New diagnosis for partner

[Thelinzilou]

Hi there!

My fiancé has recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and we’re finding negotiating foods and drinks hard.

He is waiting on an appointment with the diabetic nurse but right now we need some help on figuring some minor things out.

We’re unsure how much carbs he can have etc.

If anyone could give us a wee bit of help I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

How old is your partner and is he quite definitely Type 2? The reason I ask is that doctors can make mistakes about these things as many of us are testament to and it is less common for a young person to have Type 2 diabetes and I note that you are only 25, but perhaps your partner is older than yourself..., so not wanting to make too many assumptions.

Can you tell us a bit about how his diagnosis came about (symptoms etc) and what, if any, medication he has been given and his HbA1c result if you know it (this is the blood test result which is used to diagnose diabetes and will usually be a number in excess of 47) if he is happy for you to divulge that information of course. This information can impact the advice we give.

 

[Thelinzilou]

Hi and welcome.

How old is your partner and is he quite definitely Type 2? The reason I ask is that doctors can make mistakes about these things as many of us are testament to and it is less common for a young person to have Type 2 diabetes and I note that you are only 25, but perhaps your partner is older than yourself..., so not wanting to make too many assumptions.

Can you tell us a bit about how his diagnosis came about (symptoms etc) and what, if any, medication he has been given and his HbA1c result if you know it (this is the blood test result which is used to diagnose diabetes and will usually be a number in excess of 47) if he is happy for you to divulge that information of course. This information can impact the advice we give.

Hi!

Thank you so much for the reply.

My partner is 30 years old. The doctor told him that he has Type 2.

He is quite over weight (however we have been working together to lose weight), has been having issues with being lethargic, has had multiple bouts of thrush in the last year or so, blurry eyes, drinks and pees LOADS (this is something he has done since a child though). His brother has been diagnosed with type 2 as of early last year and his mum also has it too.

He has been prescribed 1000mg of Metformin and is also on Gliclazide (cannot remember the dose at the moment) for 3 months to lower his blood sugar levels down.

I don’t think he was made aware of his HbA1c levels however he was told he had a level of 14.3 (not sure if this is what that level is or if it’s for something else).

 

[rebrascora]

OK. Thanks for that extra info which does make Type 2 more likely but always important to keep an open mind as there are some overweight Type 1s and thin Type 2s and Covid seems to have been triggering quite a few cases.

Has he been given a BG meter to test his levels? Gliclazide can cause hypos so he should have been supplied with a meter and test strips in case he feels unwell. Because of the potential for hypos with Glic, he will need to reduce his carbs slowly and carefully and this is a good strategy anyway, because dropping your levels too quickly can put pressure on the fragile blood vessels in the eyes and feet.

A good starting point is to keep an honest food diary for a couple of days without changing anything and then look at where you can shave a few carbs off here and there. Any added sugar is probably the first thing to cut out followed by sweet stuff like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sweet drinks.... basically the obvious stuff. Maybe do that for a week or two and then start to reduce portion sizes of potatoes, rice, pasta etc but he should be keeping an eye on his Blood Glucose (BG) levels with a BG meter whilst he is reducing carbs so that he doesn't go too low.