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Newbie saying Hello

Polo23 said:
Type 2 , joined today, fed up , fat and stressed. Going to try and get myself sorted , diet , exercise etc. Other health issues making things a bit more complicated, but if you don't try , you don't win
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Hi @Polo23 and welcome to the forum. The terrible thing is that what we are told is 'healthy' (low fat, whole grain, 5 a day) isn't healthy for a Type 2 diabetic because then every meal spike our blood glucose too high, tend to make us hungry soon after and tend to make us gain weight. That's right, for many of us the diabetes causes (or certainly precedes ) the weight gain.

The good news is that eating a diet which actually is good for a Type 2 diabetic - High Protein, Moderate (Traditional) Fat, Low Carbohydrates means most of us eat until satiated and yet still lose weight and have lots of energy. Best of all it reduces our Blood Glucose an either controls our diabetes or put it into remission at the same time.
 
Up early today doing private blood tests, now in post. Not sure about site, as yet, all a bit sensory overloady. Yes I know that's not a real word. Going to see if nipping in and out for short recon visits helps, BRB
 
Polo23 said:
Up early today doing private blood tests, now in post. Not sure about site, as yet, all a bit sensory overloady. Yes I know that's not a real word. Going to see if nipping in and out for short recon visits helps, BRB
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You just had a diagnosis that set your world upside-down. That is traumatic, and it will likely affect your memory for a bit there. Sensory overloadiness is to be expected. Take it easy and breathe. Nothing has to change in a blink, and you have plenty of time to get this sussed. T2 didn't come on overnight, it doesn't have to be fixed overnight either. Just know that it can be done, when you're ready for it. (Well, "fixed".... Not cured, but treated adequately.)
 
Really p***ed off today. Not getting much help from GP so having to sort out lots of stuff myself. Been doing my own blood tests privately. Some tests Gp isn't allowed to do and some aren't done at right times. It's like pulling teeth. The post on the 10th, sent bloods , got cholesterol results but HbA1c clotted, they sent me another free got results back today it was 50 in January and now it is 54, it upset me. I bought a bm monitor it is driving me mad. I have thyroid issues , and GP's tend to know very little about it. Poorly treated Thyroid can and often does lead to diabetes, weight gain, poor absorption of vitamins and minerals. When you develop deficiencies it further impacts thyroid, no amount of dieting exercise helps without getting Thyroid and co factors right. I was put on an anti depressant in 2019, on it for about 16 months, before no problem with HbA1c, apparently after about 8 months it had gone to 48, insulin resistance, was not informed until it had rose to 49 12 months later. I was magnesium def, B12 def, folate def, vit D def, raised cholesterol and now diabetic. They wanted me to start metformin, hypertensives, and statins, gave me a short course of supplements then told me to get on with it. All of this because they didn't monitor and treat thyroid properly, so yes I am very annoyed. I don't eat a large diet, don't eat processed foods, do like a G&T on occasion, glass of wine but don't go mad. Don't fry, grill, so all the suggestions the practise nurse offered were swiftly rebutted. The offer of metformin the same, it wasn't offered no discussion, was told "You are starting metformin" no I'm not. Wanted to start hypertensives, refused pointed out magnesium deficiency results in raised BP. Research proves that hypothyroid patients should not be put on Statins it does more damage than good. Exercise, was quite fit and had an allotment, up until last summer regularly doing 12 to 14 hours on my feet on busy maternity wards. However B12 deficiency , looks like PA, makes everything hurt, the pain can be excruciating at times.
So now , if anyone is still awake you can be proud you made it through the epic saga. Just needed to vent. I have started to manage my health myself as professionals were not. Gold Stars to everyone who made it to the end.
 
Polo23 said:
Really p***ed off today. Not getting much help from GP so having to sort out lots of stuff myself. Been doing my own blood tests privately. Some tests Gp isn't allowed to do and some aren't done at right times. It's like pulling teeth. The post on the 10th, sent bloods , got cholesterol results but HbA1c clotted, they sent me another free got results back today it was 50 in January and now it is 54, it upset me. I bought a bm monitor it is driving me mad. I have thyroid issues , and GP's tend to know very little about it. Poorly treated Thyroid can and often does lead to diabetes, weight gain, poor absorption of vitamins and minerals. When you develop deficiencies it further impacts thyroid, no amount of dieting exercise helps without getting Thyroid and co factors right. I was put on an anti depressant in 2019, on it for about 16 months, before no problem with HbA1c, apparently after about 8 months it had gone to 48, insulin resistance, was not informed until it had rose to 49 12 months later. I was magnesium def, B12 def, folate def, vit D def, raised cholesterol and now diabetic. They wanted me to start metformin, hypertensives, and statins, gave me a short course of supplements then told me to get on with it. All of this because they didn't monitor and treat thyroid properly, so yes I am very annoyed. I don't eat a large diet, don't eat processed foods, do like a G&T on occasion, glass of wine but don't go mad. Don't fry, grill, so all the suggestions the practise nurse offered were swiftly rebutted. The offer of metformin the same, it wasn't offered no discussion, was told "You are starting metformin" no I'm not. Wanted to start hypertensives, refused pointed out magnesium deficiency results in raised BP. Research proves that hypothyroid patients should not be put on Statins it does more damage than good. Exercise, was quite fit and had an allotment, up until last summer regularly doing 12 to 14 hours on my feet on busy maternity wards. However B12 deficiency , looks like PA, makes everything hurt, the pain can be excruciating at times.
So now , if anyone is still awake you can be proud you made it through the epic saga. Just needed to vent. I have started to manage my health myself as professionals were not. Gold Stars to everyone who made it to the end.
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Believe it or not, this is what the bulk of us have gone through. You're certainly not alone. Metformin can make B12 deficiency that much worse, so not something you want to get started on possibly, and magnesium deficiency'll affect your D uptake. It's all connected. Tackle everything, and the blood pressure'll go down too. Far as I know there's only one statin "safe" to use for hypothyroid patients, but those can still up blood sugars and have other nasty side effects, so more often than not, not the best idea.

Most deficiencies you can fix yourself with a trip to Holland & Barrett's, should the rounds of supplements not have done enough, and eating bucketloads of fatty fish (salmon, tuna, herring etc) for the vit D. B12 might not be so simple, depending on how deep the deficiency has gone by now. Maybe injections required, but that's a GP thing. I know it's a bit of an assault on the bank account to try and fix all this yourself, but if the GP's not playing ball, you'd better start somewhere yourself.

We are our own advocates... Me, I just request tests every so often and act upon the results. I'll see the GP if I can't get something sorted on my own, though that's usually the case. (Thankfully I can request stuff in an app, and read correspondence from radiologists and such online, so I don't have to bother anyone for my results, and I can find out what I need to know, rather than what they think may me relevant to layman-me.) . Maybe they have something like that for you too? So you can keep an eye on your levels without having to go in every so often and wrestling through the current?

In any case... We hear you. We've been there, for the most part.
Hugs,
Jo
 
Hi and welcome @Polo23
Diet and Exercise ?
Not popular words in my experience so why not just start with 2 very simple things....

Half your carb intake and go for a walk as often as you can.
Walking is not exercise its a thing we were designed to do and the effect on your blood glucose levels will surprise you.

Less carbs and more walking is simple and it works for me.

Good luck

Tony
 
I read to the end as I totally understand your frustration. When I decided to tackle this diabetes thing (I’d had it for 7-8 years and ignored it until my health started to suffer), I took my head out of the sand and started searching. The most important aspect I realised is no one is going to do this for me and I have to take control. I research everything and my YouTube go tos are Dr Ken Berry (his wife has hashinotos so he has a video on that), Dr Jason Fung and Paul Mason. There are lots of keto and low carb recipes too. When I started my head was so full of ‘stuff’ I would dream about it.
As @JoKalsbeek says you don’t need to sort this overnight and tackle one thing at a time :)
 
I read to the end, and was not surprised at what you have been going through because I have had similar ignorant "treatment" and so have most of us. The big plus is I found this forum with all the fascinating links to research, and have been able to make my own decisions at my own speed (warp 10!) and with really encouraging results. I have taken charge of my T2, so have the great majority of us. It sucks to be driven to this by medics we thought would help us. There are good ones but it's pure chance if we find them, and I haven't yet, so I go it alone. But taking charge ourselves is bringing amazingly good results. Stay with us, read up, ask any questions - no question is trivial or stupid. We hear you.
 
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