Newly diagnosed

[soxpatch]

Hi.

Have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Felt unwell for months & all the symptoms I told various Drs at my surgery weren't put together. I thought it could be stress (I'm dealing with a teen with a severe anxiety disorder!).
My gp initially told me 3 week ago I was feeling so terrible coz of the codeine I'd been prescribed (I have back & leg injury so in a lot of pain generally & have reduced mobility!)
It was only when I had a blood test & got the results on Thursday am I was told I was type 2. All the symptoms I'd been experiencing since sep 14 now fit!

I was then found to be acidotic. Gp v concerned & glared at me when she said I needed to go straight to hospital & I said I'd get the bus (I don't drive) so she called an ambulance & put me in a special room where I could d be checked!
At hospital the acidotic seemed to clear in a few hours but the Drs were rubbish. Junior Dr forgot to write my prescription for metaformin & they were just gonna let me go with no meds! Then she got the dose wrong!

Anyway. I've been googling the condition & know I need to lose tonnes of weight & have started a healthier diet.

I woke up a bit ago to weird cramp/muscle aches (almost when you have flu) & I've had this reaction before in the past to sleeping tablets ( like you can't get comfy lying down & you need to stretch muscles but nothing works!)
Rang NHS direct & they are arranging for an out of hours service to call me to see a Dr within 24 hours. It's all a bit scary.

Coz I was rushed from the Drs I wasn't really given any advise & though I'm seeing a Dr in my practice on Monday - I don't know if I'm just stressing over the condition or my diabetes is worsening!

My bloods were 16! Which I now realise is v bad. In the ambulance my bp was critical but I have new meds for the high bp now & the home monitoring kit I have shows its lowering.
I didn't even know I'd have to test my blood! Oh and I have high cholesterol to top it all off!

Sorry for rambling on!

Thank god I have a supportive friends/family & work have been ace and think I will feel better once I see a Dr!

 

[Northerner]

Hi soxpatch, welcome to the forum 🙂 Goodness, you have certainly been through the mill! 😱 Everything suddenly seems to be going wrong all at once when you are first diagnosed - I know that I went from thinking I was reasonably healthy for my age to believing I was falling apart at the seams! But try not to worry - things will get better, and hopefully befre too long you will begin to feel the benefits of your diagnosis and start to see those symptoms fade. Don't expect rapid changes, it can take a while for things to settle down, but the good thing is that you are now on the path to better health.

The cramps you are experiencing are probably related to the acidosis. Diet tonic water can help, as it contains quinine.

Regarding your blood sugar levels - don't stress too much at this stage, much will depend on a number of factors as to how high they are - learning this will be the key to improving your blood sugar control and getting those numbers down. I would recommend reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter to help put you in the picture to begin with. Also recommended is Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. What were you told about when to test? It's certainly good that you have been provided with the means to do so, many people aren't given the option. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S as a guide to efficient testing. It's all about learning how different foods affect your blood sugar levels, and then adjusting your diet accordingly. The food group to be most careful of is carbohydrates - bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and any flour- or sugar-based products, don't be mistaken into thinking that it is all about sugar! White bread is actually worse than table sugar at raising your levels, so if you eat bread, ideally go for a seeded bread - Burgen Soya and Linseed is a very popular variety, as it is lower in carbs than ordinary bread, with soya replacing some of the flour. I'd recommend getting a copy of The GL Diet for Dummies as a useful guide to choosing foods that will have a slower and steadier impact on your blood sugar levels. As I mentioned though, you need to discover your own personal tolerances for things through testing, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution!

Any regular exercise you can ft in will really help also, not just with weight loss, but also it makes your body more sensitive to the insulin it produces, so helping your blood sugar levels 🙂 The weight loss will also help to sensitise you more to the insulin.

I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with information! Take your time to absorb things, and please keep posting with your progress and any questions or concerns you may have - you won't have long to wait for help or reassurance from the many helpful and knowledgeable people here 🙂

 

[Bloden]

Hi Soxpatch and welcome.🙂

 

[soxpatch]

Thanks for the welcome

Hi.

Thanks for the kind welcome. I've read the info suggested & it's really helpful.
Ended up seeing emergency dr today & my bloods were 14.9! That was with having nothing to eat for over 12 hours!
Just need to let the meds kick in I guess.

 

[Northerner]

Your blood sugars will rise, particularly if you are stressed and/or ill, regardless of whether you eat or not, because your liver will release its own stores of glucose constantly. It needs to do this because your body still needs energy when you are not eating in order to keep things like your heart, brain, lungs and digestive system working. As you are newly-diagnosed your levels will have a high 'base', since your body cannot use this energy properly, so the levels you are experiencing in the teens may be because even your lowest levels are already quite high (if you see what I mean - starting at 10 only needs a rise of 3 to put you in the teens). This will ease as your modifications and treatment begin to take effect.

Metformin takes a week or two to 'establish' itself in your system, so don't expect an immediate reaction from it.

Hope you are able to report better levels, and are feeling much better soon! 🙂

 

[KookyCat]

Morning Soxpatch, welcome to the forum and I hope your blood sugars are coming down 🙂

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forum soxpatch 🙂

 

[soxpatch]

Thanks for the info. Seeing my gp tomorrow & then the diabetes nurse & starting the long road to maintaining it!

 

[Northerner]

Thanks for the info. Seeing my gp tomorrow & then the diabetes nurse & starting the long road to maintaining it!

I hope the appointment goes well 🙂 If they say something you don't understand, then do ask them to explain until you do - I found early on that you need to be pretty assertive (not one of my strongest traits!) when dealing with healthcare professionals! 🙂

 

[soxpatch]

Thanks for all the support. Letting it sink in that's it's a life long condition & not just a diet to lose weight Is hard but I've made a good start - what I'd normally spend on our weekend takeaway I literally filled a shopping trolley full of fruit & veg & chicken breast 🙂 it was quite rewarding tbh!

Yeah I've found that I'm more confused lately (more so that my normal dizziness!) and the dr I'm seeing tomorrow is my fave & she spends longer than most drs tbh!

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Hope your apt goes well. If no one has told you make sure you get a form filled in so you can have an exemption cert which allows you free prescriptions.

 

[soxpatch]

Hi. I already get free prescriptions (tax credit exemption) but suspect coz I got a promotion recently I might be over the limit to qualify from this coming financial year so I will deffo get the form today. Ta