Another newbie :)

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

shambles

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi all 🙂

Was diagnosed with type 2 on Jan 28th this year. It's still all fairly new to me - have been trying to get my head around it all and deal with the monumental life changes but it's been tough. Off on HEIDI on wednesday morning - almost like it was a reward as have lost a stone of the 4 they want me to shed!

I see so much conflicting advice everywhere I look that some of it is all still a blur - but I will get there at some point! 🙂

Diagnosed during pregnancy as gestational back in November, but lost baby in a bad way which resulted in a week long stay in hospital - waited for hormones from that to clear before diagnosing as permanent so that's where I am now.

Really basically want to get this all under control and the weight gone so they will allow me to try again for another baby (I've lost 2 in a row in the last year). If anyone has any advice on pregnancy with diabetes or can recommend a good place to read online that would be great. 🙂

I am also off to Australia in less than a month for a 3 week stay and wondering if there is anything need to do differently to normal since this will be my first trip away 🙂

I think that's enough for now - am a bit of a chatterbox 😛
 
Hi Shambles, welcome to the forum. Have they put you on any medications? If yes, it may be worth getting a letter from your doctor, explaining what you're taking and why. Other than that, just keep taking your meds as prescribed while you're away.

Try having a look in our Links and Recommended Books sections for some suggestions and help with coming to grips with the Big D.
 
Hi shambles, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about the awful time you have had :( Hopefully, you will be able to get things under control before too long and start looking to the future. Diabetes can be controlled well with the right effort, knowledge and determination, and it sounds like you have made a great start already with your weight loss.

I would recommend reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter to begin with, and get a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker - highly recommended by many of our members. These should help to give you a good understanding of what to expect and how to approach things. Ideally, you should use a blood glucose meter to monitor your levels both before and one or two hours after eating. This will give you the information you need to assess whether a particular meal has been tolerated well by you, or whether you perhaps need to substitute certain items or reduce portions. Diabetes is principally about carbohydrates, as all carbs will convert to glucose and raise blood glucose levels. Some will convert more slowly than others, and a good method of determining whether something is likely to be slower or quicker in releasing energy is to follow the GI or GL (glyceamic index/glycaemic load) diet - a good introduction is The GL Diet for Dummies.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and someone will be along to help before too long! 🙂 I hope things go well on the HEIDI course - let us know how things go!
 
Oh I should have mentioned that! Yes Metformin twice a day - I got a month to try without medication but then they put me on it without re-testing anything but I am now not due to see them till september so things settling down and not changing so much. I've got a number of books I have read through and have been trawling the internet but it's a lot to take in so I will have to keep revisiting parts 🙂
 
Hi Northerner

Very much a believer in everything for a reason and positive attitude pulling you through. Spent most of december and january in a slump but now on the the fight back 🙂 This is not to say that the last year has not been incredibly difficult - it has, but I'm ok and always will be

I've read most of the things you recommend but haven't gone into Low GI or carb counting or anything like that yet. I've been following what the Practise Nurse has told me - 50% veg, 30% carb 20% anything else per meal so I guess I need to do a bit more investigating into it as I keep hearing low carb vs low gi/slow releasing carbs all over the place.

I have a monitoring system, but only because I demanded it and I have been told only 2 packs of strips a year from my drs (tbh they've been pretty rubbish - my first appt was you have diabetes, sort it out, bye :D) Obviously that is not anywhere near enough to do all this testing people who actually have diabetes recommend so I've already sourced somewhere that sells them VAT free for diabetic patients :D

I also apparently use too many smilies - whoops 😉
 
As you are on medication for your diabetes all meters/strips are VAT free 🙂 Not sure what meter you have found but the SD Codefree Meter has test strips that are only ?6.99 for 50, which are much cheaper than most, so you might like to give them a try.

You probably don't need to be concerned with carb counting as such, as this is primarily used by people on insulin to help calculate doses. It would be very useful though to start a food diary, writing down all the carbs in everything you eat and drink each day so that you can get a clear picture of your consumption, and perhaps look for areas where adjustments might bring benefits. Regarding testing - hopefully you shouldn't need to test quite so often once you have measured your frequent and familiar meals and 'fine-tuned' them to your tolerances. Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S is a good guide to testing efficiently 🙂
 
Ahh I did not know that about the VAT 🙂 I have a true result one (it's just the one the PN gave me)

Thanks for all your advice 🙂
 
shambles said:
Ahh I did not know that about the VAT 🙂 I have a true result one (it's just the one the PN gave me)

Thanks for all your advice 🙂
Click to expand...

Worth bearing in mind also that, whilst you are on any medication for your diabetes all our prescriptions, whether diabetes-related or not, are free. So if you are taking medication for anything else this might be a consideration in deciding whether to stop it.
 
Thanks Northerner for the advice - I already sorted out getting the certificate for that. I think I am really helped by my Mum working for the NHS so she tells me more about what am entitled to and what should be able to get. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have known about exemption as PN never mentioned it - I asked for the form 🙂

I was already on life long medication for Gastrisis so am super happy that for as long as am on the Metformin I have my exemption certificate :D That will save me some pennies :D
 
Welcome to the forum shambles 🙂
 
Thanks everyone 🙂 Nice to find you all and not feel so alone - I joined another forum but never even got around to posting on it - and it irritated me as they send an email every day 🙂

A little question - is there anything like this for family members/OH or anything? My hubby really struggles with knowing what to do bless him 🙂
 
shambles said:
Thanks everyone 🙂 Nice to find you all and not feel so alone - I joined another forum but never even got around to posting on it - and it irritated me as they send an email every day 🙂

A little question - is there anything like this for family members/OH or anything? My hubby really struggles with knowing what to do bless him 🙂
Click to expand...

Partners or carers are very welcome here - we have many who have made a big difference to their partner's lives and gained a good understanding of how things can be, so he is more than welcome to join and ask his questions 🙂
 
Fab! I will mention it to him! Think it's all too easy to forget that it affects more than the individual 🙂
 
shambles said:
Fab! I will mention it to him! Think it's all too easy to forget that it affects more than the individual 🙂
Click to expand...

I think it can be harder for the person not directly affected sometimes, as it's difficult to appreciate the impact and how it may affect you day to day. They want to help but may not know how or be afraid of saying the wrong thing.
 
Definitely. Far more with the miscarriages I have to say - everyone focused on me, but while I was very very poorly, he nearly lost his wife and I think that I would find that harder x I think he struggles with feeling useless more than anything else 🙂
 
shambles said:
Definitely. Far more with the miscarriages I have to say - everyone focused on me, but while I was very very poorly, he nearly lost his wife and I think that I would find that harder x I think he struggles with feeling useless more than anything else 🙂
Click to expand...

He's supporting you and there is nothing more valuable than that 🙂
 
That's the way I see it. Everything is so much easier for me because I have him x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top