Just diagnosed on Wednesday feel like my life is over

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MUFC Religion

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Type 2
So was officially diagnosed with diabetes on Wednesday, though it was completely lucky as I'd been poorly since April 1st with a sore mouth and throat and wasn't getting help until this bank holiday Monday when I was so poorly an urgent Ambulance was sent to me and they did a blood sugar test and my level was 21.

Wednesday morning I had urgent blood test to test for diabetes and on Thursday morning got a call around 3am from out of hours doctor saying the result had come back as 28.4 and that I needed to go hospital for more tests and the doctor ordered me an ambulance which at twenty to 5 the paramedics did another test and that was 17 so I signed a refusal form knowing the risks, I was scared and am still trying to over come agraphobia.

I've just been started on Metformin 500mg tablets at 1 a day, but I also have fibromyalgia, cervical spondylosis, cervical stenosis and bulging discs plus long term depression due to other things going on with my family.

Sorry for the long intro but I am finding it difficult to see any decent kind of life for me.

​

 
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis @MUFC Religion - must be especially difficult alongside the other conditions and challenges you are living with :(

Diabetes is potentially very serious, but it’s also a condition that can be managed well with a few changes and adaptations, and a little experimentation and determination. It’s something you can learn to live well with, and shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy. Some may need a little adjustment or a bit of lateral thinking though!

There’s no one single approach that will work for everyone, so it is helpful to keep open to trying different strategies and approaches and gradually developing a ‘diabetes toolkit’ that works for you as an individual.

Many members find that moderating their intake of total carbohydrates (not only ‘of which sugars’) is a very effective strategy, but individual tolerances vary, so just how much you may need to cut back, and which sources of carbohydrates your body copes best with, will be unique to you.

Try not to feel too overwhelmed by your diagnosis. Many on the forum find that being told they had diabetes became something of a turning point for them, and helped them make positive changes towards a better balance for them (perhaps changes they had wanted to make for years). Some say they feel far ‘healthier’ and more energised living with well-managed diabetes than they had for years!
 
Sorry you have been given such a bomb shell but I would say the diabetes diagnosis is the most manageable of all the conditions you have though it can seem like the last straw.
I wonder if you are taking steroids for any of your other conditions as they are well known for increasing blood glucose.
The readings that were taken when you were unwell sound like spot tests so you should also have an HbA1C which is the test used for diagnosis being an average over the previous 3 months and gives a better idea of where you are on the diabetes scale, anything over 47mmol/mol is a diabetes diagnosis. There are many people here who have reduced their levels from 3 figures by dietary changes and /or medication.
Metformin is usually started on a low dose for a week or so then the dose increase up if needed but that may be decided once you have had an HbA1C test. Starting slowly helps the body adjust to the medication to help with preventing side effects which some not all get (usually stomach issues).
Dietary changes are going to be important if not more so than the medication.
You may find this link helpful with some ideas of what you can eat and what should be avoided or reduced in quantity.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Hello,
I was also diagnosed recently (with type 1) and have had the same thoughts, but I’m feeling more positive now. It’s all a bit overwhelming isn’t it? Like you, I also have some other health issues on top of this new diagnosis and I’ve shed some tears over it. But you aren’t alone, and there is so much help and support out there. Take each day as it comes. I’ve found reading up on things in small amounts rather than one huge chunk to be helpful
 
@MUFC Religion that must have been rather a shock, but the good news is that if it turns out you are an ordinary type 2 if you get your blood glucose levels down then with any luck you'll be feeling so much better about life in general in quite a short time.
High blood glucose puts a strain on the metabolism and then nothing seems to go well.
I do hope that the Metformin doesn't effect you in the same way it did me and some others, rather explosive incontinence was difficult to deal with and I decided to stop the tablets rather than try to cope with it.
Some people have no reaction to it and for others the effects reduce after a little while, but I hope that you were warned about it being a possibility.
I rely on a low carb diet to keep control and feel a lot better for it. My Hba1c is normal and my glucose levels after eating should be under 8, or even 7 mmol/l - I sorted out what I could and could not eat using a glucose tester and stick to under 40gm of carbs a day most of the time. Being over 5 years in normal numbers gives some latitude if I want to have an icecream when out, for instance.
 
Just a quick reply to all of you to say thanks. My fibro is flaring up so it's difficult to take all your repllies in at once but please know I totally appreciate your kind words, thank you all very much.
 
Hang in there. We are rooting for you 🙂

Hope the flare-up subsides swiftly.
 
MUFC Religion said:
So was officially diagnosed with diabetes on Wednesday, though it was completely lucky as I'd been poorly since April 1st with a sore mouth and throat and wasn't getting help until this bank holiday Monday when I was so poorly an urgent Ambulance was sent to me and they did a blood sugar test and my level was 21.

Wednesday morning I had urgent blood test to test for diabetes and on Thursday morning got a call around 3am from out of hours doctor saying the result had come back as 28.4 and that I needed to go hospital for more tests and the doctor ordered me an ambulance which at twenty to 5 the paramedics did another test and that was 17 so I signed a refusal form knowing the risks, I was scared and am still trying to over come agraphobia.

I've just been started on Metformin 500mg tablets at 1 a day, but I also have fibromyalgia, cervical spondylosis, cervical stenosis and bulging discs plus long term depression due to other things going on with my family.

Sorry for the long intro but I am finding it difficult to see any decent kind of life for me.

​

Click to expand...
Hey, me too, last Wednesday. I hear it's possible to "reverse" it and I am hanging on to that hope at the moment. All the foods we should now eat I am not fond of, veggies, brown rice and pasta etc. That said, I have started trying to make those changes. Keeping away from sugar etc.

It's hard to find advice on what to eat / avoid. I travel a lot for work and that makes it harder. I am sure through this forum we will get through it.
 
Hi All,

As a person whom has been diagnosed with Pre-diabetes I was natuarally interested to learn that there are different types of Type 2. Can any on kindly give me more info on this please? All help would be apprecited.

Blue-16!
(Susan)
 
inkspot said:
Hey, me too, last Wednesday. I hear it's possible to "reverse" it and I am hanging on to that hope at the moment. All the foods we should now eat I am not fond of, veggies, brown rice and pasta etc. That said, I have started trying to make those changes. Keeping away from sugar etc.

It's hard to find advice on what to eat / avoid. I travel a lot for work and that makes it harder. I am sure through this forum we will get through it.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum
That is good you are not keen on rice and pasta whatever the colour as it is not good as it is high carb and it is reduction in carb intake you are going to need to do. Veggies and salad are what most people have alongside meals based on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy and fruits like berries which are one of the lower carb fruits.
Finding interesting ways of cooking veggies or even having raw can bring a whole new dimension to what people normally think of.
Have a look at this link for ideas of meals and foods you can have.
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk
If you travel a lot that can be more tricky but being selective with your meal choices and avoiding things with chips, potatoes, rice and pasta and asking for extra salad or coleslaw instead and being careful of puddings. Sometimes better to have a starter and main rather than a pud.
What was your HbA1C that led to your diagnosis as that will indicate how much work you have to do. Were you prescribed any medication?
 
Blue-16 said:
Hi All,

As a person whom has been diagnosed with Pre-diabetes I was natuarally interested to learn that there are different types of Type 2. Can any on kindly give me more info on this please? All help would be apprecited.

Blue-16!
(Susan)
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean by 'different types of Type 2'
There are many ways in which people manage Type 2, diet only, diet and oral medication which may be a number of different ones, diet, oral meds and insulin.
You may be thinking of people who are misdiagnosed as Type 2 when they are in actual fact Type 1 or LADA
 
Drummer said:
@MUFC Religion that must have been rather a shock, but the good news is that if it turns out you are an ordinary type 2 if you get your blood glucose levels down then with any luck you'll be feeling so much better about life in general in quite a short time.
High blood glucose puts a strain on the metabolism and then nothing seems to go well.
I do hope that the Metformin doesn't effect you in the same way it did me and some others, rather explosive incontinence was difficult to deal with and I decided to stop the tablets rather than try to cope with it.
Some people have no reaction to it and for others the effects reduce after a little while, but I hope that you were warned about it being a possibility.
I rely on a low carb diet to keep control and feel a lot better for it. My Hba1c is normal and my glucose levels after eating should be under 8, or even 7 mmol/l - I sorted out what I could and could not eat using a glucose tester and stick to under 40gm of carbs a day most of the time. Being over 5 years in normal numbers gives some latitude if I want to have an icecream when out, for instance.
Click to expand...
Leadinglights said:
I'm not sure what you mean by 'different types of Type 2'
There are many ways in which people manage Type 2, diet only, diet and oral medication which may be a number of different ones, diet, oral meds and insulin.
You may be thinking of people who are misdiagnosed as Type 2 when they are in actual fact Type 1 or LADA
Click to expand...

Hi All & @Leadinglights,

Leadinglights I was thinking about the post that Drummer posted as s/he said that 'if you have an ordinary type 2' it made me wonder what other T2D there might be!

Blue-16
(Susan)
 
So on Friday my doctor told me I need an urgent appointment with the diabetic nurse and if I'd not heard by middle of tis week then to contact him straight away. Got call Monday to say appointment isn't until May 4th also he failed to mention he was on leave this week. I want to monitor my sugar levels but cannot stand having my finger pricked, I don't like needles however big or small, I've seen there are monitors that don't need to prick finger but another doctor said i won't be emtitled as I've allegedly got type 2, is there anyway I would be able to get one on prescription?
 
MUFC Religion said:
So on Friday my doctor told me I need an urgent appointment with the diabetic nurse and if I'd not heard by middle of tis week then to contact him straight away. Got call Monday to say appointment isn't until May 4th also he failed to mention he was on leave this week. I want to monitor my sugar levels but cannot stand having my finger pricked, I don't like needles however big or small, I've seen there are monitors that don't need to prick finger but another doctor said i won't be emtitled as I've allegedly got type 2, is there anyway I would be able to get one on prescription?
Click to expand...
A lot of that appointment will be explaining what diabetes is, taking or reporting back on your hba1c (average levels over the last 3 months), telling you to cut back on sugary stuff, maybe telling you to cut back on carbs stuff and likely telling you to lose weight, with a small chance of some practical advice how to do so. They might well add in a foot tickle to check you still have sensation and a good pulse in your feet and probably a urine test too checking for glucose, proteins and kidney function. Medication might be discussed. They should put you on the list for annual eye screenings.

Has anyone mentioned type 1 or testing for it? I only ask because you say allegedly type 2

I think you’re talking about the freestyle libre sensor. And as a type 2 it won’t be on the nhs. The company are doing a free trial you can apply for online for a single free sensor that lasts two weeks. Even just that one time will still help you learn how your body reacts to various foods so it’s worth doing.

Few type 2 even get a meter to test with unless on particular medications. Metformin is not one of them. You can ask and state that it will help your education and control but don’t hold your breath. Most of us buy our own. The thing to check primarily is the cost of the strips not the meter (a bit like home printers). Have you ever pricked yourself with a sewing needle or similar? Honestly that normally hurts more than a meter prick if you prepare appropriately, and not all hcp’s do it as kindly or gently as others. I use an accucheck fastclix lancet. You cannot see ANY needle at any time and it’s adjustable to use the shallowest needle depth possible. It’s possible to make the changes you need to without testing but boy does it make it easier, more meaningful and motivating if you do test - in my opinion - particularly in the early months whilst you are working out what’s good and whats problematic to eat.
 
inkspot said:
Hey, me too, last Wednesday. I hear it's possible to "reverse" it and I am hanging on to that hope at the moment. All the foods we should now eat I am not fond of, veggies, brown rice and pasta etc. That said, I have started trying to make those changes. Keeping away from sugar etc.

It's hard to find advice on what to eat / avoid. I travel a lot for work and that makes it harder. I am sure through this forum we will get through it.
Click to expand...
Ah - no - brown rice and pasta - high carb, not good at all. Veges, there are a fair few which are low carb and nutritious, but those with high starch content should be either replaced or eaten in small amounts. Similarly fruit, berries are low enough in carbs for most type 2s, but many are very high carb.
Testing is a good idea but it is only really required for a little while whilst the foods to eat are sorted out.
The lancet is a tiny pinprick, not a needle, and you don't even see it as it inside the 'nosecone' of the device all the time it isn't being pressed onto the skin. I got a Tee2+ from Spirit Healthcare - though that was over 5 years ago now. It did the job and was not all that expensive. It helped me to discover that I need to be more careful about peas and beans than the recorded carb content indicated.
 
MUFC Religion said:
So was officially diagnosed with diabetes on Wednesday, though it was completely lucky as I'd been poorly since April 1st with a sore mouth and throat and wasn't getting help until this bank holiday Monday when I was so poorly an urgent Ambulance was sent to me and they did a blood sugar test and my level was 21.

Wednesday morning I had urgent blood test to test for diabetes and on Thursday morning got a call around 3am from out of hours doctor saying the result had come back as 28.4 and that I needed to go hospital for more tests and the doctor ordered me an ambulance which at twenty to 5 the paramedics did another test and that was 17 so I signed a refusal form knowing the risks, I was scared and am still trying to over come agraphobia.

I've just been started on Metformin 500mg tablets at 1 a day, but I also have fibromyalgia, cervical spondylosis, cervical stenosis and bulging discs plus long term depression due to other things going on with my family.

Sorry for the long intro but I am finding it difficult to see any decent kind of life for me.

​

Click to expand...
I have just had a diagnosis too and it's all a bit overwhelming, but the support and help on this site has been really good. I guess it's a journey we need to feel our way learn as we go. But I totally get how scary is it. I'm just posting to wish you well.
 
Blue-16 said:
Leadinglights I was thinking about the post that Drummer posted as s/he said that 'if you have an ordinary type 2' it made me wonder what other T2D there might be!
Click to expand...
It’s a bit of a wooly area. Anything that isnt obviously Type 1 (autoimmune) MODY (a strongly hereditary collection of variants) or Type 3c (brought about by damage to or removal of the pancreas) is lumped under Type 2. But apart from the obvious misdiagnoses (that do happen quite frequently), with all the research going on, there’s a pattern emerging that some people with Type 2 aren’t able to reverse it using diet for weight loss, or low carb diets, or diet and exercise etc, and researchers are wondering if there are sub classifications with different causes etc. It’s not a question of their being an X number of types of Type 2, more a growing feeling that we don’t know everything about the causes and progression of Type 2.
 
inkspot said:
All the foods we should now eat I am not fond of, veggies, brown rice and pasta etc.
Click to expand...
Not sure I agree that you should be eating those.. brown rice and pasta have the same amount of carbs as their white cousins.
I avoid those and just upped my meat and dairy content with amazingly speedy effects.
 
Blue-16 said:
Hi All,

As a person whom has been diagnosed with Pre-diabetes I was natuarally interested to learn that there are different types of Type 2. Can any on kindly give me more info on this please? All help would be apprecited.

Blue-16!
(Susan)
Click to expand...

There's nothing official, but some research in Denmark did look at the people with T2 and tried to classify them into groups in order to improve treatment.
- Those with just Insulin resistance
- Those with Blunted insulin response + Insulin resistance
- Those with Blunted insulin response with no Insulin resistance (Usually without any extra weight)

The second category showed a large cluster with smaller numbers in the 1st and 3rd.

It has been shown that weight loss can restore, in some people, the blunted insulin response (First phase, second phase and improve the 'pulsatile' insulin that is generated to deal with background glucose and control the liver.) In some people it can't. Some people need to lose more weight than others to reverse it, others can do it with just a small weight loss. Seems to depend on how high hba1c was when diagnosed and how long the condition has been present.

Quite a few people can control it using low carb diet...
 
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