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

Very new and nervous

B

Barry59

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
After a six day hospital, this was for a wound that I couldn't heal and it got infected. After blood work I was well over 400 for blood sugar. Which most of you experienced people will know already what I did not.
So I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. But how I ask I'm 58 years old! Is this pretty normal? Too be so old and find out? But let me get to the real questions.
Can you be allergic to insulin?
Can you go through withdrawals from sugar?
Please answer these two questions for please. Slightly nervous.
Thanks Barry 59
AH Nj
 
Hi Barry.
In response to your first question I don't know if you can be allergic to insulin. I do know that you can be insulin resistant.
Second question. I was diagnosed t2 in August. I felt awful. I took the advice from the nurse at my local practice but found I couldn't eat all the carbs that they had suggested. I too was nervous and completely out of my depth until I posted a question on here.
The people that responded were brilliant. I followed their advice and 2 weeks later I eat less than 100g of carbs. I feel so much better. I didn't have withdrawal from sugar. In fact I have got used to low sugar that I don't enjoy sweet things any more.
I do test with a blood glucose meter before and 2hrs after every meal to see how my body has reacted to the meal. It's a learning curve.
Everyone is very friendly and helpful. There are more knowledgeable people on here. My advice would be to ask as many questions as you can. There's always someone who will have the answer even if it's just moral support.
I bought the carbs and cals book and find it takes all the guess work out of trying to calculate my food values.
I hope you feel better soon and welcome to the forum.
 
Hello barry. Welcome to the forum where you will loads of help. I know its a huge shock, but with determination and support you can find out how to manage this condition.

As.to.your questions. You are not allergic to insulin, its just that our bodies do not use it properly.
And yes, there will be a period of withdrawal from sugar. However, its not just ordinary sugar that we need to avoid, but all forms of carbohydrate.

There is a very good programme on this site that you can join for free. Have a good long look at all the info on here, its all.good to know.

Dont panic, lots of us have been where you are right now.

May I ask whereabouts in the world you are?
 
Hi Barry

Welcome to the place no-one wants to join - but the entire world probably should join if it wants to be healthy !
Your 400 number is high, (in mmol 22.4) My own figures were just as bad when I was diagnosed (aged 59) - and 12 months later I'm down to 4.5 mmol, no drugs at all , there is no reason why you can't be like me and its hard, but not impossibly so to get there .

Allergy to insulin --I doubt anyone can be actually allergic - its essential to human life ! The doctors suggested putting me onto insulin straight away , I refused that and all medications and said I was going to try diet alone for three months. I am so glad now that I did that - its a personal choice of course, but the problem of diabetes is that it is a condition of insulin resistance which gets worse the more of it you have until your body packs up making it at all. So if your blood sugar is too high, you can inject even more insulin into your system which might already have a lot which will bring down your blood sugars but not necessarily solve the problem of too much insulin. ( you can ask for a fasting insulin test - if you have optimal fasting insulin it will be below 6 iUI/ml or 42 pmol - if its a lot more than that you already have too much of it ) so why put more in?

Instead you can get rid of some of it and improve your insulin resistance by changing your diet to reduce carbohydrates as much as possible.So the other route is to simply switch your diet to get rid of as much sugar, processed food, wheat, rice, potatoes - anything what a lot of carbohydrates in it. @daisy will be along to explain. However if you look at the low carbohydrate program on here, or dietdoctor.com you will see lots of lovely recipes to follow.

Withdrawal from sugar - yes this is quite an unpleasant process, sugar is addictive and so your body will try very hard to stop you getting rid of it. There are many unpleasant side effects, - thirst, headaches, feeling sick feeling weak, depending on just how much sugar/carbs you were eating before this can be really hard. The good thing is that if you do stop having any sugar then your blood sugars will fall very quickly and you will soon start to feel a lot better that you do at the moment. ( sometimes even within a few days ) All carbohydrates turn into sugar in the human body is that is why we generally follow a low carbohydrate diet to improve our health.

I understand your nervousness completely, we've all been there and its all very shocking at first , but actually now you know you can go on to making changes that will improve your health enormously and not just diabetes . I spent a week in hospital myself with sepsis from a wound that got infected shortly before I was diagnosed too ! so we are both in exactly the same boat

Have a read round and welcome again.
 
Barry59 said:
Can you be allergic to insulin?
Click to expand...

People can be allergic to exogenous insulin. Although my understanding is the allergic reaction to injected insulin is most commonly an allergic reaction to the stuff the insulin is suspended in rather than the insulin itself. It's very very rare to be allergic to insulin, so on the whole any allergy issues can be solved by switching the kind of insulin used - trying bovine or porkine insulin instead of human analogue insulins etc.

http://diabetestimes.co.uk/treatment-search-for-boy-allergic-to-insulin/
 
Welcome @Barry59 you face a series of choices over the next few days and weeks. It can either be something that makes you nervous and worried, which often raises your blood glucose levels, or you can view it as the start of an adventure to find out more about your body. As @CherryAA has already said you may chose to try to take control for yourself, in which case you will need the tools to do it, or you can take the pills that will be prescribed for you and face the fact that if you do that your diabetes will be progressive until your body gives up and/or there are some really unpleasant complications. We will try to support you all we can whichever route you choose.

If you choose to take control and join the adventure you will need a blood glucose monitor, there are several available just be aware that the on-going cost of strips is an important factor in funding it as the NHS is very unlikely to support this option. Then you need to use it regularly before you eat and then 2 hours after eating. Keep a record of what you have eaten and your readings, the amount of exercise you have taken and your general mood. Quickly you will find there are patterns and foods that you can eat and some that your body can no longer tolerate, remember that carbohydrates are absorbed as sugar into your blood. Everyone is different but there are some generalisations - high carbohydrate vegetables are usually grown below ground, above ground vegetables are lower, cereals are high in carbs so most forms of bread and cakes are out. Oily fish, meats and vegetables such as olives are good, when in doubt check on the Dietdoctor website. For a while you may be afraid of eating until you know what will raise your blood glucose and what is OK in moderation. You will also find that the weekly shop takes longer as you read the labels on everything. Look at the carbohydrates per 100g and try to keep that to 10g or less. Also be aware that some people find that artificial sweeteners raise blood glucose and you may find that you start to lose weight as your body starts to use the fats that it has stored to provide it with the energy it needs and most people find that they feel energised on a low carb diet which gives the lie to needing a sugar fix for energy. After a while you may choose to refine your choices further or you may find that you are doing sufficient to keep your sugars steady.

Good luck.
 
Hello there and welcome to the community. I was diagnosed four months ago and I am fifty eight, too. It is not unusual for our age group. It was hard for me to accept at first, a lot to get your head around but you are lucky, you found this group early.
Have a read of the posts and ask as many questions as you like. The people here are at all stages of learning and there are some really knowledgable people who are only too willing to guide you through this condition. Best wishes.
 
I was diagnosed at 65 - I need to eat a low carb diet to control my weight and have tried to stick to it in the face of opposition from my doctors, but now I have the perfect excuse as it also controls diabetes.
There is a lot of misinformation about, particularly from doctors and nurses, which is a great pity, but my blood tests are in the normal range and my doctor is sulking - at least he hasn't spoken to me for almost a year.......
 
Hi @Barry59 .. and welcome
Sorry, I can't help with your particular questions re: insulin and sugar withdrawal but I'm sure that others will. That aside, you have certainly made a good move coming here. Since joining this forum, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need. It can all seem uphill to start with but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly.

The key point to take on board now is that managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing your blood glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to a LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum. It seems that you have already made a start with low-carbing but a maximum of 30grams carbs a day has proved to be more than enough for my needs .. so you are quite right to ignore the dietary advice from your nurse

I have tagged @daisy1 for you and I suggest that you read up on the valuable information that she will soon be sending to you. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. together with the following Diet Doctor websites, which will give you all the info that you need on what and what not to eat ...
Low Carb Intro and Information and Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

Unless you are prescribed one by your Doc or Nursie (unlikely), it is a top priority that you get yourself a test meter and, for this, the following websites might help:
https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
for the SD Codefree meter, which costs £12.98 or:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free.
I have both which I alternate for comparative purposes and I have never found any significant difference between them.

The costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. Make sure that you tick the appropriate box on the on-line order form and you won't pay VAT on your meter or strips.
For the SD Codefree, the strips are £7.69 for a pack of 50 and there are discount codes available for bulk purchases:
5 packs x 50 use code: 264086 .. cost is £29.49
10 packs x 50 use code: 975833 .. cost is £58.98
For the TEE 2, the strips are £7.75 for a pack of 50 .. but there are no discount codes currently available

I'm testing 3-5 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for either of the two packages above but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them

Hope this helps
 
I would personally like to thank everyone for you input. I would like to add I have meter and have been testing 4 times a day. Some readings good some bad. Still figuring out how this works. I live in atlantic Highlands New Jersey, meters are free here but test strips are 150.00 dollars for two weeks! So thanks for the info on the costs. I will stay vilgilant a
 

I take it you're in the US. How many times a day are you testing? If you find you can't afford the strips for a high-maintenance meter, get one from Wal-Mart. You pay $10 for 50 strips.
 
To make any sense of the readings, so that you can act upon them, you need to keep a food diary. Keep a note of everything you eat and drink and test each meal twice, there are so many variables that you may some foods that you can eat a little, some are OK and some are not. The action part is most important, it is no good having all the information and not acting on it. On occasion, you may choose to take a calculated risk and eat something that you have found that you react to and then exercise the resultant spike down, but on the whole it is wise not to do so. We can not be more specific because we are all different and have a wide variety of choices in our diet. Keeping the diary is an effort initially but it is the only way I found to successfully and quickly link food eaten, exercise, sleep, mood and blood glucose.
 
@Barry59

Hello Barry and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful, in addition to the wealth of information members have given you. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 250,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
I was in my early 40's when I collapsed and woke up in hospital. Yes there an intolerance to insulin, but I don't have information at this time. Sugar withdrawal I am not sure of, but you can get cravings for things that are suddenly withdawn from the diet. Don't let I frighten you, you are now part of a dedicated team. Remember not just sugar, carbohydrate is the real enemy. Control your carb intake religiously. As you are diabetic, it is wise to maintain a good fluid intake to keep your kidneys in good shape. Regular exercise such as walking for good cardio fitness. As soon as you can, get yourself a glucose meter and keep a record of your blood glucose levels. Welcome to the team!
 
 

Hi @Barry59 I’m 41 just been diagnosed a few weeks ago stumbling across this page has been so informative and am sure once the initial shock has worn off you’ll feel much more positive, lots of people on here have managed to reverse their diabetes with a low carb diet and exercise the key is to look after yourself, I’m pretty sure you can’t be allergic to insulin just resistant, and as for sugar withdrawal yes I had a terrible headache for 3 weeks due to withdrawing from sugar it’s not nice but am already beginning to feel better than I did 4 weeks ago. Good luck and look after yourself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…