Newly diagnosed

gale1960 said:

I've just been diagnosed and had my first Dsn visit. I wasn't to surprised as I've been prediabetic for 3 years and, owing to family problems, have been living on junk food and takeaways for the last 6 months. Several family members have diabetes so I'm pretty familiar with it. I was very impressed with my visit. The nurse was very informative. She has referred me to DESMOND, given me an appointment for a retinopathy scan, booked me in for a foot inspection and another appointment to see her in 3 weeks. She said I didn't need a monitor so not to buy one as I would be given one for free if she felt I needed it and not to take notice of any of the 'weird' diets as they're not sustainable. She did tell me to make changes to my diet such as changing to wholemeal bread and pasta, eating more veggies, lean meat and fish and having regular meals. All in all I thought it was a very helpful visit.

Click to expand...

Hi @gale1960 , and welcome,

Okay, so... There's a couple of things here to touch on... The NHS doesn't usually issue a meter to T2's unless they're on medication that induces hypoglycemia. It'd be pretty expensive for them if they did, so testing isn't usually recommended for financial reasons. Of course, if you know what your blood glucose levels are doing, you also know what foods work for you, and which don't. Which is why a lot of members here self-fund. As for weird diets... She's a bit behind the times on the advice, as the NHS now actually does endorse a "weird" one, and has for the past year, I believe: low carb, high fat. Which is what works perfectly for a lot of members here, myself included. I've been in the normal, non-diabetic range that way for well over 3 years now. (I was diagnosed about 3,5 years ago).

You might want to have a read here, https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html which is basically everything I wish someone'd told me about T2 in a nutshell when I was first diagnosed. It would've saved me a lot of experimentation and tears if someone had. I had a nurse, two dieticians, an endo, and in the end, the things that helped most were Dr. Jason Fung's book, The Diabetes Code, this place, and the Carte Blanche my GP gave me when she agreed I could try such an "unsustainable" "fad" diet and she'd give me every test I'd ask for. If it weren't for that book, this place and my GP taking a chance on me, I'd be on insulin now. For my diabetes I am on no medication at all, haven't been for a long time, and I could even ditch the statins for my cholesterol. Oh, and I need less medication for other issues as well. Worth a go, honestly.

In any case, welcome to the T2 club: The condition that's actually easier to manage than it seems, at first glance.
Jo

gale1960 said:

I've just been diagnosed and had my first Dsn visit. I wasn't to surprised as I've been prediabetic for 3 years and, owing to family problems, have been living on junk food and takeaways for the last 6 months. Several family members have diabetes so I'm pretty familiar with it. I was very impressed with my visit. The nurse was very informative. She has referred me to DESMOND, given me an appointment for a retinopathy scan, booked me in for a foot inspection and another appointment to see her in 3 weeks. She said I didn't need a monitor so not to buy one as I would be given one for free if she felt I needed it and not to take notice of any of the 'weird' diets as they're not sustainable. She did tell me to make changes to my diet such as changing to wholemeal bread and pasta, eating more veggies, lean meat and fish and having regular meals. All in all I thought it was a very helpful visit.

Click to expand...

PS: If you knew you were prediabetic, why wasn't anything done to prevent you becoming a T2? I know no-one bothered to mention it to me while it was in my file for years, but it seems like you saw this coming a mile away?

Hi Gale and welcome to the forum. First let me post a link to our useful info for newbies:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/
I’m glad to hear you have your retinopathy scan and foot check sorted. Many of us here have controlled our type 2 with a low carbohydrate diet, a diet your nurse would probably consider fad and unsustainable. Personally I have maintained it for over two and a half years and have achieved non diabetic blood sugars and lost a shed load of weight.
Many of us also self test to see which foods suit us best. Let us know if you want info on meters if you don’t get given one which is unlikely.https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

gale1960 said:

As for weird diets... She's a bit behind the timeson the advice, as the NHS now actually does endorse a "weird" one, and has for the past year, I believe: low carb, high fat. Which is what works perfectly for a lot of members here, myself included. I've been in the normal, non-diabetic range that way for well over 3 years now. (I was diagnosed about 3,5 years ago).

Thanks for the reply! I have seen quite a few posts about this and I'm going to give it a try. I do love my bread, potatoes and pasta though so it's going to be a challenge.
I didn't really see it coming but when I went for my yearly blood test and was asked to repeat it two days later I kind of suspected. Then I got a phone call from my surgery asking me to make an appointment and I knew what had happened.
The nurse did say not to buy a machine as I would be given one if they felt I needed it. However from reading posts here I feel it's something I ought to have.
My blood test level was 50 both times and the nurse said that 48 was the cut off so I'm just over. She felt that I could get that down by making a few changes to my eating habits. I'm hoping to avoid medication so I'm really taking on board advice about diet.

Click to expand...

With a HbA1c just barely in the diabetic range, a few changes could have an immense impact... Once you have a meter you'll see it for yourself. A HbA1c isn't done very often, so it's nice to see your own progress regularly.

gale1960 said:

I am surprised as well considering how many family members have diabetes. My maternal grandmother, two of her aunts and my dad had it. My brother and three aunts have it and my nephew has type 1. That's on my records so you would think they'd have been a bit better at monitoring me wouldn't you.

Click to expand...

True. Still, a lot of GP's still believe T2 is per definition a progressive condition and don't do anything about prediabetes, just wait until one crosses the threshold and they can start prescribing medication. Water under the bridge and all. Who knows, with you just beginning on your journey, you could well help your family members get a better grip on this too. Silver linings aplenty.

Your nurse is setting you on a path of progressively worse problems, and by advising you not to test your blood glucose, she is ensuring you will probably remain unaware for some time.
I am rather scathing of the advice - having seen my grand mother deteriorate over several years before her death being carefully fed a diet high in carbs. That was 60 years ago now, and still the same deadly advice on diet - it is just so wrong.

So much to learn and this is the best place to find it out! Before long you'll be giving all those relatives advice!

I don't think you'll regret it - I feel so much better now, three years of normal numbers have really brought back the spring in my step.

Hello and welcome,

I'm another who had a relative low HbA1C when diagnosed- 49% I went very low carb completely and brought it into the normal range within 3 months. I went very low carb after reading around on this site for a couple of reasons- I'm an all or nothing person- carbs are addictive and it can be easier to have none then have some (and to be honest the ones I crave are basically sugar). The second reason is that obviously I have insulin resistance and I wanted to try lowering that as quickly as possible Initially I had the dream that I could 'fix' this and go back to the way I was before. I don't really believe that anymore. However, maybe, just maybe I will be able to eat a few more carbs and make them the more 'healthy' ones. It also means that if I do slip and get on the low carb wagon I will do less damage b before I get back on the wagon (as I will need to) with a little less insulin resistance.

But- my first piece of advice is to get a meter- this is the only way you will be able to test what foods your body tolerates. Everyone is slightly different with the amount and type of carbs that their bodies tolerate. You can only make the best decisions for you if you test.

My second piece of advice is to read around this forum- it is so helpful. Then ask questions- it doesn't matter if you this it's a stupid question- there are so many on here that it is almost certain that ion you ask a question there are others who want to know the answer as well. And the amount of expertise here is unbelievable. People who have actually lived it- made changes and have not only survived but thrived- that hope that your life can actually improve following a diagnosis is wonderful.

Good luck and welcome.

Resurgam said:

Your nurse is setting you on a path of progressively worse problems, and by advising you not to test your blood glucose, she is ensuring you will probably remain unaware for some time.
I am rather scathing of the advice - having seen my grand mother deteriorate over several years before her death being carefully fed a diet high in carbs. That was 60 years ago now, and still the same deadly advice on diet - it is just so wrong.

Click to expand...

Or more realistically the vast majority of people a nurse will see are not going to have the level of commitment of the people who visit a site like this. No point advising low carb diets if most if the people they see probably arnt going to follow them.

aard said:

Or more realistically the vast majority of people a nurse will see are not going to have the level of commitment of the people who visit a site like this. No point advising low carb diets if most if the people they see probably arnt going to follow them.

Click to expand...

So advise someone to eat all the wrong things?
No - I don't think it is down to people resisting a better diet, not when they are told to eat the opposite of what would reduce their blood glucose.

aard said:

Or more realistically the vast majority of people a nurse will see are not going to have the level of commitment of the people who visit a site like this. No point advising low carb diets if most if the people they see probably arnt going to follow them.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily - it depends on what they are advised, whether they are able to research and are prepared to go against what is perceived to be professional advice. My hba1c was 48 on diagnosis and I was told to cut down on sugars, go low fat and given a copy of the eatwell plate and a ‘traffic light card’ for fats and sugars and prescribed statins because ‘all diabetics had to take them’. For a while I did as instructed because I believed that, as an ‘expert’, my DN knew what was best and working a 60 hour week meant that I didn’t have much time to research etc. It wasn’t until my hba1c increased to 54 that I began thinking that, if I’d done everything I had been told to why was my BS getting higher - I was also getting side effects from the statins - it wasn’t until I researched them that I came across this forum which went against all the advice I had been given but I tried it anyway. I also stopped taking statins which reduced my hba1c to normal levels fairly quickly.