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Pending diagnosis and not sure what to do

S

StaffieDaddy

Member
Messages
6
Hi, I'm a newbie to the site and forums.

I got a call just over 2 days ago following a routine bloods tests, which as far as I knew were for my thyroid function as I have Hashimotos. The doctor told me my HB1AC? was really high and they wanted me in the next day.

So I saw the doc yesterday, she tested my pee which had ketones and sugar in it and she told me a normal HB1AC result would be 42 or below and over 48 is diabetic and mine was 104.

She then talked me through all this stuff, half of which has just blurred after she said it's pretty much sure I have diabetes. She said they needed to confirm it with a second bloods test because I have no symptoms, but from the pee test result it sounded like the 2nd bloods were a formality. She said they would give me a blood glucose monitor and to take some random tests and she would call me on Monday for me to report the results.

I saw the nurse, got bloods taken and she gave me a blood glucose monitor, showed me how to use it and did a test on me. My result was 15.0 and it should be 4.0 to 7.0.

So I've been checking my bloods yesterday and today and I've had 14.6, 17.0, 13.1, 11.3 and 12.8. With the results being so high I've tried to not eat too much, not have sugar and eat proteiny rather than carbs as I know they will break down to sugar.

I just feel kinda overwhelmed by it all, and my usual go to of sweets and wine seem to be out of the window.
 
Hi @StaffieDaddy and welcome to the forums.

Well, if you like dry wine then that's not out of the question, as it doesn't have many carbs, though there may be other reasons why you want to moderate its intake.

The sweets are more problematic, though if you go very dark chocolate (eg 90% or 95%) you both end up with very low carbs and the slightly bitter taste makes one square go a long way.

Your long term options will depend a lot on the type of diabetes you are diagnosed with. If you are T2 then reducing the carbs in your diet may have a dramatic effect, as T2s have issue processing carbs. If you are T1 then you'll need insulin, but you'll also have a bit more dietary freedom than a T2, as T1s inject to match the carbs in their food. (And there are other types of diabetes which are much less likely).

Either way, adjustments will be required, but please don't assume that this is the end of the world. I've been T1 for 51 years and have seen a dramatic improvement in treatments and outcomes over that time.

Please have a wander round the forums and feel free to seek help and support here, even if it's just a sympathetic ear (eye?) while you have a vent over the medical condition lottery that is life.

Lots of virtual hugs.
 

Thanks Ellie,

Thankfully I prefer dry wine, so maybe I get to get a couple of glasses back in here and there in the future. For now it's cold turkey I guess. And thanks for the tip on chocolate as I think I'll miss that more than the wine.

I'm having a bit of a mooch round the site and trying to learn stuff. Just read bananas aren't good, but something I've been almost religious about in my diet because of their potassium, and I'm the only one on my fathers side of the family that's avoided high blood pressure so far, well fingers crossed. I keep thinking that's why I'm here now, I've been so focused on keeping salt out of my diet that I've always gone for sweet over savory.

I think I'm just wanting to know what I should be doing as I feel in limbo and trying to work it out for myself. I guess I should be patient and see what comes from the call with the doc next week.
 
StaffieDaddy said:
I keep thinking that's why I'm here now, I've been so focused on keeping salt out of my diet that I've always gone for sweet over savory.
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T2s have a genetic susceptibility to not coping well with the carbs present in a typical modern diet (and I include so called healthy ones in there) while T1s have an autoimmune condition that makes them kill off their own insulin producing cells. Neither are your fault, though if you know about a T2 issue you can sometimes avoid or forestall it by reducing the carbs in your diet.

My advice would be to throw away any self blame here. It's not applicable and it's not helpful.
 
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MommaE said:
I found the charts on this site very helpful to quickly see carbs relative to other similar foods.https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts. I have also enjoyed some of the recipes there. If you enjoy cooking you could also try simplysohealthy.
Click to expand...
Looks like I only gave you the link to the “ nuts” chart…I’m reliably bad with technology, but there are other food charts on there too.
 
Hello and welcome,

I am a fellow type 2 and was devastated when I was diagnosed. This forum gave me the help and support I needed. I went very low carb and that has resulted in my blood sugar levels being within the normal range for more than 2 years now. When I was diagnosed I couldn't imagine a life without carbs- I am a real carbolic. I use artificial sweeteners as that helps me remain very low carb. My daily treat is a diet jelly- no carbs.

There are a lot of resources to help- one thing that I found helped was to google 'keto' and whatever you are missing.

Just one thing I found- very low carb is easier for me than a higher level of low carb- I am an all or nothing type person and crave less the less I eat carbs. I have been eating more than usual recently- still low carbs so have gone back to very low carb to stop the carb creep.

However, there is no one size fits all- we have people who approach their diagnosis in many different ways. My suggestion is to use the meter regularly to work out the effect different foods have on your levels and then think about what you can sustain. Keep posting and reading- there are some truely amazing people on here who are happy to help.

Good luck and welcome.
 
Hi StaffieDaddy, I’m also recently diagnosed as a result of a blood test for something completely different, my HbA1c was 94. I’m also feeling overwhelmed, trying to wrap my head around everything.
I have found people here to be really friendly and supportive, it’s been very helpful.
 
If you would like a method that mostly works, it is keto. By works I mean lower HbA1c, lower glucose, before and after meals and lower fat mass. This type of food list is typical:



I would eat make meals with mostly in the purple sector, such as surf and turf, maybe by volume 50% of the plate with a side dish of the yellow sector, half a side dish of the green area, and tiny amounts of the others. Then adjust ratios as you become more experienced.
 
Hi, I was diagnosed as Type 2 seven years ago and I can still remember the confusion and panic I felt particularly as a lot of the information I was given was conflicting. However, adjusting my diet to low carbohydrate high fat was a revelation even though it went against everything that I believed to be a healthy eating pattern is whole grains etc.
Things I have found out by trial and error. I fare better if I do not have any carbohydrates at breakfast time. This means scramble eggs or a herb omelette or something similar or no breakfast at all sometimes. This means that I do not set off an insulin response for the rest of the day. Also I cook more meals at home as many cafe and restaurant meals contain more carbohydrate than I wish to eat. This does not mean that I don't want to socialise but I often check out menus in advance and decide which modifications to ask for.
I also learned to prioritise my own health and put time and energy into devising and finding new recipes. After all mine is the body that I live in! Adjustment takes time and denial, rebellion, disbelief are all valid responses to an initial diagnosis. You will get there!
 
If you are struggling to give up sweets, beware the usual diabetic' sweets as the sweetener in most of them cause diarrhoea. I use 85% or 90% choc to make my own - I carefully melt the chocolate, stir in a little warm double cream and truvia/erythritol sweetener and orange or peppermint essence. Or add extra cream and make choc mousse.
Nice as an occasional sweet, usually I have Greek yogurt with fresh raspberries or a fake rhubarb crumble (use ground almonds instead of flour).
 
StaffieDaddy said:
So I saw the doc yesterday, she tested my pee which had ketones and sugar in it and she told me a normal HB1AC result would be 42 or below and over 48 is diabetic and mine was 104.
Click to expand...

Hi there, you will get lots of good advice on here but I would say don't do anything drastically different right now because it can mask whatever 'investigations' they may embark upon following the data you provide them, you don't even know what type you are yet!. I'm surprised that they discovered you had a very high hb1ac, along with 'ketones' and told you to wait until Monday! Your numbers are still high and since you have already had ketones, have they given you any ketone strips to test again? I say this not to alarm you but for you to just keep an eye on those numbers and the ketones, when both are present it can very easily turn into something life threatening even if you're not feeling ill. I felt great on diagnosis and a random ketone check showed over 4 along with a high glucose level. They rushed me off to hospital and to cut a long story short, I was on the verge of DKA. I came out diagnosed as type 1 after proper tests rather than speculation. I know instinctively many of us want to go 'keto' immediately or to try and stop it in its tracks, but until you are properly diagnosed, don't ever assume it's type 2.
 

@KK123 Thanks, I have been keeping a record of what I've eaten so at least when I report back to the Doc I can include that. I have no idea what my ketone levels were so can only assume the Doc thought they weren't high enough to start on some intervention straight away. No, she didn't give me any test strips for that, just kit for my blood glucose.

I guess that's why I've tried to be careful the past couple of days with any sugar/carb intake, not knowing what it will be type wise, all I could think is either way, if I try to cut the load going into my system it would be beneficial either way.

Also with driving to and from work I didn't want to suddenly feel unwell and something happen. I don't know what my free blood glucose lab result from my first test was, only that it was in the normal range, that was 16th-Oct yet 21-Oct to now it's repeatedly high on finger prick.
 
So I re-downloaded the Myfitnesspal app that I've used before when wanting to lose weight and track my food consumption and put a battery in my scales (which haven't worked since about Feb) this evening and turns out after dinner tonight I'm 1lb lighter now than before lockdown!

I'd put around two stone on in lockdown and it's all gone, I didn't even realise. Told the doc I'd not had any sudden weight loss, I guess I'd just not been paying attention to myself. I just can't believe I've not noticed, I mean I have plenty excess timber still so do need to lose weight and I guess made it harder to tell but I don't know how I'd not spotted this.
 
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