New and Probably Type2

[Davildo Heg]

My GP had told me I was pre-diabetic at age 72 with HbA1c steady at 46mmol/l for the last year's worth of blood tests. I had blood taken on 20th June and gave a "first of the day" urine sample.
Yesterday morning (26th June) I was called by the surgery to make an appointment with G___ "the diabetes nurse." It was a shock to learn like that.
So I'm guessing I have type 2 diabetes. I've been doing the research, understand I need to 1. move more, 2. eat healthily, 3. lose weight. Also understand that I'm unlikely to manage 1 or 3 and already do 2.
Lose weight: I've used Weightwatchers and Slimmers World to little permanent effect, usually the only man there.
Move more: I've always hated exercise for the sake of exercise. Used to cycle everywhere but increasing pain on the hills put me onto a motorcycle. Old foot injury, multiple-cause breathlessness, arthritis and the aforementioned pain mean I have to take 60mg codeine shortly before I plan to walk up gradients (I live on a hill).
Eat healthily: I don't eat fast food, cook mostly from scratch with an occasional supermarket ready meal. I've had a think since starting this line, and can probably cut down dairy (cheese & spreadable butter).

I'm stopping now, the more I write the worse i feel. I didn't realise how hard this would hit.

 

[JITR]

Welcome. Be positive and you will be fine. One GP who helps his patients do that is Dr David Unwin. Here is his diet sheet.

 

[rebrascora]

Actually dairy produce isn't so much of an issue unless you drink lots of milk, it is more what you put the butter and cheese on, like bread and potatoes.

This is where healthy eating for a normal person isn't necessarily healthy eating for Type 2 diabetes. Even if your bread is wholemeal, it is still rich in carbohydrates which breaks down into glucose very easily in your digestive system and raises your BG levels. I know most people believe that diabetes is all about sugar, but it isn't just sugar but all carbohydrates which release glucose into the blood and that pushes your Blood Glucose levels up. Protein and fat and fibre don't do that, so actually cheese doesn't really affect your diabetes at all if you have it on it's own or with veg like cauliflower or with olives (feta or Manchego cheese and olives are one of my favourite treats), I cook most of my vegetables with a knob of butter .... but those vegetables don't include potatoes or sweet potatoes except on special occasions and I have creamy Greek style natural yoghurt for my breakfast with berries (the lowest carb fruits) and mixed seeds or nuts but not breakfast cereal, which is high in carbs.
It may be that you are just over the diabetic threshold and just need to cut down on your portion of bread and potatoes and pasta and rice etc, (as well as cakes and biscuits and sweets etc) whereas I mostly avoid those foods altogether, except for special occasions where it would be difficult or rude not to, but then I keep my portion small and fill up on veg and meat or fish.

I hope your result isn't too high and some modest changes to your diet will help you get it back down. As a matter of interest, following a low carb way of eating has improved my joint health as well as my diabetes and a number of other health issues. I was a massive fan of bread and potatoes so it was a big deal to give them up but now I really don't miss them and I am often disappointed on thos occasions when I do have them, so I am not really that bothered about not eating them now. I haven't had pasta for 5 years now and that doesn't bother me at all. Plenty of other nice, tasty things to eat. I still have bolognaise sauce but I have it on a bed of steamed broccoli or lightly cooked shredded cabbage or courgettes instead of pasta. I have mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potato and if you add a good dollop of cream cheese and perhaps a teaspoon of mustard mashed into it, it goes really well with gammon steak or high meat content sausages or chops. If I have steak, I have it with a large salad and a big dollop of coleslaw and mushrooms and sometimes I make chips from celeriac instead of potato to have with it, although since I stopped eating those high carb foods I don't need a big plate full of food anymore and steak and mushrooms and salad and coleslaw is plenty.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, don't despair, it isn't all "sack cloth and ashes" and you don't have to give up cheese, you can live well and enjoy your food on a low carb diet, particularly if you like vegetables and enjoy cooking and trying new things.

 

[Leadinglights]

I don't think I can add much to what others have said other than to post this link which has good explanation and some menu plans to give you an idea of just what variety of foods you can eat. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
One important thing is to find out what your HbA1C actually is as that will indicate how much work you will need to do.
If you find walking difficult there are some seated exercises on the NHS website.

 

[Davildo Heg]

Instead of doomscrolling doing too much research before I have the facts, I'll wait to see what G__ the diabetes nurse has to tell me on 9th July. Thank you everyone for bringing me back to earth.

 

[Leadinglights]

Instead of doomscrolling doing too much research before I have the facts, I'll wait to see what G__ the diabetes nurse has to tell me on 9th July. Thank you everyone for bringing me back to earth.

You may find that the nurse is just following the standard NHS advice which if you read the intro in the Freshwell link explains why it can be too high in carbs for many people which is why that GP practice developed the program.
Being only prediabetic some modest changes are likely all that is needed.

 

[Davildo Heg]

You may find that the nurse is just following the standard NHS advice which if you read the intro in the Freshwell link explains why it can be too high in carbs for many people which is why that GP practice developed the program.
Being only prediabetic some modest changes are likely all that is needed.

I am heavily reducing my carbs intake - e.g. last night's dinner had no potato - but not seeking to completely eliminate them or do any fasting until I have seen nurse or GP. I take 3 meds for hypertension and digoxin for permanent AF and Freshwell advises caution around these.

 

[Drummer]

Instead of doomscrolling doing too much research before I have the facts, I'll wait to see what G__ the diabetes nurse has to tell me on 9th July. Thank you everyone for bringing me back to earth.

It's the carbs which do the damage - reducing them can be good when blood glucose is high but that can also reduce blood pressure quite significantly so watch out for symptoms of being over medicated - I have read of several people having falls on stairs, one was life changing, and I was having palpitations when overdoing Thyroxine due to my improved state of health after going low carb for a while.

I follow the advice on the temple of Apollo at Delphi - particularly 'nothing to excess'. It is often translated as everything in moderation but there is a subtle but significant difference, I think.

 

[Ieva DUK]

Hi @Davildo Heg and welcome to the forum!

I'd say definitely wait to speak to your doctors to know how the changes you need to make could affect your medication. The forum has a Learning Zone which you might find useful later on, but in the meantime - don't feel disheartened. Moving more, losing weight and eating healthy looks different for different people, so what you'll have to do is find something that works for YOU. There's loads of folk here, with a range of experience to learn from and ask questions of, so if you'll have any after your appointment or will feel like updating us on how it went - please do so!