It's all new to me

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J

Jumbly

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
For about 18 months I thought something wasn't right - then I read a thing about diabetes symptons... after ticking all the boxes, I told a friend and she said "stop being a typical male, and go and see your doctor". I finally went to my doctor the other day. Went back for a blood test, and yesterday got a letter saying I need to make an appointment for the Doctor, and another appointment for the Diabetes Nurse.

I don't want to start on this "journey", thank you :-(

[edit: I put type 2 because I have no idea what it all means]
 
Hi Jumbly, welcome to the forum, but sorry that you have found yourself here.

Don't despair though. If your diagnosis is confirmed then you should know that diabetes is a condition that can be managed well, with the right sort of education and support. This can come from many sources, including books, this forum and your healthcare team, and armed with this information you can learn how to control it and live a full and normal life. Many people who make that effort are rewarded by actually improving their health, and if you have been unknowingly suffering high blood glucose levels for some time then you may be surprised at how much better you feel and how much extra energy you have once you commence treatment.

Please ask any questions you may have, everyone is very friendly and will try their best to help 🙂 Let us know how things go!
 
Welcome Jumbly.

As you haven't been put straight onto insulin, you're more likely to be T2 than T1 - and as you've said you're male, we can rule out gestational diabetes, as you need to be pregnant to get that!

Hopefully, you will get more information about your own situation when you see your Doctor (GP, I guess?) and Diabetes Nurse (practice nurse at GP surgery?) When newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the usual first line of defence is diet and exercise and weight control, sometimes with medication, usually tablets such as metformin. In order to check how your actions are affecting your condition eg to discover which foods cause your blood glucose levels to rise or to determine how effective a a long walk is in reducing your levels, the best means is to use a blood glucose meter - they're cheap to obtain or even free from some manufacturing companies, but strips are expensive, unless you can get them on prescription, and prescriptions are free to people with diabetes only if they need to take some medication for diabetes.

Hope that's a start of answering your first steps in this journey - keep asking, and we'll try to help. Don't worry about making mistakes / asking daft questions, as no-one sees things like that! 🙂
 
Northerner said:
Please ask any questions you may have, everyone is very friendly and will try their best to help 🙂 Let us know how things go!
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So far I only have one question... I had one of these freebie diabetes blood tests while I was in Asda, and the lady said it was reading 17. 17 what? Is 17 good or bad?
 
Jumbly said:
So far I only have one question... I had one of these freebie diabetes blood tests while I was in Asda, and the lady said it was reading 17. 17 what? Is 17 good or bad?
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17 mmol/l if it was a fingerprick test. This is high, although there are many factors that could make it higher than it usually is, like if your fingers had anything sugary on them when the test was taken or if you had recently eaten something with a high carbohydrate content, like a white bread sandwich. A non-diabetic person would normally expect to see a reading between around 3.5-6.5 mmol/l. It can go much higher than 17 though - mine was 38 mmol/l when diagnosed and I have even heard of people in the 60s! 😱

I also asked the doctor if it was good or bad when he told me my reading was 38!
 
Hi and a warm welcome to the forum jumb
 
Jumbly said:
So far I only have one question... I had one of these freebie diabetes blood tests while I was in Asda, and the lady said it was reading 17. 17 what? Is 17 good or bad?
Click to expand...

That is a high reading Jumbly, hopefully when you see your dr and DSN ask lots of questions to help you understand and come to terms with having Diabetes. I'm type 1 and my little grandaughters blood sugar, when diagnosed (also type 1) was 47!!!!!!
Welcome to the D club, best wishes Sheena
 
Thanks for all the nice responses... looks like I'd better make those appointments (rather than putting them off as usual!)
 
Welcome to the forums Jumbly 🙂
 
Hi Jumbly - yes indeed - make em yesterday!
 
Hi Jumbly and welcome from me too. Yes try and get an appt asap, as that way you will get some advice to start dealing with your diagnosis. In the meantime, start reading some of the recommended materials at the top of the thread in the newbies section and keep asking questions here. It's a big deal when you realise you have to make some significant life long changes, but in time you will begin to see the positive impact that these changes will have. Watch your carbohydate intake (avoid white/processed carbs and stick to wholewhat/wholegrain), eat plenty of low fat proteins and veggies. Limit potatoes though (testing after eating certain foods will show you what sends your blood glucose soaring!). if you don't exercise much, try and start doing some regular activity, even walking more to start with. These small steps will get you started on the road to dealing with your high bg levels and you will begin to feel better too. The very best of luck to you and let us know how you are getting along. Katie🙂
 
Welcome Jumbly - I hope that the information that you glean from here will start to help the pieces fall in to place.
 
Hi Jumbly. Welcome 🙂

Well done for making the appointment. There are consequences for letting things slip and hiding one's head in the sand, so you've done exactly the right thing in facing it and getting it sorted.

Whatever the outcome, it can only improve your short and long term health. 🙂

Please be sure to stick around and maybe we can fill in the gaps that the doctors and nurses are bound to leave with all the info they give you.

Rob
 
Welcome to the forum Jumbly, hope the appointments go okay 🙂
 
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