Hi all, new member reporting in

[imp1864]

Hi every one. so, just been diagnosed last month with type 2. Bloods came back as 10.8, which i believe is 95. but as i have been given no info from the doctor , your guess is better than mine. last moth was rung at 8 in the morning on a Monday and told your diabetic , dont eat sugar, start metformin 1000mg twice a day.
So a month in, ive lost weight, avoid sugar like the plague. cut carbs. no longer blind ( oh couldn't see anything except blurred images, as my sugar stablised)
so there we go. not the most interesting story but hopefully the mission plan is beat this.
I'm 50 years old, current 12 stone 9, and 5' 10 tall.
next test in feb.
P.

 

[Drummer]

Welcome to the forum.
You have certainly made a good start.
With any luck you could be back in the normal range by the end of next year - or even the summer. It can be done.

 

[dawn5]

Hi every one. so, just been diagnosed last month with type 2. Bloods came back as 10.8, which i believe is 95. but as i have been given no info from the doctor , your guess is better than mine. last moth was rung at 8 in the morning on a Monday and told your diabetic , dont eat sugar, start metformin 1000mg twice a day.
So a month in, ive lost weight, avoid sugar like the plague. cut carbs. no longer blind ( oh couldn't see anything except blurred images, as my sugar stablised)
so there we go. not the most interesting story but hopefully the mission plan is beat this.
I'm 50 years old, current 12 stone 9, and 5' 10 tall.
next test in feb.
P.

Wow, sounds like you are doing great, well done... and respect!

 

[Docb]

Hi @imp1864, and welcome to the forum. 10.8% in old money is about the same as 95 mmol/mol in new money so you are up into the red zone and need to do something about it. At that level your GP maybe should have taken things a bit more seriously so well done for getting to grips with things yourself. No sugar and 1000mg/day of metformin is unlikely to cut it.

Read around the forum and you will see lots of members who have got down from that level or thereabouts (including me) so check out their stories and ideas. There are four levers you have got to pull - diet (reducing carb intake), weight (get your BMI in bounds), exercise and pills. Different people have found different combinations of settings of those levers to get things under control. Somewhere there will be a combination that will work for you and we will do our best to help you find it.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

It sounds like you have made great progress with things already. You are obviously aware (unlike the medical professional who rang you) that it is all carbs and not just sugar which impact our BG levels, so well done on reducing your general carb intake too. Increasing your activity levels can also help if you are able. A brisk daily walk is ideal but if you are housebound, anything which stimulates some blood flow and makes you breath a little deeper is helpful.

Not sure if you are aware of the option, but many people here find home monitoring of BG levels an invaluable tool in tailoring their diet to their own body's intolerance of carbs and it can be significantly individual. So you might have cut back on a favourite food which doesn't cause you problems but be eating something that you had assumed was healthy but aren't that keen on and it is spiking your levels. So called "healthy foods" like porridge and fruit are often mistakenly assumed to be good choices or "low GI" legumes like beans and lentils. Low Gi lowks great for some people but others find their body breaks it down almost as easily as sugar. Having a BG meter and testing before and then 2 hours after eating each meal will show you the effect those carbs in the meal had on your BG levels and help you to fine tune your diet to your own body's response and your individual tastes.

Unfortunately most GP surgeries do not fund BG meters for Type 2 diabetics unless they are on medication which can send their BG dangerously low and Metformin is not one of those, so you would probably have to self fund. A basic meter kit is relatively inexpensive @approx £15 but you then need a steady supply of consumables for it (test strips and lancets) and for that reason it makes sense to buy a meter which is reliable but has reasonably priced test strips. For this reason, the two most commonly recommended meters here on the forum are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Haealthcare Tee2 Both are available to buy online if you are interested and extra strips are £8 for a pot of 50 whereas some other meters, the test strips can be 2x or even 3x that price. It is Christmas coming up rapidly so if any family are struggling to think what to buy you, they really make an incredibly useful present.

Of course you may feel that you are managing fine as you are and don't need to know as there will be a follow up blood test in Feb which I hope reflects your hard work, but being able to test your levels at home takes a lot of the guess work out of it and can be really illuminating. If you are the sort of person who likes to take control... which it sounds like you are... then it may well appeal to you... but I appreciate that not everyone can afford to self fund. Only you will know that.
Good luck and I hope you find the forum as beneficial and supportive as I have over the past 22 months. Feel free to ask anything you don't understand or which concern you.

Good luck with your Diabetes journey.

 

[imp1864]

thank you all for the information, limited faith in our medical professionals but i will continue to push ahead, count the carbs and hopefully beat this.

 

[trophywench]

Hiya - you're doing pretty fine so far considering lack of helpfulness from your GP. Well done you!

I've always concurred with the 'testing' advice, because it's simply sensible. Plus, it's easy and convenient (I've had diabetes so ruddy long by now we were still boiling wee up in test tubes every morning in those days) and VERY informative - and once you know that you CAN change things yourself given that info on a regular basis, why wouldn't anyone do it?

Here's a suggested routine for doing that effectively that I've always agreed with 100%, handily published in a public Blog by a chap in Australia for anyone interested
Type 2 Diabetes - A Personal Journey: Test, Review, Adjust (loraldiabetes.blogspot.com)

Only ONE caveat about testing - if you are not going to 'Review and Adjust' - complete waste of your time testing ! 😉

 

[imp1864]

hi all, i have a test meter and so far my sugars are 4.5 first thing in the morning and after meals they sit around 5.5/6.5
i am very careful what i eat.

 

[Squirrel768]

hi all, i have a test meter and so far my sugars are 4.5 first thing in the morning and after meals they sit around 5.5/6.5
i am very careful what i eat.

That sounds very positive - how long after do you test?

I know I'm T1 not T2, but sometimes I find meals spike very quickly, then drop down again fairly quickly, other days like today, same breakfast, same insulin dose, and that spike heads into orbit and sits there - while other days/meals it is fairly low for a while, then climbs high an hour or two after. So, I was wondering whether you test after meals after half an hour, or a couple of hours? May have a bearing on the numbers ...

Either way, getting those numbers is very good going, so I would hope your next Hba1c is much improved 🙂

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @imp1864

You have had loads of useful responses already so I will just encourage you to stay in touch and ask any questions that you have.

 

[imp1864]

That sounds very positive - how long after do you test?

I know I'm T1 not T2, but sometimes I find meals spike very quickly, then drop down again fairly quickly, other days like today, same breakfast, same insulin dose, and that spike heads into orbit and sits there - while other days/meals it is fairly low for a while, then climbs high an hour or two after. So, I was wondering whether you test after meals after half an hour, or a couple of hours? May have a bearing on the numbers ...

Either way, getting those numbers is very good going, so I would hope your next Hba1c is much improved 🙂

hi I was testing one or two hours after my meals and those were the results. also my eye sight is improved to the point where my pre diagnosis prescription is useless. So hopefully novi g in the right direction.

 

[grovesy]

hi I was testing one or two hours after my meals and those were the results. also my eye sight is improved to the point where my pre diagnosis prescription is useless. So hopefully novi g in the right direction.

How pre diagnosis was the prescription? If it was in the few months prior to diagnosis you may need to go back to the optician.

 

[imp1864]

So an update, my new blood results are as follows HbAc1 39. Cholesterol 4.4
still on metformin but will be speaking to the GP soon hopefully. Bearing in mind 3 months ago my HbAc1 was 90, I’m rather pleased.

 

[trophywench]

Well done! You are a. now allowed to gloat but only for a little while and b. treat yourself to whatever you regard as a treat - simpler to cope with if not consumable so eg gold &/or diamonds !

 

[Pine Marten]

Fantastic results, @imp1864, well done! As trophywench says, have a little treat - you deserve to feel smug 😉

 

[imp1864]

Thank you all. I will hold off on treats for the time being. Dropping sugar, losing a stone and a bit and careful carb intake seems to have paid off. So I will stick with it. Still miss sugar in my tea.

 

[Squirrel768]

treat yourself to whatever you regard as a treat - simpler to cope with if not consumable so eg gold &/or diamonds !

I love your outlook, @trophywench I like to keep things in life simple, just have the best LOL.