• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Recently Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes

Flora123 said:
Totally understand how you feel I too was embarrassed and still not told anyone apart from my husband,and not sure I will. I felt like a failure and had inflicted this in myself.
Once you get your head round your diagnosis it becomes easier. I was only in Metformin for a couple of weeks as low carb worked wonders for me and Metformin didn’t agree with me.
Take time to learn and research. You will find what works for you. I like the challenge of maintaining BG levels without medication and now feel much more positive.
Click to expand...
Flora - in the last few weeks I've started being more open with people and telling them - everyone has been incredibly supportive, sympathetic but most of all curious to know more, to learn about the condition and what I am doing to deal with it. I've lost quite a bit of weight and that attracts attention - if you have a successful diet people soon want to learn your secret.
 
I must admit that I also felt bad about being diagnosed with T2D. I agree that you must have a predisposition towards developing diabetes because only some people develop diabetes. An example is my best friend who is at least 5 stone heavier that me and does eat quite a lot of carbs. When her blood sugars were tested by her GP they were absolutely completely normal. As she is in her 70s it is probably highly unlikely that she will develop diabetes now.

It felt so good when I realised that - although I do have a predisposition to developing diabetes - it is actually in my power to do something about it and I am no longer facing a downward spiral of ill health. So thank goodness for this site and the low carb message. I eat to my meter and my meter says that 20g carbs suit me at the moment. As I was on Novarapid and Lantus insulin I think I am doing well to maintain normal blood sugars with no insulin. In the future I hope to be able to eat between 30g and 50g of good carbs - if that doesn't happen I will be happy to stay on my 20g.
 
rhubarb73 said:
Flora - in the last few weeks I've started being more open with people and telling them - everyone has been incredibly supportive, sympathetic but most of all curious to know more, to learn about the condition and what I am doing to deal with it. I've lost quite a bit of weight and that attracts attention - if you have a successful diet people soon want to learn your secret.
Click to expand...

I hear what you are saying but I am a very private person and don’t want to mention it as it is my business and the narrow minded views of some people I know about diet, health and food etc. My MIL would think it was my fault and I don’t need her sympathy or general nosiness. I don’t need to lose weight, in fact I could do with adding a few pounds now. I may change my mind in time but it was only the other day I heard someone saying about diabetes and fat shaming. Sigh x
 
Hi @maitai and @gemmap,
Whilst I am diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, we diabetics have all acquired health conditions (one of the types of diabetes) which is often not well understood by the public and, in my 51 year experience of it, even by some health professionals.
In contrast to my diagnosis at age 13, way back when, at least the public is more aware of diabetes these days, health and health professional education is better, very helpful patient forums like this one now exist, and treatment and understanding of diabetes has come a long, long way.
And in the 1979 I graduated as a doctor and so came to be able to view things from both sides of the desk as it were.
Now retired, (and so my writing here is from my own experience and not as medical advice or opinion), I look back and see those health professionals who did and still do their best to understand people with diabetes as human beings who, through no fault of their own, developed their condition and have to cope and make the most of things.
You both, and everyone with diabetes deserves admiration for taking on their health condition(s).
Try and find nurses and doctors and other health professionals who treat you as a human being, who do not interrupt you at the beginning and steer you off into a short, unsatisfactory encounter, and leave you uninformed, feeling like a number in the system and unsupported. Yes, time pressure makes for less than ideal circumstances at times so make a list of questions, ask the most important ones to you first, allow for the fact that not all might to covered at the one appointment, also be aware that if the doctor cannot cover them your nurse may be able to help also. In fact your nurse maybe your main point of contact.
Educate yourselves and this forum is a great way to do so. Use the knowledge gained here to discuss diet or whatever with your nurse and/or dietician.
Cultivate supports, e.g. friends, family, local groups arranged by Diabetes organisations, this forum.
Develop humour and self-humour: for fun I used to work out the number of carbs in a piece of food and compare it to a less healthy-for -me food: Eating an orange was equivalent say to half a paddle-pop; a diabetic friend of mine says her husband and son have a 'bet' on what her before dinner BSL will be, and the 'loser' of the bet does the washing up !
Best Wishes to you both on your journeys !
 
Flora123 said:
Totally understand how you feel I too was embarrassed and still not told anyone apart from my husband,and not sure I will. I felt like a failure and had inflicted this in myself.
Once you get your head round your diagnosis it becomes easier. I was only in Metformin for a couple of weeks as low carb worked wonders for me and Metformin didn’t agree with me.
Take time to learn and research. You will find what works for you. I like the challenge of maintaining BG levels without medication and now feel much more positive.
Click to expand...

Please don't feel embarassed diabetes is an illness, glad you have some support.
Take care
 
Back
Top