Newbie - Type 2 - The start of a long journey!

welcome iain and good luck.

4 months ago I was in your position. most important thing to do is act. diagnosis is a blessing, not the condition itself...but the kick up the backside to sort things out.

main thing for me was low carb and brisk walks. still drink a few beers..but less. you can do it. but it is work.

well done. i thought that 3500 cals was about a lb of fat. so you must be on a strict diet.

BigIain said:

I am. I was night the 8 week blood sugar diet book and just taken recipes from there.

Not really counting the calories, Just using the recipes.

Not been hungry not Ned to snack other than a handful of bugs mid morning.

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bugs as in ...insects ?

Apparently insects are nutritious too, high in protein and low carb.

BigIain said:

I thought I'd post an update... 4 weeks on monday since diagnosis.

Been lo/no Carb for 3 weeks today and lost 20lb.

Still not craving or really missing out on my old favourites.

Thanks to all off your support in the early days. Still a long way to go but I'm seeing the benefits already.

Iain

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It’s great here isn’t it?! Keep up the good work!

BigIain said:

I thought I'd post an update... 4 weeks on monday since diagnosis.

Been lo/no Carb for 3 weeks today and lost 20lb.

Still not craving or really missing out on my old favourites.

Thanks to all off your support in the early days. Still a long way to go but I'm seeing the benefits already.

Iain

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Consider yourself blessed. A lot of diabetics get "carb crave" and fall off the wagon. I don't as it tastes foul

BigIain said:

Hi,

Newbie diagnosed on Monday, blood test on Wednesday and confirmed yesterday. Been to opticians and given all clear.
Oh and high blood pressure diagnosed at the same timeand now medicated.

BG levels 3hrs after eating 16.8, HbA1c of 89

Told to measure blood glucose, take the pills.
Reduce carbs, if eating carbs for Lo GI
Need significant weight loss.
Told to stop drinking beer.

Referred to a Chiropodist and an X pert diabetes programme at the local hospital.

SO much info in one day - I'm just sooo overwhelmed and daunted by what is to come.

Iain

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Hi and welcome, you will find lots of help and friendly advice here and don’t worry, no question is not worth asking, someone will have an answer for you.
I was diagnosed completely out of the blue in October last year. My first HbA1c was 95 (10.8) 2nd test result 87 (10.1) booked to see the diabetes nurse end of November and she did a finger prick test for me reading 76 (9.1) advised to eat well balanced diet, do some exercise and no need to test!

After the shock and some tears I did my own research and found this forum and the Diet Doctor website. Needless to say what I read made some sense and I decided to ignore the NHS advice and swapped to low carb diet in the new year.

Had my first check up 6th February, HbA1c now 45 (6.3) pre diabetic range, I test my blood myself and am averaging 37 (5.5) I’ve lost 3 stone to date, cholesterol was good at time of diagnosis 4.1 and has come down a little bit to 4, blood pressure was good and again has come down to lower than the recommended maximum level. Exercise wise I started with 20 minutes swimming 4 times a week until new year, then I introduced 15 minute HiiT sessions for a change and now I have just returned to 30 minute swims, 5 minute HiiT sessions and a daily walk during lunch breaks of 15 to 20 minutes (weather permitting). I am hoping that when I go for my second check up my HbA1c will reflect the averages I get now, I would love to see it around 32 to 34, still have some weight to loose but have a holiday booked for May that is acting as an additional motivation.

Good luck on this journey you have good travel companions.

I was diagnosed last Sept with an HBA1C of 85. Similar to yours mate.

Went on a strict low carb. Immediately got rid of all the rubbish, processed and unhealthy foods out of my diet. Complete change of lifestyle too.

Exercised daily. Also attended healing for the sick and anointing of oil in our church.

HBA1C dropped to 46 in Dec.
Further dropped to 38, first week of Feb 2018!

My endo took me off insulin and reduced to one medication. She couldn’t believe it. It all happened in just 4 months!

She also said I’m now in “remission” and predicted my HBA1C dropping further hopefully in the next few months.

If I can do it, you can do it too mate.

And it’s all about having a strong faith, low carbing, intermittent fasting, self control and strict discipline.

Don’t ever allow D defeat you. Be a good fighter!

Hi everyone, my name is Jill and I live in the beautiful north east of England.
Diabetes runs in my family. My grandmother lost both her legs to it, as did my aunty. My father had type 2 and my sister has type 2 (borderline type 1).
I have a very complicated medical history including breast cancer which I got the all clear for after 5 years but I was feeling really, really poorly. To my disbelief I was diagnosed with a very rare form of blood cancer. Hence I put all my feelings of being unwell down to that.
I had a gastric bypass 2 years ago and still cannot eat hardly anything before I started to feel unwell. I put it down to my cancer and gastric bypass but then came the sudden thirst and frequent urinating and the penny finally dropped.
My husband also had a bypass which caused him to develop Hypoglycaemia. I used his blood testing kit and was horrified to see that right after eating a baked potato my reading was 13.8, only dropping to 12.5 after an hour. My fasting and pre-meal reading is about 5.6. No wonder I felt so unwell after eating. I am assuming this is a high reading? I had blood taken on Friday so waiting to hear the results. After the potato I could hardly walk into the kitchen, my speech was slurring and I slumped on the sofa wanting sleep. Am I worrying for nothing? I had toast this morning and an hour later it was 12.8. Can someone help me please. Many thanks in advance, Jill

bridiesmum said:

Hi everyone, my name is Jill and I live in the beautiful north east of England.
Diabetes runs in my family. My grandmother lost both her legs to it, as did my aunty. My father had type 2 and my sister has type 2 (borderline type 1).
I have a very complicated medical history including breast cancer which I got the all clear for after 5 years but I was feeling really, really poorly. To my disbelief I was diagnosed with a very rare form of blood cancer. Hence I put all my feelings of being unwell down to that.
I had a gastric bypass 2 years ago and still cannot eat hardly anything before I started to feel unwell. I put it down to my cancer and gastric bypass but then came the sudden thirst and frequent urinating and the penny finally dropped.
My husband also had a bypass which caused him to develop Hypoglycaemia. I used his blood testing kit and was horrified to see that right after eating a baked potato my reading was 13.8, only dropping to 12.5 after an hour. My fasting and pre-meal reading is about 5.6. No wonder I felt so unwell after eating. I am assuming this is a high reading? I had blood taken on Friday so waiting to hear the results. After the potato I could hardly walk into the kitchen, my speech was slurring and I slumped on the sofa wanting sleep. Am I worrying for nothing? I had toast this morning and an hour later it was 12.8. Can someone help me please. Many thanks in advance, Jill

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Hello Jill. I have replied to another of your messages, but what you are describing is diabetes - an inability to cope with carbs in the diet.
To get back to normal, just cut out the dense starches, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes are the ones to start with. Have more veges which grow above ground - but be wary of lentils as they can, and do spike some people. I can only have very small servings.
You have certainly had a lot to contend with, but hopefully diabetes will prove to be one of the easier things to manage, as with any luck lower carb intake with allow your BG to reduce and your metabolism to recover.

Welcome Jill ... heavy load to carry. You'll get all the help you need here

Mike

Prem51 said:

Apparently insects are nutritious too, high in protein and low carb.

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Look, I'm voluntarily eating spinach for the first time in my life (75 years). If I have to eat bugs to lower my bg then the deal's off.

BigIain said:

when the Dr told me and layed on thick what could be in store for me it just flicked a switch...

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You should be SO grateful that you got a doctor who takes the risks of diabetes seriously. So many doctors seem to minimise them. Maybe they don't want to frighten people or tell them bad news, but it's SO not helpful. On the other hand you can also congratulate yourself that you didn't go into denial. I have a friend who refused to face the facts and went on eating as usual until he had lost almost all sensation in his feet AND HANDS! At that point he came to his senses, but it was too late to reverse all the damage.

So nice to read your responses. I do have loss of sensation in my feet but this is also a symptom of my cancer so it's 50/50 what illness is responsible. I do take diabetes very seriously because of how it has affected my family. My sister on the other hand, is borderline type 1 and rams carbs into her mouth as fast as she can. What annoys me is she lectured my dad about his poor eating habits. I am hoping that all you nice people will help me in my food choices and give me some good advice on food substitutes. I am looking for a good homemade granola recipes. Thanks to all who have answered my post, bless you xx