Hello..........

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FLO

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I have been 'officially 'diabetic for 4 weeks now.

This was not an unexpected event and everything is borderline at the moment.
However, the combination of high-ish BP, borderline cholesterol and quite high blood sugar is not good, so I have been prescribed ace-inhibitors for the time being.

I am a retired nurse, and living up to the reputation of nurses being the very worst patients.🙄 but I didn't work very much with diabetics unless they turned up on the operating table, and therefore my up to date knowledge of the condition is lacking.

I am waiting to see the dietician, but for the time being I am eating low fat, sugar-free and loads of fruit and veg with controlled amounts of carbohydrate.

I have registered with the forum because I feel a bit lost and flapping around like a fish out of water.
My mother was tablet controlled diabetic, and used to have the most fearful hypos, and I am so frightened that this will happen to me.

Anyway, hello everyone.

Flo
 
Welcome to the forum Flo,

With a bit of luck you might not need the tablets in time, but that's a choice you'll need to make later when you have a choice to make.

My personal story is that I was diagnosed in October 2009 with a bs reading well into the twenties and an HbA1c of 13.3%. I was not a healthy bunny!

I was initially put on to gliclazide (stimulates pancreas and can cause hypos) and then moved on to metformin (not as likely to cause hypos). But after 6 months was able to stop taking that too after losing sufficient weight to reduce my insulin resistance.

Anyway, I hope you can get to grips with things. We're a friendly bunch here and have a wealth of different experiences. I'm sure you'll find some of them of use!

Andy 🙂
 
Hi Flo, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, there is a lot to learn initially, but try not to be overwhelmed by the amount of information coming your way and take time to understand things and how diabetes affects you personally. One of the best places to start is with Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker - highly recommended by many of our members. There are also lots more links in our 'Useful Links' thread.

Hypos are only likely if you are on insulin or certain types of tablet that encourages production of insulin (e.g. gliclizide). More commonly either diet and exercise adjustments or metformin are used to treat Type 2 initially, so try not to worry about the prospect of hypos - this may be years away (if ever) for you, partiicularly as you describe yourself as 'borderline', which I presume means your levels are only slightly elevated..

Please feel free to ask any questions or express any concerns you may have - there are lots of friendly, experienced people here who will do their best to help out, and no question is considered 'silly'! 🙂
 
Thankyou

........for your prompt and kind reply.

Everything is so well timed and strict when I visit the nurse so it's good to have a source of general support and information from those " wot are in the know " so to speak.

I must now find my way around this forum.............which could take days !
 
Welcome FLO.
Just plunge in to the forum - as long as you log in each time, you will see all sections.
Treatment, theories etc have moved on since your mother's diagnosis, and with the right treatment regime and sensible blood testing regime, you'll soon discover which actions / foods raise / lower your blood sugar levels.
 
Hello Flo,
welcome to the forum.
Don't worry about finding your way around the forum search parties can be sent out when needed 😛

As everything is borderline, your best option is to treat yourself as diabetic as there is not really borderline diabetes. No more than being borderline pregnant. You either is or you isn't :D
Being carb aware and managing your carb intake is the very best that you can do to help yourself plus exercise.
As to your Mum's hypo's that sounds to me as if she was very much over medicated. So don't worry about hypo's in that context.
Best wishes
Sue
 
Hi Flo and welcome to the forum.

Hope to see you posting around and about in the coming weeks.

M
 
Hi Everyone

Thankyou for your lovely posts.

I realise things have changed drastically over the years, and thank goodness for that.

I have ordered the book that has been recommended, so I'll go from there.

To be perfectly honest, this has been the kick in the pants that I needed, and I hope that I can just keep it down to diet control.

Speak to you all later, no doubt.🙂
 
FLO said:
Thankyou for your lovely posts.

I realise things have changed drastically over the years, and thank goodness for that.

I have ordered the book that has been recommended, so I'll go from there.

To be perfectly honest, this has been the kick in the pants that I needed, and I hope that I can just keep it down to diet control.

Speak to you all later, no doubt.🙂
Click to expand...

Many people find that diagnosis is the 'incentive' to get fitter and healthier, and there are some terrific success stories 🙂
 
Hi FLO and a warm welcome to the forum from me.
 
Hi Flo

Please don't forget that there are carbs in all sorts of things including fruit and veg - fruit being a particular minefield. However the good news is - berry fruits have far less than anything else. And of course if you lob a nice dollop of lovely double cream on you bowl of berries, that will slow down the absorption of the carbs that are in them during your digestive process.* You should find incidentally that lowering your carb intake - on its own - will reduce your LDL cholesterol and your Trigs and enhance your nice HDL.

* You might remember this, way back in the mists of time, that the Food Rule for diabetics of every shape and hue was to eat "Little and Often" - this was so the carb dripped into your system gradually throughout your day and your beleaguered pancreas was not presented with a dustbinful of carbs 3 x a day; scarcely recovering its position from the early onslaught of the toast and marmalade before it was presented with soup, a sandwich and an orange ...... So for a T2, especially if it's just Diet and Exercise, it's helpful.

Having been given the book yonks ago, courtesy of Messrs Roche - I swear by the Collins Gem CALORIE counter. Not the Carbohydrtae counter. The CALORIE book gives the whole caboodle of Cals, Fat, Protein, Fibre and Carbs all per 100g/100ml whereas the Carb one gives helpful sounding values eg 'A third of a baguette' BUT they don't tell you the size of the ruddy baguette they used - was it a foot long or 3 feet? What was its girth? LOL

And please instantly become an avid and dedicated reader of labels. May sound daft but quite a high number of 'Low Fat' items are humungously high in carbohydrate! You would never guess on the face of it that Low Fat Mayo is manufactured by adding corn starch to replace the oil they don't use. And what is corn starch? 92g of Carb per 100g weight ...... I rest me case.
 
Hi

Thankyou for your advice.

I have ordered the Collins calorie book so that should be arriving soon.🙂
 
Welcome to the forum FLO 🙂

If you have got any worries or concernt this is the place to come everyone is so friendly and a great source of suppport for each other 🙂
 
welcome FLO from me too ...have you got access to testing ...its the only way you can start to determine what is going on with your BS good luck x🙂
 
My step-daughter ( don't you just hate that term ? ) is a pharmacist and she gave me an Accu-check blood tester thingy which is great.
I took a test on Wednesday and it was down to 6.0 which is not bad , but I still feel as though I'm flapping around, not quite getting it together.
I have an appt.with a dietician in July, so all should come a little clearer then.
In the mean time, I am still losing weight, eating really very well and sensibly and feeling well (except for a stupid cold which I caught after travelling on a very crowded train from Manchester to Swansea )

Be sure that I will ask questions when I can sort my brain out............

You're all great ............thankyou for your support already.
 
welcome to the forum Flo 🙂
 
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