Newbie + pins and needles.

[Sandy4]

Hi all,
New to the forum as I've been recently diagnosed with type 2 after many years of being pre-diabetic. I thought I was beating it with a good diet and exercise so was a bit shocked to find out that I've tipped over into diabetic. Bit of a wake up call to be honest. This site has been recommended by my doctor so am hoping I will find lots of information to help. (And a bit of moral support) I've been suffering with pins and needles for a couple of months which my doctor says 'may' be due to diabetes. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum, there are many people who have found themselves in your situation and it comes as a shock especially when you have thought you have been eating a 'healthy' diet. Unfortunately some foods which would form part of a heathy diet are not so good if prediabetic or diabetic. So you have a good opportunity to look seriously at how much carbohydrate you are having as it will almost certainly be those high carb foods which are pushing up your blood glucose level.
Hopefully your starting point will not be too high, your diagnosis will have been from an HbA1C which would have been over 48mmol/mol. It is useful for people to know what that is and also if you have been prescribed any medication, do you have weight to lose, all that info will help tailor any advice to your situation.
Have a look at the Learning Zone (orange tab at the top) as there is lots of information there.
A good start would be to make a food diary of everything you eat and drink so you can see where savings on carbohydrate intake can be made. Remember it is ALL carbs that will convert to glucose so foods to be careful of are potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, cereals, pastry, tropical fruits, bananas, starchy vegetables as well as the obvious cakes, biscuits, crisps and sugary drinks. You might think OMG there is nothing I can eat but basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese and full fat dairy, vegetables and salad, fruits such as berries, nuts and seeds will enable you to have tasty varied meals.
Do ask any questions that arise as you read around the forum.
The pins and needles you mention are something that some people suffer with high blood glucose but equally could be something else for example vitamin B12 deficiency so worth asking if that has been checked

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Sandy4

Sorry to hear you have been given a diagnosis with diabetes after so many years of trying to keep things at bay.

Hopefully your pins and needles are only a transient symptom, rather than an indication of any long-term nerve damage.

Were you given the result of your HbA1c check? This can help you understand how far into the diabetes-zone things have shifted, and how big a hill you may have to climb.

Hopefully with the support and encouragement of the forum you will have lots of opportunities to make some more positive changes, and manage your diabetes well.

 

[Sandy4]

Hi, thanks both for your welcome and support.

I am going to get back in touch with my doctor for the actual figures on my results. I had a phone consultation and to be honest didn't really take everything in and didn't write anything down - I was out on a walk when they rang me.

I haven't been prescribed any medication which I'm taking as a good sign. I'm not particularly overweight, I fall at the top end of the 'normal' range but I could probably lose a stone and still be within the same zone so that is something to aim for.

I will definitely have a look at the learning zone to get a better understanding of how to manage this and hopefully stop it getting any worse. And it's reassuring that the pins and needles might be temporary.

Thanks again for your replies. I work part time and also have a full time caring role at home at the moment so can't get on here everyday but will try and keep up to date and join in with the community.