newly diagnosed

[ang]

Hi everybody,
I've been reading topics on this forum for a few days and have found it really good.
I wanted to introduce myself and get advice(please). I am 42 yr old female, bit overweight but very active life - my job is heavy manual work. I was diagnosed last week aS T2 - had been unwell for couple of months but had not even considered that I could have diabetes so this has all come as a big shock. The doctor did a fasting test on me which came back at 17 and he said I was diabetic and that my body is producing very little insulin- he said that I had to go on Metformin straight away and blood pressure pills as diabetes has also caused high blood pressure(never had problems before). I said if I cut out all sugar and my levels drop, could I then come off all pills - he said sorry but "no" and that I would be on treatment long term!! I have appointment next week with diabetic nurse and presumably will find out much more then - in the meantime I am in a bit of a panic! therefore not really knowing what to do have completely cut out all sugar from my diet - only eating very basic food - taking one metformin a day this week and have been told to increase dose over next two weeks - but explain this - have been glucose testing at home this week and levels have dropped in one week from around 22 down tonight to 8.3(have just come in from work and not eaten for 6 and a half hours) - would you expect one tablet a day and cutting out all sugar to accomplish this in a week - if so surely I could just stick to one tablet a day - also, how do people cope with Metformin - I feel very sorry for my family(if you know what I mean!!!) - so any suggestions to stop the wind would be very greatly received.

 

[HLW]

metformin SR might help with the side effects, it's a slow release version. Sorry don't know anything about home testing blood glucose results. For me, things improved very quickly with medication (and no change in diet I think, though I really can't remember) although I can't remember what dose I was on to start with, and there were other things going on at the time so really don't remember exactly about timescales.
I'd think you should be careful about your diet if you are very active like you say, don't starve yourself. Also, are you sure you are really overwieght, if you are very fit you would have more muscle which is heavier than fat, so you wiegh more without being unhealthy? I knew someone who worked out a lot but had a BMI which said he was morbidly overwieght, for example.

 

[sugarless sue]

Hi Ang,welcome to the forum.Please don't think you have to starve to get your sugars down.Get yourself a copy of Collins Gem carb counter book and use it to plan meals that reduce the amount of carbs you eat but that still feed you!!Especially if you are active and do heavy work you need to keep up your energy levels otherwise your blood sugars can actually go up because your liver dumps glucose into the system to provide that energy.
Have a good read round the forum and you will find some good advice on diets etc .Please keep asking questions,we're here to help if we can.

 

[Trinkwasser]

Yes it is quite possible to drop your numbers that rapidly. There's a phenomenon called "glucose toxicity" which can keep your numbers high when you've been running high for some time and once you break out of that you can head rapidly towards normal.

Metformin works principally on insulin resistance and is especially beneficial in conjunction with exercise. Dropping the carbs requires less insulin to process them and the reduced IR means that the insulin you still produce goes a lot further.

Be wary that your vision may become blurry and the focus of your eyes may change, both probably temporary as you get rid of excess sorbitol from your eyeballs. It would not be a good plan to get new spectacles over the next few weeks!

Your BG may vary significantly after eating from the fasting level, this is a tried and tested technique for modifying your diet

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

Bear in mind that it's not just sugar but all starches that can affect your BG.