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Newbie Type 2

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W

Wurzel98

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone.

Had a bit of a week. After my vision blurred more or less overnight I rang my GP and asked for a test for diabetes. I've mismanaged my life and body for a while and suspected diabetes was on the cards at some point. This call was about September 10th.

Fast forward to September 15th post blood tests and I get the call from my GP confirming type 2 diagnosis. She gave me a number above 100. Not sure what number. She confirmed 100 not good. Suggested I immediately start Metformin. She rings again the next day suggesting another medication which requires some tests before I start.

Nurses come round on Friday. 18th. They take a glucose level (17) & a ketone level (2.2) & freak out. I'm shoved in the back of an ambulance and ferried to A&E with the words 'coma' & 'death' in my mind along with the shrieks of the nurse. After a number of hours of intravenous fluids and numerous tests doctors conclude I don't have DKA but have gone into dietary ketosis due to the meagre amount of food I've been able to eat. Most foods turning to concrete in my mouth due to the lack of saliva.
Shoved in an Uber in the middle of the night & sent home.

I'm left a bit shell shocked with loads of questions. One thing I know is that there will be no cake for my birthday today.

tl;dr

Newly diagnosed type 2. Loads of questions. All the what, why, when, who, which, how Qs.
 
Hi @Wurzel98 and welcome from me as well.

Yes, 100 with high ketones is up in the "red" zone and means that you should be getting a plan together to get it down a bit sharpish.

As Anitram says, check round the forum and the learning zone. Above all, ask questions. Nothing is considered too silly because many of us have been where you are, knowing there is a problem but a bit clueless about how to deal with it. Most of us got there!
 
Anitram said:
Hi. Welcome to the Forum.

Really sorry to read about your experience. An HbA1c over 100 is very high so no surprise that your GP wants to start you on medication straight away. Less than 42 is normal, above 47 is diabetes, so you can seen how far above the threshold you are. Ketones should be less than 0.6 so I can see why your nurses were concerned.

Medication needs to be backed up by diet, exercise and (if necessary) weight loss so if you're unsure where to start have a good look around the site plus post any questions you have. We are all managing our diabetes day-in, day-out so there's a wealth of knowledge and experience for you to tap into.

Martin
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Thank you
 
Docb said:
Hi @Wurzel98 and welcome from me as well.

Yes, 100 with high ketones is up in the "red" zone and means that you should be getting a plan together to get it down a bit sharpish.

As Anitram says, check round the forum and the learning zone. Above all, ask questions. Nothing is considered too silly because many of us have been where you are, knowing there is a problem but a bit clueless about how to deal with it. Most of us got there!
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
Hello @Wurzel98 welcome to the forum.

Yes 100+ is very high plus Ketones not good, I went into DKA
when first diagnosed and a HbA1c of 156 so not well at all.
After three months was down to 48 now 32 but only with help
of this forum.

As already stated have a read around the forum and stay close
to your hospital DSN and the forum, not sure of something ask
away its not all about the big D there are other topics to choose
from but control of your D should come first, thanks for joining.
 
Hi @Wurzel98 what a baptism of fire! I was confused enough just being told I had diabetes with no added complications, so goodness knows how you felt.

And happy birthday, even if there is no cake! 🙂

There is so much knowledge here, and everyone is lovely and helpful, so when you've had chance to look around at the resources, fire away with any questions and someone should be able to help you.
 
Hi and welcome and belated Happy Birthday.

Hope you are feeling a little less shell shocked today and things are starting to settle down a bit.

Basically, the carbohydrates you eat get broken down into glucose by your digestive system and absorbed into the blood stream. The glucose is needed by the cells of the body in the muscles and organs for energy but as diabetics, it has difficulty moving out of the blood stream and into those cells and higher levels than is healthy remains in our blood stream. Insulin helps the glucose to pass through into the cells but as diabetics, either we are unable to produce enough insulin or our cells have become resistant to the insulin we produce and it doesn't work as efficiently.
The most effective way of reducing our Blood Glucose (BG) levels is not to eat so many carbohydrates.... that means cutting out the obvious sugar and sweets cakes and biscuits, but also reducing portion sizes of bread, rice pasta potatoes and breakfast cereals. Even healthy foods like porridge and fruit in all it's forms (fresh, dried and juiced/smoothies etc) contain high levels of carbs and need to be rationed. I say this because many people think diabetes is just about sugar.

That may sound pretty bleak but it can actually be an enjoyable way to eat once you get your head around it and your body gets used to the change.
Making slow changes to your diet over a period of weeks is safer than suddenly cutting out most of the carbs in your diet straight away, particularly when your levels are as high as yours because going from very high levels to normal levels in a short space of time will not just make you feel unwell, it can also damage the fine blood vessels in the eyes. Slow and steady sustainable dietary changes are best.

Exercise also helps to lower BG levels by burning the glucose stored in the cells which then become more receptive to the glucose in the blood and suck it through the cell walls. Steady exercise like a brisk daily walk is about the best exercise you can do to lower levels and in fact when your levels are high as yours are it is advised not to do more strenuous exercise.

Medication helps either to make the insulin you produce more effective (ie reduce insulin resistance) or stimulate your pancreas to produce more insulin or encourage your kidneys to remove more through your urine. Drinking plenty of water or sugar free squash or low calorie drinks is important as the carbs in other things will just counteract what your body is trying to do to remove it. The odd tea or coffee is fine but best not to be drinking large quantities.

I hope the above gives you an idea of what you are aiming for and how to go about it.
Let us know how you get on.
 
Welcome to the forum @Wurzel98

Goodness what a time you’ve had!

Glad the Dr and nurse were on the ball enough to check for ketones and possible DKA - not all HCPs instinctively realise T1 can develop in older people.

Hope you can begin to get to grips with finding a new way of eating and gradually adapting your menu and levels of activity to improve your BGs - better to do this fairly steadily so that your body has time to adjust and adapt rather than going full cold-turkey!

Have a look at the ‘learning zone’ at the top of the page, and keep drawing on the ideas, suggestions and experiences of the friendly forum folks - no question will be considered too obvious or silly, so ask away!
 
Thank you. It's all been a bit of a whirlwind. Started on insulin yesterday. Ketones finally hit 0.0 but glucose still 15 +. Had a day of gliclazide inbetween as well. I think my machine isn't calibrated either. Always different reading to nurses. Doesn't give me much confidence when testing levels. So much information to digest. I feel like I need to do a mind map to get to grips with it all.
 
Wurzel98 said:
I think my machine isn't calibrated either. Always different reading to nurses.
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What BG monitor do you have @Wurzel98?

They all have a degree of variation... but some a a bit flakier than others!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂 I don't think people realise how important saliva is. It makes our lives worth living!
 
Wurzel98 said:
Sure Smart Duo
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Ah - that's not one I've heard of. But the only other 'dual' monitor I tried (the Keya Smart) that could check both blood ketones as well as blood glucose gave pretty unreliable results for me.

Many members here find the SD Gluco Navii or Spirit Tee2 to be pretty reliable and affordable. Both have test strips reasonable priced at £8 for 50.
 
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