Newbie

Elaine DB said:

Good morning.
Such a relief to find this forum.
Ive been diagnosed Type 2 only 3 weeks ago, was pre-diabetic for 2 years.
Been put on metformin and im up to 3 out of 4 a day so far.
Then i begin Statin once a day.
Struggling getting my head around everything , as still coming to terms with my MH diagnosis's from 2 1/2 years ago.
Any reasurrance and tips and advice will be gratefully recieved.
Many thanks .

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Hello Elaine, and welcome,

Some things to think about: How do you want to treat your diabetes? Odds are you can get your blood sugars back down into the normal range with some small adjustments in diet, no medication required. (Should metformin have side effects that.... Well, for me, I was locked in the loo for weeks.). https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help some. What is your cholesterol doing, and do you actually need statins? They can up blood glucose, so kind of counterintuitive if you're only taking them due to the diabetes diagnosis. If there's familial high cholesterol, yeah, or a previously existing heart condition... But otherwise, it might make getting blood sugars under control more of an uphill battle than it needs to be. And if MH is what i think it is, statins have muscular and joint pain as a side effect, so that might make things worse. Might, mind you, I don't know.

Just some stuff to think about... Most important thing: Get thee a meter. Those things are worth their weight in gold and then some, if you want to know what your blood sugars are doing and what works for you, and what doesn't. If you have any questions, throw them out there! Usually someone around with an answer or two.
And again, welcome. This is a pretty good place to start1
Jo

Elaine DB said:

Hiya Jo, thanks for the reply. My blood test result was bad and my cholesterol was 7. The metformin side effects have started to settle down, those cramps etc i dont like ! And as for the statins i havent started it yet,have to get up to 4 metformin a day first and let that settle, im on a beta blocker so maybe thats why ive been given that ?
MH=mental health for me.
I went and collected my monitor from doctor last night. Ive to test before a meal and be consistant with that routine. I go back to clinic in November for more bloods and urine tests.
Funny thing is,as soon as i began typing my intro,i felt more at ease.many thanks.

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Always feel free to be more specific than "bad" when talking about blood tests, because sometimes, bad isn't all that bad at all, and sometimes fine, is far from it. And a total cholesterol doesn't say all that much.... It's the breakdown you need to know. (If your good cholesterol is high, it's less to worry about, and from my point of view, you're not seeing double digits yet, so... Maybe see whether a low carb diet'll get your cholesterol sorted. It'll usually go up a bit first though, then come down. Your choice, though!).
I googled MH and came up with a muscular issue, but yeah. Mental health. Duh. Sometimes I make things too complicated for my own good. Good news there, though... Getting control of your blood sugars, one way or another, is likely to improve feelings of depression, moodswings, what have you. I was way worse off when my blood sugars were all over the place, and I was ripping my poor husband's head off every 5 minutes. So odds are you'll feel better from here on in.
Not entirely sure what use testing before a meal is, if you don't test 2 hours after the first bite (so you know how the meal affected you and whether your body could cope with it), but it's a minor miracle you got a meter at all. The bulk of us need to self-fund. So yay for your GP, sort of.

And believe it or not, knowing you're diabetic really changes the ballgame. Get your blood sugars under control, and you're likely to feel miles better than you have been. Mentally and physically. Knowing what the problem is, is an excellent start when it comes to fixing things!
Jo

PS: Is the beta blocker for high blood pressure? Because if you change your diet, you'll consume less salts most likely... So if you start feeling light headed, maybe discuss changing the dosage because your blood pressure isn't as high as it once was. Stuff to be careful about!

Elaine DB said:

Yes the beta blocker is for high blood pressure and also anxiety.
So as ive been reading i should re test 2 hours after the first bite of food to see how ive coped ? I was given so much info at once i think my brain shut down.
I actually sat in doctors waiting room for an hour till they gave me the monitor i was told was available to me 2 weeks ago. I sat there,waiting,waiting. I did half expect to have to self fund. I think its a disgrace that anyone has to buy their own.

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There's a whole lot of diabetics out there, and strips don't come cheap... If we all got them on the NHS, we'd bankrupt it, which is mainly why most T2's are expressly told not to test. At all. Your doc wants you to, just before meals, not around them. That is plausible, not something you only half-heard because you were overwhelmed. A lot of GP's don't actually know all that much about diabetes;just count yourself lucky you got a meter and strips on perscription.

Oh, and anxiety gets better when your blood sugars aren't going up and down all the time either. I still have panic attacks, but they're not as frequent as they were 7 years ago, when I started low carbing.

And do be careful with the blood pressure, If you decide to low carb. Not an issue when you go the medication-only route, but it might be useful to have a blood pressure meter around should you get dizzy every now and again if you do change your diet, and end up needing less or no beta blockers... It's a lot to keep track of, I know. Sorry.

Not sure why they told you to test before meals? Those of us T2s who test look to do it before the first bite then two hours later to check if the meal contained too many carbs for our bodies to tolerate.
Looking for a rise of no more than 2, as people who are not diabetic peak then drop back fairly fast.