Hello there!

[supavillain]

Hi everyone. I'm newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and in the few months since my diagnosis I have been struggling to come to terms with this new aspect of my life. I am on Metformin which I'm sad about - I never wanted to be that person on long term medication. I am trying to be more pro-active with my lifestyle but still find it all a bit overwhelming.
I'm hoping that I can get some advice here and some tips to help me manage this new aspect of my life. Prepare yourselves for some daft questions!

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi everyone. I'm newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and in the few months since my diagnosis I have been struggling to come to terms with this new aspect of my life. I am on Metformin which I'm sad about - I never wanted to be that person on long term medication. I am trying to be more pro-active with my lifestyle but still find it all a bit overwhelming.
I'm hoping that I can get some advice here and some tips to help me manage this new aspect of my life. Prepare yourselves for some daft questions!

Welcome to the forum, no questions are daft.
Metformin is prescribed when blood glucose is fairly high indicated by how high the HbA1C result is. Sometimes GP reach for the prescription pad rather hastily if it is not when dietary changes may be all that is needed. Knowing what your HbA1C is will give you a clue as to how much work you need to do but even with metformin to start with many have found they have successfully reduced blood glucose to normal and been able to come off the medication, that said it is not the case for everyone.
Have a look at this link which has some good explanation, some do's and don'ts for making lifestyle changes
with some menu ideas for various tastes and budgets. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Realising early on that it is about reducing all carbohydrates not just sugar is important in finding a dietary approach which you enjoy and is sustainable for life and becomes a new normal way of eating.

 

[Martin.A]

I am on Metformin which I'm sad about - I never wanted to be that person on long term medication.

As @Leadinglights says, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Some of us have managed to get our BG back into normal range and come off medication.

 

[Drummer]

Hi everyone. I'm newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and in the few months since my diagnosis I have been struggling to come to terms with this new aspect of my life. I am on Metformin which I'm sad about - I never wanted to be that person on long term medication. I am trying to be more pro-active with my lifestyle but still find it all a bit overwhelming.
I'm hoping that I can get some advice here and some tips to help me manage this new aspect of my life. Prepare yourselves for some daft questions!

With the amount of wrong advice about what to eat around, no question is daft.
Fundamentally, we do not need to eat about half the stuff on offer in the shops, nor do we need all those fizzy sugary drinks sold everywhere.

 

[Jessica DUK]

Hi @supavillain and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear that you've been recently diagnosed, but am glad you have found us here for advice and support!

Being diagnosed can feel like a big challenge and comes as a shock, so it's completely understandable to feel overwhelmed and take some time to adjust. We have some useful information on coping with a diabetes diagnosis here on our website - https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/emotions/coping-diagnosis. It goes over coming to terms with the diagnosis, and the different emotional aspects involved. Emotions and diabetes is explained further here, which I hope may be helpful for you - https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/emotions.

As has been said above, no questions are silly, and will probably be helpful for others on here recently diagnosed too! Please feel free to ask any Q's if you have any specific concerns 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @supavillain

We have a few members who have managed to reduce or eliminate their Metformin (and others who have made similar blood glucose improvements, but have decided to keep going with the Metformin).

Good luck with the tweaks you are making to your menu and lifestyle.

Feeling overwhelmed is very common - and yes, no questions are silly!