Newly diagnosed Type 2

[JenLS41]

Morning all

I've recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes so just trying to get my head around it all. My HbA1c is 63. Is this high? It was 77 a few weeks ago. Starting metformin in the next couple of days.

Has anyone been diagnosed soon after having Covid?

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum.
The threshold for diagnosis is anything over 47mmol/mol so at 63 it is not desperately high but high enough to take it seriously.
Quite a few people are being diagnosed following having covid.
The most important thing you can do is look at your diet, often people think they eat a healthy diet but it is not necessarily so if Type 2 diabetic.
All carbohydrates not just sugar convert to glucose so it is the high carb food which need to be reduced.
Losing weight if you need to helps as well. Metformin you have been prescribed helps the body use the insulin it produces more effectively but dietary changes are equally if not more important.
There is lots in the Learning Zone here (orange tab at the top) but you may also find this link helpful for a low carbohydrate approach which many find successful often without medication. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

Keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink estimating the TOTAL carbs will help you see how far away you are from the suggested no more than 130g per day for a low carb regime.
The book of app Carbs and Cals is a useful resource as it gives carbs and portion sizes for a whole range of foods and you will become an expert at looking at packets for the total carbs of products otherwise google whatever food and total carbs for info.

 

[JenLS41]

Thank you so much your advice and recommendations

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

You might try a carb counter like myfitnesspal - it is a useful smartphone and PC app for counting what you eat.

 

[andyp64]

First and easiest thing to do for best results is to cut down on sweet things in your diet.
No sugar in tea/coffee. No fruit juice. No chocolates and cakes.
Hard to do but even reducing what you have (one sugar in tea rather than two) should have a good effect on reducing the HbA1c figure.
I suggest not diving in and being too radical at once as it will just cause you a lot of discomfort. Remember, it's a marathon not a sprint.
Beyond that, try watching some of the Learning Zone videos on this site. Information is the most powerful tool you can have.
Good luck!

 

[42istheanswer]

Hi

I was diagnosed not long after having covid, but that was really incidental as it happened to be that I was having my over 40 NHS health check a few weeks after. I did wonder whether that was why it took me a little longer to recover than I had anticipated after testing negative (though I also have mild asthma and at the time wasn't on inhaled steroids so may have been due to that)

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @JenLS41

And welcome to the club no one wants to join

Good to hear you’ve seen a reduction in your HbA1c already. Have you made many changes to your diet so far?

If you’d like a good grounding in diabetes, you might like to sign up for the Learning Zone, which is packed full of bite sized modules you can take at your own pace.

Alternatively, for a more personal account of how two people have got to grips with their own diagnosis, you might like Maggie Davey’s Letter to the Newly Diagnosed or Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

 

[JenLS41]

Welcome to the forum @JenLS41

And welcome to the club no one wants to join

Good to hear you’ve seen a reduction in your HbA1c already. Have you made many changes to your diet so far?

If you’d like a good grounding in diabetes, you might like to sign up for the Learning Zone, which is packed full of bite sized modules you can take at your own pace.

Alternatively, for a more personal account of how two people have got to grips with their own diagnosis, you might like Maggie Davey’s Letter to the Newly Diagnosed or Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Thank you so much for your reply and advice.
I've cut out chocolate, crisps etc and switched to brown rice, wholemeal pasta etc. Drinking lots of water too.

 

[JenLS41]

First and easiest thing to do for best results is to cut down on sweet things in your diet.
No sugar in tea/coffee. No fruit juice. No chocolates and cakes.
Hard to do but even reducing what you have (one sugar in tea rather than two) should have a good effect on reducing the HbA1c figure.
I suggest not diving in and being too radical at once as it will just cause you a lot of discomfort. Remember, it's a marathon not a sprint.
Beyond that, try watching some of the Learning Zone videos on this site. Information is the most powerful tool you can have.
Good luck!

Thank you for the advice

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thank you so much for your reply and advice.
I've cut out chocolate, crisps etc and switched to brown rice, wholemeal pasta etc. Drinking lots of water too.

Sounds like it’s working well for you so far!

Lots of ideas on various different eating strategies in these meal plans (and the whole Enjoy Food section!)

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach - it’s very much a question of finding your own way through the maze if options to get something workable, enjoyable, and sustainable for you long-term. 🙂

 

[JenLS41]

Sounds like it’s working well for you so far!

Lots of ideas on various different eating strategies in these meal plans (and the whole Enjoy Food section!)

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach - it’s very much a question of finding your own way through the maze if options to get something workable, enjoyable, and sustainable for you long-term. 🙂

Yeah its all a minefield when first diagnosed but this forum has helped a lot.
Thanks

 

[Drummer]

Thank you so much for your reply and advice.
I've cut out chocolate, crisps etc and switched to brown rice, wholemeal pasta etc. Drinking lots of water too.

Unfortunately brown carbs are still carbs and you might not be making much progress if you are not limiting the amounts. I still eat chocolate, but it is chocolate, not the bars which are high in sugar. These days I get the high cocoa chocolate from Lidl - but I find that just one square at any one time is enough.

 

[JenLS41]

Unfortunately brown carbs are still carbs and you might not be making much progress if you are not limiting the amounts. I still eat chocolate, but it is chocolate, not the bars which are high in sugar. These days I get the high cocoa chocolate from Lidl - but I find that just one square at any one time is enough.

Thanks for your reply. Oh I'll have to try that chocolate from Lidl

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks for your reply. Oh I'll have to try that chocolate from Lidl

Moser Roth are also good from Aldi.

 

[JenLS41]

Moser Roth are also good from Aldi.

Thank you!