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

Very Very Recent Diagnosis...

Grazer said:
Just bought ours in Sainsburys.
Click to expand...

Thanks, will look there!

--

I just got an email from my friend in our village who has diabetes and goes to the same GP as me. She doesn't test her blood daily, just every three months at the GP office and she had this to say to me:

You only really need to check your glucose if you are struggling with control on high doses of tablets & looking at possible insulin injections. You may well be on diet control only so finger prick testing is a painful, not needed option. What the GP will most probably look at doing is the HbA1c test which looks at control over a 3 month period & that is much better for folks like us. Sometimes they do this with a finger prick in the surgery or they take a sample from your arm & send it to the labs for testing.
Stop doing so much reading & wait til you've seen the GP & hear what they have to say to you !!!!
Click to expand...

I would think testing daily would be the better option for someone like me, starting out, because then I'd know right away what types of foods I should avoid (other than the obvious!) because I'd know how they affect me. And given that I'm supposed to lose 2 stone by August, how is testing my blood in three months (so, June) going to help?
 
Grazer said:
Unfortunately your friend fell for the NHS money-saving excuses.
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised. She works for the NHS, too! My SIL and FIL both test daily with Type 2, though they both are also on insulin shots, too. I'm not sure if that makes a difference? I'm still going to ask about it on Monday, and if I get told no, try to source one on my own. I think it would be useful.
 
I think a few on here have got there code free meters on there. And you SIL and FIL would get free meters and strips if they're on insulin
 
Becca,

Count yourself lucky, with a glucose reading like that you should be able to manage with diet but obviously check with GP. I was 31.1 when i went into hospital and was close to collapsing. Not 100% but sound like you have type 2 which is manageable with diet and sometimes reversible. I have type 1 which means i am on insulin injections for the rest of my life or when a cure appears!

Don't stress too much about it until you have seen your GP or a diabetic nurse. Being diabetic doesn't change much in life!!
 
krisjwoody said:
Becca,

Count yourself lucky, with a glucose reading like that you should be able to manage with diet but obviously check with GP. I was 31.1 when i went into hospital and was close to collapsing. Not 100% but sound like you have type 2 which is manageable with diet and sometimes reversible. I have type 1 which means i am on insulin injections for the rest of my life or when a cure appears!

Don't stress too much about it until you have seen your GP or a diabetic nurse. Being diabetic doesn't change much in life!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Kris! I see my nurse tomorrow evening, so I'll be sure to update then!
 
krisjwoody said:
Becca,

Not 100% but sound like you have type 2 which is manageable with diet and sometimes reversible.
Click to expand...

Hi

Don't want to be a pedant but is type 2 really reversible?

the way I see it is, this is for life. It can be very well controlled to the levels of a non-diabetic but that is with hard work at controlling your carbs.

when I was first diagnosed I was angry that I would always be a Diabetic even if I brought my numbers down.

2 things put it in perspective for me.

1 - an alcoholic is still an alcoholic even tho they may not have had a drink for x number of months/years.
2 - if I went and stayed at a hotel or a friends house where all my meals were made for me, my levels would be right back up.

So, without lifelong control I don't see how it is reversible.

Regards all

Mary x
 
MaryJ said:
is type 2 really reversible?
Click to expand...

It depends on how far its progressed in my opinion. If it's caught for example early at the pre-diabetic stage before much damage has been done to beta cell pancreatic function the raised blood sugars caused by insulin resistance may be able to be reversed by losing that resistance by losing weight and adopting a healthier diet. My wife was diagnosed pre-diabetic a while back and has done exactly that. If I measure her sugars then they are like mine with only a slightly elevated fasting level however she can sit and eat very sugary or starchy things and her spike is a lot less than mine. I've never seen her in the 8's no matter what she eats. Would point out she actually eats the same as me nowadays and is looking great as she reads these things!

The non reversibility stems from having blood sugars that have been untreated for too long. In that case the elevated levels have destroyed a proportion of beta cells so consequently even if you did lose load of insulin resistance your insulin response may still be very small and will remain that way as beta cells are thought not to regenerate.

There are tests you have done that measure pancreatic function and insulin resistance but gp's seem loathed to do them because of cost. I have no idea what mine are. So in most of us we never know how much function will return until we lose the insulin resistance and see if there is any improvement in what we can tolerate.
 
Pre-diabetes is thought to be reversible if caught very early, although I wuld imagine a future return to a diabetic state would be very likely. But with current science, and ignoring Pancreas transplants, once you're a diabetic you are always a diabetic. I think that suggesting to a diabetic they could "reverse" their diabetes, implying they could cure it, is misleading and leads to false hope. What some type 2's CAN do is manage their sugar levels to near non-diabetic readings woth good dietary control.
 
Yes Grazer is right I should have made that clearer.

Being pre diabetic is exactly what it says "pre" therefore the beta cell damage is small and thus losing resistance has a long term effect but only if that pre diabetic person then remains at a healthy weight. The wife can certainly eat more carby things than me but she has to be very careful as gaining too much weight would undoubtedly take her back to a pre diabetic state and then on to full T2D if she didn't continue to take care.

In most fully diagnosed T2D patients an amount of irreversible damage has been done and therefore no matter how hard you try you wont regain everything back but you can certainly help yourself by losing resistance to whatever insulin production capability you have left my getting back to a healthy weight. Most T2's have some insulin function left as if they didn't they would be the same as Type 1's and have to inject insulin.
 
I've been to see the nurse. My HB1 whatever it's called was under 50, which I was told is good, but I only see you folks posting percentages, so I'm not sure what that means!

I've been advised for diet and exercise only with a follow-up in two months. I also will have my cholesterol checked in 2 months and my eyes done within the next 2 months and attend one of those classes.
 
Hi rebecca. 50 in the new units is equivalen to 6.7% in the old ones you see on here. So pretty good, although with your diet changes you'll want to tweak that a bit lower. Your nurse said "under 50", which sounds a bit vague. You should insist on knowing the exact figure so you can compare it with future tests.
 
Thanks. I've finally "come out" to my friends on FB ,and two of them told me not to go low carb, but one of my friends (who is a month younger than me) told me she was in my situation a year ago and is now back down below even pre-diabetes numbers by going low carb, so I'm really lost on the whole thing. My nurse seemed to think going low carb was a good idea, though.

I placed an order with Avidlite and got both carbquik and carbalose flour. I made the carbquik chicken parm recipe tonight and it was tasty! My husband loved it and said he couldn't tell the difference.

Now, to figure out if I should use carbquik or carbalose in my bread maker for some bread....
 
I finally went to the NHS Spotlight thing and learned a bit about nutrition....but some of the things I was told are things I've read here that I shouldn't have!

Was told Bananas are okay, Apples are OK, even things like pasta and potatoes are okay.....including jacket spuds!

What gives?
 
The thing that gives Becca if you toe their line will be you, I would assume you have read a good few posts on here now and got the gist of NHS advice and how outdated it is. I myself have only recently been diagnosed and keeping my BS under good control never over 6.5 really Average 5.5mmol and that is using Low carb diet and testing +2 after meal, I never just take things at face value and not only listened and read what was posted on here but searched Internet for the facts before I have decided. That there is no way on this sweet earth that I am letting the NHS dietician sway me from my conviction, (and I am seeing her on Tuesday) I shall be armed with my graphs and numbers showing how it is being controlled and my daily carb intake, if she don't like it she can go whistle!! its my body and I will do what I think is the best treatment for me. But all that said it's your body and you have to draw your own conclusions, you can either take them for there word or take what I and many more are achieving with the low carb option as a way forward. Your Call.
 
it's funny Roy, my nurse told me to go low carb! And, it's worked. The person running the Spotlight thing? said not to worry about carbs.

Through going low carb (but not nesc counting my carbs daily) I've lost 11 lbs so far, and 5 inches off my waistline alone, so it looks to me like low carb is best for me, too. I just found it interesting that the Spotlight program tells you different things from what the nurse at the GP said, and different things from what I've read in various places....then again, out of the dozens of people I know with Diabetes, they all give me conflicting advice too!
 
Back
Top