“New T2” here.

[Paul H]

Hi everyone.
I was diagnosed as a T2 last September and have been battling away since then.
Really glad to have found you all here.
Be well and stay safe out there.
All the best.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Paul and welcome

Would you like to tell us a bit more about your diabetes and how you manage it?
Stuff like - How you came to be diagnosed? Your HbA1c reading? What, if any, medication you are using for it?
What, if any, changes you have made to your diet and lifestyle to help improve your levels?

I imagine support during the past 6 months has been pretty minimal due to the pandemic, but there is a huge amount of knowledge and experience here on the forum which you can tap into as well as just the emotional support aspect of sharing concerns and frustrations with people who understand because they face the same challenges.

 

[Paul H]

Hi and thanks for the welcome
You got the nail right on the head there. I have had no support at all, other than getting my Metformin.
I’m 50 years old and completely changed my diet once I was diagnosed. I am now 22kgs lighter than I was. I eat mostly green veg (broccoli and sprouts) with lots of meat (chicken) and snacks are usually fruit or the occasional sweet but that’s very rare now.
I’ll be starting my Desmond course next week (thankfully) but it’s taken them months to get in touch .... I’ll see what the course is like.
At the moment, I’m debating if I should start testing myself now or not. My gut feeling says yes but there’s the cost factor as well .....
Thats a rough overview and intro.

 

[Paul H]

I forgot to say. I don’t know my levels. I was told not to concern myself with testing etc. I had my HbA1c done in December and no one has told me what it was. It’s been almost impossible to get in contact with anyone who could help. Seems as if they tell you you are T2 and then forget about you. I don’t mean that nastily, it has however felt like that for a lot of the time though. Sad ...

 

[Vonny]

Hi Paul, and welcome from a fellow type 2 who also lives on green veggies and lots of meat, backed up by cheese, eggs and nuts.

Well done on your weight loss, that's great and should help towards lowering your hba1c. Next time you get it done, you should ask them what it was and what your new reading is.

Re testing, I bought myself a gluco navii testing kit because the lancets and strips are relatively cheap. I found it invaluable to start with although I now only test before and 2 hours after a meal if I have something different. I found keeping a food diary useful because I can look back at what spiked by blood glucose and what didn't.

Any questions, just shout out. As @rebrascora says, there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum. I've learned so much about my condition since joining 🙂

 

[Paul H]

Thanks Vonny.
I will do, no problem there.
I’ll look at the Gluco Navi as well. I think it may be between that and a Sinocare at the moment

 

[Leadinglights]

I have done the DESMOND on line course and it has some useful suggestions but is also quite basic in the information, I think you will get just as much good advice from people here and certainly more prompt answers to any questions you have. The DESMOND course follows the standard NHS guidelines which may not be sufficient to enable some people to manage their condition. I would suggest that once you log on to the course you look through some of the posts and replies as you may find them useful.
It would be useful if you could find out you HbA1C then you know where you are and whether your changes have been effective.

 

[Paul H]

I had a feeling about that. That it would be basic info. I guess I’m like lots of other new people at the moment and am scouring the Internet for info as well. I’ll remember to do that with the results

 

[rebrascora]

Sounds like you have done brilliantly with changes to your diet and weight loss so congratulations on that.
The advantage of testing is that you can see which foods you need to avoid but there may be quite a few foods which you are currently avoiding which you can perhaps get away with and would enjoy incorporating into your diet. It can be surprisingly individual as to what some people react to but others don't.

As regards test kits, the two which are tried and tested by forum members and well recommended are the Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2. We did have a couple of posts a while back from people who got the Sinocare and had problems with it and I think at least one ended up sending it back. That may have been user error on their behalf, so I am not specifically saying it is unreliable, but just that the other two mentioned have proved to be very reliable.

I agree that knowing your HbA1c results is really important, particularly when you are being left to manage your diabetes with very little support. Knowledge is power and also seeing improvements in results when you are working hard to make lifestyle changes is helpful in keeping you motivated. It may also be that your levels did not necessarily warrant medication in the first place or if they have improved sufficiently, no longer require medication, so it is useful to be able to have informed discussions with your GP or nurse about your medication levels and possibly reducing or stopping them if appropriate.

 

[Paul H]

I definitely need to speak to someone about my levels etc as I was put directly onto 3 Metformin tablets. I’m still on 3 but am starting to feel it now ... so I’m also hoping that I can reduce it soon. I think the weight loss should habe had a massive effect on me. I’ve requested an appointment with the nurse so I’ll see what is said once I can see someone Thanks for the tips on the testing kit as well

 

[rebrascora]

It is normal to start people on 1 Metformin and then increase it gradually up to whatever final daily dose has been decided due to the potential for gastric upset. Quite surprised that they started you straight off on 3 a day! That suggests to me that your HbA1c may have been quite high at diagnosis. Did you have any symptoms to suggest diabetes or was it diagnosed through a routine blood test?

 

[Paul H]

It was diagnosed through blood tests originally. I had an “episode” last year and wasn’t feeling well at all. They put me on beta blockers to get the blood pressure down and then after an operation I had, the nurse jabbed me as soon as I woke up and bingo... T2 official. I’ve been on 3 Metformin since October and no sign of n appointment with the doc. So I’m taking things into action now and will get something sorted as I can feel that the 3 tablets are maybe a tad too much at the moment.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Paul H

Hope the Metfartin gurglings settle down for you soon.

Congratulations on your terrific weight loss, and the cracking start you have made, in very difficult circumstances.

Glad that you are finally getting access to the Desmond course - hope you find it helpful. We have had a few mixed accounts in the past about different Desmond courses, and it may depend slightly on who is facilitating the course.

Hope you find some useful content in it. Let us know how you get on with it.

 

[Paul H]

Thanks Mike.
I’ll keep an open mind about it as I’m hoping that there will be some good info in it ... fingers crossed

It’s amazing how much weight has gone just by cutting down on carbs. That really surprised me. Just gotta keep them off now ... long term.

 

[trophywench]

The Sinocare test strips appear to be £12.99 for 50 whereas both the Gluco Navii and the Tee2 ones are about £8.