Hi everyone, back in July 2020 I was told by my GP my HBa1c was 42 fast forward to last week (may 2021) and I was admitted as an inpatient to hospital for another problem. Upon checking my urine they noticed a lot of glucose so my HBa1c was repeated and I was told it was now 130!! After speaking to a diabetic nurse I am now being treated as type 1 until they can confirm what type I have. As you can imagine this has shaken me up slightly now having to inject 2 different insulin’s 4 times a day and trying to eat breakfast and lunch as I usually never did I only ate dinner. I am looking for any advice on good books or websites with recipes/food alternates that I can read up on to try to bring my blood sugar levels down. Many thanks Kel.
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Hi all! Advice needed!
- Thread starter Kelz7683
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Ljc
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
Hello @Kelz7683 . Welcome to the forum and to the club no one wants to join.
You will eventually be able to cope better with injecting . Your new diagnosis must have come as a shock but it will get easier in time. With T1 initially it is a steep learning curve , but you will get there , honest
It takes a while for the results to come through to see if you are T1 or not . In the meantime you are on the right medications ( a long acting insulin plus a rapid one fir mealtimes. for T1 and even if you turn out to have T2 which with such a high Hb1ac result I think is unlikely but I am no medic just a person who has had diabetes for a couple of decades.
What insulin’s are you on and who told you you must eat breakfast and lunch also what reasons did they give if any.
The reason I ask is, I am on Novorapid for mealtimes but if I don’t want to eat I don’t inject any Novorapid. Have you been given the contact details for your DSN at the hospital , if so do contact him/her about this
Ask all the questions you need to , we will do our best to help based on our own experiences.
One thing you need to be aware of, when searching on dr google about diabetes , Their is an awful lot of wrong and misinformation out there , also some places mix up the T1 and T2 advise so it good you have found us.
Also beware of the conmen out there offering a cure if only you’d buy this or that remedy.
Once you know what type you have, we will be able to give more appropriate advise .
You will eventually be able to cope better with injecting . Your new diagnosis must have come as a shock but it will get easier in time. With T1 initially it is a steep learning curve , but you will get there , honest
It takes a while for the results to come through to see if you are T1 or not . In the meantime you are on the right medications ( a long acting insulin plus a rapid one fir mealtimes. for T1 and even if you turn out to have T2 which with such a high Hb1ac result I think is unlikely but I am no medic just a person who has had diabetes for a couple of decades.
What insulin’s are you on and who told you you must eat breakfast and lunch also what reasons did they give if any.
The reason I ask is, I am on Novorapid for mealtimes but if I don’t want to eat I don’t inject any Novorapid. Have you been given the contact details for your DSN at the hospital , if so do contact him/her about this
Ask all the questions you need to , we will do our best to help based on our own experiences.
One thing you need to be aware of, when searching on dr google about diabetes , Their is an awful lot of wrong and misinformation out there , also some places mix up the T1 and T2 advise so it good you have found us.
Also beware of the conmen out there offering a cure if only you’d buy this or that remedy.
Once you know what type you have, we will be able to give more appropriate advise .
Ljc
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
Hi. I have just replied on your other thread.
Ljc
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
Oops I meant to say . As you are very new to insulin, till you have learned more about maniagung your insulin doses as I assume you are on fixed doses atm, eaplease don’t go altering the carbohydrate content of meals that your injecting your mealtime insulin for as you may put yourself at risk of hypo’s (low blood glucos) which are horrible. also it is not a good idea to bring your levels down too quickly as it can cause eye problems that are often temporary but not always.
Hi dear i am sure you will get everything sorted soon
how old are you when your first diagnosed?
Gwynn
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
130? Yup, me too 140. A week in hospital. Very poorly. Diagnosed then as type 1, later revised to type 2.
But with help from the wonderful people here, a bit of thinking, a complete change of life style, a determined diet, no meds, increased light exercise, thankfully I seem to have beaten the beast into remission. Last HbA1c was 39 a few months after leaving hospital.
Sadly, what has worked for me (and others) is personal to me and you will have to work out what will work for you.
Having read lots, asked tons of questions here, I considered that the consensus was that carbohydrates were the problem together with having crossed my own personal fat threshold. But complete elimination of carbohydrates from my diet was impossible, so I decided to reduce them dramatically, and stick to it as best I could and increase my exercise a bit from nothing to at least something.
Now, I eat well every day. I have great food which I really appreciate. Food tastes good again. The craving for sweetness is gone. I have reduced my weight (but then, I needed to), all the symptoms of diabetes that I had have gone. My energy, enthusiasm, drive has rocketed from zero to good levels.
So it is really possible that you can turn things around, in your own way. Have hope, see it as a journey of discovery about who you are.
Oh and one more thing that they suggest here, get a blood glucose monitor and do regular (?) Blood tests. It was the only way, day to day, I could see what was going on and which foods affected me badly (for me bread is not good. Shame cos I like a sandwhich).
Good luck
But with help from the wonderful people here, a bit of thinking, a complete change of life style, a determined diet, no meds, increased light exercise, thankfully I seem to have beaten the beast into remission. Last HbA1c was 39 a few months after leaving hospital.
Sadly, what has worked for me (and others) is personal to me and you will have to work out what will work for you.
Having read lots, asked tons of questions here, I considered that the consensus was that carbohydrates were the problem together with having crossed my own personal fat threshold. But complete elimination of carbohydrates from my diet was impossible, so I decided to reduce them dramatically, and stick to it as best I could and increase my exercise a bit from nothing to at least something.
Now, I eat well every day. I have great food which I really appreciate. Food tastes good again. The craving for sweetness is gone. I have reduced my weight (but then, I needed to), all the symptoms of diabetes that I had have gone. My energy, enthusiasm, drive has rocketed from zero to good levels.
So it is really possible that you can turn things around, in your own way. Have hope, see it as a journey of discovery about who you are.
Oh and one more thing that they suggest here, get a blood glucose monitor and do regular (?) Blood tests. It was the only way, day to day, I could see what was going on and which foods affected me badly (for me bread is not good. Shame cos I like a sandwhich).
Good luck
Hi I am 37 and was diagnosed last week.
Thankyou for your positivity it really does help when I was only diagnosed last week and I’m trying to get my head around all of it. I’m so glad things are on the better for you and well done on the weight loss you should be impressed I know I would be! Hopefully in a few months I can say that’s me too!! I have a blood glucose monitor the hospital provided me with it before discharging me so I do test at least 4 times a day. My first blood glucose in hospital was 24.7 I got it down to 14.1 before I was allowed home and to be honest it’s been all over the place since then! 7.1 was my lowest reading to date which was yesterday morning so hopefully I’m heading in the right direction. I feel you over bread it’s one of my guilty pleasures and I used to eat it with more or less everything!
Hi, I have no idea why it posted twice! Thankyou for your reply it’s good to hear other people’s opinions who know what they are dealing with. I’m currently on toujeo and novorapid. One nurse (not my diabetic nurse) in the hospital was constantly on my case saying you need to eat more frequently and little and often. However my diabetes nurse did say if I don’t feel like it I don’t have to. I know it’s not the right mindset but I said to my hubby yesterday even more so now I don’t feel like eating any other meals just because of all the messing of checking my blood sugar levels then having insulin all before i eat.
I have tried to avoid Google as I know it can just misinform me which is how I ended up on here instead. I’m on fixed doses until the blood results come back which I was told can take up to 8 weeks. I give my diabetic nurse my readings and then she adjusts my dose accordingly, I started on 10 units of toujeo and 4 of novorapid which she has just increased both by 1 unit then the toujeo by another if I can’t get my levels below 9 in 5 days. It’s meals and planning I’m struggling with as I’m trying to look at the sugar content in everything but then I don’t know much about having carbs and how much etc. I hope that makes sense.
I have tried to avoid Google as I know it can just misinform me which is how I ended up on here instead. I’m on fixed doses until the blood results come back which I was told can take up to 8 weeks. I give my diabetic nurse my readings and then she adjusts my dose accordingly, I started on 10 units of toujeo and 4 of novorapid which she has just increased both by 1 unit then the toujeo by another if I can’t get my levels below 9 in 5 days. It’s meals and planning I’m struggling with as I’m trying to look at the sugar content in everything but then I don’t know much about having carbs and how much etc. I hope that makes sense.
Felinia
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I have a suggestion which might help you measure your carb/sugar content. There are a number of apps available which do just that for you. I use one called NutraCheck which has a database for thousands of foods, by calories, carbohydrates, of which sugars, fats, of which saturated fats, proteins, fibre, salt. You just find the food, select it, and it records by meal, by day and by week on an easy to see display. If you plan your day's food in advance, you will know exactly where you are. They offered a week's free trial, then it's £7.99 a month - less than a weekly cup of coffee shop coffee. One other thing I do is keep digital scales and a clear bowl on my kitchen worktop, so weighing my food is just a matter of seconds. You soon get to know portion sizes, for example 80gm per vegetable or fruit, but the app will show small, medium and large, with the gm size beside it. It did not take long to become 2nd nature to me. Very best wishes
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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- He/Him
Peely66
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
8 weeks!? Seriously? We got to the moon and back quicker than that. I would be asking why it takes so long.
OK that's been answered below. Heck of a long time though.
Last edited:
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Kelz7683
Sorry to hear about the confusion over the type of diabetes you have. The GAD antibody and cPeptide tests can take a while to come back unfortunately. It’s not all that unusual for people to be assumed T2 when developing diabetes later in life, even though T1 can develop at any age, and 50% of cases are diagnosed in adulthood.
Such a rapid rise in HbA1c certainly looks like something was going on. Hope you get some clarity soon.
In the meantime, if it does turn out to be T1, the books Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas (ignore the title - this book is relevant to people of all ages!)
and
Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner
are often recommended on the forum.
And fire away with any questions you have.
It would be worth asking your DSN for clarity over breakfast/lunch, because when your insulin is properly adjusted as @Ljc says, you shouldn’t need to eat when you don’t want to. Just skip that meal dose, and miss the meal. But they may be being cautious at the moment, or simply not have understood your usual eating pattern 🙂
Sorry to hear about the confusion over the type of diabetes you have. The GAD antibody and cPeptide tests can take a while to come back unfortunately. It’s not all that unusual for people to be assumed T2 when developing diabetes later in life, even though T1 can develop at any age, and 50% of cases are diagnosed in adulthood.
Such a rapid rise in HbA1c certainly looks like something was going on. Hope you get some clarity soon.
In the meantime, if it does turn out to be T1, the books Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas (ignore the title - this book is relevant to people of all ages!)
and
Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner
are often recommended on the forum.
And fire away with any questions you have.
It would be worth asking your DSN for clarity over breakfast/lunch, because when your insulin is properly adjusted as @Ljc says, you shouldn’t need to eat when you don’t want to. Just skip that meal dose, and miss the meal. But they may be being cautious at the moment, or simply not have understood your usual eating pattern 🙂
Thankyou for your help im not sure what happened....the joys of being a newbie
Hi I was 37
That’s exactly what I thought when she said 8 weeks it’s a long time!! But I suppose if it gives me the right diagnosis it’s worth it and I’ve spent nearly 12 months not knowing how high my HBa1c was as my GP never followed it up after saying I was borderline in July last year seems silly doesn’t it.
Th
Thankyou so much for your help and advice I will certainly have a look at those books it’s just trying to find as much correct information as I can so I know I’m doing things properly. However I’m cautious as to buying loads of books for either type then end up diagnosed with the other as that’s just my luck lol. My DSN did say to me only take the novorapid when I’m eating but the normal nurse who was looking after for me the reason I went into hospital was putting the fear of god in me....if you don’t eat properly and eat at least 3 meals a day then things like coma, eye problems, feet problems even death can occur...so that gives you an idea as to why I’m trying to eat 3 meals a day even though I can’t stand it!
Oh that sounds amazing Thankyou so much! I will have a look in to that! Im assuming they are suitable for both type 1 & 2? I don’t want to subscribe to one just yet if it’s only for 1 type until I know which I am. Good luck on reaching your targets also!
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