Confused newbie

[Drummer]

Don't test because it can become obsessive?
Honestly I am driven to despair by such stupid statements.
Go ahead and test until you hardly ever need to test - as a type two once you know what you can eat it is possible to turn back the clock and become healthier, feel younger, become more active, thinner, stronger - not be a burden to your family, to the local surgery and the NHS in general - but chiefly to yourself.

 

[Neens]

I find it odd that I don’t test my blood as Iv always known people to do this. A lot of my family have diabetes and they all do the blood sugar tests. I mentioned it a few times to the nurse but both times she said she would advise I didn’t test them as it can become obsessive but I feel like I’m not sure what I’m eating is okay or what is spiking if I don’t even know what my levels are x

Welcome to the forum - a great place to find support and knowledge.
T2 don't automatically get monitors which is crazy - especially in the beginning because you need to know what food you can tolerate and it helps monitor spikes in levels so most of us get one. I didn't have one until Week 5. Unfortunately waiting for initial appointments and not getting dietary advice seems to be common holes in an otherwise good diabetic health service. You have been given lots of advice already so I won't repeat it.
I follow a Low Carb eating plan and have lost just over a stone (2 months - with Christmas/New Year). Otherwise I would have lost a few lbs more.

There is a lot to take on board, and it can feel overwhelming, especially at the beginning.
You are not alone.

 

[Neens]

I actually started crying one day, completely out of the blue, just suddenly felt so overwhelmed and out of my depth. My poor husband hadn’t got a clue what it was all about 🙂

Me too - nearly had a complete meltdown when I realised I could probably never have rice pudding again! My partner was very good about it - pointing out Custard was lower in carbs!

 

[Drummer]

Try real custard, whip eggs into cream and warm gently until it thickens - flavour with vanilla.

 

[Mephistophlillie]

Try real custard, whip eggs into cream and warm gently until it thickens - flavour with vanilla.

That’s been added to my to do list !

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

4) Were you told that as a diagnosed diabetic you were entitled to free prescriptions (so don't get a pre-paid certificate or if you already have, find out about getting a refund)?

Just to clarify... free prescriptions apply to those who are prescribed medication for their diabetes management.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Clairebear7919

You’ve already had some great suggestions, and hopefully you can begin to apply them to your own situation.

I think the ‘obsessive testing’ comment from your nurse possibly does apply to some people, though I’d question whether it was a good reason to deny access to monitoring technology for those people interested and motivated to use it to improve their BG results! There are some studies that suggest people with T2 derive little benefit from testing BG and become depressed but the results, but these seem to be ones where people were not allowed to deviate from a prescribed diet (which perhaps didn’t suit them) and were just confronted by lots of results that told them they weren’t doing very well.

However even studies which are quite negative about self-monitoring in T2 accept that there is ‘a subgroup’ for whom self monitoring works really well. It just seems that the subgroup includes everyone here!

Sometimes I think it suits surgeries to only prescribe strips for people at risk of hypos, because it saves a lot of prescription cost!

Keep us updated with how you are getting on, and keep asking questions 🙂

 

[Felinia]

Just to clarify... free prescriptions apply to those who are prescribed medication for their diabetes management.

Thanks for the clarification which I left out!!!! I strongly suspected with an HbA1c of 96 medication must have been prescribed. But that gave me a thought. If a diabetic's medication is discontinued, does that mean they must then start paying for their prescriptions again? I don't recall seeing anything about that on the Forum. Thanks (not that it affects an old wrinkly like me, but some might like to know).

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for the clarification which I left out!!!! I strongly suspected with an HbA1c of 96 medication must have been prescribed. But that gave me a thought. If a diabetic's medication is discontinued, does that mean they must then start paying for their prescriptions again? I don't recall seeing anything about that on the Forum. Thanks (not that it affects an old wrinkly like me, but some might like to know).

Sadly I believe that is the case.

 

[Neens]

Try real custard, whip eggs into cream and warm gently until it thickens - flavour with vanilla.

Thanks - I didn't even think of this - too busy desperately seeking diabetic friendly rice pudding recipes - in the end decided I could have 1/4 of a can occasionally (less than 20g carbs - which is what those yoghurt sized pots are) but going to wait until I have lost the weight and the can idea would involve having other people around to consume the rest! 😉 Might try real custard though because those ingredients are low carb!

 

[Neens]

Felinia said: ↑
Thanks for the clarification which I left out!!!! I strongly suspected with an HbA1c of 96 medication must have been prescribed. But that gave me a thought. If a diabetic's medication is discontinued, does that mean they must then start paying for their prescriptions again? I don't recall seeing anything about that on the Forum. Thanks (not that it affects an old wrinkly like me, but some might like to know).

Sadly I believe that is the case.

When this happens (she says confidently ha ha) I will want to use the other 60% of my PPC that they wouldn't reimburse!
I have a feeling and I read this somewhere but no note of source that this is true - but not before the expiry of the certificate. So when it comes to renewal you have to still be on meds to get a new one.

 

[Mephistophlillie]

Just to clarify... free prescriptions apply to those who are prescribed medication for their diabetes management.

I have free ones for my thyroxine. So after the diabetes meds prescribed last December, it would seem fair that they actually pay ME now.