Just diagnosed type2

[kevco]

Evening all I was diagnosed type 2 on Saturday gone.

 

[42istheanswer]

Hi

How are you feeling about it? If you're happy to share stuff like your HbA1c figure that led to the diagnosis, and whether you have been started on any medication or allowed to try just dietary changes to bring the blood sugar levels down that can help people to offer tailored advice.

I was diagnosed about 7 weeks ago, managing with diet only at present.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Wow! Diagnosed on a Saturday. Hope that wasn't an emergency appointment? How are you doing?

Would you like to tell us a bit about how you came to be diagnosed ie. Routine blood test/symptomatic as a result of some other illness. Have they given you any medication to help you manage your diabetes and what, if any, dietary advice were you given? Do you know your HbA1c result..... This is the blood test used to diagnose diabetes and monitor your progress and will usually be a number in excess of 47 but can be into 3 figures if things have gone seriously awry.

How are you feeling about it. We all know what a shock it is and how overwhelming it can feel at first, but there are quite a few of us who feel that actually it has been the catalyst to a healthier, slimmer and quite possibly longer life with better quality of life. I see myself now as happier, fitter and healthier that I was before diagnosis and indeed probably for decades, so there have definitely been positives to it, much as there are also frustrations.

Anyway, please make yourself at home here, read lots and ask whatever questions you need to help you understand and find a way forward to a new healthier you. We are here to support you in any way we can.

 

[kevco]

Hi

How are you feeling about it? If you're happy to share stuff like your HbA1c figure that led to the diagnosis, and whether you have been started on any medication or allowed to try just dietary changes to bring the blood sugar levels down that can help people to offer tailored advice.

I was diagnosed about 7 weeks ago, managing with diet only at present.

Got the result in a letter.I had a stroke 3 weeks ago and was in hospital for 3 days and they checked everything bloods were blood sugars were very high 54 so when I was discharged they told me to go to gp for test

 

[42istheanswer]

Bit of a whammy all at once then!

 

[kevco]

Yeh a little, fortunately I got there within the 4 hours and was given thrombolysis, and don't appear to have any lasting symptoms.
Apart from I've started whistling and it's really annoying my wife , so I stop and start humming instead.
So I have an appointment with diabetic nurse in 10 days.

 

[kevco]

I was diagnosed with type 2 Saturday gone.I had a stroke 3 weeks ago and was I hospital for 3 days where my raised sugar level were found when I was getting lots of tests

 

[42istheanswer]

That gives you a few days to get your head around it and start looking into it then, lots of very helpful threads on here and info on the main website too.

Whether or not you start on medication after seeing the diabetes nurse, you are likely to need to reduce the carbohydrates in your diet (all carbohydrates not just sugar, as your body generally converts them all to sugar eventually). For some that needs to be stricter than others, often "low carb" at less than 130g per day is suggested. I tend to mostly eat in the 80-110g range now, sometimes a little higher (but under 130g), sometimes a little lower if I've only had vegetables and protein rich foods that day. I'm also losing weight because I've cut calories by cutting down on carb rich foods, without feeling hungry as I've replaced them with more vegetables than I was eating - studies have shown that for some type 2s losing weight can reverse insulin resistance.

https://www.wchc.nhs.uk/content/uploads/2019/11/DiabetesSmart_dietary_approaches.pdf talks through the different dietary options that may be suggested, along with pros and cons. If your repeat HbA1c is also 54 then you may well be offered the chance to try to control through diet initially.

 

[kevco]

Have been doing the Our Path diet since I got home and no alcohol for 3 weeks lost 2.5 k already .
It's given me the kick up the backside I needed, I was drinking 5 or 6 cans of lager ever night 3 or 4 bags crisps, half packet of biscuits and basically living on freezer meals

 

[rebrascora]

If your repeat HbA1c is also 54 then you may well be offered the chance to try to control through diet initially.

I am thinking that perhaps @kevco's Blood Glucose was 54mmols/litre rather than his HbA1c, as he says that it was very high and most of us wouldn't consider an HbA1c of 54 high let alone very high.

 

[rebrascora]

So sorry to hear you had a stroke but good to hear you got prompt treatment with no lasting damage and it sounds like you have made a brilliant start on your new healthier lifestyle, so well done there.

 

[kevco]

Just checking my discharge notes you could be right it says follow up with blood glucose as HBA1C 54 on admission

 

[42istheanswer]

I am thinking that perhaps @kevco's Blood Glucose was 54mmols/litre rather than his HbA1c, as he says that it was very high and most of us wouldn't consider an HbA1c of 54 high let alone very high.

Most of us wouldn't, no, but if they were seen by non-diabetic specialists in hospital then it being a whole 7 above "pre-diabetic" and 13 above "normal" might well lead to them going "high 😱"

 

[rebrascora]

Just checking my discharge notes you could be right it says follow up with blood glucose as HBA1C 54 on admission

Ah, that's not bad at all then! An HbA1c of 54 is only just over the diabetes threshold of 48, so the changes you have already made should go a long way to gradually reducing that back into the normal zone. If it was a blood Glucose reading, the normal range is about 4-10 but when diabetes is very bad and uncontrolled it can go up beyond what our home meters can test which is usually 33 but those levels are extremely dangerous. 54 is possible but you would likely have been given insulin to bring it down even if it was just in hospital. Pleased to hear things are no where near as bad as that.

 

[kevco]

What does 7 above pre diabetic and 13 above normal mean.

 

[kevco]

Thanks , so what's the difference between a blood glucose test and a HBa1c test

 

[42istheanswer]

What does 7 above pre diabetic and 13 above normal mean.

HbA1c for a non-diabetic person (or type 2 with excellent control via either diet or medication) is below 42 (so 54 is 13 higher than 41). "Pre-diabetic" or "at risk of diabetes" is 42-47 (hence I was saying that 54 is 7 above 47).

My HbA1c at diagnosis was also 54, there are some forum members who had HbA1c over 100 at diagnosis, hence @rebrascora saying we here don't consider 54 to be "very high". It is a "definitely diabetic" number but means that it is possible the changes you have already made may be enough to bring your levels back down to "normal" (with time as HbA1c is a measurement of the past 3-4 months).

 

[kevco]

Thank you lots to learn.

 

[42istheanswer]

Thanks , so what's the difference between a blood glucose test and a HBa1c test

Often health professionals do use them interchangeably, but blood glucose test can also mean checking the actual level of glucose in your blood at the time. This is what used to be used for diagnosis (2 fasting levels above 7 mmols/litre, sometimes plus a Glucose Tolerance Test where fasting blood glucose is taken, a measured amount of glucose drunk, then 2 hours later blood glucose checked to see if the body has processed the glucose and therefore insulin response is working).

Nowadays the HbA1c (which measures red blood cells that have some glucose attached) is usually used as a proxy for blood glucose levels over the past 3 months or so. HbA1c is measured in mmol/mol so different units

 

[kevco]

Thanks.
Lots of questions to ask but will have to wait for another day I have a dog sitting here with his legs crossed desperate to go out.