Newbie but learning

[Nicole9822]

hey
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in May , my HBA1C was 70 , I’ve lost 1 stone 6 since beginning of June 🙂 my dependency on medication is decreasing as I’m on insulin (semglee and novo rapid) today is the first day I tried to eat a low carb lunch and didn’t take any insulin and I was completely fine sugars were 5.2 post meal (4.2 pre meal)

 

[trophywench]

That sounds excellent to me ! Well done you.

Are you still losing weight?

 

[Nicole9822]

Hey , yes I seem too be losing weight steadily , my metformin tends too make my appetite poor and there’s days where I just don’t want too eat but I do try and eat 3 meals a day

 

[Drummer]

you don't have to eat three meals a day if you really don't want to. In normal times I would be out of the house quite a bit, and find that eating morning and evening worked just fine for me.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @Nicole9822

It sounds like you have made a good start at getting to grips with your Diabetes.
I am another one who happily misses out lunch if I am busy. We also tend to eat our evening meal around 6:00 as it gives all the carbs time to get through before I am checking my levels at bedtime.

Knowing about the carbs in anything that you eat is so useful as all of them will be come Glucose once inside you. Keep counting and keep a watch, looking to swap foods or reduce portion size to get to lower numbers if needed.

 

[zuludog]

Welcome to the Forum; congratulations on losing weight and the better blood glucose results

 

[Nicole9822]

You see I feel a lot more comfortable eating 3x daily , before I was diagnosed I used to be a big eater , I could easily eat a huge plate full of food during meal times which due to my schedule may only be once a day. I’d then snack all day on anything around. But now I like to eat relatively small meals but I do struggle with getting enough calories , I don’t like too calorie count as counting carbs is bad enough but I have an app now which counts for me (carbs,fat,calories etc) and I barely scrape 1000 per day. I’m happy with the weight loss however feel I want to make sure I’m doing it healthily

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too

You are doing incredibly well with your weight loss but that does seem quite radical and I wonder if you may have been misdiagnosed and are actually Type 1. Can you tell us a bit about the circumstances of your diagnosis. Being started on insulin at such an early stage is unusual if you are Type 2. Did they do any tests to check if you might be Type 1... GAD antibody and C-peptide tests?

If you are struggling with calories, you need to increase your fat intake and eat more cheese, eggs, avocado and nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, brazils and almonds are the lowest carb) Cream in my morning coffee is one of my new regime luxuries.... and since I have cut a lot of other pleasures from my diet it is important to find new ones.

No doubt you will have been told to eat low fat by your Health Care Professionals, but you have to get calories from somewhere and since most people get their calories from carbs, we diabetics following a low carb way of eating, need to get them from one of the other food groups... either fat or protein. Eating too much protein can cause additional problems but fat is a natural part of our diet and the low fat advice over the past 50+ years has done us no favours. Fat keeps you feeling full for longer because it takes longer to digest and it provides slow release energy and contrary to the advice we have been given throughout our lifetimes, dietary fat actually has very little impact on cholesterol levels. It may even be that the low fat advice we have been following is in part responsible for the diabetes and obesity epidemic we are now seeing worldwide, because it has lead to us eating more carbs, and the more carbs you eat, the more you want because they are broken down much quicker than fat and protein.

Anyway, the above were my thoughts on the information you have provided so far.

 

[Nishikoi]

hey
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in May , my HBA1C was 70 , I’ve lost 1 stone 6 since beginning of June 🙂 my dependency on medication is decreasing as I’m on insulin (semglee and novo rapid) today is the first day I tried to eat a low carb lunch and didn’t take any insulin and I was completely fine sugars were 5.2 post meal (4.2 pre meal)

Hi I was diagnosed type2 in December but put on metformin well done on your weight loss. I lost a stone but my readings after a meal aren't steady they range from 8.4 to 11 so I envy yoh

 

[Nicole9822]

You see I found out I was pregnant in May and they did my HBA1C mistakenly and it came back as my HBA1C too be 70 but because I was pregnant they put my on insulin, my morning readings were very high , my after food was 2/3 above my pre meal readings but because my
Pre readings were high I was always high. I was told to take semglee long lasting insulin and a small amount of novo rapid. I miscarried and haven’t really spoken too anyone since , just my (GP who told me too carry on what I’m doing. I’m not really sure what exactly I should expect too happen as I don’t know a lot of young people with diabetes. Ive had no more tests at all accept to check my kidneys which came back fine.

 

[rebrascora]

Oh gosh! I am so very sorry for your loss. I didn't mean to pry. Talking about it can be part of the healing process, so it is good that you are able to share it with us and perhaps this may lead to you confiding in others who can give you emotional support.
I have just checked your profile and it shows you are only 22, so that makes it even more likely that you might be Type1 rather than Type 2. I appreciate that you have lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. Did you have much to lose? The reason I ask is that unless you were significantly overweight to start with, getting Type 2 diabetes at such a young age is pretty unusual however developing Type 1 at 22 would be much more likely. Have you been referred to a specialist diabetes clinic? I know that there is gestational diabetes which I believe may go away after the baby is born but I don't know at what stage gestational diabetes kicks in and how soon it would abate if you are unfortunate enough to miscarry. Hopefully others who have had gestational diabetes will chip in with more info on that.

Again, I am really sorry for you loss and we are here to support you in any way we can.

 

[Nicole9822]

Thankyou for your kind words , and I’ve always had a very unhealthy relationship with food and have always been a larger girl. I used too eat a large plate of just carbs daily as I never really had time to cook with doing 13 hour shifts per day. And because I never ate in the day before I’d just survive from sugary drinks so I can see why I became diabetic. I was referred to the diabetic midwife at the hospital and the antenatal team and they were doing a good job but after I lost the baby I wasn’t referred to anyone else and no longer met the criteria for the diabetic team I was already with. I haven’t heard nothing more and it’s been 5 weeks since the loss. I’m a little worried about this as I’d like more support with my diabetes.
they did state I didn’t have gestational and that it was type 2 (they didn’t really test type one) but pregnancy does make your diabetes worse and then will get better after giving birth again. But my baby’s heartbeat stopped around 6 and half weeks and I found out at 12 so I’m not really sure onmuch

 

[trophywench]

Aww, Nicole. {{{Hugs}}}

Right - ring the GP surgery and say because the pregnancy was clouding the issue at the time of your diagnosis (which it was) you are asking now for the necessary tests to find out whether you are definitely Type 2 or Type 1.

 

[rebrascora]

I too had a really bad carb habit pre diagnosis.... both sweets, chocolate and big plates of starchy carbs like potatoes and pasta and bread. I freely admitted to this when I was diagnosed. They assumed I was Type 2 and gave me oral meds to start with but it became clear after 5 weeks that despite those and a low carb diet, my HbA1c had actually increased slightly and I was started on insulin and thankfully referred to a diabetes consultant who authorised the tests I mentioned and they came back Type 1. Having the correct diagnosis can be really important and I agree with Jenny above, that you need to push for more testing particularly now that you have been left without proper support. I know these are really difficult times with outpatient clinics being on hold and it sounds like you are managing really well.... as I said above, don't be frightened to add some fat to your diet to help you as that rate of weight loss is a bit too rapid in my opinion..... but I really think you may be Type 1 and under a consultant.
Have a good dollop of creamy coleslaw or full fat mayonnaise on your salads and proper cream in your morning coffee and don't be shy with cheese and eggs. these things will help to sustain you. The only thing I count is carbs. If I am gaining a little weight, I do a little more exercise and cut back a bit on my fat consumption.... no second cup of coffee with cream on a morning etc as I am sometimes tempted to do and if I feel I am losing a bit I can just increase the fat a bit to keep my weight stable.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Nicole9822

Sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis, and sincere condolences for your loss - thank you for sharing with us. We have members here who have lived through the devastating pain of miscarriage, and also those who have gone on to have successful pregnancies, so you have caring and understanding ears here to support you.

Plus lots of help, support and advice about diabetes too of course!

22 is rather young for T2 (though it is certainly possible), but we’ve had many new members join here who seem to have been classified T2 simply by being ‘not a child’, whereas in reality 50% of T1 or LADA diagnoses occur in adulthood - which is why members here sometimes suggest further investigation may be helpful for people who seem to have some unusual aspects to their case.

 

[Jodee]

Well done Nicole - that's great 🙂 looking at your initial post
but so very sorry for your loss when I read further down.

You are doing a great job with monitoring and managing your blood glucose levels, keeping fingers crossed for you for the future regarding blood glucose levels and best wishes in life ahead.