainly will. I was also wondering whether I should ask to be referred to my local hospital for further tests - ie. retinopathy test, etc. Is it normal procedure for a newly diagnosed diabetic to have a number of further tests to see what damage (if any) has already been done or is this something I'm going to have to request? By the way, my GP also said it wasn't necessary for me to monitor my BG levels! Which came as quite a surprise to me as the reason I'd asked for a diabetes blood test in the first place was because I'd bought one of those self-testing kits off the internet which had shown high levels (I hadn't had any of the usual symtoms of diabetes - just decided to buy one as well as a cholesterol level testing kit). I will, of course, be ignoring my docs "advice" and buying myself a monitor asap!
 
kaydee said:
Is it normal procedure for a newly diagnosed diabetic to have a number of further tests to see what damage (if any) has already been done or is this something I'm going to have to request?
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It is the postcode lottery, I am afraid :( . Some people get wonderful healthcare without having to ask, some have to ask, some have to fight and some never get any worth speaking of.

kaydee said:
By the way, my GP also said it wasn't necessary for me to monitor my BG levels!
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:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: This makes me very cross - if you read much on this forum you will see that this is quite a sore point, and it is quite usual these days for T2s to be strongly discouraged from self-monitoring. The general suspicion is that the main reason for this is cost. If you are told to monitor then you will have to be prescribed strips, these are expensive and some PCTs are strongly discouraging GPs from prescribing them to diabetics not on insulin.
kaydee said:
I will, of course, be ignoring my docs "advice" and buying myself a monitor asap!
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Good plan. If you have to pay for the strips yourself you might want to check out e-bay - the going rate is about half that of high street pharmacies When you get the equipment, make sure that you develop a good testing strategy (i.e. know why you are testing, and how to interpret the results). You should use the testing to monitor how good your control is progressing, and to learn how various foods effect your BG. Post questions if you need more advice about how and when to test.
kaydee said:
as well as a cholesterol level testing kit
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I wouldn't bother with home testing for cholesterol - it won't tell you anything very useful. All it will give you is a total blood cholesterol, and that is a fairly meaningless figure. In order to get some idea of what your risks of heart disease are you need a much more detailed breakdown - what is called a "lipid profile". This has to be done in a lab, so you will need to talk to your doctor about it (it may well have been done as a part of a general blood screen). Ask your doctor for a copy of all of your results, and ask people on here if you don't understand them.
 
Thanks again DG - your replies are very helpful and reading the replies to other questions posted it's clear you're helping lots of other members too! Kind regards, Kaydee
 
Hey Kaydee.

I was put straight on meds too! it's ok! don't worry. the only thing i would add really is ask, and ask, and oh ask again!

When iw as diagnosed they just sent me home with the metformin and that was that. until i called my GP as the tabs were making me sick and not making my levels any lower and he mentioned about a diabetes clinic. ha ha that was it. i was on the phone being a royal pain in the rear and seen the next day. Unfort i'm now on insulin and it's still uinclear what type i have but just ask. they can't shout at you for asking!!!! and if needed go give em hell!

i know when i was first diagnosed i just wanted to be told "it's ok don't worry"

keep reading the forum!!!! they have helped me no end!
 
Hi manxangel

Thanks for that. I've been doing a lot of reading since being diagnosed and I'm going back to my GP next week with a list of questions/requests! Regards, Kaydee
 
Even if they say you don't need to test, they should allow you a meter and strips during the learning period. How else are you meant to find out which foods suit you and which do not? If they give you the "eat plenty of complex carbohydrates with every meal" rubbish I would ask them "if diabetes is a condition where the carbohydrate metabolism has gone wrong, why eat what you can't process? Would you advise a coeliac to eat gluten?". Usually they don't have an answer to this one and if they do and it makes sense to you. Please let us know what it is.
Ally suggests all newbies see a dietician and I always say you need THE BOOK
Dr. Bernstein's Complete Diabetes Solution. this will tell you everything you need to know to take charge of your health. If you want further explanation of anything in it, just ask and we'll try to answer.
T2 is manageable and becomes a minor irritation, rather than the scarey monster.
 
I think i'm in the"scary monster" phase at the moment. This past week has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me - one minute positive and determined to tackle this and the next in tears, full of regret and anger (at myself for getting myself into this bloody mess!). Still, no use crying over spilt milk - I'll just have to keep positive and keep learning!
 
Excellent advice there from hanadr, kaydee trust me it will get easier, the more you learn about diabetes, the better, and once you got your bg more stable and acceptable figures you will feel so proud and so good about yourself, and your confidence will grow; mood swings are normal, it is a shock to be told you have a chronic illness, but you know, at least this is one illness that you can have great control over.

Talk to us when things get tough, or if you have any questions, and yes to get hold of THE BOOK

Love

Karen
 
I learned years ago that there is only one direction to go.. forward. there are not meny things wwe can return to
 
I was diagnosed a few weeks ago and I was given 3 months diet and losing weight etc. I was also blood tested to make sure I was T2, I was also given test strips to test my blood (though I had to make a bit of a fuss for them). You need to get the information - great place this, and get yourself sorted so you know what needs doing. I was not put on medication.
 
Thank you all - your comments are much appreciated. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all last night, should have just gone to bed instead of reading even more about diabetes! I'm sure once I've got through this initial learning/acceptance phase I'll be fine. Kind regards, Kaydee.
 
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