Diagnosed last week - not sure what is happening

[onefooteight]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last week. I do a lot of exercise and last Tuesday had figure skated for 2 hours shortly before my appointment. My bloods were 26.

I've been given a monitor and all week they have mainly varied between 18 and 21. Some are before food and some two hours after. I have had some lower - two were 13, but none higher than 21 until today.

I skated for 2 hours this morning and did a test when I got up (18.2) and then 10 minutes after I came off the ice. This one was 27. How could it be so high when I hadn't eaten anything since 10pm last night?

I'll be skating every day for the next 3 weeks. Will my bloods remain high?

 

[Northerner]

Hi Mandy, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis - how did it come about? Exercising when your blood sugar levels are already high can actually cause them to go higher rather than lower, as you might expect. This is because your body needs insulin in order to utilise the energy provided by the blood sugar, but if it can't do this efficiently then your brain responds by thinking you must need more sugar - it expects you to have sufficient insulin all the time. Unfortunately, this makes your liver release extra stores of sugar into your blood, and your blood levels just go higher because, as was already happening, your body can't use it properly Note, if you don't eat, your liver will release extra glucose from its stores to provide you with the energy you are not getting from food.

Hope that makes some sort of sense! If you are waking in the morning to 18+ then this is, I'm afraid, too high to consider exercising on. Who provided you with the Type 2 diagnosis? Have you had symptoms, and if so have you had them a long time, or more recently?

 

[Martin Canty]

Hi Mandy, sorry to hear about the DX, but welcome to the group,

Don't know what advice they gave you but you do need to cut carbs.... I am assuming that (because it sounds like you are an athlete) you may be carb loading before exercise.... Not good for us T2's. If you can give us an idea of a typical days meals

 

[Ljc]

Hi, welcome . I have heard of BGs rising after exersiz though It's not something I have experience of so will leave it to those who do, who will be along shortly.

I must learn to type faster lol

 

[onefooteight]

Thanks for your replies. I didn't eat anything. I never can on a morning so I just usually have a latte made with skimmed milk. Its not shop bought and is made at home. I don't really have a typical days eating.

 

[onefooteight]

I've not had any symptoms. I don't get thirsty and though I get tired, its because I'm very busy. I would never have known I had a problem but I had an eye test and was told that I had a small bleed at the back of both of my eyes. This prompted me to go to the doctor who organised blood tests. It was a result of the blood test which made them say I had diabetes as the result was 26. I can't stop ice skating.

 

[Martin Canty]

I can't stop ice skating.

As far as exercise I think this is great.... Have you looked at your carb intake? I'd recommend cutting (or reducing) bread, cereals, pasta, rice & starchy vegetables as a good start & see where your numbers take you.

 

[onefooteight]

The problem is I'm so busy I don't have time to plan things. I've three children plus I work full time. I also work away quite a lot. In fact my middle child told someone today that he doesn't see me anymore :-( Going to have to do something though. Are there any diet plans that are really simple that I could try?

 

[Copepod]

No reason to stop ice skating. In fact, exercise is great, whatever type of diabbetes you have!
Response to exercise depends on what type of diabetes you have. Many of us have developed type 1 diabetes as normal weighy adults - it tends to develop much less rapidly in adults than children. If you are normal weight, and even if you are overweight, it is possible that you actually have type 1 diabetes or LADA.
A few webpages to help you with various types of diabetes and types of exercise:
http://www.runsweet.com/DiabetesAndSport.html (type 1)
http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Basics.html
http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_2_Basics.html

 

[Northerner]

I've not had any symptoms. I don't get thirsty and though I get tired, its because I'm very busy. I would never have known I had a problem but I had an eye test and was told that I had a small bleed at the back of both of my eyes. This prompted me to go to the doctor who organised blood tests. It was a result of the blood test which made them say I had diabetes as the result was 26. I can't stop ice skating.

My concern is that you may have been misdiagnosed, possibly due to your age (some GPs think that only children can be diagnosed as Type 1). Your levels are very high for someone without symptoms, and the bleed in your eyes is potentially worrying. As mentioned by Copepod, you could have a slow-onset version of Type 1, also known as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adulthood). If this is the case then it means your pancreas is gradually losing the ability to produce insulin, and it is potentially very dangerous. You should not be exercising with levels above 15 mmol/l. I think you need to seek a second opinion, possibly ask for a referral to a diabetes specialist. Do you have any family history of diabetes?

The problem is I'm so busy I don't have time to plan things. I've three children plus I work full time. I also work away quite a lot. In fact my middle child told someone today that he doesn't see me anymore :-( Going to have to do something though. Are there any diet plans that are really simple that I could try?

Mandy, I'm not sure you appreciate the full import of your diagnosis. Whatever type you are your blood sugar levels are running at around four to five times normal. Do you have any follow-up appointments or tests due? The simplest diet would be to cut out practically all the carbohydrates you eat, but this may not be sustainable and depending on what is going on might not actually help. Diabetes can be managed well, but you have to understand it and how it affects you as an individual - despite a lot of the media hype, it's not just a case of 'eating healthily' (which you may be doing anyway). What would you eat in a typical day? You will be able to do all the things you want to do, but only if you are on an appropriate medication regime (if needed) and a diet that you tolerate well.

 

[onefooteight]

I think you are probably right and that I don't understand the seriousness. Its difficult to do this when I feel so well. I don't feel ill and don't have any of the usual symptoms. I saw the nurse who gave me the monitor. She spent an hour with me but I did not really understand what I needed to do. Diet was mentioned, but then my best friend, who is a nurse practitioner, told me the complete opposite. I'm seeing the nurse again on Tuesday. Due to my job, I had 21 eye tests last month and only 5 of those mentioned the bleeding and of those, two said it was only in one eye. All said that the bleed was very small.

Although I figure skate, I'm not the healthiest eater and do eat tons of sugar (not anymore though). I'm classed as obese - I'm female, 5'2" and currently weight 13 stone. At my heaviest, I was 16 stone 3lbs (morbidly obese?)

Just done my bloods now as 2 hours since I last ate and they are now 17.2. They were 25 just before I ate.

 

[Martin Canty]

Its difficult to do this when I feel so well

Thank you for sharing, Mandy, I understand the frustration of this illness.... I wear a diabetic alert bracelet just to remind me that I have a chronic illness despite being in the best shape of my adult life.

Things are going to be difficult at first, your body will be needing to make a lot of adjustments as you bring your blood sugar down to more normal levels; sometimes you will feel lousy but remember that this is progress (as long as the meter is telling you so) There will be wild fluctuations in BG as your body resists the changes you are imposing on it but the important thing to note is that without these lifestyle changes the prognosis is not good. You are likely in a condition that here in the States is known as a "Brittle Diabetic" (haven't seen that term while I have been on this board), the more you get under control the less brittle you will be & the more stable you become; it just takes time & effort.

As you have noted, sugar was probably a big downfall.... Now it's time to address the rest of the carbs, listen to the people on this board, we are living with the disease daily rather than the Medical Profession reading from a script. Myself, I have replaced the "starch portion" of my "plate" with vegetables. I eat more fat than they recommend but fat sates the appetite so portion sizes are smaller.

Keep us posted!

 

[Diabeticliberty]

Mandy do you fully understand the condition of diabetes? Has anyone taken the time to explain it to you and the possible implications involved in mid to long term poor diabetic control?

 

[onefooteight]

Mandy do you fully understand the condition of diabetes? Has anyone taken the time to explain it to you and the possible implications involved in mid to long term poor diabetic control?

I don't understand it or the implications at all. I don't feel ill.

 

[onefooteight]

Just come back from a 1 hour skate. Instead of skating on an empty stomach like I usually do, I had some scrambled eggs before I left. Didn't skate well, feel a sick from the food. But my levels moved much less. Think they were 17.2 and then 18.

 

[Diabeticliberty]

Then perhaps as a forum we should be offering you advice as simple as we can make it to avoid overloading you with too much information or terms that most of us use on a daily basis but as a newly diagnosed diabetic nobody should really expect you like to be familiar with. I am currently on my way to see a client but am sure Northerner (our moderator and general all round good egg) can offer you an explanation and offer some decent reading material explaining everything in very easy terms.

 

[Northerner]

I don't understand it or the implications at all. I don't feel ill.

Hi Mandy, it's not your fault. Unfortunately there are a lot of myths and conflicting information around about diabetes and often the healthcare professionals we deal with don't actually do a very good job of explaining.

Worry not! 🙂 Take a few minutes to read Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter - they are both a very good place to begin. For a bit of bedtime reading, it's worth getting a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. When you feel better informed about it, things will make more sense and it will become easier to get to grips with things.

I would start by writing a food diary, recording the amount of carbohydrate (in grams) in everything you eat and drink. I know you are a very busy person and it might seem a waste of time, but it really is well worth it. It will help you identify your total carb intake, and also elements of your diet that can be easily and painlessly improved in order to have a better impact on your blood sugar levels 🙂 You said earlier that you don't really have a typical day's meals, so I suspect you may be surprised by what you are actually consuming (in terms of carbs, not calories). I'm guessing also that, as a very active person, you eat things in order to give you the energy you need to get through all your various activities? What may actually be happening is that because your body can't use the energy from food efficiently (as shown by your high levels) your pancreas is responding by over-producing insulin. This excess of insulin causes much of that excess sugar to be stored as fat, which in turn increases insulin resistance - it's a bit of a vicious circle

Do the diary, then have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S - this will help you uncover your tolerances for the things you eat and drink, and you can then make informed decisions on what you might need to reduce or replace in your diet. Finally, do have a look at the GL diet (Glycaemic Load) - this is an approach to selecting and combining foods so that they have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels. The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction 🙂

Please do find the time to do these things 🙂 I know you don't feel unwell or have any symptoms, but having chronic hogh blood sugar levels will gradually damage practically every part of you. If you can learn how to manage things well, there is no reason why you can't do everything you want and remain in the best of health - the alternative is, I'm afraid, full of horror stories and a huge reduction in quality of life.

Please continue to ask away! 🙂

 

[onefooteight]

Thanks. I ordered a copy of GL Diet for Dummies last night. Will read everything you suggested. Just got to do some work for the next couple of hours. It feels a bit surreal at the minute.

 

[Northerner]

Thanks. I ordered a copy of GL Diet for Dummies last night. Will read everything you suggested. Just got to do some work for the next couple of hours. It feels a bit surreal at the minute.

I think most of us felt like that at the start Mandy! 🙂 I'm intrigued by your job and what you said about having 21 eye examinations in a month That's probably more than I have had in a lifetime - are you a stuntwoman for an optician? 😱 😉

 

[onefooteight]

It felt like I was a stunt woman when the each wanted to blow 4 puffs of air into my eyes! I check customer service.