• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Newly diagnosed I need people to help me.

M

mellacastray

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello fellow form users,

To say that the last three days have been difficult would be an understatement. My new life journey began with a visit to the ER. I went in due to vomiting and feeling very weak after eating a bowl of what I thought was bad potatos this possible food poisoning I had assumed. Turns out that after labs and urine samples were done my blood sugar was at 327. I did not know what that meant to be honest. I'd learn soon enough however.

I was told not to sleep until it was down under 220 oor I could go into a coma and die. So I became hyper anxious. I was afraid to sleep. So come 4am I had a panic attack and was back to the hospital again. My sugar had climbed to 414. I felt like I couldn't breathe. My neck was burning and my chest felt extremely tight. Although I was drinking a lot of water I felt like I was dehydrated. They gave me a GI cocktail and had me drink more water and wait in the lobby. They took my labs agy after a couple hours and it had dropped to 244. So they sent me home and said I should try to rest. That being anxious was not helping my lvls. But a lack and fear of sleep ( fear I would spike again and wake up unable to breathe prevented that.


Soooo 9am the same day I was back in the ER lobby confused and scared and tired but to afraid to try to sleep. Tests were done and they didn't tell me my reading this time but put me on a IV and gave me two bags of fluids and a Valium and a pill called Metformin 500mg. Try and help me get control. I got a meter and test strips and was armed in the knowledge of eat better and stop stressing out.

At first I was testing every hour because the lvls kept bouncing from 225 to 345 and I felt lousy. I tried to sleep. My poor husband stayed up all night to ease my fear that I wasn't going to die. I kept waking up every hour feeling anxious and having to pee ( because I was drinking tons of water). I was afraid to eat because I was told it would make my lvls spike again and it does.

I finally got down to 188 and an hour later it was back to 244 and climbing.

I am still trying to figure out food and what to eat and how much. The anxiety is still pretty bad but I got a hour nap earlier today and started to feel better. Cucumber and chamomile tea with a dash of cinnamon in the morning. Some tuna at lunch. I'm worried though that I am not reaching a good calorie count which I am told will cause big spikes as well.

I'm more over afraid to eat right before bed. But I didn't get home until late and so I ate late. I know that I probably shouldn't feel so afraid. It's not helping I know. But I am scared of how much it spikes an hour or so after eating. I had extra lean ground beef for dinner tonight with a bit of egg spinach, green bell pepper, red and green onion. With garlic powder and black pepper, a bit of raw oatmeal mixed together like a little meat ball. I ate about two bites before I noticed that it was after 5pm which is when I take my medicine. I'm hoping it will not spike again. It was 214 before I ate at 8 oclock. I'm snacking on some cumbers and hopefully it won't go to high tonight.

Thank you for listening to my journey so far. I'm hoping to find peace of mind that I won't die in my sleep. Anything anyone can offer as advice or comfort would be great. I don't have a primary doctor yet. So I have to get it under control as I look for one.
 
Hi @mellacastray and welcome to the forums.

Do you have a way to test for ketones? High blood sugars can be uncomfortable but my understanding is that life threatening situations are caused by diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a combo of high bg and ketones, and is caused by lack of insulin. (Not usually a problem of you are T2).

Do you know if any tests have been done to determine your diabetes type? 90% of people are T2 so that is most likely but if you're T1 you will need insulin.

So I guess the question is, do you have a follow up appointment with a doctor?
 
Well done to start here The web is full of information and a Blood Glucose meter is very good so you can follw your progress.
Food information is confusing but you will learn good and bad and choose what is good for you and your friends and Family learn with you to make better choices.
After a few years my Type 2 is under control so it can be done. I wish you all the best and I hope people who think Diabetes is not a real illness and not brought on by too many sweets or cake.
 
I was told in the ER that it's type 2. I went in yesterday morning to get my ketosis checked they say my labs are fine after taking blood and urine. Just the high spikes. Took the metformin they gave me with a hand full of spinach about 30 minutes ago and am drinking water. Had a rough night trying to sleep again only got 2 to 3 hours at best. Lots of tightness in my neck and chest. I'm trying really hard not to be anxious and too just relax. I feel like my body is turning on me.

I'm still trying to find a primary care doctor. I feel so alone in this. I don't know what to do. I'm so worried that I'm not getting enough calories but I'm afraid to eat because I don't want it to spike high again. Which is not helping neither. Between the anxiety and lack of sleep I feel like I can't get it down to a healthy lvl. I'm still very scared.
 
I want to thank everyone who responded to my thread. I really appreciate it. Is there anything I can do to help take the panicy feeling away for when I lay down to sleep? I think I could do so much better if I could just get a solid night of sleep. It's just that is when the anxiety kicks into high gear. It's weird. Because if I am up it's not as bad. But the minute I lay down my heart starts pounding and I get spasms in my lower back and right leg like a electric current. Then the chest pressure and tight neck like someone is sitting on my chest choking me. Followed by racing heartbeat and bad thoughts. Will this ever go away? Will I ever be able to sleep peacefully again?
 
Hi @mellacastray and welcome to the forum.
We are a international forum, though based in the UK with more UK members than any other country, so the Blood Glucose measurement levels that are used and commonly mentioned are mostly UK measurements with are in mmol and so very different from those your use in the USA.

Here is an online Blood Sugar converting tool:

Blood Sugar Glucose Converter for Diabetes

Convert blood sugar/glucose from mmol/L (UK standard) to mg/dl (US standard) and vice versa using our blood sugar converter.
www.diabetes.co.uk

In particular 8 mmol/L in UK Units is 144.0 mg/DL in US units
and so 2.0 mmol/L in UK Units is 36.0 mg/DL in US units


Here is a blog entry written by one of our members which explains how food affects diabetes and about Blood glucose/sugar testing etc.
It has measurements in UK units, hence the online converter I linked above.

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...
josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

You may be surprised that is says that most doctors and dietitians have got the food advice for diabetes all wrong, but there are thousands of us T2 diabetics who will agree that the dietary advice we got when diagnosed was all wrong.
But if you trust your Blood Sugar monitor you can't go far wrong - it is unbiased , is personalised to you and has no medical or dietary dogma.
 
Oh dear @mellacastray your HCPs seem to have no idea about soothing bedside manners.
The good news is that - if it is right that you have ordinary uncomplicated type 2 diabetes then a diet of protein and fat with some low carb veges and fruit will take you right back to normal numbers.
It is very like the Atkins diet, the real one not something derided in the media.
Any sort of meat, fish, eggs and full fat dairy to form the basic menu but things to avoid are grains, potatoes, and high sugar fruit.
I have coffee with cream, steak or pork chop with mushrooms, chicken with stir fry, for dessert I have sugar free jelly with full fat yoghurt, or real custard or cream.
Contrary to the usual advice that has reduced my cholesterol and my weight, and it fixed the diabetes in short order. That was over 5 years ago now and I am still in normal numbers. Many people have done the same thing.
A glucose testing meter is really useful, and some kitchen scales to measure the serving size of various things is helpful.
With any luck just changing what you eat will sort things out. It should be done fairly gradually as it can be quite a shock to eat low carb if blood glucose levels have been high.
 
The foods to be afraid of, are the ones they tell you are healthy for you.
Try eating 2 or 3 boiled eggs, on their own or perhaps a spot of butter to really jazz them up. Check your blood levels directly before eating and 2 hours later. I would be VERY surprised if they have risen at all, and would expect them to perhaps be a little lower. This will demonstrate the power of the correct food, for type 2 diabetics.
Most of us here avoid any foods that will raise OUR blood sugar levels. Along the way you quickly learn that official diet advice is very WRONG. Most people get away with it, but once you develop any sugar dis-regulation problems, then they are down right dangerous.
 
Hi Mellacastray, welcome to the best resource I've found for diabetes advice and just all round nice, supportive people.

I'm newly diagnosed myself, 4 weeks in now. The start is really tough...and yours has been tougher than most, that's for sure.

There are far better placed people here, with years of experience, to give specific advice and answer your questions than me. However, I'll just echo a couple of others here with a few starters for 10:

1) Buy a blood glucose meter, if you can afford one. You might be told by medical professionals that you don't need to test. Ignore them on this point. Test before a meal and 2 hours after your first mouthful. This will guide you as to which foods are friendly and which need to left out of your diet in the immediate term. It's been invaluable to me over the past 4 weeks, data is everything and allows you to make informed decisions.

2) Apologies if you know this, but it's not just sugar you need to worry about. Blood glucose levels are impacted by all carbohydrates. Generally speaking, fibrous leafy greens are perfectly ok and if it grows above ground there's a better chance of it being friendly to blood sugar levels than if it's grown below ground.

3) It's ok to be scared by this. I was terrified and still am to a certain extent. However, educating myself and researching has helped. Buy yourself some time, follow the foods mentioned above by others posting here, and make a basic meal plan of friendly foods for 2-3 days to start. Take blood glucose readings. Then during those 2-3 days, have a look into low carb diets (you'll find a lot of keto advice, but you don't have to drop carbs that low if you don't want) and low carb Mediterranean diet. From here, you can build out some more meals, which buys you more time again to formulate a more detailed plan.

4) Remember, you don't have to sort everything all at once. Step by step is the best way, with the support of the wonderful people here if you want/need it. Take care of yourself, buy time to learn new ways, take some walks, and try not to stress too much.
 
Last edited:
Is it okay to take a nap if I didn't sleep well the night before? I only got 3 hours at best and I am so tired. I keep getting told to not sleep because it will spike my lvls and they are already high at 199. Is it safe to take a nap? I can barely keep my eyes open.
 
Don't worry about being high at 199.
That is 11.1 mmol in UK units , which is high, but not close to dangerously high - so get some sleep!
 
Get some rest, you need to sleep to heal, and it’s a bit of swings and roundabouts as lack of sleep can raise your levels too. I’ve never heard of napping raising levels.

I often have a “nana nap” in the afternoon as I don’t sleep well and have caring duties during the night. I would be a wreck without my 20 minutes in the afternoon
 
It seems strange that HCPs informed you that you were in danger of coma and death with those numbers - maybe they are confusing tests for glucose with those for ketones - when diagnosed my blood glucose was 17.1 mmol/l - that is 308 in US terms and my GP made an appointment for 10 days after he got the test results back without even mentioning diabetes - in fact he claimed it was a routine follow up.
At the time I was feeling a bit under par, but that was nothing unusual as I was eating the high carb diet I was given by the aforementioned GP.
I suspect that at least part of the symptoms you have are down to the anxiety over test results that are perfectly normal for any ordinary type 2 at diagnosis and they ought to be ashamed of themselves for getting you into such as state rather than giving reassurances that firstly it is normal and secondly it is easily dealt with.
By eating a low carb diet I was no longer diabetic in 80 days, my blood glucose had reduced down to under 8, less than 144 after meals, and then it sank down to under 7 or 126 and I did not need medication.
I was surprised when I did the conversion and compared the numbers I experienced with those which had your HCPs in a flap - I really do not understand what put them into such a panic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…