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Hi, seeing the nurse for my first appointment next week

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Rowsie

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Type 2
hi! So I’ve been to the doctors after feeling rough for a while and suspecting diabetes. I bought a tester kit and my readings vary from 20 to 8.9. I have my first doctors appointment on Tuesday, so I’m looking forward to finding out more.
I’m a very fussy eater and lactose intolerant, so it’s a little daunting. I’ve bought a couple of books though with some great recipes, and I’ve seen lots on forums too.
 
Welcome to the forum @Rowsie

Sorry you’ve been diagnosed. Those BG levels are quite elevated, which probably explains why you’ve been feeling rough for a while.

What sorts of foods do you enjoy? If you give us an idea of the sorts of foods you eat at the moment, our friendly and helpful T2s might be able to suggest some swaps and changes, but it’s likely that you will want to be cutting back on sources of carbohydrate, such as potatoes, rice, pasta, flour, cereals, grains, bread, oats, and many fruits - along with the more obvious sweet and sugary stuff.

How much you will have to cut back, and how much you can still eat while keeping your BG well managed is very individual, and the best way to work it out is to use a BG meter to check your response to different foods/meals.

Alan S’s Test Review Adjust is a good description of the process. https://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html

You might also find Maggie Davey’s letter a helpful overview of type 2
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/maggie-daveys-letter-to-newly-diagnosed-type-2s.61307/

Keep us posted and let us know how you are getting on.
 
Welcome to the forum Rowsie from a fellow T2.
I'm going to guess a lot of the 20s are after eating. And 8.9s when you haven't eaten for some time.
 
Rowsie said:
hi! So I’ve been to the doctors after feeling rough for a while and suspecting diabetes. I bought a tester kit and my readings vary from 20 to 8.9. I have my first doctors appointment on Tuesday, so I’m looking forward to finding out more.
I’m a very fussy eater and lactose intolerant, so it’s a little daunting. I’ve bought a couple of books though with some great recipes, and I’ve seen lots on forums too.
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I’m an incredibly fussy eater as well, I found it daunting . I personally found from lots of testing that potatoes and I can no longer have a relationship . Cauliflower rice has been a big hit with me . What do you like to eat ?
 
Hi. My highest readings tend to be first thing, pre food or drink. I love pasta, and everything bad. I’ve cut them out now. I’ve not been testing myself before and after every meal, just randomly. 8.9 was after eating nothing and just drinking water, and after a 3 mile dog walk. After a couple of slices of roast beef and a packet of crisps it went up to 17.1.
I’m almost through a kitchen extension so I’ve had no cooker or hob for a while, thankfully I should get them back this week. I love most veg, no Brussels, onions or pepper though. I love fruit, so I’m trying to be careful with it. I’ve cut out cakes, biscuits and chocolate, apart from 1 square of 85% chocolate today.
I’m not fussed on bread or potatoes, yoghurt, eggs or cream. I don’t drink coffee, but I do love tea with half spoon. Not keen on fish. Lol, I’m a nightmare.
 
Rowsie said:
Hi. My highest readings tend to be first thing, pre food or drink. I love pasta, and everything bad. I’ve cut them out now. I’ve not been testing myself before and after every meal, just randomly. 8.9 was after eating nothing and just drinking water, and after a 3 mile dog walk. After a couple of slices of roast beef and a packet of crisps it went up to 17.1
Click to expand...

It’s tricky to comment really without the ‘before’ readings, because while 17 is very high... if you had been 15.5 before the meal, and only rose by 1.5mmol/L, then that meal would have been great if you had started ‘in range’.

Has your diabetes come on suddenly? And have you been losing weight? I am just wondering from some of the things you’ve written whether you may have been classified as T2, where you might have LADA or another form of diabetes?
 
Typically I would have had oats so simple (golden syrup) for breakfast at work, some snack a jacks, a clementine, choc bar, for lunch. Tea would be a spaghetti Bol, chilli or something like that. The biggest downfall being the cake/biscuits etc I would snack on.
 
Hi. My blood test results came in last week, and I have my doctors appt on Tuesday to discuss them. My blood test levels were 14.5 at the hospital, after just eating some blueberries and about 3pm. My HBA1C test was 110mmol. I’ve had dry mouth, tiredness and hunger first thing for a couple of months. I’ve lost about 2 stone since I last weighed myself (about 3 years ago!). I have lost weight more recently which I noticed when my wedding ring got so loose I had to get a gripper thing.
Our diet has been rubbish for a couple of months due to lack of cooking facilities.
 
Rowsie said:
Typically I would have had oats so simple (golden syrup) for breakfast at work, some snack a jacks, a clementine, choc bar, for lunch. Tea would be a spaghetti Bol, chilli or something like that. The biggest downfall being the cake/biscuits etc I would snack on.
Click to expand...

Well I think you know that the cakes and biscuits are going to have to be saved for very rare treats only, or abandoned altogether - at least to start with.

Oats can work well for some, but while convenient the more mangled and processed ‘instant oats’ sometimes lose the slow-release nature of rolled jumbo oats. If it’s a matter of being short of time, I wonder if you could soak regular oats overnight and take them in to microwave at work? That way you can reduce the added sugar/syrup too.

Spaghetti may be tricky (you’d have to test to see how you get on personally). But there’s the cook it, cool it and reheat it trick which alters the starch in pasta and may help you cope with it better.

For chilli, curry etc cauli ‘rice’ is a very useful swap for many members, and does just the same job of being something bland to soak up the sauce 🙂
 
Rowsie said:
Hi. My blood test results came in last week, and I have my doctors appt on Tuesday to discuss them. My blood test levels were 14.5 at the hospital, after just eating some blueberries and about 3pm. My HBA1C test was 110mmol. I’ve had dry mouth, tiredness and hunger first thing for a couple of months. I’ve lost about 2 stone since I last weighed myself (about 3 years ago!). I have lost weight more recently which I noticed when my wedding ring got so loose I had to get a gripper thing.
Our diet has been rubbish for a couple of months due to lack of cooking facilities.
Click to expand...

It does seem like you are getting really quite elevated BG with not much carb content to have caused them. Alongside accelerating weight loss, it does raise some question marks for me, particularly if you happened to be in that ‘tricky’ time zone of late 20s early 30s where T1 or LADA is still quite common, but T2 is often assumed (especially if a person is carrying a few extra pounds).

It might be worth asking if a cPeptide test would help confirm your diagnosis.
 
I wish I was 20/30, I’m 41 unfortunately feeling about 80 at the moment. I am overweight too. I have stepped up my dog walking, which is making me feel better. I’ll be glad when I’ve seen the nurse and have a course of action. I’ve replaced my naughty snacks with almonds and a dried apricot, which has actually been okay. I’m not going to lie I’m going to miss those crisps most. I’m all up for trying vegetable spaghetti/rice etc.
I’ve bought some Scottish oats so I’m going to try making my own porridge with some berries and seeds. I’ve even bought frozen fruit to endure my water at work.
I’m hoping with a variety of recipes I can do this.
 
Well we’ve got members here who were diagnosed T1 in their 50s, 60s and 70s. Theresa May and the Speaker Lindsay Hoyle are recent high profile people diagnosed with T1 in later life, but some HCPs still suggest T1 is ‘only for children’ 🙄

Still might be worth raising the accelerating weight loss, rapid increase in BG, the possibility of LADA, and seeing what they say?
 
Rowsie said:
Will do, thank you. Any advice or guidance is gratefully received.
Click to expand...

Always good to ask the questions. Even if there ends up being nothing in it!
 
Hi Rosie 🙂
Let us know what the doc says but be prepared for quite a radical change to the food you consume. Nothing is off limits but it might be wise to monitor your BG levels regularly for a period so you get a baseline and can see what spikes it for you.
Mike’s already given you the link to the ‘test, test, test’ post and that’s what I’m doing right now as I’m recently diagnosed myself (at 52).
I’m testing upon waking and before each meal then two hours after each meal started. I’ll sometimes do more of there’s a spike that I’m being overly panicking about (as I’m only a week in I’m learning what’s reasonable but sometimes do fret unnecessarily!) and will do a test just before bed. All results are logged in an app on my phone so I can show them to the GP/nurse/my mum/friends/the cat and any interested parties easily.
You may also find that cutting out the carbs help as lots of folk on here report great success with doing that. I’m shifting to a low carb high natural fats approach for food and it seems to be working. But it is only the start of this journey for me.
What I will say, apart from that I’ve a tendency to ramble on at times, is that this forum has been a huge support so far so pull up a chair, make yourself at home, and remember that there are no stupid questions 🙂
 
Morning, thanks everyone. One I am struggling to get my head round at the moment is how I do my testing at work. I work from 7 am till 4 pm four days a week and I’m not sure how I fit my testing in around that ? Do I just do it in my evening meals? Does anyone test at work and then how do you dispose of everything ? Sorry it’s probably a stupid question.
 
What’s the environment like where you work? Office? Retail? Farm?
You can only do what you can do so if you have preset breaks for example then you either test in those or you tell work that you’re diabetic and need to test. I’m sure they won’t deny you that ability. I’m also pretty sure that chances are they can’t deny you that ability.
 
The testing strips just go in the bin and you’re not going to be changing the lancet (most people don’t replace it every time as it’s not necessary - the manufacturers recommend that you do but they’re trying to sell them so that’s understandable!) so what is there to dispose of?
 
Ahh thank you. I’m in an open office environment, so I’ll have to do it in the loo for privacy. I’ve been changing my lancet each time, good to know there’s no need thanks. How often should you change it then? Can I put the strips in the bin if they have blood on? Should I wash them first? Thank you, this is so new to me.
 
Rowsie said:
Ahh thank you. I’m in an open office environment, so I’ll have to do it in the loo for privacy. I’ve been changing my lancet each time, good to know there’s no need thanks. How often should you change it then? Can I put the strips in the bin if they have blood on? Should I wash them first? Thank you, this is so new to me.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t do it in the loo, it’s not a very hygienic location for that sort of thing, and checking your BG isn’t anything you need to be ashamed of or hide away. If you are self-conscious perhaps you could withdraw to a stairwell, or other quiet corner (assuming there is no staff room or similar), but there’s really no need to go anywhere other than your desk. The process is so quick and clean that it’s highly unlikely anyone will ever notice.

You can put the strips in the bin, just as you would a plaster or a tissue if you’d had a nose bleed. Having said that, my meter case has a little zip-up section in it and I generally put my used strips in there and then empty them out after a week or so 🙂
 
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