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Another newbie

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B

Brock

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Type 2
hi I am 67 year old man. I got phone call from my GP last night about 5 o’clock tell my blood sugar was very and that I was diabetic. I was given a lot of information most of which I did not fully understand. A prescription was being done for me to start treatment ASAP.
To cut long story short I went on line and found that I have quite a lot of the symptoms od diabetes, Thrush type infections, tired, and worryingly cold tingling feet. As you can imagine I am finding difficult to get my head round what is happen so I am looking for advice as the best way forward. ACI 6.7 .?
Many thanks.
 
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Hi Brock, you are in the right place to get yourself up to speed. There is a lot to take in. Look at the main site and if it is all a bit much in one go, just dib in and out for a bit until things make sense. Read through the threads on this forum. Here you will find the sort of practical stuff which does not appear in official leaflets which sometimes are so bland that they are of little use.

Two more things to get into early.

First, get a note book or a diary and write stuff down, damn sight better than relying on memory.

Second get to understand what tests are done to measure blood glucose (there are only two, the finger prick and the HbA1c) and when a test is done, ask for the result and write it down in your book.

Ask questions on here and join in some of the threads. If my experience is anything to go by, the regulars are amazingly tolerant of newbies blundering about and they really know their stuff.
 
Hi @Brock welcome to the forum.🙂
 
DocB, Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. I will certainly get a note book and take my time reading about all aspects of diabetes. I will pick up the prescription my GP has sent to the pharmacy, they were closed on Saturday so could not collect it. My GP is arranging appointments with the practice nurse who deals with diabetes and two others but to be honest. I cannot remember who with.
Many thanks for your response.

Ian Brock
 
No problems Ian. Odds on the pescription will be for metformin so a bit of poking around on here will give you the lowdown on it. Just tell yourself that diabetes is just another thing to manage - like cutting your toenails, getting your hair cut (if you have any), remembering what it is that you went shopping for and loads of other stuff like that. You will soon get it into perspective.
 
Diabetes is - for fortunate type twos quite a simple problem to solve.
We can't cope with carbohydrates - those are starches and sugars.
If we stop eating the truckloads of carbs in the modern diet then things can often right themselves. Many people find that about 50 gm of carbs a day means that they have a varied and tasty diet which has other good features besides blood glucose in the normal range - more energy, weightloss, less thrush, even better blood circulation and vision.
Many HCPs seem to have lost sight of the basic concept of medicine and have abandoned the ages old resolution of the problem for treatment with tablets which can have some nasty side effects.
 
Hello @Brock and welcome 🙂

Learning as much as you can about diabetes would be useful for you, and it's easier to do that in your own time than in a quick appointment with a doctor, when they're giving you lots of information you don't understand. I'd recommend having a browse through the links on this thread (you'll need to scroll down past the type 1 things to get to the type 2 and general ones), which will tell you more about it: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/

The meds may be good at first for getting your blood sugar down a bit, but hopefully if you are able to cut down on carbs in your diet and get a reasonable amount of exercise (you don't need to go to the gym! - it's surprising how good for your blood sugar it is just to go for a walk after lunch) you may be able to control your diabetes without needing meds in the long term. Drinking lots of water helps too.

Getting an idea of what your results are and what they mean would be really useful. Doctors often don't expect type 2s to test their own blood sugar (the finger prick test, I mean), and some short-sighted medical professionals actively discourage type 2s from testing. But it's worth doing, at least at first, because then you'll get an idea of how different foods effect you, and know what is suitable for you to eat (eg some diabetics can eat porridge, others can't - we're all different). If your doctor won't prescribe you a meter and strips, you can find information about how to buy one for yourself via the link above.
 
Big difference between T1 & T2. Really good luck, cut down on carbs.🙂. Welcome !
 
Docb said:
No problems Ian. Odds on the pescription will be for metformin so a bit of poking around on here will give you the lowdown on it. Just tell yourself that diabetes is just another thing to manage - like cutting your toenails, getting your hair cut (if you have any), remembering what it is that you went shopping for and loads of other stuff like that. You will soon get it into perspective.
Click to expand...
Yes you are right Metformin, my feet are a concern cold and tingly. One further question from what I have read
Monitoring your own blood sugar seems a great idea to help build up a menu of what foods raise you blood sugar. How expensive are they and what make is better or easier to use. Sorry it all questions.
Ian Brock
 
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