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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Hello from a newbie
- Thread starter SylviaBay
- Start date
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @SylviaBay
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad you have found us so early - diabetes can be infuriating, fickle, and isolating... so it can be hugely helpful to have a community of people around you to share the joys and frustrations of the journey.
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
For a good introduction to T2 diabetes, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and for a bit more detail
Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes the First Year, is a thorough and very readable mine of information.
There are all sorts of helpful resources in the - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes
Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life.
Keep asking questions, and let us know how you are getting on 🙂
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad you have found us so early - diabetes can be infuriating, fickle, and isolating... so it can be hugely helpful to have a community of people around you to share the joys and frustrations of the journey.
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
For a good introduction to T2 diabetes, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and for a bit more detail
Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes the First Year, is a thorough and very readable mine of information.
There are all sorts of helpful resources in the - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes
Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life.
Keep asking questions, and let us know how you are getting on 🙂
aparsonsmoore
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi
It's a strange one and I'm not sure I've quite come to terms with my T2 diagnosis. I initially shat myself (metaphorically) and gave up lots of things like biscuits, cakes, sugar in coffee etc. I was also lucky that I lost weight rapidly and had an interest in cycling. This gave me a sport that I could pick up and the loss of weight helped. My partner was supportive and a love of technology meant I bought a new bike (OK it was an indulgence) a smartwatch to track exercise and a set of smart scales (Renpho). All very positive and yet...
I still worry for the future, despite the blood glucose being fairly consistent and feeling fitter than I have done in a long while. It's now 3 months on and I sometimes feel that people will judge me for having diabetes. Lots of comments like "you don't loo the type".
So read the forum (I do) and take advice, but do feel that you can live a normal but adjusted life that will be healthier and ultimately happier.
It's a strange one and I'm not sure I've quite come to terms with my T2 diagnosis. I initially shat myself (metaphorically) and gave up lots of things like biscuits, cakes, sugar in coffee etc. I was also lucky that I lost weight rapidly and had an interest in cycling. This gave me a sport that I could pick up and the loss of weight helped. My partner was supportive and a love of technology meant I bought a new bike (OK it was an indulgence) a smartwatch to track exercise and a set of smart scales (Renpho). All very positive and yet...
I still worry for the future, despite the blood glucose being fairly consistent and feeling fitter than I have done in a long while. It's now 3 months on and I sometimes feel that people will judge me for having diabetes. Lots of comments like "you don't loo the type".
So read the forum (I do) and take advice, but do feel that you can live a normal but adjusted life that will be healthier and ultimately happier.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Wouldn't it be fun (from our point of view I mean) to get some of these commentators to draw a picture of what a diabetic looks like!!
Two heads? A tail? Brandishing a sink plunger and repeating the word Exterminate? Resembling Superman/Wonderwoman (yes please) or Peppa Pig? - sadly I think I probably know .......
Two heads? A tail? Brandishing a sink plunger and repeating the word Exterminate? Resembling Superman/Wonderwoman (yes please) or Peppa Pig? - sadly I think I probably know .......
Thank you, although I shouldn’t be surprised that I have been diagnosed, I am overweight, have high blood pressure, etc. it is still a shock, just need to get my head round it. Thanks for your advice, it is appreciated x
adrian1der
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome @SylviaBay
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? HbA1c at diagnosis and what meds you are on. How did you come to be diagnosed?
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? HbA1c at diagnosis and what meds you are on. How did you come to be diagnosed?
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
But those are most likely the side effects not the reason for your diabetes.
Control your blood glucose and you might just find that other issues resolve.
If you take tablets to lower blood pressure, be careful - of the low carb forum a couple of people have reported quite nasty falls due to going dizzy as they get into eating low carb foods but do not stop the medication they no longer require.
There have been a couple of unexpected pregnancies too - women with PCOS hoping for fertility treatment or using is as birth control and suddenly everything changes.
Hello SYLVIABAY and welcome to the Club that no-one wants to join!
There is good news and not so good news -
Firstly, don't be put off by any horror stories you might have heard of - foot amputations, blindness, and all the rest of it
Diabetes is not a death sentence, though it is a serious condition and you must deal with it
I was diagnosed in 1998 and (so far) I don't have any problems due to diabetes. At my latest diabetic review only 2 or 3 weeks ago my blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, eyesight, nerve sensitivity, and so on were all OK
".....you must deal with it....."
Yes, there will have to be some changes to your diet and the way you live, but you get used to them, and they become normal
Unfortunately there is no holiday from diabetes, you must take your medication and look after your diet every day; however, this just changes from 'going on a diet' to becoming a new & different way of living
The current trend in treating diabetes is for each person to take more control of their diet, doing exercise, and so on
So read the links, and past Threads in Newcomers, Weight Loss, Food, and any others that might interest you
Nothing in the body takes place in isolation, and things like blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol levels are all connected
You will probably find that as you control one thing, the others will also improve.
If you are overweight and have diabetes you must do two things -
Diabetes is the inability of the body to deal with carbohydrates, and as all carbs are converted into glucose in the body, it is the accumulation of this excess glucose in the blood that causes the problems we call diabetes
So you must reduce very much all carbohydrates, not just the obviously sugary ones
This means bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cakes, biscuits, and sugary drinks are out
If you are overweight and have high blood pressure as well, the first steps are to change your diet, so out go burgers, pizzas, very fatty meat, sausages, most takeaways & convenience meals, processed food & junk food in general
In come more veg, salads, olive oil, pulses/legumes/beans/peas, fish, especially oily fish, and the rest of healthy stuff we've all heard about
Oh, and cut out booze as well, or at least most of it
It might be difficult at first, but as you get used to it these changes just become natural, and you lose your taste for very salty and sweet/sugary food
It also helps to get some exercise - either to a gym, in your own home, or as there is still a bit of fine weather, get out and go for a walk; swimming? cycling?
It all combines - as you reduce the amount of processed meat, your intake of 'bad' fats & salt will go down, improving your weight, cholesterol, and BP
I did all that, now I've come off statins, and my blood glucose, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure are all acceptable, though I do take insulin, but have reduced it to about half, and lisinopril for BP
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Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Really? But it is logical that a person who is overproducing insulin will have far more difficultly in losing weight than 'normal'. With high insulin levels there is no way to release energy from cells, so exercise is more likely to result in symptoms of low blood glucose with faintness and hunger as a consequence. Weight gain is almost inevetable.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Insulin is the fat storage hormone - so it has a tendency to make you fat.
Relatively high carbohydrates in the diet spur higher Insulin production which isn't tested for until after the individual already has symptoms of T2D (or at least of suspected pre-diabetes). In the mean time that high insulin has been busy making them fatter.
I was relatively slim, BMI of 26 having been BMI 20 to 23 all of my life, when diagnosed with T2D.
Only put on weight when I went on a 'healthy heart' High Carb Low Fat whole grains, 5 a Day diet!
I have had high blood pressure since pregnant with my 23 year old and have regular BP checks. i am on 4 different drugs for this and one of them can cause an issue with your kidneys so they have taken blood each year to check. I think my levels have been creeping up and yesterday was told it is 48 and I now therefore have Type 2. I am a secretary, not the most physically energetic Job, I smoked until December last year when I finally quit and am overweight and have the sweetest tooth of anyone I know, I am probably a text book case for this disease although I always thought, not me!
Thank you for your response, it is really helpful and glad to hear you are winning the battle.
During my first year with diabetes type 1 I lost a lot of weight (told I looked scrawny) This year with my ongoing ankle injury I have put on 2 stones and can’t shift it. I blame the highs and lows, erratic eating when needed, plus my poor mobility. If you can do it exercise is really helpful in several ways
sorry to hear about your ankle, I hope it gets better soon. I do really need to do more exercise, that much I know. I get home from work, make dinner, and don’t really do much more.
@SylviaBay Yes work can get in the way of everything else that you want to do. I’ve been there but now retired there are days when I really miss it!
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I think that for the last couple of decades there have been various mind sets which meant that what was reported was not believed because it could not possibly be right and it was just the patients being naughty.
Even though the mechanism is described in my text books from school back in the 1960s, the concept of exercise not causing fat to be reduced is regarded as impossible, but insulin prevents the movement of fat out of storage. It is probably why I can eat early and late but work all day, or go out with one of the morris sides and be playing and walking around the festival all day, as after the small 10 gm of carbs for breakfast, my insulin level falls and there is no problem accessing fat stores as cell walls are open for its movement - then at the end of the day I eat and don't get a spike as the carbs are dealt with normally.
Squirrel768
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Sylvia, and welcome. Yes, a serious condition, but if you can grab hold of it and make it yours, you can take control and climb this new mountain 🙂
Lots of information, yes, and a lot of challenges, but you can do this 🙂
Lots of information, yes, and a lot of challenges, but you can do this 🙂
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