Can someone help me understand please?

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lucy123

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Type 2
Hi

I am newly diagnosed with diabetes 2 and it came as a huge shock.
I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and have done everything I have been told.
I have lost almost a stone in 2 weeks (I have at least 6 more to go - go to the gym or similar every day and feel better than I have done in a long time.

However, my problem is I haven't really accepted that I have diabetes and that is mainly because my GP hasn't explained why and also because I don't undestand my readings.

MY GP called me back after routine tests and told me my reading was 7.2 on fasting. I also told her I had done a cheeky test myself on a self bought monitor as I had thoughts I may possibly be and this was 8.9 on waking.

this seemed to be enough for her to tell me I am diabetic, but non understanding friends don't seem to agree and tell me I am not, so I end up totally frustrated and confused.

I have been eating perfectly - 3 meals, usually with a jacket spud, or a portion of pasta or a portion of rice with some protein and lots of salad or veg. I drink tea coffee diet coke only and loads of water -2 to 3 litres a day.
The only snacks i have are fruit.

My waking readings have been between 5.8 and 7.0 on my self tester. Before daytime meals has been around 5.8 and after up to around 6.8 up to 8.1. However today before meal, it had shot to 11.1 and I had exercised.l the only thing i did different was ate late.

Can anyone help me understand if I do have diabetes t2 and if so, what do the readings mean and what do i do if high.

I have read the maggie letter which was helpful.

many thanks in advance and sorry if my questions seem silly.

:confused:
 
Hi Lucy, your question isn't silly at all, it's perfectly understandable that you are confused. Normally, a couple of fasting readings over 7 will be enough to form a diagnosis. There is another test called the Impaired Glucose Tolerance Test that can be done where you are given a fixed amount of fast-acting glucose and tested at regular intervals - if this is above a certain level after two hours (11, I believe) then this again is sufficient for a diagnosis.

It may be that your pancreas is not responding normally, or you may have increased insulin resisitance, and this is why your levels are not quite as good as a non-diabetic person. The adjustments you have made to your diet and activity levels will certainly have helped keep your levels closer to normal - indeed, this is what many diagnosed people are able to achieve. However, it doesn't mean that diabetes has gone away, it means that you need to keep up the good work to help your body cope with the glucose you consume. You may get the occasional higher reading, it is diffucukt to avoid them all the time because the reasons can be many and complex, so try not to worry too much about the odd blip.

Congratulations on your excellent weight loss, keep doing what you are doing and I am sure you will be much fitter and happier, and well able to keep your levels under good control! 🙂
 
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Thanks for the reply Northerner.
I have a meeting with the diabetic nurse shortly and really don't know what questions to ask - are there any standard questions I should be asking.

Also do you know how bad the readings have to be to have to go on medication. Is it likely at the nurses meeting I will be put on it.

Sorry for the saturday night rant - just getting prepared.

Thank you for replying tonight too - it really means a lot and is appreciated.
 
lucy123 said:
Thanks for the reply Northerner.
I have a meeting with the diabetic nurse shortly and really don't know what questions to ask - are there any standard questions I should be asking.

Also do you know how bad the readings have to be to have to go on medication. Is it likely at the nurses meeting I will be put on it.

Sorry for the saturday night rant - just getting prepared.

Thank you for replying tonight too - it really means a lot and is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hi Lucy, the readings you have given are not at all bad, so I would think it would be unlikely for you to need medication. Normally, people try to aim for betwween 4 and 7 pre-meal and around 8 a couple of hours after eating. Non-diabetic people do occasionally get higher readings, depending on a number of factors.

Probably the sort of questions you need to ask are about the types of food you should be eating (also paying close attention to portion size, as no doubt you are doing already). Have a look in the 'Recommended books' section for some of the GI and GL diet books - these are eating plans most suitable for diabetics, and for everyone really - very flexible so you can still enjoy your favourites! It would be helpful if you could get them to prescribe test strips for your meter, so do ask and make it clear that you intend to learn and act on the readings in order to make necessary adjustment to your diet.

Finally, ask about the checks and how they will be arranged - these include checking your feet, eyes and kidney function, plus cholesterol levels, all of which are of increased importance to people with diabetes.

Hope the appointment goes well! 🙂

p.s. I've moved this to the General Messageboard so more people will see it 🙂
 
Thanks again - really appreciated.
I will sleep tonight now!

I have spent the evening reading many posts and find the forum friendly whilst useful too.
 
hi lucy welcome to the forum ...Im a T2 aswell dx nearly 2 years ago ...i found it sooo confusing when first dx but finally found this place (after 1 year) and so now if i dont understand stuff (like the tech medical lingo) i come here and ask...
different food will cause different readings ..i dont eat any refined sugar but also beware cos fruit for example (regarded as healthy) sends me sky high and so does fruit juice ...bread also does the same ... but thats just me ... we are all different and so by testing we can work out which foods to aviod ...if im low for example its ok for me to have some fruit ..but not if im high ....noodles have not much an effect but for some its a no no ...
good luck and remember take one thing at a time do not deny yourself of stuff eg dark chocolate in small quantitys occasionally is better than milk choco in a binge ....its all about balance xxx
ps no question is regarded as silly here even if we repeat ourselves ...its all about learning and support x🙂
 
Hi Am64,

thanks for replying on a saturday night - your comments are really helpful

Thanks
 
Hi Lucy

I'm a type 2, and yes it is really hard to take in all the information, analyse it and accept it when you first get diagnosed. Even now, nearly two months on, i sometimes think "this cannot be happening!! I haven't really go diabetes...have it?". I'm lucky in a way, because i don't have to think about it 24/7. I'm currently controlled with Metformin, but if l lost weight I think my GP would let me stop taking them, about this time last year he offered, but a) i'd have to worry about my diabetes more, especially what i eat and b) i'd have to pay 23 pounds ish a month for the other pills he's put me on.
I don't know much about levels and can't really compare because i seldom test, my doctor doesn't like it and getting prescritptions for strips around here is impossible. Yours sound pretty good though. I'm happy if my waking readings are below 9... As Northy says, it's quite possible that you've got insulin resistance, where your pancreas pumps out insulin ok, but it struggles to get to your muscles. Diet and exercise makes the resistance less, as do drugs like Metformin. I'm not a doctor and can't offer a diagnosis, but that sounds like both you and me, and from your readings i'd say that your resistance is lower than mine. It might be so low that you barely notice it.
If i'm right, then there's some good news, you don't have to worry that much, if may be able to manage your blood sugar on a healthy diet alone. And not a special diet either, anybody's idea of a healthy diet. You won;t have to give up any foods you love but know are naughty (unless you want to), just have them in moderation.🙂
Oh. something i guess we should tell you about. There's an important blood test called an HbA1c (capitals may be in different places, i forget), which measures tha ammount of sugar that is attached to your red blood cells. the life of a red blood cell is about 3 months, so this basically gives an average reading of your blood sugar levels over the last three months. If your doctor is anything like mine (and i hope he's not coz mine is useless) he'll be much more concerned about this than your finger prick meter readings. Your finger prick test measures your blood sugar at that very point in time, and it doesn't matter that much is your blood sugar shoots up to 11 or 14 every once in a while, just as long as it goes down again. The average/good reading for an Hba1c is around 7, the fact that 7 is also the good average for your finger prick test results is a co-incidence, they don't measure the same thing. But if it's below 7, your doctor should be pleased.
Hope this helps a bit ;-)
Rachel
 
hello just wanted to say wellcome to the site thet are great on here and you will learn so much from them no question is to silly Im t2 as well and have learnt more on here than from specialests
 
Welcome to the site lucy, i was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2 and i have learnt more on here then from the gp and practice nurse, keep asking and posting lol I do!!! 😉
 
Hi lucy

I just wanted to say I think your doing brilliantly to loose a stone in two weeks is amazing and like others have said will greatly improve your control 🙂 It took me a long time to come to terms with my diagnosis. I got really angry and stressed about it all and just thought why me. It is completely normal to feel like that and also to get days where you feel worse about having diabetes but it does get better with time. You've always got this place to come to when you have the bad days 😉 Good luck with the appointment xx
 
Welcome Lucy and congratulations on your weight loss - along with diet and exercise, it's a vital part of managing type 2 diabetes. If you can walk or cycle some journeys instead of going by car / bus / train / tram, then that also helps both your health and the environment (and it's usually cheaper, too)

For reference, diagnostic criteria for diabetes are listed here http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us...ations/New_diagnostic_criteria_for_diabetes_/
Whole blood is what home blood glucose meters use; plasma is obtained from venous blood, taken from a vein by a health professional.
 
Hi All.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the kind support and encouragement.
 
just wanted to say welcome along to the forum, its a great place. well done on the weight loss xxx
 
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