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Symptoms, Advice

Hi all, I just want to say thank you to all for your support and all the replies I have received over the last week. As you know I suffer with bad health anxiety. I now believe I am suffering with type 2 diabetes, I have gone through the check list and tick 90% of the boxes. Going to the doctors is not an option for me and I am not expecting anyone to diagnosed me on the forum.

I would like to ask some questions for me to start moving forward.
  • Is it possible to control diabetes with diet and lifestyle changes only.
  • When will the funny head feelings, dizziness stop. at the moment it is after anything I eat.
  • My highest results have been 13.1 after eating, is this a dangerous level to be at
  • When I don't eat my results are 5.7, is this normal
  • And finally can you be diabetic one day and not diabetic the next, I ask this because of the constant changes in my BG
The biggest problem I am facing at the moment is eating, if I don't eat the BG levels are good and I hardly suffer any dizziness, as soon as I start eating my BG goes high and I get dizzy heavy/light headed for 2 plus hours after,

Thanks again.
 
Thanks Alexandra.
I do understand what you are saying. People do have phobias about many things. I dont imagine for one moment that everyone who I meet or on the forum don't have fears. I am petrified of flying, yet I go overseas on holiday twice a year. Like you say, some people don't like snakes or spiders and they stay away from them. Like me I don't like doctors and stay away from them. I do feel embarrassed by my anxities and am waiting on an appointment with a CBT specialist and hopefully he/she will be able to help me with the thought process. I don't think I am one of a kind, I do believe that when it goes from phobia to obsession then it becomes a problem.
 
Forgive me if I have already suggested this: I recommend that you borrow or buy Jenny Ruhl's book "Your Diabetes Questions Answered"
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Diabetes-Questions-Answered-Practical-ebook/dp/B071YW7LVW/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1529266200&sr=1-5&refinements=p_27:jenny+ruhl
She writes in a very calming and easy to understand way.

One of the points JR makes early in the book is that while it is really important to start taking steps to lower our blood glucose if it is high, we should not be too fearful as nothing bad is going to happen to us overnight. Diabetic complications take years to develop. As long as you are starting to learn how to eat, starting to think of ways you can get medical help without going to a hospital or GP surgery and on track to get help to overcome your anxieties with CBT, progress is being made.

My inexpert opinion is that a lot of your symptoms are anxiety driven. Even if some of them have a physical cause, you could try saying to yourself that you are not going to die of feeling dizzy, however unpleasant those feelings may be. This is a phase you are going through. Eventually the CBT will help you and so will changes to your diet and maybe medicines. You won't have to put up with this forever.
 
I will have a look at this book, I think it is available on Kindle. Thanks for the link.
I do agree that some of my symptoms are anxiety driven, but I'm finding it difficult to eat because the dizziness starts, I've checked my blood pressure and that is in range, and so is my BG if I don't eat, as soon as I start to eat my blood pressure goes up slightly and by BG goes high. I've tried to ignore it but I nearly fall over so I've got to sit still until it settles down, this can be from 1 to 4 hours. I've got a 12 hour shift tomorrow and don't want to do without food for 12 hours.
 
Hi Everyone. The last few days have been extremely hard for me. I read my post and re read the replies over and over again.
I then did the unthinkable for me and went to the doctors, I took my glucose monitor with me and shown my readings. Doctor said those readings are high and sent me for some blood test, one was a full blood count and the second was a HbA1c. I received a call back from the doctors receptionist today and have been told I have

Type 2 diabetes, reading 58
High cholesterol 7.5
High liver AST ALT did not get this number but was told its high but has been higher in the past.

My head is spinning. I'm new to all this, what as my liver and cholesterol got to do with diabetes, I am getting quite panicky about the results. Are my results the norm for newly diagnosed?

I have also been prescribed Metformin.

Thanks
 
Well done for getting a proper diagnosis - and it isn't a bad one at all on the diabetes side - if you consider that my Hba1c on diagnosis was 91 and the top end of normal is 41 - you are much close than I was.
The cholesterol test - they do that for everyone I think - certainly before diagnosis I was getting moaned at for having any cholesterol at all in my body. The liver function is tested automatically as well.
I might have just been lucky but I only needed to eat low carb foods to get normal numbers, and that took just 6 months, so I do recommend that you stick to low carb foods in moderation in the hope that you have similarly good results.
 
Thank you Resurgam. It wasn't easy going to the doctors because of my health anxiety, but I am glad I took these first steps. The forum helped me so much and I believe without the forum members advice and support I would not have taken these first steps.
My next step is an appointment with the nurse next Wednesday to discuss my results and lifestyle etc.
It is all a blur to be honest and I cant really think straight at the moment.
Thanks again
 
Marcus, what a huge success!!! I am VERY impressed. A great leap forward indeed! Do make sure to start the Metformin with the lowest possible dose and build up gradually. Otherwise you might have some digestive upsets, which might put you off Metformin altogether.This would be a shame, as it is a well tried and helpful drug in lots of ways. I am taking it myself and am glad to do so. However, no drug can help as much as keeping the carbs low.
 
I have exactly the same problem in being told my answers are spam or contain unacceptable material when they are nothing of the kind. Neither did I attempt to quote anything.
 
Thanks Alexandra. I am still shocked at the diagnosis,
The doctor has prescribe me 500mg to be taken at breakfast and then increase the dose. I have to see the nurse next Wednesday and think she will give me more information.
On the box it says "Take one at breakfast and increase dose" but does not say how many to increase it by?
 
Very well done for going to the doctors AND getting a blood test!I hope you feel as much a hero as you are for doing that
As for the hba1c, yes. it's over the threshold for diabetes, and you definitely need to change some things, but it's not like you're having dangerously high blood sugars all the time.
Are you planning to cut the carbs a bit? That might be enough, especially in combination with the metformin.
You're not supposed to increase it before you see the nurse. Don't worry about it. Metformin is usually increased over weeks or months, not days.
I don't know anything about the results for your liver, but as for the cholesterol, I'd ask for a breakdown of your numbers when you see the nurse, and not worry about it too much for the first six months if you plan to change your diet in any way. Why not concentrate on your blood sugars first?
Good luck, and again, you're a very brave man to go to the doctors despite your fears!
 
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Thank you. Yes I am planning on cutting out carbs and concentrating on high fibre diet.
I do not know what to expect from the medication, I've read about side effects and there seems to be quite a few. So I am going to start them on Saturday morning because it's my day off. I'm working tomorrow and Friday and have quite a few meetings and cannot afford to be ill with side effects.
 
Marcus1234 said:
I've read about side effects and there seems to be quite a few. So I am going to start them on Saturday morning because it's my day off.
Click to expand...

Maybe you won't have any side effects at all. I don't and I didn't even when I first started. Obviously those who do get unpleasant side effects are more likely to write about them, but maybe you're as lucky as me
Well done for seeing your GP!
 
Well done @Marcus1234 that must have taken some real effort. Be proud of yourself.

Type 2 diabetes is an element of metabolic syndrome. The other things in this group include high cholesterol and what is known as a non-alcoholic fatty liver, which is probably what you have. This is just too much fat round the liver. They all come together in a big bunch, so it is nothing unusual, and nothing that can't be put right. Reducing your carbs a lot, and losing weight is the way to tackle this.
 
Thank you all for your kind support.
It did take a lot of effort to visit the doctor. The doctor was very good with me and helped me relax before we discussed why I was visiting the surgery.
I think deep down I knew there was problems with my BG and the readings where confirming this.
I'm still in shock and denial at the moment with the results, but at least I know what I am dealing with.
 
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