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Hi guys I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and am off to meet the diabetic nurse today, needless to say iam dreading it i dont know what to expect. My emotions are all over. Does anyone have any advice from what to expect?
Hi guys I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and am off to meet the diabetic nurse today, needless to say iam dreading it i dont know what to expect. My emotions are all over. Does anyone have any advice from what to expect?
Welcome to the forum
It would be good for you to have a list of questions to ask as it is easy to forget and maybe even jot down some of the things you are told. One important thing to ask is what your HbA1C is that has given you the diagnosis, it will be a number greater than 48mmol/mol which is the level at which you would be diagnosed as diabetic but how high that is will determine how much work you need to do to get it back to normal level which would be below 42mmol/mol.
If you are just in the diabetic zone then some dietary changes may be sufficient and it would be good for you to be given the opportunity before going onto medication, however if it is very high then they may insist you start on meds to give the necessary dietary changes a helping hand.
The first port of call for medication is metformin which helps your body to use the insulin it is producing more effectively but some people, not all, do get side effects and a slow release version is better for them, so you could ask about your options if meds are recommended.
Just to say that many people manage to reduce their blood glucose by diet and increasing exercise and losing weight if they need to.
There are a number of dietary options but reducing carbohydrates is the most important factor as ALL carbs convert to glucose.
You should expect to get a number of checks, retinal eye screening and feet being the usual ones.
Good luck with your appointment and I'm sure you will have lots of questions so do come back and ask here.
She may give you a tonne of information that you might find overwhelming at the beginning. Please don’t let that stress you out. Nobody gets to grips with this straight away. Also please let us know the dietary advice you are given. More often than not it doesn’t match up to what actually works for most diabetics. For instance I was told bread and pasta were fine and they are …if I don’t mind having bloods in the high teens all day ! I would definitely reiterate the hba1c, this number will give you and us a better understanding on how to manage your diabetes. The higher the number the easier you will need to take the carb cutting, as you will feel like poo if you drop sugars too quick. Do you have a meter to finger prick? If not ask about that. Testing first thing in the morning before and after meals and before bed is a good idea. If you have any tummy troubles and they do put you on metformin, I would suggest SR sukkarto (same thing just gentler ) . These appointment are few and far between so take a note pad with any questions you may have because if your anything like me information disappears as soon as I leave, but saying that, there is so much advice on here and people are always willing to help so if you don’t know it straight away you soon will do. Let us know how you get on xx
Hi and welcome
How did you get on? Rest assured it does become easier. The Learning Zone (orange tab) will take you through what you need to know, module by module. Best to stick to one a day so it can sink in. It will also put the information your nurse gives you into context.
The key things are: healthy eating, exercise, lose weight if necessary. Most Type 2 benefit from reducing the carbs in their diets - not just the obvious things like cake, biscuits, sweets, pastries, but bread, potato, rice, pasta and processed food.
I won't overload you with information, but please ask us as many questions as you need - we all had to learn at the beginning. Best wishes
