What Next?

davecatt said:

Hi all
As I've only just been diagnosed, and the GP nurse didn't seem overly concerned I've been told to manage things by diet only for now.
My Hb thingy test was 50% so only just over the threshold, still waiting for my cholesterol but blood pressure was fine as I've put in other threads it was a relief to finally know why I've been feeling so c**p for the last 18 months and now I can deal with the situation.
So should I be asking for any of the courses I've seen mentioned?
I've decided to self test my B/G to identify culprit foods
I've started a low carb diet as well.
Is there anything else I need to be doing/ looking at as get the feeling that my GP will expect me to deal with this myself ( I've no problem with that). They mentioned that they have a 'risk assessment' that take Hb/ Cholesterol / Weight / Blood pressure into account, I'm a bit confused with this?
Maybe I should be getting some questions together to ask next week?
Does everyone newly diagnosed go through this???

Thanks
Dave

Click to expand...

Hi @davecatt

Can you clarify your numbers? The threshold for diabetes is 6.5%. I think at 50% you'd be in hospital.
Is it safe to assume you mean 50mmol?
Low carbing is a good start, have you seen the new joiners message from @daisy1 ?

Welcome to the forum @davecatt Everything probably feels a bit confusing at the moment, but from your original post I can tell that you are determined to take control of your diabetes. Lots of us on the forum have done just that and will give you every support along the way. After you have read Daisy's info and read round the forum, come back with any question you may have and someone will answer. Good luck!
p.s Cool avatar

The risk assessment you talk about is an assessment of your estimated risk of heart disease or stroke within the next 10 years. Your age, gender, diabetes status, blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and height are entered in to a calculator, along with information about close family history of heart/stroke issues, and some other diseases you may have such as arthritis. The calculator comes up with a score advising you of your percentage risk of cardio vascular disease in the the next 10 years. It is called the Q-risk. You can do it yourself on-line if you feel so inclined.

https://qrisk.org/2016/

You should be assigned a nurse who will put you on the diabetes care pathway (or at least she should do). This involves referring you for a course and for annual retinal eye screening. She should also do a check of your feet for pulse and sensitivity once a year. You should be called back for another round of blood tests in 3 months time and a review of how things stand at that time. She should also give you advice on diet, but most likely this can be taken with a large pinch of salt because the NHS is way behind current science on which foods are good and bad for type 2 diabetics. You will get better advice on here.

What you should do is ask for a print out of your blood test results. You can then study them at leisure, look things up, ask questions on here, and take it from there. Never accept any verbal comments such as "you are fine". You need to know how fine.

You should also buy yourself a blood glucose meter and test strips. You will need this if you are to discover which foods your body can tolerate. When looking for a meter be careful to check the price of replacement test strips. Some brands are very expensive. Meters are often given away for free, but the strips will certainly not be free and you will need a lot initially. Many of us on here use the Codefree meter because it has the cheapest strips.

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/

Good luck, and do ask questions.

Stay right on this forum and check out the success thread. Explore carbs reduction and you will be able to add your post there...