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type 2 dx yesterday now T1

J

justmai

Member
Messages
7
Hi i'm mai newly dx yesterday,
Went onto steroids high dose new years eve due to blurred vision and swollen optical nerve, the steroids were reduced but have bought on type 2 diabetes, 2 consecutive Mondays of fasting bloods 9.7, 9.8. but my dr was ignoring this until I came off steroids until I started having symptoms admittedly I ignored them until this week when I can't stop falling asleep everywhere, and mean ever
now only on 5mg of steroids and they have dx me with type 2 yesterday, with a blood sugar of 22.5,
put me on metformin 500 mg, back to nurse today and bs still extremely high but keeping me on 500mg metformin today then increase it tomorrow and over the weekend to 1000mg to see what effect that has, if not feeling any better to call on call dr out over weekend, or go to a&e

I also have polymyalgia and ?lymes disease so my mobility is very limited, I am overweight, but that's down to lack of mobility, put on 4 stone in 2.5 year since I was ill,

I need to get active but not sure how, and need to lose this weight, but because of my other illness's what I can and can't eat has an effect on them as well, not allowed fruit due to the acid, as it sets of my bladder,

not sure what i'm doing at moment, but I suppose will get there have to sort out a healthy eating plan over weekend, and see if I can build in some light exercise for now,
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

Hi mai and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have been having a rotten time but with some time and patience and a lot of visits here I'm sure you will feel better soon! The good news is that you don't becessarily have to leave the house or even get off the settee to get some exercise in so no worries there. Also you will be able to eat a huge variety of foods so even if you can't eat fruit. They are often quite sugary so it isn't necessarily bad not to eat them.

Getting back to exercise, I bought a few different strengths of rubber bands that can be used for resistance exercises and stretching and I can do it whilst watching telly... Don't start too strenuously and observe yourself whilst doing any exercise. Whilst your blood sugar is that high, be very careful. The metformin should kick in soon and the sugars should start coming down. After that you should start feeling better soon. And don't worry about tummy problems, they can be quite common with metformin and should settle soon.

Good luck!
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

Hi Mai welcome to the club :) I was diagnosed type 2 over a year ago and have only just got around to accepting that I'm diabetic so you are already doing better than me :)
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

Hi Mai - welcome to the club! A lot of people around here like to eat VERY dark chocolate, and it's supposedly actually GOOD for diabetics to have a little of this dark chocolate. it has to be very high quality stuff - the favourite around here is Green & Blacks Organic 85% Cocoa Solids Chocolate. You can buy this in most supermarkets.

Have a look around, try things out, do plenty of research, and try to find what works for YOU. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for diabetes. I've found metformin 500mg will only reduce my BGs so far (I'm on 3x500mg a day). In addition to that, I've cut out a lot starchy food (bread & pasta expecially) from my diet, with very good results...
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

Hi Mai,
we are all behind you on here just ask and we give
good luck

rog

one of your many friends and supporters
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

I haven't been on here for a while, so just thought would update,
I had to come off the metformin after a week, tried glipzide, that didn't work for me either. my then diabetic nurse at the practice said just stick to low carb diet and they wouldn't try anything else until i came off the steroids, depsite me having readings of bs 22.5 most of the day.

I was totally fed up with my dr's and diabetic nurse's attitude and was feeling so tired, irritable, thirsty all the time, still am.

changed Dr's, unfortuntaly the diabetic nurse has been off for a month since i Joined, my new gp tried to put me on actos until they knew about my vision and told me not to take them. They have referred me to the rapid assessment unit so hoping will get to see them very soon. i'm so sick of feeling ill all the time.

through diet have managed to get my fasting bs down to 9.8 and my daily bs around 13-18.
i'm off the main steroids but still have steroids injections every 6 weeks in the eyes, steroid eye drops and now cortosone injections in elblows, though had one in each arm and never again boy the pain,

The likely hood is that I will be going on insulin, I have decided to go on the basal/bolus after reading up seems the best way to get my sugars down to an acceptable level, my a1c was 8.5%

Any advice on the insulin?
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday

Hi justmai.

First of all were you told that the Steroids would affect your BG levels ? Here is a section from a Dr's article about the subject.

Should people with diabetes get steroid medications?

Yes, if there's no other therapy that's likely to work, and if the patient has been informed of the probable increase of blood sugar level, and the doctor and the patient have a plan on how to cope with the increased blood sugar levels.

I advise my diabetes patients to:
Ask the treating physician how long the steroid therapy will be needed (which is a pretty good guide to how long the elevated blood sugars will persist).
Ask the treating physician to have their staff call or fax the diabetes doctor, and advise the diabetes doc of the medication, the dose, and the anticipated duration of therapy.
Start checking four blood sugar tests daily, and to plan to increase their diabetes medications within a half-day of starting steroid therapy.
Phone us as soon as possible, and doublecheck what to do with the diabetes medications. (Don't wait till 10 P.M. at night, when the bedtime blood sugar is suddenly higher than usual!)


Here is the link to the full article.
http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/steroids.htm

In my opinion you should immediately be referred to an Endocrinologist for evaluation as to what is the best treatment. Steroids are a nightmare for a Diabetic and a specialist is needed to sort out your treatment. I hope this 'rapid assessment unit' has such a person at the helm, otherwise get that referral. Insulin may be required but there needs to be a proper evaluation of all your treatment soon.

Ken.
 
Re: type 2 dx yesterday now a T1

I got rushed into hospital on Tuesday with 40mg of keytones in my urine and my bs 20.5,
went on sliding scale insulin, and now on insulin bd mixed for a couple of weeks to get me started, after blood tests etc they changed my dx from T2 to T1 so i'm still in a state of shock
 
Mai
I read a book recenly called "Pure, White and Deadly" . It's about sugar and starch and it shows that there are many conditions which improve if you cut sugar and refined flour products from your diet. this is an old book, based on research and makes sense to me.
As you have a number of problems, it might help you to feel in control if you try this approach. Hopefully, you would feel better too and it can't hurt you.
 
What a horrid time you've had recently.
I can remember vividly how upset and shocked I was when the doctor told me that I wasn't the type 2 that I had been expecting but type 1 and would have to inject for the rest of my life. Fortunately, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected and I am very grateful that I live in a time and place where insulin is available.
Hopefully they got your levels down in hospital and your new diabetes nurse is more approachable than the last one. If you are worried about anything in the early days contact her.
I'm afraid I can't help much with the mixed insulin, there are other people on here with experience of it. The one thing that seems to be important with this type of insulin regime is a fairly regular lifestyle, and pattern of meals and sometimes snacks. Its important to learn the profile of the particular insulin (ie when its at its most active).
In an earlier post you mentioned the possibility of using a basal/bolus approach, it may be in the future that you are able to change to this. It is more flexible. A couple of years ago I met a young woman with steroid induced diabetes. She had just changed from a mixed insulin and was learning to adjust her insulins to correct high fasting levels and the sometimes unpredictable, rises caused by the steroids. The new regime seemed to her better than her old one (but as you'll read a lot we are all very different.

Take things slowly though, its very early days
 
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