Hi! Type 2 with no symptoms diagnosis

[Poshgirl]

Diagnosed July 2022. Confirmatory blood tests cancelled 2020, due to Covid onset. Practice nurse and specialist GP attitude poor. Neither believed I'd had no symptoms; treated like a naughty child! Put on Metformin, dreadful experience even with slow release. Moved onto Dapagliflozin. Thankfully no sign of the dreaded side-effects yet. Latest bloods show they are working but cholesterol still high so now on Ezetimibe as didn't react well to statins few years ago. Eye test in December 2022 good though GP still doesn't have confirmation on my file. Offered to take in copy of my letter, but he said it didn't matter!

I realise how serious diabetes is and am not trying to play it down but I'm fed up with the way I feel since I've been put on the drugs. Tired, buzzing in ears, nausea, empty headed feeling. Still tempted to go back to original GP and see if I can get him to listen. Otherwise it's an expensive specialist's appointment. Not trying to tell medics how to do their jobs but just want to know why I feel worse now than I did before diagnosis...

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Poshgirl

Diabetes can be a peculiar animal. Some people experience quite profound symptoms at relatively moderately elevated glucose levels, while others potter along quite happily and only discover almost quite by chance that their metabolism is way off kilter when they have a routine check for something else.

Were you told the result of your HbA1c check at the time of your diagnosis? This will be a number above 47mmol/mol - though some newcomers to the forum are into 3 figures at the start.

This can help you see how far into the ‘diabetes zone’ your metabolism has veered, and by extension help you to gauge how significant the changes to your menu are likely to be.

It sounds like your body hasn’t been too happy with some of the meds you’ve tried - different meds suit different people, and fortunately there are lots of options, so hopefully you’ll find something that helps.

Meds with diabetes always work alongside, and in balance with changes to a person‘s way of eating and level of activity. Getting the two to work in tandem is often very effective - and several forum members have later found that they have been able to reduce or stop some or all of their meds as their metabolism begins to settle into the new way of things.

Hopefully you’ll be able to find a way to live happily alongside your diabetes before too long, and find your way through some of the maze-like options to get the support you need from your GP.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Poshgirl and welcome to the forum. Your profile says you have Type 2, so having no symptoms is probably the norm!
Only those Type 2's in whom it ha not ben detected for decades or those where the onset has been fast tend to have symptoms of high Blood Glucose, because if it rises slowly the body adjusts and so you don't notice it. The regular Diabetes eyes and feet checks are quite important (you don't want to go blind or have amputations) even of you otherwise feel OK.

Talk to your doctor about the effects of the medication - there are several alternatives. For those of us who have an HbA1C not too far into the diabetic range, doctors often either suggest (or at least allow) us to see if we can control our blood glucose by diet (Low Carb or very Low Calorie) plus lifestyle (sometimes with Metformin) to see if we can control our Blood Glucose for a few months. By 3 months quite a few already have normal ( or pre-diabetic) blood glucose and soon after this can be confirmed by an HbA1C - this is only slower beacuse the HbA1C test result is showing the average for the last 2 1/2 to 3 months (the lifespan of our red blood cells).