newly Diagnosed

kj1960 · Mar 14, 2017

Hi All
7 days ago found out I have type 2 diabetes. A quick profile. Male 57yrs old 5.10 height 12 stone so i would say not over weight as such and quite fit. So this was a massive shock to me. On 2 metformin 500mg a day moving to 3 in a week. My HbA1c ? if I am correct came back at 8.4. I am checking my blood levels and now running at an average of 16.1, I have had a few highs ( late 20s upto 32.8 ) . Not yet seen a diabetes nurse, but will be in the next week. Trying to eat correct food but just does not bring my levels down. Any advice would be great to bring it down until i get to see someone and my medication sorted. Hope you can understand my post and what I am trying to get across to you.

daisyduck · Mar 14, 2017

Hi @kj1960 and welcome to this very helpful forum. I'll tag @daisy1 who will post a welcome pack when she is about..
What are you eating as "the correct food" The Eatwell plate is really not good for diabetics.
Have a read of daisys post and a good look around the forums. There is a wealth of knowledge and advice from people who are diabetic, the same as you. I learned far more on here than I ever did from my GP.

Bluetit1802 · Mar 14, 2017

Hello and welcome,

Metformin won't be helping much. It helps with insulin resistance and also by helping to reduce the amount of natural glucose your liver produces, but all to a very limited extent. It isn't a miracle drug I'm afraid. It is mainly an appetite suppressant and tends to help the over weight more than those with no weight to lose. Diet is the key.

Carbohydrates are the problem foods for us, so you need to reduce those as much as you can and replace the lost energy with extra fats. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, breakfast cereals and anything made with flour are the worst culprits, and we also need to be careful with fruit and milk. Sadly, the NHS doesn't yet appreciate this and still pushes the Eatwell Plate, which is mainly starchy carbs with every meal. Then they wonder why there is an epidemic.

What most of us do is eat to our meters. If you test before you eat then again 2 hours after first bite and look at the rise from before to after, this will show you what that food has done to your levels. The aim is to keep that rise as low as possible and definitely under 2mmol/l preferably under 1.5mmol/l. If you keep a food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside, patterns will emerge and you will soon learn which foods are OK and which aren't, and which you can manage in smaller portions.

kj1960 · Mar 14, 2017

daisyduck said:
Hi @kj1960 and welcome to this very helpful forum. I'll tag @daisy1 who will post a welcome pack when she is about..
What are you eating as "the correct food" The Eatwell plate is really not good for diabetics.
Have a read of daisys post and a good look around the forums. There is a wealth of knowledge and advice from people who are diabetic, the same as you. I learned far more on here than I ever did from my GP.

Hi thank you for your reply. Eating food that i have looked up that is good for type 2 diabetes. Cut out sugar just reading and trying to understand as much as i can.

Bluetit1802 · Mar 14, 2017

kj1960 said:
Hi thank you for your reply. Eating food that i have looked up that is good for type 2 diabetes. Cut out sugar just reading and trying to understand as much as i can.

I'm afraid that cutting sugar is only a small part of it. As I said in my earlier post, carbs are as bad as sugar.

kj1960 · Mar 14, 2017

Bluetit1802 said:
Hello and welcome,

Metformin won't be helping much. It helps with insulin resistance and also by helping to reduce the amount of natural glucose your liver produces, but all to a very limited extent. It isn't a miracle drug I'm afraid. It is mainly an appetite suppressant and tends to help the over weight more than those with no weight to lose. Diet is the key.

Carbohydrates are the problem foods for us, so you need to reduce those as much as you can and replace the lost energy with extra fats. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, breakfast cereals and anything made with flour are the worst culprits, and we also need to be careful with fruit and milk. Sadly, the NHS doesn't yet appreciate this and still pushes the Eatwell Plate, which is mainly starchy carbs with every meal. Then they wonder why there is an epidemic.

What most of us do is eat to our meters. If you test before you eat then again 2 hours after first bite and look at the rise from before to after, this will show you what that food has done to your levels. The aim is to keep that rise as low as possible and definitely under 2mmol/l preferably under 1.5mmol/l. If you keep a food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside, patterns will emerge and you will soon learn which foods are OK and which aren't, and which you can manage in smaller portions.

Hi many thank for your reply. I visited my local NHS A/E on Sunday when my levels went to 32.8 and i felt rubbish. Not yet on any medication and worried about the level I was showing. The doctor ask why i came to the A/E saying A/E is for people who are ill and to go and see my doctor.

Liam1955 · Mar 15, 2017

Hello @kj1960 and Welcome to the Forum . A lot of Forum Members follow the LCHF Diet (Low Carb High Fat) it helps to lower Blood Sugars, lower HBA1C and you can loose weight too. Take a look at the following links:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

kj1960 · Mar 15, 2017

Liam1955 said:
Hello @kj1960 and Welcome to the Forum . A lot of Forum Members follow the LCHF Diet (Low Carb High Fat) it helps to lower Blood Sugars, lower HBA1C and you can loose weight too. Take a look at the following links:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

thank you i will check these out. Also what a fantastic forum this is and what looks like a great bunch of people on it

Bs0lth · Mar 15, 2017

Hi kj1960

I'm pretty new to this site and was diagnosed 5 weeks on Friday with type 2 diabetes. My blood sugar levels were 54 and I got a call in the middle of the night from my doctors out of hours team.

The information I've found on this forum has helped me so much that my levels are in the normal range now.

My doctor advised me to cut out as much sugar and carbs as possible and I spent the first few days saying but what can I eat?

At first I googled how much sugar in...

Then looked for low carb diets

Then found my way here

There is a lot of information on what to eat and not eat, I'm eating lots of eggs, bacon, ushrooms, chicken cheese and veg but I avoid most root veg.

I'm still using milk even though it does have carbs and sugar because giving up sugar in my coffee has been one of the hardest things ever.

I've also started to read every label on every packet and I'm testing my blood before and after every meal...

I had a mild I antic tonight after eating tinned tomatoes....

It is information overload at the moment but I've found everyone on here to be the biggest help

kj1960 · Mar 15, 2017

Bs0lth said:
Hi kj1960

I'm pretty new to this site and was diagnosed 5 weeks on Friday with type 2 diabetes. My blood sugar levels were 54 and I got a call in the middle of the night from my doctors out of hours team.

The information I've found on this forum has helped me so much that my levels are in the normal range now.

My doctor advised me to cut out as much sugar and carbs as possible and I spent the first few days saying but what can I eat?

At first I googled how much sugar in...

Then looked for low carb diets

Then found my way here

There is a lot of information on what to eat and not eat, I'm eating lots of eggs, bacon, ushrooms, chicken cheese and veg but I avoid most root veg.

I'm still using milk even though it does have carbs and sugar because giving up sugar in my coffee has been one of the hardest things ever.

I've also started to read every label on every packet and I'm testing my blood before and after every meal...

I had a mild I antic tonight after eating tinned tomatoes....

It is information overload at the moment but I've found everyone on here to be the biggest help

Thanks, up late last night reading around this site feeling more positive today about food to eat.

Granny_grump_ · Mar 15, 2017

kj1960 said:
Thanks, up late last night reading around this site feeling more positive today about food to eat.

Good luck to you it's the same for all of us when your new reading all that's helpful on site is daunting but so very very helpful,you just take things one step at a time and soon it will fall into place.
Then you'll be doing this with other newbies, your in a better place than I was 17 years ago only NHS guidance hence weight gain from wrong information. I've only found this site myself in January 2017 and I wouldn't have ever know what to do without it. Great help and advice from other diabetics just post the questions someone will get back to you,about anything that's bothering you even if it's just to rant about things. It's good sometimes to get it off your chest.
Take care and keep posting your questions.K (Grannny grump)

Bs0lth · Mar 15, 2017

Kj1960

It's really hard to get your head round, your sent on your way with your diagnosis and if your lucky a good testing kit and told to get on with things. Just take a day at a time, you will get there but you need to be n control.

If you don't have a glocose meter everyone says you should buy one, but look at the cost of the strip...

As for food go back to the basics and start from there, you will become obsessed, I'm really hoping that my obsession calms down once I get a better understanding on things. It's just hard making the changes at first.

What I will say is there is for me a good side effect to my change of diet, I lost 3kg my first week eating no carbs or sugar, that's been a great incentive to keeping going... Oh and that I really don't want to have to start injecting insulin if I can prevent it happening with diet I'm going to give it a go

Everyone on here is a real person with diabetes, which means your talking and asking people who deal with it in their day to day life. Everything I've read has kept me positive and my head in a good place which means I'm actually starting to cope a little better. If you do come across a hiccup then ask here, you get some pretty decent answers and I've thought time and time again why didn't I think about that?

Good luck on your journey though, I've realised its different for each of us

DevonVee · Mar 15, 2017

A good place to start is Tom Kerridges book. He lost 11stone on a low carb diet. His recipes are low carb and gives you some treats.
Dietdoctor website has recipes. Keep looking at forum. Plenty of alternative recipe sites to get you started.

kj1960 · Mar 15, 2017

Bs0lth said:
Kj1960

It's really hard to get your head round, your sent on your way with your diagnosis and if your lucky a good testing kit and told to get on with things. Just take a day at a time, you will get there but you need to be n control.

If you don't have a glocose meter everyone says you should buy one, but look at the cost of the strip...

As for food go back to the basics and start from there, you will become obsessed, I'm really hoping that my obsession calms down once I get a better understanding on things. It's just hard making the changes at first.

What I will say is there is for me a good side effect to my change of diet, I lost 3kg my first week eating no carbs or sugar, that's been a great incentive to keeping going... Oh and that I really don't want to have to start injecting insulin if I can prevent it happening with diet I'm going to give it a go

Everyone on here is a real person with diabetes, which means your talking and asking people who deal with it in their day to day life. Everything I've read has kept me positive and my head in a good place which means I'm actually starting to cope a little better. If you do come across a hiccup then ask here, you get some pretty decent answers and I've thought time and time again why didn't I think about that?

Good luck on your journey though, I've realised its different for each of us

Thanks. I will win this battle, got a great family behind me. Also the fantastic support from members on here

Liam1955 · Mar 15, 2017

Hello @Bs0lth and Welcome to the Forum .

Bs0lth · Mar 15, 2017

Thanks @Liam1955

denbote76 · Mar 15, 2017

kj1960 said:
Thanks. I will win this battle, got a great family behind me. Also the fantastic support from members on here

This is what I exactly vowed after having a few days of depression. I am going to win this battle.

Brunneria · Mar 15, 2017

Hi @kj1960 and welcome

Can I ask if they have actually done any tests to confirm that you are actually type 2 diabetic?
The reason I ask is that sometimes people develop type 1 diabetes as adults.

The tests would be GAD and C-peptide tests.
Without them, at this stage, it may be a bit premature for anyone to declare that you are definitely type 2.

I realise that you have a doc appt coming up, and are in a holding pattern til then, but please, if you feel dreadful again, don't hesitate to contact your doc, or phone 111 - that is what they are there for.

In the meantime, keep drinking lots of sugar free, non fruit juice drinks, keep avoiding the bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugar, cakes and biscuits, and most of all, keep reading.

Daibell · Mar 15, 2017

Hi and welcome. I'm surprised A&E turned you away - obviously they don't understand the risk of DKA. I agree with Brunneria that it's possible you could be late onset T1. In the meantime keep the carbs right down and drink plenty of water. Suggest the possibility of T1 to the GP who may roll his/her eyes. Ask for the two tests GAD and c-peptide. If the low-carb diet and metformin don't help the blood sugar you may want to suggest adding Gliclazide to your script. This stimulates the pancreas and I had to suggest it to my stupid diabetes GP and was on it for a few years. If you are T1 then eventually insulin would be needed but that's not really a problem.

kj1960 · Mar 15, 2017

Brunneria said:
Hi @kj1960 and welcome

Can I ask if they have actually done any tests to confirm that you are actually type 2 diabetic?
The reason I ask is that sometimes people develop type 1 diabetes as adults.

The tests would be GAD and C-peptide tests.
Without them, at this stage, it may be a bit premature for anyone to declare that you are definitely type 2.

I realise that you have a doc appt coming up, and are in a holding pattern til then, but please, if you feel dreadful again, don't hesitate to contact your doc, or phone 111 - that is what they are there for.

In the meantime, keep drinking lots of sugar free, non fruit juice drinks, keep avoiding the bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugar, cakes and biscuits, and most of all, keep reading.

Hi I have had some bloods done told type 2 ? before any results, so this could change. All I can tell you at the moment is that no matter what i eat my numbers never go below 16 and rise anywhere upto late 20s. Had a tuna and cucumber for lunch today, 2 hrs later 22.4. Just feel so tired all the time and run down.

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