Diagnosed on Friday

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Benjy89

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Hi all,

Started feeling symptoms a few months back, uncle (who is type 2) told me to get it checked. Got bloods Thursday, GP called Friday night and told me to go hospital asap. Went hospital they said Ketones were good (0.4) and sent me on my way. Haven’t got a clue what I’m supposed to do next, don’t even know if type 1 or 2. I suspect type 2 because I’ve mistreated myself for some time and am largely overweight. Not medicated yet and I’m relatively scared to eat anything.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome @Benjy89 🙂 If the GP phoned you and told you to go to hospital, they must have been concerned you had Type 1 and I guess your blood sugar was very high. Did the hospital tell you to speak to your GP tomorrow? If not, do give them a call tomorrow. Ask what your HbA1C result was, tell them what the hospital said, ask what you should do next (make an appointment to see them, I’d think). You might also want to buy a blood glucose meter so you can keep an eye on things at home.
 
Did your GP say what your results were? It's unusual to tell a diabetic to go to hospital unless their Blood Glucose is very high. Still it's good to know that your Ketones are good, so you didn't have DKA.
Even your GP won't know whether you are Type 1 or Type 2 without the results from 2 specific tests for Type 1, though if you are overweight then it is much more likely to be Type 2.
 
Inka said:
Welcome @Benjy89 🙂 If the GP phoned you and told you to go to hospital, they must have been concerned you had Type 1 and I guess your blood sugar was very high. Did the hospital tell you to speak to your GP tomorrow? If not, do give them a call tomorrow. Ask what your HbA1C result was, tell them what the hospital said, ask what you should do next (make an appointment to see them, I’d think). You might also want to buy a blood glucose meter so you can keep an eye on things at home.
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He said it was 114 from my blood test. I felt fine and still learning what are good/bad readings
 
Benjy89 said:
He said it was 114 from my blood test. I felt fine and still learning what are good/bad readings
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That's very high. 48 is the point at which diabetes is diagnosed. Please contact your Surgery tomorrow as you need medication, as I did with an identical HbA1c result.
 
Martin.A said:
That's very high. 48 is the point at which diabetes is diagnosed. Please contact your Surgery tomorrow as you need medication, as I did with an identical HbA1c result.
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Hi Martin,

Thanks for the response. Yes I think that’s best, get up and call first thing. I’ve got a monitor in place now, currently at 8.4 after eating. I’ve already drastically reduced my sugar intake and am limiting what I eat. I’ve pretty much stopped drinking anything but water with the exception of black coffee 1x a day
 
If 8.4 is 2 hours after eating that's pretty much the upper limit of where you're aiming to be after a meal.

Test in the morning too, as soon as you're up and before you eat or drink anything (fasting test).
 
Martin.A said:
If 8.4 is 2 hours after eating that's pretty much the upper limit of where you're aiming to be after a meal.

Test in the morning too, as soon as you're up and before you eat or drink anything (fasting test).
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Earlier today I was at 10.4 but dropped to 8.2 within an hour. When it’s high I’m just drinking more water and walking up and down stairs. I do go to the gym but have stopped until I see a doctor. Tomorrow.
 
Benjy89 said:
He said it was 114 from my blood test. I felt fine and still learning what are good/bad readings
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Yep, that’s high - and presumably why you were sent to hospital, just in case you were Type 1 and the weekend delay could have been very serious.
 
Benjy89 said:
Earlier today I was at 10.4 but dropped to 8.2 within an hour. When it’s high I’m just drinking more water and walking up and down stairs. I do go to the gym but have stopped until I see a doctor. Tomorrow.
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It sounds like you’ve already made changes so that’s great. Do speak to the doctor tomorrow and let us know how you get on.
 
You have made a good start in reducing some of the high carb foods and your results from your monitor look not too bad given your HbA1C was actually so high.
Reducing blood glucose gradually by making dietary changes and medication if you need it will be kinder on your eyes and nerves so take things slowly.
You can have other drinks but just not sugary ones or fruit juice but most people are fine with diet drinks and tea with milk and coffee with milk or cream but just not with sugar.
Have a look at this link as there is good explanation and also some menu ideas https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It may also prompt you with questions you will want to ask your GP.
You should also get feet and eye checks and a repeat HbA1C in 3 months to see if the measures you have adopted are working.
Some people find a low calorie or shakes based regime suits them and there are menu plans on the main DUK site.
 
Leadinglights said:
You have made a good start in reducing some of the high carb foods and your results from your monitor look not too bad given your HbA1C was actually so high.
Reducing blood glucose gradually by making dietary changes and medication if you need it will be kinder on your eyes and nerves so take things slowly.
You can have other drinks but just not sugary ones or fruit juice but most people are fine with diet drinks and tea with milk and coffee with milk or cream but just not with sugar.
Have a look at this link as there is good explanation and also some menu ideas https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It may also prompt you with questions you will want to ask your GP.
You should also get feet and eye checks and a repeat HbA1C in 3 months to see if the measures you have adopted are working.
Some people find a low calorie or shakes based regime suits them and there are menu plans on the main DUK site.
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Thank you so much. This is such a helpful comment.
 
Welcome to the forum @Benjy89

Hope you are able to get an appointment or phone consult with your GP early this week.

Let us know how you get on 🙂
 
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Hi everyone.

Firstly thank you all for your comments. They have all helped and supported me.

Doctors gave me pretty much no information diabetes team were very brief and unhelpful. I’ve been started on 500mg Metformin 2 times a day. I have since started a low carb diet aiming for under 100g carbs a day. I have worked my way up from no exercise to 30 mins a day on rowing machine doing 5000m and walking 12,000 steps a day. I’ve managed to skim off 3 stone since the start of September.

That said I’m still really struggling with my appetite all I want to do is eat rubbish and drink beer, I’ve resisted temptation so far but the cravings do worry me. I suffer real bad with stress and depression and have a very busy and stressful life and I usually comfort eat.

Any tips for staying full would be so helpful. Again thank you all for your support. It’s been more informative than the professionals and has put my mind at ease.
 
My tip would be eating more fat and more vegetables. Fill your plate up with lots of different low carb veg.... cooked with a knob of butter or cheese. Fat helps you to feel full for longer and provides slow release energy over many hours. I have real double cream in my morning coffee and creamy Greek style natural yoghurt and cheese or nuts if I do need a snack. An avocado will provide fat and fibre, both important for feeling full, so occasionally I will get a spoon and just eat one. In the early days I used to boil a dozen eggs and keep them in the fridge so that if I felt hungry I could have an egg with a spoon of full fat mayonnaise. A square of very dark 80% chocolate with a spoon of crunchy peanut butter makes a nice sweet treat, without the cravings that milk chocolate tends to trigger. I found that gradually by eating less carbs and more fat, the cravings mostly subsided. I was a sugar addict and Olympic standard comfort eater pre diagnosis, bread and potatoes and of course particularly chocolate being my areas of expertise 🙄. I don't even crave them now. The turning point to making it sustainable for me was eating more fat though.
 
rebrascora said:
My tip would be eating more fat and more vegetables. Fill your plate up with lots of different low carb veg.... cooked with a knob of butter or cheese. Fat helps you to feel full for longer and provides slow release energy over many hours. I have real double cream in my morning coffee and creamy Greek style natural yoghurt and cheese or nuts if I do need a snack. An avocado will provide fat and fibre, both important for feeling full, so occasionally I will get a spoon and just eat one. In the early days I used to boil a dozen eggs and keep them in the fridge so that if I felt hungry I could have an egg with a spoon of full fat mayonnaise. A square of very dark 80% chocolate with a spoon of crunchy peanut butter makes a nice sweet treat, without the cravings that milk chocolate tends to trigger. I found that gradually by eating less carbs and more fat, the cravings mostly subsided. I was a sugar addict and Olympic standard comfort eater pre diagnosis, bread and potatoes and of course particularly chocolate being my areas of expertise 🙄. I don't even crave them now. The turning point to making it sustainable for me was eating more fat though.
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Thank you for such an amazingly helpful comment. I will give the avacado a try for sure. I’ve also brought so Diablo chocolate. It’s for diabetics. That’s been a nice sweet treat
 
Benjy89 said:
Thank you for such an amazingly helpful comment. I will give the avacado a try for sure. I’ve also brought so Diablo chocolate. It’s for diabetics. That’s been a nice sweet treat
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I'm not sure where you get the idea that the Diablo chocolate is suitable as it looks to be high in carbs even though it is sugar free.
You would be better looking at the Nature Valley Protein bars as they are only about 12g carb per 40g bar compared to the Diablo one I looked at which would be twice that much or more.
 
Leadinglights said:
I'm not sure where you get the idea that the Diablo chocolate is suitable as it looks to be high in carbs even though it is sugar free.
You would be better looking at the Nature Valley Protein bars as they are only about 12g carb per 40g bar compared to the Diablo one I looked at which would be twice that much or more.
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They are counting the polyols as carbs even though they are not digested.

Personally I try to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible. I know it says they are "natural sweeteners", but eating them in this quantity is not natural!!). The ingredient list shows that the first ingredient is the sweetener, so the product is mostly sweetener. It can also have a laxative effect for some people.
I am coming to the conclusion that a very small amount of sugar may be better than these sweeteners and I now try to limit sweet things in general which has helped my tastes to change and the craving for sweet stuff to decline. The 80% normal chocolate has sugar but a lot smaller amount than milk chocolate and for the single square that I eat with my spoon of peanut butter, I can live with those 2-3g carbs from sugar. I also believe that these low sugar products are addictive too. I used to buy the Nature Valley Protein bars which come in multipack and when I had eaten one, I just wanted another one, same as before diagnosis when a multipack of Snickers would be gone in an afternoon. I don't buy these things anymore because it just encourages my cravings and I don't think a lot of artificial sweetener is good for us.
 
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