Hi, I'm Hanne!

H

Hanne

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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She/Her
Hi,

My name is Hanne, I'm 49 and I have just been diagnosed with Type 2. I will be taking Metformin and statins from tomorrow.

To be fair, all the warning signs were there, and partially due to stress I firmly stuck my head in the sand. Now I will have to work at it.

I have bipolar II and am on medication, which did cause me to put on a lot of extra weight and crave the wrong things.

I don't have a lot of willpower, but I will do my best!
 
Hanne said:
Hi,

My name is Hanne, I'm 49 and I have just been diagnosed with Type 2. I will be taking Metformin and statins from tomorrow.

To be fair, all the warning signs were there, and partially due to stress I firmly stuck my head in the sand. Now I will have to work at it.

I have bipolar II and am on medication, which did cause me to put on a lot of extra weight and crave the wrong things.

I don't have a lot of willpower, but I will do my best!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum, you will find lots here which will hopefully help you. It is easy to become overwhelmed with information and to sort the things which will help from those that will not.
I assume as you have been prescribed metformin your HbA1C is fairly high but there is no reason why by making some dietary changes you should not get your blood glucose down. Metformin just helps the body use the insulin it produces more effectively and reduces the release of glucose by the liver but diet is equally if not more important.
Finding a dietary approach which suits you and is one you enjoy will make it more sustainable long term.
Changing those craving to things that are more diabetic friendly will help.
Have a look at this link for lots of good ideas for making those changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Take one day at a time and make a plan of action for moving forward, you don't have to do it all at once, take it gradually but you do need to do something and take it seriously.
 
Good Luck.

I was diagnosed 7 weeks ago HbA1c of 81 - same Meds as you - 2 x 500mg Metformin SR and a statin (Not sure why as my cholesterol was not that high)

Got a phone call from a Nurse to be put on meds no real info - got loads of good gen of Diabetes UK including these forums.

I have had no real side effects from the Metformin -

Cut out all the obvious and have gone low Carb - so far have lost well over a stone from my August weigh in and over 2 from my heaviest

I bought a BGM to do morning readings so I could do weekly averages.

First week was a 8.1 Mmol/l - not as high as my HbA1c would have suggested but still to high.

Last week was a 6.2 Mmol/l so heading in the right direction.

Retest HbA1c in November - Hoping for something in the 50's but maybe to optimistic.

My aim is to lose more weight - give my body time to heal and get off the Metformin.

If I can do it anybody can - I had normalised my diet and my size with the help from a unhealthy society.

You can do this!!! - Take each day as it comes - as many have said it is a Marathon not a Sprint.
 
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Welcome to the forum @Hanne

One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.

That’s not to say you have to avoid all those things entirely, but getting the portion sizes right for your metabolism (possibly aiming for no more than 130g of carbohydrates per day to begin with) can be a very powerful strategy.

If you would like a good overview of T2 diabetes, to add to the knowledge you’ve already picked up, you might want to register for an account with the Learning Zone (the orange tab in the main menu) which is packed full of informative bite-sized modules. Additionally, for a more personal take, you could read Maggie Davey’s Letter to the Newly Diagnosed which is one woman’s account of her own diabetes diagnosis, and the things she wishes she’d learned from the start.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on. 🙂
 
JOV said:
Good Luck.

I was diagnosed 7 weeks ago HbA1c of 81 - same Meds as you - 2 x 500mg Metformin SR and a statin (Not sure why as my cholesterol was not that high)
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They tend to like to put people with diabetes on statins as diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks/strokes.
 
harbottle said:
They tend to like to put people with diabetes on statins as diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks/strokes.
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That is what I surmised after the DN told me nothing.
 
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JOV said:
Good Luck.

I was diagnosed 7 weeks ago HbA1c of 81 - same Meds as you - 2 x 500mg Metformin SR and a statin (Not sure why as my cholesterol was not that high)

Got a phone call from a Nurse to be put on meds no real info - got loads of good gen of Diabetes UK including these forums.

I have had no real side effects from the Metformin -

Cut out all the obvious and have gone low Carb - so far have lost well over a stone from my August weigh in and over 2 from my heaviest

I bought a BGM to do morning readings so I could do weekly averages.

You can do this!!! - Take each day as it comes - as many have said it is a Marathon not a Sprint.
Click to expand...
Hi, the two traditional mantra for newbies with meters are 'test,test test' and 'eat to your meter'.
The usual testing times are - fasting, two hours after a meal and bedtime. The meter should tell you how you react to different carbs ( bread, flour, spuds, pasta, rice etc.) And what portion sizes of those you can cope with. Once you have a grip on that T2s often ease up on the testing to just the basics and new foods. You might have a problem getting a prescription for test strips since denying Type 2s the tools to do the job of self-management is part of the skrimping on Type 2 care to save a few quid.
 
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JOV said:
That is what I surmised after the act DN told me nothing.
Click to expand...
The Metabolic Syndrome are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that ride together and exacerbate each other - overweight, Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure. Each one has to be treated pro-actively/ aggressively. Diabetic Dyslipidemia ( high total cholesterol, high LDL and depressed HDL) is a common, early complication of Diabetes and a precursor of cardio vascular disease (cvd). Statins are a preventive medication that knock the lipid panel into shape and keep cholesterol under control. Research in the 1990s by Edwin Biermann showed that the tipping point for the acceleration in cvd was Total Chols over 5. But for Diabetics the tipping point came at 4. Hence the traditional recommendation for Type 2s to have Total Chols under 4 ( and Statins are the simplest cheapest way of achieving that). But you don't just have to look at Total Chols, the current emphasis is on Total LDL and Total Chols minus HDL. Management of cholesterol is one of the important aspects of the management of the consequences of Type 2 Diabetes. Unfortunately the whole field has been bedevilled by scaremongering about Statins particularly in the Daily Fail.
Having said that the 2009 Professional Conference of Diabetes UK decided that new Type 2s should be given six months on Diet and Exercise only so that they could understand the absolute necessity of diet and lifestyle changes. It's just too easy for pen-pushers to reach for the prescription pad.
 
JOV said:
Good Luck.

I was diagnosed 7 weeks ago HbA1c of 81 - same Meds as you - 2 x 500mg Metformin SR and a statin (Not sure why as my cholesterol was not that high)

Got a phone call from a Nurse to be put on meds no real info - got loads of good gen of Diabetes UK including these forums.

I have had no real side effects from the Metformin -

Cut out all the obvious and have gone low Carb - so far have lost well over a stone from my August weigh in and over 2 from my heaviest

I bought a BGM to do morning readings so I could do weekly averages.

First week was a 8.1 Mmol/l - not as high as my HbA1c would have suggested but still to high.

Last week was a 6.2 Mmol/l so heading in the right direction.

Retest HbA1c in November - Hoping for something in the 50's but maybe to optimistic.

My aim is to lose more weight - give my body time to heal and get off the Metformin.

If I can do it anybody can - I had normalised my diet and my size with the help from a unhealthy society.

You can do this!!! - Take each day as it comes - as many have said it is a Marathon not a Sprint.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much - apologies for the late acknowledgement! My practice nurse just showed me a cup of how much I should have of rice, pasta, potato and the like, and told me I could eat as many sausages, bacon and other meat as I liked. Through this website I found out that isn't the case at all.
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to the forum, you will find lots here which will hopefully help you. It is easy to become overwhelmed with information and to sort the things which will help from those that will not.
I assume as you have been prescribed metformin your HbA1C is fairly high but there is no reason why by making some dietary changes you should not get your blood glucose down. Metformin just helps the body use the insulin it produces more effectively and reduces the release of glucose by the liver but diet is equally if not more important.
Finding a dietary approach which suits you and is one you enjoy will make it more sustainable long term.
Changing those craving to things that are more diabetic friendly will help.
Have a look at this link for lots of good ideas for making those changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Take one day at a time and make a plan of action for moving forward, you don't have to do it all at once, take it gradually but you do need to do something and take it seriously.
Click to expand...
Thank you - apologies for the late acknowledgement. My Hba1c was 50 on 25th September 2024, and similar about a week later.
 
Hanne said:
Thank you - apologies for the late acknowledgement. My Hba1c was 50 on 25th September 2024, and similar about a week later.
Click to expand...
To be honest a week later it would be similar unless the test was wrong as HBA1c measure across a 3-4 month period based on the formation of red blood cells - I was told I had to wait 3 months as there was no point in testing earlier.

50 is only just in the scale so hopefully small tweaks in diet and lifestyle will be sufficient.

An A1c of 50 is low to be put on Meds I was 81 and was put on the same regime as you.
 
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If your starting point is only 50mmol/mol which is just over the threshold then some modest changes are probably all that is needed even without the medication but diet will be just as if not more important.
She was right in that meat, fish eggs, cheese, diary even high meat content sausages are low carb and therefore good foods on which to base meals.
Those high carb foods like pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals are the foods which people need to be cautious of, some tolerate a small portion but others find they need to cut them out all together find alternative lower carb foods.
This link may help you https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
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