Type 2. New Diabetic HELP??????

chloeamy16 said:

Hi, I was told about a month ago that I had Type 2. This came as a complete shock.
I went to see "My Diabetic Nurse" and was given loads of information, what to do and what not to do and so on. I was given Metformin. Two twice a day after meals.

I was asked to attend my hospital for a more precise Blood Test to see what sort of reading my Blood Sugar would show and I had this done two weeks ago. I have not heard anything since,

This is called an Hba1c test and shows the level of sugar in your blood over the last 90 days. Ring up the surgery and ask for the results.


considering that the Nurse said that I would be sent lots of different appointments for such things as Eye Tests, to go to see a dietitian, stop Smoking and so on.

Am I supposed to make these appointments myself ?.
No, these appointments should be sent to you

I was also told that I would not have to pay for any future prescriptions and would receive a Medical card stating that I had Diabetes, but nothing !!.

Have you signed a declaration for this, both you and the GP must sign this before you can get it, again ring up the surgery and ask or make an appointment with your GP and ask about all these things.


I have tried to call my "Diabetic Nurse" but she is either busy or not there.
I just do not know what to do.

Should I still be passing loads of Wee at night, having Blurred Vision and wanting to sleep all of the time, considering that I am now taking Metformin, I though that would all improve.
Sorry for all of the questions, it is just that I am new to all of this and don't really know what to do next.

Metformin will only reduce your blood sugar so far. You need to help it by being proactive in controlling your diet. Below is the advice we give to new type 2's, see if there is anything there that will help.
Regards

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Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different .

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

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