Newbie here

[Beth123]

Hi, my names Beth I'm 22 and have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Christmas eve. Honestly, I'm devistated. I'm confused and feeling awful about how I let my health get this bad. I just want to feel well again. And I'm determined to do so.

 

[Beth123]

Hi, Beth. Welcome to the Forum. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. You'll get over the initial feelings of confusion and devastation, as we all do. Be assured, Type 2 is manageable through a combination of diet, exercise, weight loss (if needed) and medication.

How did your diagnosis come about, were you told what your blood test (HbA1c) was and have you been put on medication or given any dietary advice? Knowing these things helps us to tailor any advice to your particular needs.

If you have an questions ask away.

Martin

Hi Martin, yes was diagnosed though my blood test after feeling very tired and constant infections over the past 6 months. I have been put on metformin as well as diet changes. They're hoping it is reverseable after these changes. I have no idea of where to begin with the diet changes, it all seems very confusing. My a1c was 9.7%

 

[Docb]

Hi @Beth123 and welcome from me. Your A1c of 9.7 was I assume, to be 9.7% which is about 88 mmol/mol, the units more commonly used these days. That's where I was just over a year ago and today I am sub diabetic. Got there with tapping into the knowledge and support from the members of this forum. As Martin said, you need to find the combination of diet, exercise, weight loss (if needed) and medication that suits you and if you read around the forum you will find different members have chosen different routes and most have got their diabetes under control. I was not overweight so concentrated on my diet, exercise and medication until I found a combination that worked. Others have used different approaches. There will be a combination that will work for you, you have just got to find it.

So read away and ask questions about anything you do not understand. There will always be somebody around to give you pointers.

 

[Vonny]

Hi @Beth123, what a rotten time of year to be diagnosed! It's my first christmas with diabetes and I'm gutted not to be loafing on the sofa tomorrow with a tin of quality street to hand.

As @Anitram and @Docb have said, it's manageable condition, but you need to tailor your diet and exercise to what your body needs...we are all different. I found testing to be invaluable. There are many different models available, but I got the DS Gluco Navii as the testing strips are reasonably priced (the starter kits only come with a few lancets and strips). I no longer have to test continually as I know what my body can tolerate, but I still test is I'm eating something new or different.

Best of luck and don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[Shells2909]

Hi Beth and welcome
There's never a great time to be told you have t2 but Christmas eve was not the present you were hoping for. Lots of great advice on here and people who are actually going through and have gone through how you're feeling right now too so you're in good company.
At least know you know what you're dealing with and once your sugars are under control you will no doubt feel much better and healthier in yourself.
This is all relatively new to me too but I have a testing machine and at the minute I'm testing pretty frequently to keep an eye on my levels and I feel a lot more positive about my diagnosis than I did.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions!

Take care

Michelle xx

 

[Beth123]

Thank you so much for the advise! I just ordered a testing kit so I can keep an eye on my levels! How frequently do you think I should be testing and should I test before or after meals? Or both?

 

[Vonny]

Hi @Beth123, to start with I tested my waking sugars, ie when I first got up, then just before a meal and 2 hours after. I keep a food diary so I knew what I was eating, at what time, how many carbs there were in the meal, and made a note of before and after readings. This way I discovered that my body is extremely intolerant of simple carbs like bread, pasta, potatoes and rice, but other carbs like those in nuts were fine. Also that I could eat berries but not bananas. This is as standard as you can get with diabetes. As has been said in earlier posts, everyone is different, but in general carbs and sweet foods are the main culprits.

As you get used to testing and understand what works for you, you can relax the testing. I was testing big time yesterday due to eating potatoes at lunch, a spoonful of christmas pud later in the day, and capped it off with a turkey and crisp sandwich at tea time, ie everything I haven't eaten over the last few months. It showed that I was still spiking on those foods, but not as badly as I was 6 months ago.

Good luck 🙂 x

 

[trophywench]

@Beth123 - one question in three parts - do you have a lot of weight you need to lose? Or have you been losing weight? And the burning question of the three - have they actually tested you for Type 1?

 

[Beth123]

@Beth123 - one question in three parts - do you have a lot of weight you need to lose? Or have you been losing weight? And the burning question of the three - have they actually tested you for Type 1?

Hi Jenny, I have lost around 2 stone in weight, although I am still overweight and could lose around another 2 stone. And no as far as I know they haven't tested me for type 1.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Beth and welcome from me too. So sorry you are faced with this right now. It has been a hard year for new diagnosis as it is with more restricted support available but Christmas Eve is even more difficult being at the start of the festive season.

How easy was the weight loss... Was it intentional and did you have to work hard for it, or did it just drop off? I certainly don't want to belittle any dietary efforts you have made but if that weight loss was easier than you expected or unintentional then that would be a pointer towards Type1 and being as you are so young, Type 1 should certainly be something that your Health Care Professionals are considering. It is easy to assume you must be Type 2 just because you are carrying too much weight or you are a certain age or both.

There is no specific test for Type 2 Diabetes. Your HbA1c result shows that you are diabetic and unless specific tests are done Like GAD antibody and C-peptide tests to see how much insulin your pancreas is producing then they are just assuming you are Type 2. There are people who develop Type 1 more slowly and may initially respond to changes in diet and/or Type 2 oral medication, like Metformin but their remaining beta cells in their pancreas which produce insulin gradually get killed off by the immune system and they need to start injecting insulin. Not saying this will happen with you but it is something that you should be aware of and push for further testing for Type 1 if your levels start to rise despite medication and dietary changes.

 

[Beth123]

Hi Beth and welcome from me too. So sorry you are faced with this right now. It has been a hard year for new diagnosis as it is with more restricted support available but Christmas Eve is even more difficult being at the start of the festive season.

How easy was the weight loss... Was it intentional and did you have to work hard for it, or did it just drop off? I certainly don't want to belittle any dietary efforts you have made but if that weight loss was easier than you expected or unintentional then that would be a pointer towards Type1 and being as you are so young, Type 1 should certainly be something that your Health Care Professionals are considering. It is easy to assume you must be Type 2 just because you are carrying too much weight or you are a certain age or both.

There is no specific test for Type 2 Diabetes. Your HbA1c result shows that you are diabetic and unless specific tests are done Like GAD antibody and C-peptide tests to see how much insulin your pancreas is producing then they are just assuming you are Type 2. There are people who develop Type 1 more slowly and may initially respond to changes in diet and/or Type 2 oral medication, like Metformin but their remaining beta cells in their pancreas which produce insulin gradually get killed off by the immune system and they need to start injecting insulin. Not saying this will happen with you but it is something that you should be aware of and push for further testing for Type 1 if your levels start to rise despite medication and dietary changes.

Hi Barbra, thanks for the information, this is all new to me. Definitely will be speaking to my GP about getting tested for type 1. Yes the weight just seemed to drop. Definitely not alot of effort was put into it.

 

[rebrascora]

That weight loss and your young age and quite high HbA1c result all tip the scales more towards Type 1 or possible LADA which is the slow onset Type 1 You should also ask your GP to provide you with a means of testing for ketones because if you are Type 1 you could rapidly develop ketones and become very ill so with the high BG levels you currently have, you should probably be testing for ketones now. If you start to get stomach pains or respiratory problems and your breath smells of pear drops then get yourself to hospital pronto because you are likely developing Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA) which will poison your system. I don't mean to scare you but just to make you aware of what to look out for and the appropriate action to take. If your BG is consistently in the mid teens then you should be testing for ketones. You can buy a pot of Ketostix over the counter at any pharmacy for about £5 if you were anywhere near a pharmacy in the next few days and wanted to have them on hand or your GP was not helpful in prescribing some.... Some GPs know very little about diabetes and particularly Type 1.... there may be a practice nurse who is trained to manage the diabetics at your surgery and they will have a reasonable understanding of Type 2 management and perhaps a little knowledge of Type 1. They often have a contact at the hospital they can contact for guidance, so if your surgery has a nurse like this then an appointment with them might be more fruitful. Do mention your sudden weight loss as that is really relevant.

Good luck and keep us posted with how you get on

 

[Beth123]

That weight loss and your young age and quite high HbA1c result all tip the scales more towards Type 1 or possible LADA which is the slow onset Type 1 You should also ask your GP to provide you with a means of testing for ketones because if you are Type 1 you could rapidly develop ketones and become very ill so with the high BG levels you currently have, you should probably be testing for ketones now. If you start to get stomach pains or respiratory problems and your breath smells of pear drops then get yourself to hospital pronto because you are likely developing Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA) which will poison your system. I don't mean to scare you but just to make you aware of what to look out for and the appropriate action to take. If your BG is consistently in the mid teens then you should be testing for ketones. You can buy a pot of Ketostix over the counter at any pharmacy for about £5 if you were anywhere near a pharmacy in the next few days and wanted to have them on hand or your GP was not helpful in prescribing some.... Some GPs know very little about diabetes and particularly Type 1.... there may be a practice nurse who is trained to manage the diabetics at your surgery and they will have a reasonable understanding of Type 2 management and perhaps a little knowledge of Type 1. They often have a contact at the hospital they can contact for guidance, so if your surgery has a nurse like this then an appointment with them might be more fruitful. Do mention your sudden weight loss as that is really relevant.

Good luck and keep us posted with how you get on

Thanks for the info, will definitely keep an eye out over the next few weeks after starting my meds and changing my diet, if my BG is still high and I'm feeling any worse I'll definitely get checked out

 

[trophywench]

@Beth123 - I was 22 when I was diagnosed, but they whipped you straight into hospital and took armfuls of blood for days on end back then - plus GPs generally knew then, that being an adult didn't mean you couldn't get Type 1!

Mention it to your GP sooner rather than later, Beth please! - I say this because you can't get the results of the C-peptide test as quickly as you can the run of the mill everyday tests, which are usually overnight. The C-peptide test is not actually performed in every single hospital pathology lab. so may need to be sent off elsewhere to get it done, in the first place.

eg. I know they do them at the lab at our University Hospital in Coventry, but not in the onsite labs at Nuneaton or Rugby - not certain about Warwick Hospital.

 

[rebrascora]

Took 6 weeks to get my C-peptide back.

 

[Beth123]

Thanks guys. Will definitely be calling my GP surgery when they re-open on Tuesday.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Beth123

let us know the results of the investigations - your rapid unintended weight loss, rapid onset of symptoms and young age all raise flags for me. That isn’t to say that you may not be T2, but getting checked and confirming your type is really important for your future treatment and diabetes management. 🙂