Diagnosed type 2 yesterday.

[SharonCook]

Hello everyone.
I’m newly diagnosed type 2 and I have never used a forum before so please forgive me any mistakes while I’m learning.
I have been put on metaformin, I have just collected it from the chemist so haven’t taken one yet. I’m a little scared to take it as I have been told it can make me nauseous.
I have tried to be so good today but it has made me feel ill, like faint and sick, bit dizzy.
I have quite a lot of secondary complications as I left it a couple of years before approaching my gp. Mental health and not being able to leave the house was the problem. GP is hoping once my diabetes is under control, my secondary symptoms will repair too. The pharmacist has just informed me that it’s about 3/4 month waiting time for the diabetic team in my surgery to get to my new diabetic referral.
I’m really feeling lost and anxious about it all, in particular the taking of the medication that I have been told will make me feel sick and run to the toilet. It’s so overwhelming.
Hopefully time will ease it all.

 

[Vonny]

Hi @SharonCook and welcome to the forum. It's such a shock being diagnosed, but trust me, you will get used to it.

Yes, metformin can have unpleasant side effects for some people. For me I had a dodgy tum for a couple of weeks then it was fine, but some people have more extreme reactions. There is a slow release version if you are one of the latter, which I understand makes it more bearable. You won't know until you start taking them. Take them with a meal to reduce said effects.

You should also start reducing the amount of carbs you're eating. That's not just sweets and biscuits but anything starchy such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. Also to beware of eating too much fruit...berries are the best for diabetics.

A word of encouragement if, like me, you love your carbs. Reducing them actually reduces the cravings! I promised myself pie and chips when I'd got to target weight and got my sugars under control, and I just didn't want that meal by the time I got there. There is a thread called What did you eat yesterday, which will give you loads of ideas for low carb meals.

Best wishes

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @SharonCook and welcome to the forum. Some information:
A). Metformin doesn't have those nasty side effects on everybody. Many/most are OK with either Metformin or the slow release version, especially if the dosage starts low and build up slowly. And if it is taken during a meal.
B). By eating differently many people have reversed their Type 2 Diabetes without needing medication, in some cases (such as mine) they never took any diabetes medication because their GP allowed them a few months to try either a Low Carb way of eating or a very Low Calorie crash diet.

I did it the Low Carb way. It's usually favoured by those who aren't severely overweight, but many can still lose large amounts of weight moderately fast even without consciously restricting calories. I lost 1/6th of my body weight (30lbs from a BMI of 26 to a BMI of 22 which is right in the middle of the healthy range for my height), most of t in 12 weeks and without any hunger.

The horrible fact is that the 'Food Pyramid and 'Eatwell Plate' and '5 a Day' may be 'healthy' for non Diabetics, but they are really bad for us type 2 Diabetics because all carbohydrates turn into glucose (sugar) when digested and we Type 2's can't handle the amount of glucose in our bloodstream - so the obvious fix is to eat less of them, thus turning off the constant flow of more glucose.
Problem foods are both Sugary and Starchy foods such as Flour, Grains (whole grains as well as refined ones), so this includes bread, pasta, rice, porridge, breakfast cereals, starchy veg such as potato, sweet potato and also parsnips and carrots, then there is tropical fruit, fruit juice and dried fruit which are all very sugary.
The best fruits are berries (those with berry in the name ), but also blackcurrants (and the red variety). Rhubarb is also low carb but probably needs some artificial sweetener, water melon is OK, but sweeter melons are obviously more sugary.

So what to eat? Lots of Protein, low carb veg and traditional fats such as in cheese, eggs and on fatty cuts of meat and fish.
The best place to start is with Breakfast: Full English (without the Toast, Baked Beans and potato) is fine, eggs done any way are great. cold cuts and/or cheese , or even Greek yogurt with a handful of nuts and berries.
Try not to eat 'low Fat' versions of things because :
1. You need fat, it will keep you fuller for longer and won't make you fat unless you either binge on it or eat it with carbohydrates.
2. Products with fat removed generally have carbs (usually sugars) added so they don't taste disgusting!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @SharonCook

Sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis, and your struggles with mental health. So glad you have found our friendly community

Don’t worry at all about having to find your way around the forum - there is a guide of the main functions here:

How to use the Forum

HOW DO I REGISTER? HOW DO I START A THREAD? HOW DO I COMMENT ON ANOTHER THREAD? HOW DO I REPLY TO AN INDIVIDUAL COMMENT IN A THREAD? HOW DO I ‘LIKE’ A POST? HOW DO I ‘REPORT’ A POST? HOW DO I EDIT MY PROFILE? HOW DO I CHANGE THE CAPTION UNDER MY POSTS? HOW DO I SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

And you can always just ask if there’s something you can’t work out 🙂

Sorry to hear you have a bit of a wait before you can get an appointment at your surgery. Feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of - we have literally centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, and everyone’s diabetes behaves slightly differently, so you’ll get a lot of different perspectives and experiences to reflect on, which can help you to find your own way through the diabetes maze with a set of strategies and approaches that works for you.

Metformin is one of the most widely prescribed diabetes medications, and while it does have a bit of a reputation as ‘metfartin’, many forum members take it, or the slow release version, with no problem after their body has acclimatised.

And if you find it doesn’t work well for you, there are plenty of other options. 🙂

In terms of approaches to your way of eating, there are lots and lots of different strategies you can experiment with while looking for one that works for you. Some forum members prefer a reduced calorie approach, while others prefer a moderate or low carb menu, or a mediterranean style. It’s all a matter of working out what suits you and your diabetes best 🙂

There are a host of menu plans here for inspiration

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk