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Panic! Panic! Panic!

J

John Mckay

Member
Messages
5
Hi folks.

just been diagnosed 4 days ago (waiting to find out if type 1 or 2) blood sugar was 24 then next day 30 ( I have no idea what this means) GP has put me on Alogliptin and Metformin. I had raging thirst and have lost 21 pounds in weight over 3 months.
I actually feel better for losing the weight.
I haven’t felt tired or anything else apart from the thirst!!
Two days taking the meds and the thirst seems to be subsiding.
I went food shopping yesterday and went into a blind panic as I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t eat anymore.
I don’t know how to count carbs or watch sugar intake or how much I’m supposed to have each day I feel that everything I normally had is totally off limits now.
Lots of different conflicting articles online and I’m all over the place trying to take it all in.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
I’m trying to reply to everyone’s great advice but I keep getting an error message I’m new to this so any help would be great
 
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Hi and welcome
Firstly don't panic.. well not too much
What have you been diagnosed with? Edit to add oops just saw this bit answered in your post.
What medication have you been given?
 
@John Mckay - you have done the right thing coming in to this forum! . And especially as you are waiting to find out if you are type 1 or type 2. I don't really understand the blood glucose readings mean either! (If that is what 24 and 30 are?)

You should find lots of info in here, on both types, and the low carb program has very good recommendations...
 
Food containing carbohydrate increases blood glucose. Look at nutritional information on processed food labels to see how much carb it contains. In general terms, the white foods contain lots of carbs. Things like bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes etc. Non starchy vegetables, salads and protein foods are more suitable.

Those blood glucose numbers are high. Get an answer on the type of diabetes asap as you may need insulin.
 
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First rule of Diabetes is: try not to panic.
Welcome.
Have a look round the forum. There are lots of really helpful suggestions and people. Take your time. Your losing weight is a very good thing.
Take it from there.
Good luck.
 
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ is as simple as I could make it, so relatively easy to absorb, even in the event of panic. It's just the basics, mind you, but it'll hopefully get you through the next grocery-run.

You're going to be okay. Whatever type you turn out to be. Also, with the medication you're on, you want to test a lot if you lower your carbs. (Do it gradually and get your doc to help adjust your meds as you go!) You wouldn't like hypo's.

Good luck!
Jo
 
What are you eating in a typical day? T1 and T2 are treated very differently, so a diagnosis is important. 30 is getting dangerously high.
 
xfieldok said:
What are you eating in a typical day? T1 and T2 are treated very differently, so a diagnosis is important. 30 is getting dangerously high.
Click to expand...
I don’t eat takeaways or ready meals. I take white bread sandwiches to work,grapes strawberries blueberries and yoghurt for breakfast then a meal at night time. Crisps are my downfall.
I haven’t felt unwell at all and not been going to the toilet excessively just had a real thirst for about the last 6-8 weeks.
I do a lot of walking and played football, at a decent level, all through my 40,s so was fairly fit.
I actually feel better for losing the weight it’s just such a lot to take in!!
Had another blood test today so hopefully my level has come down now I’m on meds and the thirst is nowhere near as bad as it has been.
 
Any bread is bad forus. Could you use a lettuce leaf to wrap your sandwich?

Many of us eat berries and cream or Greek yoghurt. Grapes may be useful for treating hypos.

There are alternatives to crisps. Do you like pork scratchings?

Google keto crisps.
 
When my brother was first diagnosed the diabetic lead in his surgery was on annual leave so he was put in a kind of holding pattern by another doctor. The doctor was young and new, and gave him what he says is the best advice he’s received from any doctor since. - Eat as little carbohydrate as you possibly can. When he had an appointment with the diabetic lead a week later, his blood glucose reading had gone from 14 to 7 and he was able to avoid any drastic measures. He said he always kept a couple of baby bel cheeses in his pocket and took lunch boxes full of crispy lettuce and sliced extra mature cheddar to work to make juicy, crispy, tasty “cheese sandwiches”.
I love cheese/lettuce sandwiches too. I think they’re better without the bread!
Good luck!!

As far as crisps go, there are lots of variations. M&S do “crisps” made of air dried Spanish ham, and, I think, pepperoni. They’re not cheap but they have so much taste that you won’t want to eat many at all. - That’s how the crisp makers draw us in. They make things just tasty enough to make us want more but not tasty enough to be enough, if you know what I mean. I’ve also had cheese crisps, but to be honest I don’t like those much. They taste too strong. But on the bright side, I didn’t want anymore crisps after.
 
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You've been given some great advice already so I will welcome you and reiterate- don't panic. It an be v very overwhelming being diagnosed even more when you are not sure what type. But this site has the most amazing people so you will be okay.

I think starting off by lowering all carbs is a great place to start - not just sugars.

Good luck - keep reading and posting and let us know when you know what type you Arte as then it is easier to give specific advice.

Welcome!
 
It is a lot to take in, indeed, but you don't have to remember it all overnight. Took me a few months to get it right, and then spent the last 4 years tweaking. For the bulk of us, all bread is basically out, grapes and crisps too... But there's other stuff you might enjoy. Eggs, cheese, meat, poultry, fish... Pork scratching in crisps' stead, or cheese crackers (just grated cheese on baking paper and nuked for 3 to 3,5 minutes, with whatever seasoning you like. Don't put garlic powder on if you are going to wear a mask later, you'll regret it!!! ). Full fat greek yoghurt with berries'd be fine, maybe add in some nuts or coconut flakes to go with it. Or extra dark chocolate drops. It's a bit of an adjustment, but the thirst will go away entirely. And the walking you do is excellent for a T2, so keep that up!


Jo
 
Hi there, I was in a similar situation of not knowing which type I was early this year and it took at least a month to find out which type I was - very frustrating. I would say though that if you start a low carb diet now and turn out to be T1 then this will be difficult for the diabetic team to assess your insulin needs. I went down the low carb route, got great blood sugar (whilst taking gliclazide) but when told was T1 they needed to see my numbers on a normal-carb diet and I had to spend two weeks eating carbs again. Having said all that, if Type 2 then low carb eating definitely seems the way forward. I hope you find out soon, keep phoning and asking what’s happening
 
Welcome and I hope you will update us on your status following the latest blood test.
Adult onset type 1 is less common than type 2 and typically a Gp will assume you are a type 2 and those meds are type 2 designed to stop your liver pumping out quite so much glucose and to inhibit certain metabolic reactions to the same end - reducing blood glucose. IF you are type 1 then these meds won't change your sugars much.
If you've had a blood draw (venous) then ask what your blood sugar average is? (12 week average glucose seen on your red blood cells) which should give you a clue.
If you've been running that high for a while then your weight loss is likely at least partially due to peeing out glucose via your kidneys.
Ultimately the c peptide or a fasting insulin test will tell you if you are making lots of insulin but are resistant to it (type 2) or not making much insulin (type 1).
Either way please be sure to keep asking questions if your blood sugars aren't coming down via those medications as your initial blood sugars are very high and suggestive of type 2 untreated for a long time or along with acute peeing, weight loss and thirst are classic type 1.
Once you know you will find lots of experience on here and advice if you want it! As has been said the goal for a type 1 is to balance insulin jabs with food, exercise and other variables so that blood sugars are normal whereas a type 2 needs to get his/her insulin levels down such that blood sugars are normal and this can be done without external via meds via diet and exercise. Sadly there is no cure for type 1s but the management tools are good and getting better.
 
Getting rid of the thirst is a very good sign. Your figures are almost certainly on the way down.

Bread is the enemy. Brown isn't much better than white. Rice is pretty horrendous. Pasta, potatoes and various other things are pretty bad, too. Basically, all of the things you were told were good foods, ideal for bulking up your plate so you ate less fat, are now the bad foods.

I was diagnosed less than 6 months ago, and still remember that feeling of walking into a supermarket and wondering what I could actually buy. A lot of processed meals are now off limits, so you'll be buying more fresh and making things yourself. But it's still possible to have a reasonably varied and interesting diet.

If you're going low carb higher fat, then you're moving to a more meat/fish/egg/leaf vegetable based diet. But basically, read the total carbohydrate figure off the back of the packet (assuming you're UK/Europe based: you need to subtract the fibre if you're in the US) and try to keep that figure low. Obviously it depends on how much you can consume, and large quantities of a fairly low carb food can contain just as much carbohydrate as smaller quantities of carbier food. But as a general rule of thumb, I try to keep my portion sizes sensible, and avoid eating significant amounts of anything that's above about 15g of carbs per 100g of product.

Eating out becomes trickier. Go for a steak or a mixed grill. Ask if they'll swap the chips for a salad, for the same price. Nandos butterfly chicken is very low carb, as long as you don't have the carby accompaniments. You can order McDonalds without the bun (they give you a knife and fork.)

Don't be afraid to have any carbohydrate at all, but do try to minimise your intake. It varies from person to person, but I try to keep mine below 30g per meal, and set an upper limit of about 50g per meal when I'm being naughty (I might break that rule over Christmas.) The easiest way to check whether a food is diabetes friendly is to Google it alongside the word 'keto.' If it's acceptable on the keto diet, then it's suitably low carb for us.
 
 
Same thing happened to myself a few yrs back, had a blood test because of my raging thirst, my result came back 29! And diagnosed with type 2. At the beginning of the first Lockdown, I started to eat all the food you shouldn't, probably because of boredom , and made myself very ill, loosing 3stone in weight and my muscles started to vanish. Thankfully Iv'e started to recover, upped the meds and more importantly eat properly, cutting out carbs etc and feeling so much better for it.
I'm no Doctor, but this does sound like type2, being such a high reading.
 
So nearly 3 weeks on and after blood tests i was told im type 2 and was put on Metformin and Alogliptin.
Was starting to get my head around the diagnosis only to be told last Friday " oh we didnt have all your test results back and you are actually type1"
To say i was angry is an understatement!!! GP told me to stop taking the meds as i need insulin and the hospital will be in touch "sometime"
Recieved a text from my GP surgery to book an appointment with a diabetic nurse. Was then told it would be done over the phone due to Covid procedures. No phone call came. Was told this morning it was a face to face appointment and ive missed it after being told it would be a phone appointment.
The way this has been handled has left me very angry and stressed. To be told i need insulin then just left with no meds at all is worrying to say the least . I have no idea what my glucose levels are at present and my eyesight is ever so slightly out of focus.

After all this i have been gradually changing my eating habits. Overnight oats with Greek yogurt,blueberries and strawberries for breakfast on weekdays. No more white bread or white rice wholegrain pasta low fat cheese spreads wholewheat bread oily fish at least 3 times a week and more chicken {GP advised me to eat more protien} and more exercise {5 mile walk the last 3 Saturdays}
The raging thirst has gone im not having to pee anywhere near as much and im sleeping a lot better in fact i feel really well.
My weight has stabilised but i have lost a lot of muscle. I,m 6"3 and a big guy not fat but big and broad and have always had a healthy appetite and have always eaten healthily so im struggling a bit to feel full when eating.
I just want to know exactly what type i am so i can start the treatment and get on with managing the diabetes in the right way.
Got to be positive!
 
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