Awaiting diagnosis but expecting confirmation

[Matthew-Essex]

Good evening,

I'd be really grateful for any help, advice and maybe even some positive but realistic reassurance.

I'm 46, several stone overweight and do not exercise often enough. I went to the doctor on Monday as my urine flow wasn't great and it was a bit stop start. It has been that way for a few weeks. On Monday I also had the frequent, almost non-stop need to pee, although only small amounts at a time. Doctor suspects type 2 diabetes and after research I'm sure he's right.

Urine test did not show high glucose (but I appreciate that it has to be very high to show in this). I did a non-fasting blood test and my reading was 9.1. It was done in the morning about an hour after a bowl of oat so simple and a cup of milky tea. I've done a fasting test this morning and will get the results early next week. I'm so angry with myself for allowing the situation to develop as I'm all but certain it will confirm my levels are too high and that diabetes will be confirmed with the final test.

Is there any realistic prospect that I have not reached type 2 and am still within the prediabetic limits?

Thank you very much for reading. I've read a lot of posts on here this week and am so impressed by the way those that live with the condition deal with it.

 

[stephknits]

Welcome to the forum Matthew, glad you found us 🙂. Yiu never know, you might get a pre-diabetes reading and this will be a great wake-up call. Please don't be too harsh on yourself. There are plenty of people who do nothing at all by way of healthy lifestyle and never get diabetes. It's the luck of the draw. As you have probably read on here, most of us tend to manage our carbohydrate intake to some degree, so you might want to start by writing down a food diary of your normal diet and looking at where you could make a few changes/substitutions. Let us know how you get on with your results

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I realised after posting that what I wrote could be seen as critical or disparaging of those who have had diagnosis confirmed. It wasn't meant that way.

I don't think I am being hard on myself, just realistic. It was probably avoidable but through laziness and poor discipline I am now going to be confirmed with a condition that will not only affect me but my two beautiful children, wife and family.

If and when the diagnosis is confirmed do you think that it's possible I may be able to try and see what impact diet and exercise has on my levels? I really don't want to take meds unless and until I have to.

Thanks again.

 

[Northerner]

Good evening,

I'd be really grateful for any help, advice and maybe even some positive but realistic reassurance.

I'm 46, several stone overweight and do not exercise often enough. I went to the doctor on Monday as my urine flow wasn't great and it was a bit stop start. It has been that way for a few weeks. On Monday I also had the frequent, almost non-stop need to pee, although only small amounts at a time. Doctor suspects type 2 diabetes and after research I'm sure he's right.

Urine test did not show high glucose (but I appreciate that it has to be very high to show in this). I did a non-fasting blood test and my reading was 9.1. It was done in the morning about an hour after a bowl of oat so simple and a cup of milky tea. I've done a fasting test this morning and will get the results early next week. I'm so angry with myself for allowing the situation to develop as I'm all but certain it will confirm my levels are too high and that diabetes will be confirmed with the final test.

Is there any realistic prospect that I have not reached type 2 and am still within the prediabetic limits?

Thank you very much for reading. I've read a lot of posts on here this week and am so impressed by the way those that live with the condition deal with it.

Hi Matthew, welcome to the forum 🙂 Coould be you have a urine infection - did the doctor suggest this? A 1 hour post-meal reading of 9.1 after your oat-so-simple is probably not conclusive - that's a very refined type of oats and will probably push your levels up quickly. Any other symptoms, like a constant thirst?

You may be borderline, so you can do a lot to help yourself probably just be choosing your food more carefully 🙂 I'd suggest having a read of Maggie Davey's letter - it should give you a good idea of the sort of things to look for 🙂 A diet that is kind to blood sugar levels is not necessarily restrictive, you just have to make wise choices. Many (most?) people find that reducing their carbohydrate intake helps them lose weight without trying, and at the same time is much better for your blood sugar levels 🙂

Try not to worry! Even if you do get a diagnosis after your tests, there is a lot you can do to turn things around 🙂 Many people find that this gives them the push to examine their diet more carefully and can result in a much happier and healthier future for you, so try to stay positive and please ask any questions you may have - we'll be happy to help! 🙂

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Hi Matthew, welcome to the forum 🙂 Coould be you have a urine infection - did the doctor suggest this? A 1 hour post-meal reading of 9.1 after your oat-so-simple is probably not conclusive - that's a very refined type of oats and will probably push your levels up quickly. Any other symptoms, like a constant thirst?

You may be borderline, so you can do a lot to help yourself probably just be choosing your food more carefully 🙂 I'd suggest having a read of Maggie Davey's letter - it should give you a good idea of the sort of things to look for 🙂 A diet that is kind to blood sugar levels is not necessarily restrictive, you just have to make wise choices. Many (most?) people find that reducing their carbohydrate intake helps them lose weight without trying, and at the same time is much better for your blood sugar levels 🙂

Try not to worry! Even if you do get a diagnosis after your tests, there is a lot you can do to turn things around 🙂 Many people find that this gives them the push to examine their diet more carefully and can result in a much happier and healthier future for you, so try to stay positive and please ask any questions you may have - we'll be happy to help! 🙂

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thanks Northener, much appreciated.

The urine test ruled out a UTI apparently and it has got much better over the past day or so. No thirst, no fatigue, no major indicators. A bit of what I now know is "jock itch" that resolved by itself and I had a frozen shoulder 3 years ago that sorted itself out. In my heart of hearts though I am braced for the diagnosis. I do have a few questions if and when anyone has time to reply:

Should the fasting test provide a lower reading than non-fasting. If so, what would the reasonable expectation be? 8.5? 8? Any chance of below 7?

If type 2 is confirmed is it likely that they will put me straight on meds? I really hope not but obviously need to heed medical advice.

A random one this but important as we are on a family holiday to Florida in April. We will be able to get travel insurance without paying a fortune?

Thank you very much.

 

[Robin]

Hi Matthew, welcome to the forum. To answer your questions.

A fasting blood test should be anything from 4-7, maybe even tighter, 6.5 ish, I'm not sure, but in that region, anyway.

It depends on your doctor as to whether you'll get meds straight way. Some doctors feel that their patients aren't likely to make lifestyle changes, so want them on max meds straight way, but it's open to you to show that you are making changes, and would like to try with diet and exercise first.

Travel Insurance. It pays to shop around. I'm Type 1, and I've insured recently for a family trip to the USA, and World First didn't add anything for my Diabetes. ( They did, however, add £80 for my husband's blood pressure, even though he's very fit, and controls it with a small dose of one drug!) It's normally a question of 'you get what you pay for' the cheaper the bottom line quote, the more likely they are to add extra premium at the slightest excuse.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thanks Robin.

I am really grateful that you and others have taken the time to reply. I am absolutely certain that I will make the lifestyle changes needed to get my BMI to within "normal" limits. It'll be challenging as I was in my early 20's last time I was not overweight. This week has been a massive wake up call. I've eaten very healthily, not snacked and walked 90 minutes each day. I'm about to go out for a late night walk now. If only I'd done more earlier I wouldn't be in this position but i need to look forward, not back.

Whatever the diagnosis my lifestyle is changing from now. I just hope the high blood glucose levels haven't damaged my organs and body too much already.

Thanks again and I really appreciate the advice re travel insurance. Have a great weekend.

 

[Drummer]

Whilst it is probably a good thing to lower your weight it has very little to do with your blood glucose - a couple of weeks eating low carb foods and you could be down to normal figures - that is what happened when I went from full blown diabetes down to normal in all ways at 6 months. My first test was 17.1mmol/l. I do think that I am very lucky - but the diabetes education team were baffled at my no longer diabetic Hba1c result at just 80 days from diagnosis. Now that I am one year from diagnosis I am over 40lb lighter, but the lower BG came first and then the weight just went away. I avoid all the heavy starchy healthy foods which we are supposed to eat - diabetes is simply being unable to deal with carbohydrates, and dealing with type two is - if you are lucky even simpler. Stop eating carbohydrates at the same rate and it all goes away.
My doctor has not seen me since diagnosis, I will not be having any checks until some time next year - but I don't eat more than 50 gm of carb a day - possibly a bit more occasionally, but very occasionally. I am a year from diagnosis not. I do take more exercise now, but because I want to, I don't have bad knees now my weight has dropped, but the pain reduced before I lost much weight. I don't expect to become none diabetic, but I am perfectly happy to accept that this great way to eat is now permanent and that I will once again have a proper weight, not one imposed by doctors yelling at me to eat carbs to be healthy and don't dare mention Atkins in their surgery.

 

[hopingandwinning]

Whilst it is probably a good thing to lower your weight it has very little to do with your blood glucose - a couple of weeks eating low carb foods and you could be down to normal figures - that is what happened when I went from full blown diabetes down to normal in all ways at 6 months. My first test was 17.1mmol/l. I do think that I am very lucky - but the diabetes education team were baffled at my no longer diabetic Hba1c result at just 80 days from diagnosis. Now that I am one year from diagnosis I am over 40lb lighter, but the lower BG came first and then the weight just went away. I avoid all the heavy starchy healthy foods which we are supposed to eat - diabetes is simply being unable to deal with carbohydrates, and dealing with type two is - if you are lucky even simpler. Stop eating carbohydrates at the same rate and it all goes away.
My doctor has not seen me since diagnosis, I will not be having any checks until some time next year - but I don't eat more than 50 gm of carb a day - possibly a bit more occasionally, but very occasionally. I am a year from diagnosis not. I do take more exercise now, but because I want to, I don't have bad knees now my weight has dropped, but the pain reduced before I lost much weight. I don't expect to become none diabetic, but I am perfectly happy to accept that this great way to eat is now permanent and that I will once again have a proper weight, not one imposed by doctors yelling at me to eat carbs to be healthy and don't dare mention Atkins in their surgery.

Thanks for your story Drummer. I guess many people ask the "reversal question" and many say it is not technically possible. However stories like yours argue otherwise. Only thing though, I guess, is that you are only truly non-diabetic once your body can once again adapt to coping with carbohydrates, like you did pre-diagnosis. Is this the case? Have you tried testing after you've eaten a high carb meal e.g. like say 55-60grams? What would your reading be?

Matthew, I hope it's good news for you.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Whilst it is probably a good thing to lower your weight it has very little to do with your blood glucose - a couple of weeks eating low carb foods and you could be down to normal figures - that is what happened when I went from full blown diabetes down to normal in all ways at 6 months. My first test was 17.1mmol/l. I do think that I am very lucky - but the diabetes education team were baffled at my no longer diabetic Hba1c result at just 80 days from diagnosis. Now that I am one year from diagnosis I am over 40lb lighter, but the lower BG came first and then the weight just went away. I avoid all the heavy starchy healthy foods which we are supposed to eat - diabetes is simply being unable to deal with carbohydrates, and dealing with type two is - if you are lucky even simpler. Stop eating carbohydrates at the same rate and it all goes away.
My doctor has not seen me since diagnosis, I will not be having any checks until some time next year - but I don't eat more than 50 gm of carb a day - possibly a bit more occasionally, but very occasionally. I am a year from diagnosis not. I do take more exercise now, but because I want to, I don't have bad knees now my weight has dropped, but the pain reduced before I lost much weight. I don't expect to become none diabetic, but I am perfectly happy to accept that this great way to eat is now permanent and that I will once again have a proper weight, not one imposed by doctors yelling at me to eat carbs to be healthy and don't dare mention Atkins in their surgery.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

You've done brilliantly. Well done. It's stories like yours that I really want to hear at the moment. It'll be a big help if and when I get the diagnosis.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thanks for your story Drummer. I guess many people ask the "reversal question" and many say it is not technically possible. However stories like yours argue otherwise. Only thing though, I guess, is that you are only truly non-diabetic once your body can once again adapt to coping with carbohydrates, like you did pre-diagnosis. Is this the case? Have you tried testing after you've eaten a high carb meal e.g. like say 55-60grams? What would your reading be?

Matthew, I hope it's good news for you.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thanks hopingandwinning. I don't think it will be good news and the fact that no one has posted to say that it's realistic to expect a fasting reading of below 7 following a 9.1 non fasting reading has reinforced that. Still, it is what it is.

 

[hopingandwinning]

Thanks hopingandwinning. I don't think it will be good news and the fact that no one has posted to say that it's realistic to expect a fasting reading of below 7 following a 9.1 non fasting reading has reinforced that. Still, it is what it is.

I'm no expert but you got that reading one hour after you had oats (which are high in carbs) and milky tea (carbs present due to the milk), so it's possible you had a spike and then went down in the next hour to a normal range (for non-diabetic) of anything below 7.8. You should have recorded a 2 hour post meal reading instead, as that is considered the standard time for postprandial.

Do you know how many grams of carbs that breakfast was?

 

[Martin Canty]

Whichever way the diagnosis goes, changes in diet & exercise can do nothing but good..... Wishing you the best of luck.

 

[Vince_UK]

HI Matthew
Welcome to the forum altough like me this is the last place you wanted to end up
Use it, there is so much advice and guidance here it is amazing. Extremely supportive people.
First of all May I say that being Diagnosed T2 is NOT the end of the World.
It is a Wake Up Call for sure and a big one but really you can get things under control relatively easily with a little thought and pre-planning.
I view my diagnosis, believe it or not, as a postive call and my T2 as more of an inconvenience than an chronic ondition.
Quick potted history.
67 yers old, Diagnosed T2 Sept 28th 2 days before I was due to fly to Shanghaii.
No real advice given, no guidance just put on 500mg Metformin daily and told to look at this website. Didn't even know if I could access it from Shanghai.
Would have been completely in the dark without it may I add.
Weight was 98 kilos.
Immediately put myself on very low carb high fat high protein diet.
Was surprised actually what I could eat.
Get a BG meter, essential tool believe me to understand what is going on inside your body.
Dec 1st, weight now 84.8 kgs, BG under control and in non-diabetic range, feel terrific.
Once you get used to the slight rstrictions you have to now adopt, e.g popping for a pizza or a Big Mac on the way home from work is no longer an option if you want to contriol your levels, it really is not so difficult.. I still dine out for example I just don't eat rice, pasta, potatoes etc. No big deal to be honest.
I am actually eatng much better than I did before diagnosis and no junk food sweets etc.
Travel Insurance, told my insurers before I left and they just didn't add anything to the costs, basically not that interested and they don't view T2 as a serious condition.
My goal is to get off the meds and control my condition via diet and exercise.
If at sometime it may be reversed, and I have read instances of that happening but not to frequently, then I wold consider that a bonus.
Also, I don't hide my diabetes and am quite open about it. If people want to be judgemental out of their basic igorance then that is their problem not mine and I just smile and nod.

 

[Matthew-Essex]

Thanks Vince, I really am grateful to you and others for posting. Sharing your experience is really helpful for me and others in my position. Well done on the positive steps you have taken, the healthier lifestyle and weight loss. Enjoy the weekend!

 

[Drummer]

Thanks for your story Drummer. I guess many people ask the "reversal question" and many say it is not technically possible. However stories like yours argue otherwise. Only thing though, I guess, is that you are only truly non-diabetic once your body can once again adapt to coping with carbohydrates, like you did pre-diagnosis. Is this the case? Have you tried testing after you've eaten a high carb meal e.g. like say 55-60grams? What would your reading be?

Matthew, I hope it's good news for you.

I have never been able to eat high carb, right from being in my early 20s and I am 66 now. I always ate low carb, and was always being told it was wrong but to lose weight eating low calorie not low carb. I used to have a 24 inch waist - I have skirts of really good suede which I kept, and they would make good handbags - but I was very muscular so when weighed was always told I was too heavy - I used to be a roadie for a duo and could carry one speaker cabinet in each hand, or a drunken guitarist in a fireman's lift if someone helped me get him off the floor.
I was on a 'cholesterol lowering' diet, and putting on weight all around my middle, and when I went for my annual thyroid test the wrong test was requested, and as it was just after lunch my blood glucose was over 17, so I was diagnosed, and went straight back onto low carb.
I am now eating exactly the same diet as when maintaining my weight - with the addition of Lidl protein rolls a couple of times a week. I am perfectly happy that a maximum of 60 gm of carbs a day is to be my lot for the rest of my life - could not be better as far as I am concerned. Dinner was cauliflower with curry and avocado sauce and steak, and I'll go to get some berries and cream in a minute, and a mug of coffee and cream too. I would have been eating that pre diagnosis too if not for the silly diet - it didn't lower cholesterol either.

 

[Martin Canty]

Well, Matthew.... Vince's experience is quite common

At my DX, I was actually feeling quite unwell, though not knowing the cause, I totally didn't expect to be diagnosed T2.
Following the ritual cleansing of the pantry I embarked on a quest to start eating healthy, wholewheat this wholewheat that, feeling instinctively that there was something wrong in the amount of carbs I was advised to eat. A month after DX we went on a cruise to the Eastern Med.... One of the excursions involved a short demonstration of CretanCooking & a discussion of how Heart Disease & Diabetes was on the rise on Crete corresponding with changes to a more western diet.
Roll on a few more months & I had to work in Missouri for a few months (at that point I had been put on Glyburide). I experimented with my diet somewhat, opting for lower & lower carbs; not knowing that this, in combination with Glyburide would send me hypo.... Almost daily as some points... The ADA forums were next to useless at assisting me with understanding what was happening. On my return I started reading about LCHF & realized that that's where I was headed.... Early last year I ditched the Glyburide, no more Hypo's... Yay.
I would also say that though having a chronic condition of D, my life has been changed for the better, 165lb from 225lb, more energy, better self esteem. I exercise regularly & to be honest I'm probably in better shape than I was in my early 20's (the only exception is a couple of years in my 30's when I sea kayaked regularly while living in San Diego).
I view my DX as a wake-up call,these days my FBG is usually around 5.0 just on Diet & Exercise.