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Newly diagnosed

J

JJ0407

Newbie
Messages
3
Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,
Bit of history.. I'm 36 and just been diagnosed as T2. I had gestational diabetes in 2004 and 2007 (age 26 & 28) so knew I was at an increased risk of getting type 2.
I'm also overweight so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Just hoped I would be more like 46 instead of 36.
My surgery sent me a letter requesting a HbA1c because of my previous GD.
Results came back and they requested a retest as they were significantly higher, retest got the same results..78 mmol/mol (9.3%)
What does this convert to in mmol/l? Or how do I work it out?
I had a telephone appt with my GP and also an appt booked with the diabetic nurse. My GP mentioned starting me on metformin right away. I did ask about diet control but he was of the opinion that diet wouldn't work as levels were too high.
My diet currently is pretty poor, so I do think there is room for improvement. I'm a yoyo dieter so constantly lose and gain depending on how strict I am... That said even at my lowest weight as an adult, I was still classed as overweight, so I doubt i'll ever be skinny, but I might be able to gain some control. I've tried a few different diets, my most successful was low carbs, which I know is the best diet for diabetics (not that restricting carbs is recommended by healthcare professionals)
My GP has also referred me for a 12 week dieting course with either ww,sw, or Rosemary Connerly. Yet to take up, as I want to see which plan is better for diabetics.

Anyway, I'm being quite upbeat at this moment, but I did have a wobble when the doctor called.. He was very kind and said it wasn't my fault, having gd so young probably means I was always going to get T2 at a young age too, but really I know it is my fault... You know, I had the choice to loose weight and decrease the risks, hold it off for longer but I didn't, so really it is my fault and now it's something I'm going to have to live with forever.
 
Hi and welcome. Your GP is probably right that you should go onto Metformin as your HBa1C is fairly high. It's a good safe drug so don't worry. Ask for the SR (Slow Release) version if you have stomach problems with it. There is an HBa1c units converter under 'living with diabetes' on the Home page of this website. Yours will be about 12.2 mmol. Yes, go for a low-carb diet. It needs to be life-style change for life and not viewed as a diet as such. Yes many in the NHS are out of date and have a love-affair with carbs, but they are the enemy of diabetics. You can have fats and proteins fairly freely to keep the calories at an adequate level. BTW what the health professionals don't realise is that as long as you are having some fats and proteins you can live without any carbs as the body can make glucose from the other foods. It makes sense however to have some carbs. Good luck and ask any questions
 
Hi JJ and welcome to the forum:)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions and you will get a lot of help on here.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
Hi JJ, welcome to the Forum. I had gestational diabetes when I had my daughter and was told that I had an increased risk of developing it in later life. I have never been very overweight, maybe a stone, I do not have any familiy history of this disease, so please don't blame yourself for your diabetes. There are lots of skinny people with diabetes and there are lots of overweight people who don't. Unfortunately, we are just prone to it and it would'nt matter what we did we would have still got it eventually. There is load of advice on here and lots of lovely people to help you along the way, so you are not alone. Have a good look round and read some of the other posts its amazing how much information you will find.

Hope this helps.

Marilyn
 
There is a calculator on the site to work out your HbA1c to mmol/L Average Blood Sugar Level Converter - HbA1c which shows your 73 comes out as 12.2

To calculate it yourself if you are so inclined you need to use these 2 formulae

AGmmol/l=1.59 × A1CNGSP − 2.59 IFCC = 10.93 NGSP - 23.50
 
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