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Help please

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Suzanne1

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 and do not have a clue what I am doing! I already have to be on the fodmap diet for ibs and so am pretty much low or no carbs and little to no sugar?
I have read up, am eating what is recommended and have been checking my blood. I have never tested below 10 and that was when I tested after not having eaten for 15 hours. In the morning before I have had anything I am already at a 12/13 and am regularly getting readings of 26 in the day, two hours after food.
I have disabled children, who sleep very little and need constant supervision so I know Im already not getting enough sleep, am stressed, have no appetite so struggle to eat regularly as it just feels a chore.
Any help would be massively appreciated.
Thanks
 
Hi @Suzanne1 🙂 As you’re aware, those are high blood sugars, especially if you’re not eating many carbs. Can you say a little about what led to your diagnosis and what your HbA1C was at diagnosis? Are you on any meds for the diabetes? Are you overweight?

Has Type 1 diabetes been considered and ruled out?
 
hi @Inka i was diagnosed funnily enough through the respiratory consultant. Have been having problems breathing post covid and he had done a lot of blood tests and called to say that it had come back high. If i remember rightly it was 62 but I hadn't eaten that day. That was then confirmed with a fasting blood test which also came back high. At the point of the second blood test for one reason and another i hadnt eaten for around 18 hours and it still came back as high? Im presuming if it had been tested after i hadnt eaten for only 8 hours then it would have been higher? But im only guessing as i dont really understand.
No meds yet. Literally just a call a few weeks ago saying yes the second test has confirmed it and to look on this site, buy some books and read up and they would get me up for a longer appointment to talk it through. WHen they then rang to book the appointment they wanted to do it at the end of the month which has just left me with no idea what to do.
I got the Michael Mosley book from the library but most of it i cannot eat because of the ibs.
I am literally eating fish, chicken, green leaves, strawberries, raspberries ( just a couple) and drinking lots of water. But Im still regularly getting 26 or 27. Its usually around a 13 first thing in the morning and then shoots up when i test 2 hours after eating even if i have literally had some plain fish and green leaves.
I have no idea if type 1 has been looked at or how they know. I emailed the surgery and said i had forgotten to ask which type and they replied and said type 2.
Thanks for chatting with me
 
Ok, well your 60 will be your HbA1C result. This is different from a one-off fingerprick test. It gives an idea of your blood sugar over the preceding 3 months so it wouldn’t make any difference whether you ate before it or not. Confusingly, it uses different units to the fingerprick tests. Anything over 48 counts as diabetes.

It’s possible your diabetes is connected to the Covid. There have been a number of reports about that.

Type 1 can be ruled out by taking additional blood tests to look for the Type 1 antibodies and at C Peptide (which is connected to how much insulin you’re producing). Type 1 is an auto-immune condition.

Whatever type you have, 26/27 is very high. Have you let your surgery know how high your results are? I’d do that if I were you. It sounds like you may well need medication. You’ll feel a lot better once your blood sugar comes down.
 
Inka said:
Ok, well your 60 will be your HbA1C result. This is different from a one-off fingerprick test. It gives an idea of your blood sugar over the preceding 3 months so it wouldn’t make any difference whether you ate before it or not. Confusingly, it uses different units to the fingerprick tests. Anything over 48 counts as diabetes.

It’s possible your diabetes is connected to the Covid. There have been a number of reports about that.

Type 1 can be ruled out by taking additional blood tests to look for the Type 1 antibodies and at C Peptide (which is connected to how much insulin you’re producing). Type 1 is an auto-immune condition.

Whatever type you have, 26/27 is very high. Have you let your surgery know how high your results are? I’d do that if I were you. It sounds like you may well need medication. You’ll feel a lot better once your blood sugar comes down.
Click to expand...
@Inka I haven't let them know as I don't know who to talk to. I have an appointment with the nurse in Fri so am hoping they will be more help. They wanted to wait to the end of the month but I asked for it to be earlier. I don't think they have any plans for more bloods?
 
Friday sounds ok. Do make a list of questions. It’s so easy to forget and I’ve found nurses sometimes talk over you and control the conversation, then you come out having none or few of your questions answered.

Most GP’s have a ‘diabetes nurse’ - someone who looks after their patients with diabetes.
 
Hi and welcome @Suzanne1.
Sorry you’ve found yourself here. I’m with @Inka thinking this could be the result of Covid. Were you given steroids by any chance? These numbers are very high, you must feel rotten. How has it been left with your doctor? Are they just leaving you to it? I would definitely get back in touch and tell them you are struggling, especially with your other condition. One thing I would say is, please try and eat something, because not eating will put your blood sugars up as your liver thinks you’re starving and will throw some glucose at your system to help you get through the day. It sounds daft but it’s true. Hope you get some answers sooner rather than later.
 
eggyg said:
Hi and welcome @Suzanne1.
Sorry you’ve found yourself here. I’m with @Inka thinking this could be the result of Covid. Were you given steroids by any chance? These numbers are very high, you must feel rotten. How has it been left with your doctor? Are they just leaving you to it? I would definitely get back in touch and tell them you are struggling, especially with your other condition. One thing I would say is, please try and eat something, because not eating will put your blood sugars up as your liver thinks you’re starving and will throw some glucose at your system to help you get through the day. It sounds daft but it’s true. Hope you get some answers sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...
@eggyg thank you. Yes the Dr did say she wondered if it was a post covid thing. I feel really really rubbish and I have to up with the children 20 hours out of 24 so I need to be on form. I'm trying to get better at the eating but it's tough around the children.
It literally has just been left to get on with it for weeks and then I have an appointment on Fri with the nurse so I'm hoping to get some help then but I don't know whether to contact the Dr before then? I feel like I'm doing all the things I'm reading that I should be but it isn't working?
 
Inka said:
Friday sounds ok. Do make a list of questions. It’s so easy to forget and I’ve found nurses sometimes talk over you and control the conversation, then you come out having none or few of your questions answered.

Most GP’s have a ‘diabetes nurse’ - someone who looks after their patients with diabetes.
Click to expand...
@Inka thanks. I don't really know what I should be asking other than what on earth I should be doing??
 
Hi, apart from any Covid aspect if you are not overweight there is a possibility you may be late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2. Most GPs just guess T2 without doing any tests. If you have excess weight they are probably right as you will have insulin resistance but, if like me, you are slim their guess with be wrong. If in doubt you need to ask for the two tests GAD and C-Peptide. In the meantime do low-carb and the nurse/GP should be putting you on meds typically Metformin and others.
 
Suzanne1 said:
@Inka thanks. I don't really know what I should be asking other than what on earth I should be doing??
Click to expand...

If it was me, I’d start off by checking if you were given steroids as @eggyg mentioned. I’d then ask about your diagnosis and whether there’s a possibility you’re Type 1. Tell them about your low carb diet and your very high blood sugars despite eating very few carbs. Ask them if they’ll be doing any other blood tests eg C Peptide, to check how your pancreas is coping and to confirm your diabetes type.

Ask about medication to help you control your blood sugars. Ask if there’s a maximum blood sugar at which you should seek medical help. I’d say 26/27 was up there at that level. It needs sorting. Ask when your next follow-up appointment will be.

Take not just your list of questions but a pen and extra paper so you can scribble down their answers.

Remind them of your situation with your children and your FODMAP diet. Obviously it will be in your notes, but pointing this out saves time and focuses their mind on you as an individual.
 
DaveB said:
Hi, apart from any Covid aspect if you are not overweight there is a possibility you may be late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2. Most GPs just guess T2 without doing any tests. If you have excess weight they are probably right as you will have insulin resistance but, if like me, you are slim their guess with be wrong. If in doubt you need to ask for the two tests GAD and C-Peptide. In the meantime do low-carb and the nurse/GP should be putting you on meds typically Metformin and others.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I am overweight! Despite eating a ridiculously small amount
 
Inka said:
If it was me, I’d start off by checking if you were given steroids as @eggyg mentioned. I’d then ask about your diagnosis and whether there’s a possibility you’re Type 1. Tell them about your low carb diet and your very high blood sugars despite eating very few carbs. Ask them if they’ll be doing any other blood tests eg C Peptide, to check how your pancreas is coping and to confirm your diabetes type.

Ask about medication to help you control your blood sugars. Ask if there’s a maximum blood sugar at which you should seek medical help. I’d say 26/27 was up there at that level. It needs sorting. Ask when your next follow-up appointment will be.

Take not just your list of questions but a pen and extra paper so you can scribble down their answers.

Remind them of your situation with your children and your FODMAP diet. Obviously it will be in your notes, but pointing this out saves time and focuses their mind on you as an individual.
Click to expand...
@Inka thank you so much for all of this. I have been given several sets of steroids but dont understand the revelance of that? I have just been up to the drs and said im feeling really not great and have written a quick note of what i am eating and my numbers. I have asked whether I wait to talk to the nurse on fri and they have said they will pass the notes on to the dr and she will ring me this afternoon. so hopefully i will get some more help/advice there. she is aware of the fodmap and has referred to a dietician to get a proper plan in place but i have no idea how long that will take. but she also advised the michael mosley book which ive looked at and literally couldnt find anything that i could have.
 
Steroids will push blood sugar right up. There’s even a form of diabetes called Steroid-induced Diabetes. If the steroids have caused this or at least contributed to your very high sugars, there’s a chance things might improve as your body recovers from the steroids. But in the meantime you might need medication to control your blood sugar and get it back within a more normal range.
 
Suzanne1 said:
Unfortunately I am overweight! Despite eating a ridiculously small amount
Click to expand...

That would suggest you’re more likely to be Type 2. As you’ve had steroids too, then they’re probably implicated as well. Just my opinion as a person with diabetes. I’m not a medical professional.
 
Sorry to hear of your multiple problems. I had never heard of the FODMAP diet but just looked and there is a pretty extensive list of foods which would be very suitable for a low carb diet, there are a few however which are high carb so if you are exclusively having those then it would not be so good for your blood glucose levels. Having that list to hand so you can tick foods as they would be OK or ? then as ones to limit quantity or X as not wise to have at all. Carb info can be found on the internet UK sites will be better so search for carb content of ?.
The Book or app Carbs and Cals is also a use full resource giving carb values of lots or foods and meals.
 
Inka said:
Steroids will push blood sugar right up. There’s even a form of diabetes called Steroid-induced Diabetes. If the steroids have caused this or at least contributed to your very high sugars, there’s a chance things might improve as your body recovers from the steroids. But in the meantime you might need medication to control your blood sugar and get it back within a more normal range.
Click to expand...
Ok that makes sense. They were a while ago as I had covid back in december
 
Leadinglights said:
Sorry to hear of your multiple problems. I had never heard of the FODMAP diet but just looked and there is a pretty extensive list of foods which would be very suitable for a low carb diet, there are a few however which are high carb so if you are exclusively having those then it would not be so good for your blood glucose levels. Having that list to hand so you can tick foods as they would be OK or ? then as ones to limit quantity or X as not wise to have at all. Carb info can be found on the internet UK sites will be better so search for carb content of ?.
The Book or app Carbs and Cals is also a use full resource giving carb values of lots or foods and meals.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Any advice is so welcome. I am quite confident with the fodmap but have never moved past the first level so am already pretty much doing a basic salad/veg/fish/chicken diet which is why I'm confused as to my levels being high as it would almost seem that I was already doing a lot of the recommended diet
 
Inka said:
That would suggest you’re more likely to be Type 2. As you’ve had steroids too, then they’re probably implicated as well. Just my opinion as a person with diabetes. I’m not a medical professional.
Click to expand...
Honestly any advice is so welcome, whoever it comes from! Feel a little like I was given a diagnosis and left to it and it really hit me this morning when I was struggling to even get out of bed
 
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