I feel like i am being obsessive!

[Jenniw1990]

When you were first diagnosed were you absolutely terrified of what you had been told? Since being diagnosed with type 2 in october 2019 i have been so worried about everything i do and eat in regards to food. I have an appointment on the 10th Jan 2020 to see my nurse who will be able to give me some more information and look at my readings and diet etc. I am on metformin taking 1 tablet twice a day. I check my BS every morning without fail but the readings are always 9 and above. This freaks me out...what am i doing wrong? I then feel that i have to wait to have any food before it drops down. Is this a good idea or am i getting the wrong end of the stick? Thanks in advance

 

[Toucan]

Hello Jenny
Try not to worry so much, it all takes time to get to terms with.
Early morning results can be the most difficult ones to get lower. No need to wait to eat before iBS drops, just try to eat at the normal times and have a good breakfast. Do you re-measure your readings during the day. Leave it until 2 hours after you have eaten, and that will show you the effect of whatever food you have had, and give a better idea of your more general readings. If readings are high then sometimes exercise helps to bring them down, if you are able to go for a good brisk walk that may help.
I hope the meeting with the nurse is helpful. What sort of eating plan are you following? For many of us low-carb works, but it isn't suitable for everyone, best to follow the advice from your nurse.
Just remember the 3 main things that will help you are a good eating plan, exercise and whatever medication has been recommended.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear that you are feeling a bit overwhelmed @Jenniw1990, though it is completely understandable. Adjusting to a diagnosis with diabetes can take some time, so it’s important to allow yourself to react to the shock and what can almost be a process of ‘grieving’.

Good that you are checking your own levels, hopefully this will allow you to build up a picture over time of the sorts of food, particularly carbohydrates, and the quantities, that your metabolism can cope well with.

Many members here find AlanS’s ‘test, review; adjust’ framework a helpful way to examine the effects of different amounts and types of carbs on your BG. This might give you some more pointers towards practical changes you can make than just checking pre-breakfast?

https://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html

Keep us updated with how you get on, and hope the appointment goes well.

 

[Drummer]

When I was told of the diagnosis I was told nothing very useful - it was basically 'take these tablets'. If I was not the me that I am, I'd have been worried.

 

[freesia]

Hello and welcome. It takes time to adjust and accept the diagnosis. When i was first diagnosed i went on this site and found out as much as i could about diabetes. It can be overwhelming to start as there is so much information to take in. I was diagnosed in 2017 as type 1 and i'm still learning and still have times when i get overwhelmed with it all. Talk to the diabetic nurse and don't be afraid to ask questions or get them to explain anything you don't understand. The forum is always here to listen (read) when you need to have a rant or ask a question. I hope all goes well for you.

 

[Sharron1]

When I was told of the diagnosis I was told nothing very useful - it was basically 'take these tablets'. If I was not the me that I am, I'd have been worried.

Snap

 

[Ditto]

Keep calm, keep swimming! You'll be okay, read as much as you can. I always try and have one diabetic book on the go from the library. Some of it's bound to sink in is what I'm thinking. I'm reading Can I Eat That? at the minute. Boring as all get out, but I'll finish it if it kills me. When I was first diagnosed I went into total denial and completely forgot almost as I walked out of the surgery! You're doing okay imho.

 

[zoombapup]

When you were first diagnosed were you absolutely terrified of what you had been told? Since being diagnosed with type 2 in october 2019 i have been so worried about everything i do and eat in regards to food.

Kind of. I was in hospital for 4 days with keto acidosis and on an insulin drip, so it definitely freaked me out. But since then I've been reading up on these forums and from books on the condition etc. I think the best thing you can do, is to get into a testing mindset. Make sure you test your blood glucose levels as often as you need to feel in control. Although you'll find out you're not really in control pretty quickly, but it feels a bit more like you are at least. The main thing is to lower your carbohydrate intake. That much seems to be universally accepted aside from some weird medical advice that seems to advocate a standard "healthy" diet. Its weird to think about, but I got offered sugary cakes all the time while in hospital for diabetes, so clearly the medical profession has some issues.

Are you testing your BG levels often enough? I tend to do before and after meals, or just after if I know roughly where I am. So I test first thing after waking, knowing that the level will be higher. I test just before lunch and I expect my morning level to have lowered a bit during the morning. I then test after lunch about 1-2 hours depending on how busy. I note any weird spikes related to what I ate. Do the same for Dinner (often I just test after dinner on the theory I'll be somewhere around the same as I was pre-lunch just before dinner). I think the sense of empowerment from testing is a good thing. Makes me feel safer being able to monitor my own condition.

My main takeaway so far is that this is a complicated condition, after all it's a complex interchange between hormones and food energy. But that we can control it by controlling the fuel source (food). Still not quite figured out my own journey yet, but testing was my mainstay to get me over the initial fear I think.

 

[zoombapup]

Just reading you guys experience. I'm amazed at how different the medical approach to diabetes is for different people. I've had nothing but useful support so far. Although it's not particularly regular, I've had 2 good diabetic nurses and I'm about to go visit the consultant again for the first time since getting out of hospital. The DN at hospital really went through things with me, gave me a bunch of advice on where to start and what to read. Funnily enough I think he was impressed that I'd written a bunch of questions down before I saw him. Night and day difference to some of you guys. Sad to hear.