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Type 2

R

romanyrose

Newbie
I have recently been diagnosed as borderline type 2, and according to my GP, as I had sugar problems with my pregnancies that is now rearing it's ugly head again now I'm of the older age group (I'm 62). What puzzles me is that because I'm not officially diabetic I can't access any of the facilities offered to the diabetic. Surely preventative and regular monitoring at the diabetic surgeries is just as important as those already in treatment.
 
Have you had the glucose tolerance test?

It's the one where you have a fasting blood glucose test; then drink a measured solution of glucose; wait for 2 hours and then have another blood glucose test.
 
Hi I`ve just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, but have no idea what facilities there are for diabetics, if you wouldnt mind, maybe you can enlighten me please.

Jackie
 
romanyrose said:
I have recently been diagnosed as borderline type 2, and according to my GP, as I had sugar problems with my pregnancies that is now rearing it's ugly head again now I'm of the older age group (I'm 62). What puzzles me is that because I'm not officially diabetic I can't access any of the facilities offered to the diabetic. Surely preventative and regular monitoring at the diabetic surgeries is just as important as those already in treatment.
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While you don't say why your GP has told you this, I'd say you need to behave as if you were diabetic. The NHS has very poor standards of what constitutes good control as complicatins develop at the levels they set of satisfactory control. There is a school of thought that says the bar for diagnosis is too high.
 
I'm not diabetic but have impaired fasting bg, my gp keeps an eye on my cholesterol and my fasting bg, also when I have these blood tests I request that they do a HBa1c test at the same time which they are happy to do.
I have also bought a meter for which I have to buy strips myself to keep an eye on my levels myself. I low carb to keep my bg levels down, yes ideally I would love to have the strips prescribed as I am saving the NHS a lot of money by not actually having diabetes but hey ho that's life. I also consider myself very fortunate having found this out at this stage and also having found this website with all the information that has enabled me to normalize my bg levels.
 
cugila said:
Hi Jackie.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'facilities' ? Can you be more specific, in relation to what exactly ?
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Sorry I was referring to Romanyrose`s 1st post where she said I can't access any of the facilities offered to the diabetic
 
JackieA said:
cugila said:
Hi Jackie.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'facilities' ? Can you be more specific, in relation to what exactly ?
Click to expand...

Sorry I was referring to Romanyrose`s 1st post where she said I can't access any of the facilities offered to the diabetic
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Aaah ! In that case Romany Rose.....what do YOU mean ? :D
 
I have been diagnosed as pre diabetic too, so I am guessing that romanyrose is refering to thhe lack of test strips. I was told that I had diabetes origionally, then when I had the glucose tolerance test, and passed with a score of 10.1 I was told I didn't need to test and would not be given any more strips. Fortunately I can afford to buy my own off ebay. Seems that they would prefer me to be diabetic, but I ain't playing ball. :twisted: What happened to preventative medicine? As it is I still treat myself as diabetic to avoid getting worse, though it seems I am getting worse numbers than some of the folks on this site who are confirmed diabetics :? Could be because I am on diet only, and it is really hard to keep spikes down without medication. Anyone else having the same problem please feel free to get in touch.
 
jumbleannie1VDJQ said:
I have been diagnosed as pre diabetic too, so I am guessing that romanyrose is refering to thhe lack of test strips. I was told that I had diabetes origionally, then when I had the glucose tolerance test, and passed with a score of 10.1 I was told I didn't need to test and would not be given any more strips. Fortunately I can afford to buy my own off ebay. Seems that they would prefer me to be diabetic, but I ain't playing ball. :twisted: What happened to preventative medicine? As it is I still treat myself as diabetic to avoid getting worse, though it seems I am getting worse numbers than some of the folks on this site who are confirmed diabetics :? Could be because I am on diet only, and it is really hard to keep spikes down without medication. Anyone else having the same problem please feel free to get in touch.
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Was the test an Oral GTT or a fasting GTT ? Either way a 'score' of 10.1 isn't considered a 'pass.'

If it was a FGTT then anything over 7 is considered to be Diabetic. If it was an OGTT then it is termed impaired glucose tolerance and is very close to being labelled Diabetic. (over 11)

When the diagnosis of impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance is made, Doctor's should counsel patients to lose 5 to 7 percent of their body weight and engage in moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week. Drug therapy with metformin or acarbose has been shown to delay or prevent the onset of diabetes. However, medications are usually not as effective as lifestyle changes. There are many members on here who are achieving great control with diet only, so it is possible. Like you they have to fund their own strips, but some have been able to convince their GP's that testing is a valid tool in enabling them to avoid the progression to full blown Diabetes.

If you are having trouble keeping the Bg numbers down I would suggest that you see your GP and discuss the possibility of medication and/or test strips to help you control those numbers. A good argument to use is that you want to see which foods are affecting your Bg levels and the only way is by testing for a while, enabling you to avoid Diabetes and causing more cost to the NHS. Anything to do with cutting costs and their ears usually prick up !
 
Thanks Cugila, it was an OGTT.
I think that the reason the doc didn't suggest losing weight was that I am 5".4 and have already dropped from 9st 10 to 8st 3. Bit more than the suggested 7% :D The spikes worry me, but they don't seem to make any sense as I can eat the same thing two day's running and get totally different readings,7 one day and 10 the next, :? and yes I did take a reading beforehand and there was little difference. On the subject of exercise I don't really need much more as I spend all day running up and down stairs, usually carrying bags, and when I am not doing that I am still on the move. Energy I have in abundance. It is when I relax on an evening that is the problem, that and breakfast,as I do seem to suffer from the dawn thing. Have cut out oats and eat burgen only in small amounts, bananas are out as are biscuits etc. My main weakness is having a chappati with my curry. Will discuss meds with the doc, who doesn't want to see me till next July, but must admit I am trying to avoid them as long as possible as it seems like admiting defeat, and If I do go on meds will that be it for the rest of my life? Will try for the test strips too, but don't hold out much hope.
If anyone on diet only can advise me how to keep the 1 hour spikes below 8 I would be happy to hear from them as I find it really difficult. Oh yeah and if anyone knows how to make a low carb chappatti :twisted: please please let me know.
 
The only real way to fight the spikes is to know what food causes them and that means testing one hourly after every new thing that you eat until you build up a profile of foods that you can eat without the spikes.
I do get 50 strips a month on prescription but the rest I have to buy if I want to do rigorous testing.
Chappatis ?! :shock: anything from 53 to 45 carbs per chappati depending on brand. I stay away from any sort of bread usually because, like any oat based product it spikes me. I only found this out by doing the one hour testing as, by two hours it had settled down again.
If you can keep your blood sugar levels under control then you may not need medications. Once you are on them then some have found that they can reduce or even stop them once they gain good control usually by adapting their diet.

As for low carb chappatis ....pass. :D
 
lower carb chapati, use chickpea flour, lots of recipes on internet, ,lower gi too.
Chickpea one about 13g carb each... compared with 20 for a wheat flour one ( I think Sue's chapatis must be very thick)
 
romanyrose
Ihate to tell you this, but even for diagnosed T2 diabetics, the "facilities" are ofteen poor and available by post code lottery. The only thing, you are likely to get is aprecription for something and an annual review.
You would do as well to learn as much as you can about bood glucose control and get yourself a blood glucose meter( not expensive and may be had free by ringing round the suppliers) and test strips. ( quite a few of us diagnosed diabetics end up paying for these anyway)
Read all you can and refer to any books recommended on this forum and you'll do as well as if you had medical back up.
It shouldn't be hard to get your GP to order for you an HbA1c test every year, or even every 6 months.
Hana
 
I was on a low GI diet for 5 years plus plenty of exercise but recently it became obvious that diet alone was not working i now take Diabex 500mg just once a day ... i still stick to the diet and still keep up the exercise. You have to realise that type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness but you can slow the process with diet and exercise.
 
amron said:
You have to realise that type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness but you can slow the process with diet and exercise.
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I have to disagree. It is only progressive if you let it. Most of the people on here who are successful in controlling their Diabetes by whatever means have even reversed many of the problems they previously had. So, as far as I and many others are concerned it isn't progressive at all. We don't go along with the standard medical advice in many areas. We don't accept the view that it is bound to get worse. Read the success stories on here.

Welcome to the forum by the way. Have a good look around and if you have any questions just ask. :D
 
jumbleannie1VDJQ said:
........If anyone on diet only can advise me how to keep the 1 hour spikes below 8 I would be happy to hear from them as I find it really difficult............
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I do manage to achieve those levels these days. I got to that stage by cutting out almost all the starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereal, bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Whenever, I do eat such foods I now only eat very small portions and eat the low-GI versions such as rye bread, brown rice pulse pasta etc.

Oh! I advise that you forget about such things as chapatis!
 
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