Hi everyone! Told I have type 2 on Thursday

[JimboJones]

Hi everyone! I got told I had type 2 on Thursday by the doc after a blood test for long covid symptoms. I’m pretty inexperienced with this type of thing so I’m googling and worrying a bit. Sorry if J get any terminology wrong. I’ve got an appointment with the diabetes nurse a week on Wednesday and have been given Metformin in the meantime, starting off with one tablet this week, two tablets next week, up to three the third week. Not sure about any of this and I was recommended this website by my Dad, who got type 2 a few years back and has given me some pointers.
Hope you’re all good and thank you for this forum and website, looks like it will be a lifesaver!

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum. Everybody feels a bit shell shocked to get a diagnosis but sometimes it is a reliefas it explains symptoms they may have been having like thirst, frequent loo visits, tiredness and blurry vision but some are diagnosed with no symptoms.
The medication you have been given sounds like metformin which is usually the first medication that is tried if you GP thinks that your blood glucose level is too high to be reduced by dietary changes alone. It helps your body use the insulin it is producing more effectively but still needs dietary changes to have impact. Building up the dose is usual as the body can adjust and it is less likely to give stomach issues which a few people do get.
Many find a low carbohydrate approach successful as outlined in this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/.
Other people find a low calorie or shakes-based regime will give them a kick start
Whatever route you choose has to be enjoyable otherwise it will not be sustainable for the long term.
If you choose the low carb way then low carb is suggested as being no more than 130g total carbs not just 'sugar' per day so keeping a food diary with an estimate of the amount of carbs you currently have in everything you eat and drink will help you know how far from that you are. Low carb does not mean NO carbs just the carbs you have should be worth it for enjoyment and not just empty carbs like sugar.
It will help you if you have a list of questions for you appointment after reading about the condition. It does have to be taken seriously but with the right dietary approach is very manageable.
If you find out what your HbA1C is then it will give you an indication of your starting point and the amount of work that need to be done. Anything over 47mmol/mol will have given you the diagnosis.

 

[JimboJones]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your response, it’s really useful

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi JimboJones, welcome to the forum.

It's totally natural to feel overwhelmed when recently diagnosed so you're in good company. Having a diabetic in the family can be helpful as there are lots of ways to manage your health.

Were you given your HbA1c number? It's your glucose level over a 3 month period and is quite helpful to chart your journey of improvement.

We've got a few pages of info that might be helpful to get your head around things so do have a look when you get a mo and let us know if we can help in any way.

Type 2 diabetes​

Looking for more information about type 2 diabetes? We’ve got all you need to know. What is type 2 diabetes? Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition where the insulin your pancreas makes can’t work properly, or your pancreas can’t make enough insulin. This means your blood glucose (sugar) levels...

www.diabetes.org.uk

Checking your blood sugar levels​

Knowing your blood sugar levels helps you manage your diabetes and reduces your risk of having serious complications – now and in the future. What are blood sugar levels? Your blood sugar levels, also known as blood glucose levels, are a measurement that show how much glucose you have in your...

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[JimboJones]

Thank you so much! No, I wasn’t given much information at all really. It was a phone conversation, the Doc said my level should be about 6.3 but was actually 6.9, had I had any symptoms of diabetes recently (yes, but I’d put them down to long covid - tiredness etc - and CDB oil use - dry mouth, needing to drink more), did I have any family members with diabetes (yes, Dad). Then she said I needed to start Metformin asap. My meeting with the diabetes nurse is a week on Wednesday (15th Feb).
Interestingly my Dad said should I be on Metformin tablets and increasing dosage straight away in the first three weeks, without meeting with the nurse yet? I’m a bit confused about it all to be honest, and don’t really know much about what to watch in my food or how to / when to check blood. I was going to call the doc tomorrow and see if there were any pointers they could give but I’ll check on here first. Thank you for your reply, it’s really kind of you and very helpful.

 

[JimboJones]

Oh, for info, I had my blood taken in November for long covid and they didn’t find any signs of diabetes then, so hopefully it’s a new development

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you so much! No, I wasn’t given much information at all really. It was a phone conversation, the Doc said my level should be about 6.3 but was actually 6.9, had I had any symptoms of diabetes recently (yes, but I’d put them down to long covid - tiredness etc - and CDB oil use - dry mouth, needing to drink more), did I have any family members with diabetes (yes, Dad). Then she said I needed to start Metformin asap. My meeting with the diabetes nurse is a week on Wednesday (15th Feb).
Interestingly my Dad said should I be on Metformin tablets and increasing dosage straight away in the first three weeks, without meeting with the nurse yet? I’m a bit confused about it all to be honest, and don’t really know much about what to watch in my food or how to / when to check blood. I was going to call the doc tomorrow and see if there were any pointers they could give but I’ll check on here first. Thank you for your reply, it’s really kind of you and very helpful.

It looks as if you have been alerted quickly and can take action. I looks as if you have been given the result in % rather than the current units of mmol/mol however when you convert 6.5% is the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis so at 6.9% it is not desperately high and many would be able to get it down by dietary changes without medication and some GP would allow people the opportunity for 3 months before starting on any medication.
Ideas have changed over the years in how to manage the condition and a low carb or low calorie approach has been succssful for people in reducing their level back to normal.
This link hopefully will explain the principals of a low carb approach which might appeal to you.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

As you have an appointment then have a look and you can go prepared with any questions you have.

 

[trophywench]

Have you spotted 'The Learning Zone' with an orange/red tab above? Click on that, get registered for it and plod your way through the various modules at your own pace.

Are the Metformin 500mg tablets? if so, it's unusual to increase em quite so quickly. Fairly often they give people the wind which usually settles down after a couple of weeks (but sometimes doesn't), so maybe you ought to stick to just the one a day until you see the nurse as it's not far past the first week? Or, because you haven't actually been diagnosed with a huge increase over the normal level (6.9% converts to 52 with an HbA1c blood test and the diagnostic level on the latter scale (which we usually use in the UK rather than percentages these days) is 48 and above though lots of folk start off with a result in 3 figures clearly that's not you, is Dad thinking along the lines that you ought to be able to deal with the diabetes by diet and exercise without medication at all? I mean obviously nobody on here has any inside knowledge about you but whilst testing for possible Long Covid it makes perfect sense to me to rule out anything else pretty obvious your symptoms could be rather than LC - so why wouldn't he?

Please be aware that Metformin won't reduce your blood glucose per se but instead, enable your body to use the insulin which you are producing, more efficiently, which could be enough to sort out your blood glucose. Then again if you 'only' have 'ordinary' Type 2 diabetes then indeed, diet and exercise might 'do' it.

 

[JimboJones]

Thank you - that’s really helpful and along the lines of what I was thinking (waiting until I’ve seen the nurse before increasing dose).
Yeah, they’re 500mg tablets. My Dad was saying along the lines of a) do I need the tablets if it’s relatively early days and they don’t know my daily bloods, as I might not need them if I adjust my diet and b) if I need them, do I actually need three tablets a day? How do they know?
For extra info, my Dad no longer needs to take his medication after adjusting his diet, as his bloods are within normal levels now. So he’s coming from a place where he feels it could be controlled with diet and exercise. He was the one who told me to come here to be honest. He may have an account on here to be fair, haha, I’ll ask him.
Thank you for the tip with the orange tab - hugely appreciated!

 

[Leadinglights]

If you are 52mmol/mol with your HbA1C and are motivated to change your diet either by following a low carb or low calorie regime then you should be given the opportunity to do so without medication for 3 months and if it is not successful then consider the medication. Your Dad has done it as have many others. Getting a blood glucose monitor so you can test the effect of meals and foods would be a useful tool in doing the job.
The book or app Carbs and Cals is also a useful resource as it gives the carb values for different portions of foods so helps to make better food choices.
Of course there are other app free or otherwise that people use but looking on packets or the internet at the nutritional info for Total carbs not just sugar will also be helpful.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

........... then you should be given the opportunity to do so without medication for 3 months and if it is not successful then consider the medication...........

Is that really a published Nice guideline?

I can only find

"Offer lifestyle advice and drug treatment to support adults with type 2 diabetes to reach and maintain their HbA1c target"

Certainly the medication prescribed to me gave me a much needed breathing space to get my head around my diagnosis, and gave me time to plan my way forward.
Threatening me with a three month window and suggesting I was a failure if I missed the window would have been very counter productive personally.

 

[Leadinglights]

Is that really a published Nice guideline?

I can only find

"Offer lifestyle advice and drug treatment to support adults with type 2 diabetes to reach and maintain their HbA1c target"

Certainly the medication prescribed to me gave me a much needed breathing space to get my head around my diagnosis, and gave me time to plan my way forward.
Threatening me with a three month window and suggesting I was a failure if I missed the window would have been very counter productive personally.

Individual GP seem to have different views on how soon to give medication, it may depend on their assessment of the individual as to how they will engage with lifestyle changes.
The people coming here are only a minute percent of the people diagnosed with diabetes so we may may not get a representative view.
In the trust where I live there are 50,000 plus diabetics yet there are only a handful who are on here.
In no way did I imply that there was any threat in suggesting giving people an opportunity to make lifestyle changes.
In my case I was terrified of having to take metformin having read of the potential side effects that I was grateful that my GP suggested the 3 month period of lifestyle change.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Individual GP seem to have different views on how soon to give medication, it may depend on their assessment of the individual as to how they will engage with lifestyle changes.
The people coming here are only a minute percent of the people diagnosed with diabetes so we may may not get a representative view.
In the trust where I live there are 50,000 plus diabetics yet there are only a handful who are on here.
In no way did I imply that there was any threat in suggesting giving people an opportunity to make lifestyle changes.
In my case I was terrified of having to take metformin having read of the potential side effects that I was grateful that my GP suggested the 3 month period of lifestyle change.

Ah, ok, so it may be open to the debate of the personal view of the individual, but definitely not the recommended treatment, and definitely not a "should not offer medication" in any published guidelines.

 

[JimboJones]

Hi all! Update. I was quite ill this morning, felt unsettled and wobbly. Called the docs and spoke to a different doc who explained a lot of the stuff that’s been explained on here, such as the whys and wherefores of my numbers and how type 2 works, which was much welcomed. Then she said I could come off the tablets and treat things with diet and exercise. I’ve still got the nurse appointment next Weds but they’ll check on me in three months. I’m more than happy with that, I don’t like using tablets when there’s an alternative.

 

[trophywench]

Can you afford to spend 20 to 25 quid up front on yourself? Reason I'm asking is that's the approx upfront price of either of 2 different blood sugar monitors so you can test yourself day to day to try and get a handle on what ever you are doing in terms of exercise and diet is having the effect you want it to have. The ongoing cost of the testing once you have the meter and finger bodger themselves, is always the test strips and the lancets which fit in the bodger, to get the drop of blood for the test. These can vary between £10ish to £25ish for a pot of 50.

Two reasonably priced ones with ditto consumable prices which members here have found pretty reliable and accurate are either the Gluco Navii (note the double i) or the Spirit Tee 2 - both only available online, not sold in pharmacies.

However - some GP surgeries do actually respond to requests for the supply of meters for Type 2s and prescribed strips and lancets, whereas others actively discourage it - which whatever they say - we very strongly suspect is more to save dosh for the NHS, so we have some sympathy with that. A good many years ago now a research paper was published demonstrating how the participants started off testing regularly but sooner or a bit later got fed up with it and stopped doing it. Why? I say because the instructions to them was that the testing instructions banned them from trying to change anything even when they thought the test results sounded a bit high. They deduced the testing caused depression amongst the participants so should be discouraged because of that. Well yeah - I'd get ruddy depressed if I hadn't been educated what to do about 'iffy' results too - who wouldn't? (I fumed about that for years - in fact I still am when I think about it again - but it's much the same as 'The Emperor's New Clothes' - because the names on the report were considered to be eminent in the field of diabetology - then it must be 100% correct, mustn't it!)

Anyway - wherever you get your meter etc from, lots of people on here can give you help on how to get the best value from the testing. I reckon unless you're going to learn from and/or do something with the result, it's a waste of time testing in the first place!

Good luck.

 

[JimboJones]

Thank you for the info! I bought one on amazon (ugh) yesterday, and just worked out how to use it. The doc said they wouldn’t necessarily say to do daily tests at this point but I was welcome to do it if I wanted. So I just tested and I’m currently 7.7, ate about three hours ago. Not sure exactly what that means but I’ve got the kit now if I need it.

 

[JimboJones]

Oh, I got a “Sinocare Safe-Accu”. My Dad reckoned that was probably OK, sinai went with that one

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you for the info! I bought one on amazon (ugh) yesterday, and just worked out how to use it. The doc said they wouldn’t necessarily say to do daily tests at this point but I was welcome to do it if I wanted. So I just tested and I’m currently 7.7, ate about three hours ago. Not sure exactly what that means but I’ve got the kit now if I need it.

People test for a number of reasons but what testing you do should give you useful information on which you can make decisions.
For example testing before you eat and after 2 hours gives you an idea if you have tolerated the amount of carbohydrate in your meal bu aiming at an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l or when your levels come down then no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hrs post meal.
People also test first thing in the morning to keep a check on progress day to day, week to week to see if dietary changes and or medication is being effective.
Also people check if they feel unwell as that can indicate high or low blood glucose.
The meal testing can use a lot of strips but once you have checked out a meal as being OK there is generally no need to test again for that meal. Hopefully the strips for the monitor you have bought are not too expensive.
The suggested range to aim at is 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting/morning readings and no more than 8mmol/l 2 hours post meal. Keeping within that most of the time should result in normal HbA1C.

 

[JimboJones]

Thank you! That’s really helpful to know.