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Hiya

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Kris'mum

Kris'mum

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes yesterday, via telephone consultation. I was told I will probably be on Metformin but have my first clinic appointment on Monday. I am looking for any help and advice you can give me. Also the appt is 50 mins long, so if you can give me any info as to why I will be very grateful.
 
Hi @Kris'mum and welcome. The reason for the 50 mins appointment is that your surgery is taking your diagnosis seriously, so good for them. Lots get a phone call and are then left to their own devices which is not satisfactory.

In your appointment you should get a series of routine checks, a decision whether medication is a sensible option for you, general advice and the opportunity to ask questions. One thing to find out is what your HbA1c result was, assuming your diagnosis was made on the basis of a HbA1c test result. Anything over 48 gives you a diabetic diagnosis and the actual level tells you how big a hill you have to climb to get it back down. Its the number most of us use to keep track of how we are controlling things.

T2 diabetes is a serious disease but if you read around the forum uou will find that most of us have got it tamed by one method or another. No reason you cannot do the same so let us know how you get on and ask away with any questions you have.
 
HI @Kris'mum and welcome from me too, a fellow T2 diabetic. As @Docb says, sounds like your surgery is looking after you well with a 50 minute appointment. When I had my first appointment they took more bloods (must have given an armful in the early days!) weighed me, measured my height, did a foot test to make sure they weren't numb anywhere, and gave me advice on diet, ie the need to reduce your carb intake besides the more obvious sugary food like cake and bikkies.

I'm glad you've joined the forum early on in your diagnosis. I left it a few weeks before finding the site and would have felt so much more supported if I'd done it right away.

Nice to have you on board 🙂 Do let us know how you get on at your appointment on Monday.
 
Welcome to the forum @Kris'mum . I am glad to read that your surgery are offering support. It will be worth reading around this forum and to go with a list of questions. You have already had useful advice from some fellow T2s, so I will just encourage you to ask any questions that arise. Nothing is considered silly on here. Just ask.
 
Kris'mum said:
Hi
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes yesterday, via telephone consultation. I was told I will probably be on Metformin but have my first clinic appointment on Monday. I am looking for any help and advice you can give me. Also the appt is 50 mins long, so if you can give me any info as to why I will be very grateful.
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Although your GP surgery appears to be taking your diagnosis seriously, there is still a high chance that they may give you some poor outdated information about Type2 diabetes. - I know I was!
Fortunately I discovered that thousands of people have improved their T2 condition (including completely normal Blood Glucose) and often lost substantial weight without ever being starving hungry, by adopting a 'Low Carb Way Of Eating'.
 
Thank you all for the welcome and giving me encouragement and advice. I will let you know how I get on at clinic on Monday.
I am glad I found this site 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum Kris'mum from a fellow T2.
I've not much advice for your appointment. Other can get them to tell you as much as you can. They're supposed to do a care plan with with; have agreed targets & provide info. Get results of tests, in printed, if you can.
 
Welcome @Kris'mum
I can't add much more to the comments above about what to expect from the appointment. I expect it is different for Type 1 and type 2.
But I wanted to remind you
The appointment is for you. Not the doctor/nurse
So be ready with questions - anything you want to know - and, if you want, make notes. In fact, if you are worried about making notes, you should be able to record the conversation. Most phones nowadays have a record function. Probbaly polite to ask if it is ok but I know I get overwhelmed with lost of information and wished I was able to replay the conversations sometimes.
 
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A few people ( and I am one of the most sensitive) react badly to the tablets usually prescribed to the newly diagnosed. It was dreadful.
If your starting point is negotiable, then beginning to eat a low carb diet and avoiding medication might be a good idea if you can do it. Sometimes using a blood glucose tester is actively discouraged but one that is cheap to use such as the Spirit Healthcare Tee 2 meter has guided a fair few people back into normal numbers.
The most common first prescription is for Metformin, but taking just one tablet meant I could not venture more than 20 seconds from the bathroom. Exercising would have been most unwise. Fortunately all I needed to do was remove the high carb foods from my diet and I was back to normal in 6 months, and I started with a Hba1c (glycated haemoglobin) of 91. Salads, stir fries and roast veges, choosing foods with 10 percent carbs or less did the trick.
 
Kris'mum said:
Thank you all for the welcome and giving me encouragement and advice. I will let you know how I get on at clinic on Monday.
I am glad I found this site 🙂
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Hope your appointment goes well @Kris'mum

If you have any topics that you would like to cover I usually find it really helps to take a list (with gaps for notes if you want to be very thorough!).

Do press them for your actual numeric results too, and don’t be fobbed off with ‘normal’. It can really help understanding things going forward. Ask for the units of any numbers if they aren’t given 🙂

Let us know how it goes
 
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