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Hannlucy

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Type 2
Hi everyone, I have just been diagnosed as type 2. I have been having months of investigations into problems with my bladder and last wednesday I had to see a different GP as I thought I had another urine infection. She tested my urine and said my sugar was high and booked me in for a fasting glucose the next day. The result of that was 9.9 fasting and they didn't do a glucose test. Another GP saw me said my levels meant I was diabetic, she said do not eat sugar, lose weight exercise and come back in a few days to see the nurse. I went to see the nurse last Tuesday and she gave me a book and said I would get a educational appointment soon and come back and see her in 3 months and watch what I eat. The other GP has since asked to see me for a follow up so seeing her tomorrow.
I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment and there is lots of conflicting advice. I haven't been given a blood glucose monitor should I be testing myself?
 
Hi Hannlucy, welcome to the forum 🙂 It seems, unfortunately, that you have been left with a diagnosis and little help. Don't worry, we will do all we can to answer your questions, so please don't be afraid to ask anything - nothing is 'silly'! Diabetes is rather more complicated than you have been informed, but your nurse probably didn't want to overload you with information to start with. Have a look at the links provided at the top of this section and they should help.

Nothing drastic will happen overnight, and you will learn to look after yourself probably sooner than you think - we are here to help! 🙂
 
Thanks Northerner. I am hoping I may get more info tomorrow. I have been watching what I eat and have increased my exercise. I have been reading some of the posts and they are very helpful, it helps to know I am not the only one dealing with this. I have also been looking at the recipes. At home our family meals are fairly healthy as my youngest daughter has got coeliac disease, so already I am used to checking food labels and ingredients.
 
There is a lot to take in at first, but many people find that it actually helps to improve their health in the long term. You have a bit of a head start in knowing about the importance of nutrition because of your daughter, so hopefully you will be in a good position to understand and question the advice you get from the nurse.
 
Hello HannLucy, welcome to the forum.

Shortly after I was diagnosed I was booked onto a Diabetes X-Pert course run by the NHS (1 afternoon per week for six weeks). I found that gave me a really good understanding of what diabetes is, what the complications can be and more importantly, what I could do to help myself.

Do you know what form the 'educational appointment' you mentioned will take? I was wondering whether it was this X-Pert course or whether it was something else.

Andy 🙂
 
Hi there and a warm welcome to the forum i like Andy also got booked on the X-PERT course it was really good and informative gave me a great lot of knowledge also,hopefully you get the chance to go on it to x
 
Good morning Hannlucy and welcome to the forum.
It all seems very overwhelming to start with - In June I felt lost, but the forum will help guide you in the right direction.

Please ask any questions -- no matter how silly you think they are!
 
Hi Stefie and Andy
I am not sure about the appointment, I was under the impression it was just one but there will be people to check my feet and eyes and dietician's and I would learn how to control my diabetes. I am looking forward to it so I can get as much infomation as I can.
 
Hi Lucy Thanks for your welcome.
One of the things I am wondering about is whether I should be testing myself to help manage the diabetes or if I just leave it and eat well and exercise it will go down on it's own. I do not think I am getting a monitor.
 
Hannlucy said:
Hi Stefie and Andy
I am not sure about the appointment, I was under the impression it was just one but there will be people to check my feet and eyes and dietician's and I would learn how to control my diabetes. I am looking forward to it so I can get as much infomation as I can.
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You're probably right.

It might be worth asking about the X-Pert course while you're there though (especially if you end the appointment more confused than when you started!).

Andy 🙂
 
Hannlucy said:
Hi Lucy Thanks for your welcome.
One of the things I am wondering about is whether I should be testing myself to help manage the diabetes or if I just leave it and eat well and exercise it will go down on it's own. I do not think I am getting a monitor.
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Without a monitor you won't know, on a day to day basis, what your blood sugars are doing.

Personally, I was given a monitor pretty much immediately and tested once a day at different times (i.e. before meals and 2hrs after). I recorded what I ate and by correlating the readings with the meals built up an idea of how different meals affected me.

Now, however, I don't test very frequently at all (probably averages out at once a week).

Andy
 
Hi there Hannlucy...I was only diagnosed a month ago myself (wow a whole month its gone so quickly!)

Did the Doctor give you a diet sheet and a free prescription form?

They do only give you small nuggets of info because otherwise its overwhelming...but I bought a great book called 'The First Year - Type 2 Diabetes' by Gretchen Becker...cheap from Amazon. You read a chapter a day and it gradually teaches you.

I started off just eating properly..three meals a day without fail, no fat, no sugar and after about a week the symptoms eased, also I was taking metformin. Only started self testing a week ago...wait until you have your free prescriptions for that so you can get the test scrips and lancets free.

There is TONS of conflicting advice on the net...I started off thinking 'Can I eat a banana?' and googling it to find
a) a banana would kill me
b) I can eat an unripe banana only
c) Bananas are great!!

But different food effects different people which is where the self testing comes in...just start off with the food change, try not to google too much and ask questions.

Take it slowly and write down questions for the doctor
 
Well thanks everyone for your kind words and help with my questions :D.

I went to my GP today, she gave me pamphlet on what I should eat and said I dont need to test myself as I didnt need insulin. She told me that I would need to see her again in a year then yearly after that. I asked about my cholesterol levels and she said they never took them and I would get them maybe in a year.
So I guess I will be on these message boards a lot, I hope you don't get fed up seeing me here 😉
 
Hannlucy said:
Well thanks everyone for your kind words and help with my questions :D.

I went to my GP today, she gave me pamphlet on what I should eat and said I dont need to test myself as I didnt need insulin. She told me that I would need to see her again in a year then yearly after that. I asked about my cholesterol levels and she said they never took them and I would get them maybe in a year.
So I guess I will be on these message boards a lot, I hope you don't get fed up seeing me here 😉
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Hmm, seems a little slap-dash to me.

If you're overweight and diabetic, I would have thought that knowing what you cholesterol levels were was quite important (it is one of the many complications of diabetes). At the very least they should be discounting it as a problem.

If it were me, I would be walking straight back into my GPs and demanding they test it. But fortunately, I don't have to because it was done automatically where I am!

As for testing. I think it is now down to you and whether you feel the need. The meters come cheap (or free), but the strips can pop in at ?25 for a pot of 50.

Waiting a year before you find out whether you are eating correctly or not strikes me as lunacy though! Would it be possible for you to talk to your GP and get a reason why they think that's good for your long term health? I'd love to hear a reason, because I must be missing something!

Andy
 
Hi Hannalucy,


I had a similar experience on my very first appointment with my GP - given a leaflet with diabetes Uk careline on it and told to go and lose weight and make an appointment with the nurse in 3 months time.

I have to say at that stage I was totally lost, and it is the forum that gave me the strength. I phoned the surgery and told them I had been diagnosed and was completely lost and concerned my care wasn't going to be as it should be. I was booked in the next day with the nurse who did no more than discuss my diet in more depth, advised what would happen at my annual check in 3 months. She also advised that i had been asked to go and diet and exercise for 3 months as the hba1c would give an average of the 3 months and wanted to see what it would be after d/e, this is why she was leaving my annual check for 3 months - which apparently is quite normal!

At my 3 month check, I had my feet checked, weight checked, bp checked, cholestorl and thyroid checked, and of course my first hba1c - which i rang 2 days later for to get the result. It was also clearly explained if my hba1c was above 7 i would go on meds, which thankfully i was below this. An appointment was also made for my retinopathy appt.
I took a food diary with me and after a little advice on this was told I didn't need a dietician as was doing fine with what i was doing.

I was told under no way would strips be provided as I could just as easily read the sugar content on all food I eat and if that was low, i would be fine!

However, recently I wasn't well and was provided strips (i box) by my GP as when ill should test apparently.

It seems my nurse is totally against strips but my GP can be persuaded!

However initially I bought my own meter and did 2 weeks of testing about 8 times a day learning what food spiked me and what didn't. I now test about twice a day (generally around exercise)

I do think you need to get back in touch with your surgery - not necessarily your gp - and see if the nurse can help. You really should have a review - maybe in 3 months time - not in a year - that is far too long in my opinion.

Could it possibly be that the GP won't see you for a year, but the nurse might see you in between? I can't beleive you are only having a hba1c in a years time - mine are every 3 months?

Sorry this is a lot to read, but really hope it helps.
 
Hi HannLucy, Welcome to the forum.

I am sorry to hear that you have not been given satisfactory information from your GP. I understand that as a newly diagnosed diabetic you should be getting your HbA1c tested once every 3 months and then once under control once every 6 months... Once per year is most definatley unsatisfactory... You are also entitled to a once a year eye reinopathy and podiatry appointment and you should also see a dietician. Good luck
 
Thanks everyone for your messages and support. I havent been on as I think I have been tring to forget about it.
I have not been very good with my eating :(.
I have my educational appointment in October it is a 2 hour appointment and I will see someone about my feet and eyes etc. I am also going to my own optictian to check my eyes as I am due a check up anyway.
I am going to buy my own glucose monitor test and take control 🙂. x
 
Hannlucy said:
Thanks everyone for your messages and support. I havent been on as I think I have been tring to forget about it.
I have not been very good with my eating :(.
I have my educational appointment in October it is a 2 hour appointment and I will see someone about my feet and eyes etc. I am also going to my own optictian to check my eyes as I am due a check up anyway.
I am going to buy my own glucose monitor test and take control 🙂. x
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Hi, it's totally understandable that you should have been shocked and confused by your diagnosis, having been left with such little information and support. Put all that behind you now and stick with us, and we'll try and help you get on the right track. You sound very positive and determined, so please ask any questions you may have so that you can start to understand diabetes and what you need to do to stay healthy - and you can be just as healthy, if not more so, than those who don't have this 'driving force' as an incentive! 🙂
 
Hannlucy said:
........One of the things I am wondering about is whether I should be testing myself to help manage the diabetes or if I just leave it and eat well and exercise it will go down on it's own. I do not think I am getting a monitor..........
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Hi Hannlucy,

I am a non-insulin-dependent Type 2 myself and the advice that I give to anyone in the same situation as me is to do the following:

Firstly, start testing even if your healthcare professionals tell you not to, because that is the only way that you learn what different foods do to your blood glucose levels. Try to get a meter and if they don't give you one then consider buying one - the meters are fairly cheap or free but the strips work out expensive if you do a lot of testing. I used to buy mine off eBay but these days my GP prescribes them for me since he saw what I had achieved by using them.

Secondly, cut back on any starchy carbohydrate that you are eating (e.g. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, pizza etc) because that usually leads to a very big improvement in blood glucose levels - and quickly too.

If you are testing then it becomes quite simple because all you do is to adapt your diet to eat the foods that your meter tells you don't send you high.

I got worse for eight years before I learnt those lessons. However, over the last two years I have normalised my blood glucose levels. These days, the medical people - by using any of the standard tests so often used to diagnose diabetes -i.e. fasting blood glucose levels or HbA1c - would say that I wasn't diabetic unless either they had access to my medical records or I told them that I was.

Good luck and best wishes - John
 
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