Newly diagnosed type 2 and struggling

[Carol705]

Hello
I'm Carol last Friday I was diagnosed a type 2 and I'm struggling. My hba1c level was 55, have a repeat blood test on the 27th.
I'm overweight and need to lose a lot of weight I've followed slimming world before but don't know if that's appropriate now.

 

[SueEK]

Hello Carol and welcome to a great forum. I’m sorry to hear of your diagnosis it does come as a shock to nearly all of us. Losing weight is a great way to help reduce your blood glucose levels and there a few who have followed slimming world as an aid to weight loss. Most of us simply reduce our carb intake as that is what our bodies can’t cope with. Basically carbs = sugar so foods like potatoes, rice, pasta and bread along with any form of pastry and obvious things like cake, biscuits etc are basically not good for us. This does sound drastic but believe it or not it is possible to change your diet, feel full, lose weight AND most importantly keep those bg levels going downwards just by eating the right things.
Have a look through the posts here and ask us any questions you like, we are more than happy to help as we have all been where you are now.
I won’t give you more info at the moment as there is a lot to take in but I’m sure others will come along with help and advice.
Remember we are all here for each other so don’t hesitate to post anything you like. Sue x

 

[CathyB]

Hi Carol, welcome. When I was diagnosed I was following slimming world and thought I was doing everything right, couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight, I made the most of free foods especially rice and pasta or new potatoes (no butter), I took a selection of fruit on my travels to avoid me cheating, on diagnosis my blood sugar was 22 😱
I followed the low carb high fat diet and was back in normal range within 3 months, within a year I was 4 stone lighter (eating butter, double cream, cheese, full fat Greek yoghurt) and off my metformin to be diet controlled only. It has been the absolute best thing that could have happened to me and I wouldn’t swap my diet now for anything! It took a while to adjust, regularly checking my blood before and 2 hours after eating, tracking in a food diary, tweaking, adapting until I got it right. You will get so much support here, everyone understands as we have all been there and get the challenges and struggles, so do ask any questions you might have

 

[Stan78]

Hi Carol

I’ve recently been diagnosed with type 2 similar to yourself of sugar level of 53. As others will tell you it comes as a shock but if you manage your diet and exercise it can be controlled.
I’m due blood tests in November but can say that since my diagnosis in mid July I’ve lost about a stone in weight thanks to cutting back on the carbs, sugars and upping exercise. I’m hoping my levels will drop when I go for my bloods again. Never want to go in medication.
All the best to you and remember there’s good people on the forum who will advise you as I was in similar position and got plenty of advice here.

Stan78

 

[Martin9]

Hi I’ve been a T2 diabetic for 1yr 4 months now and by adopting a low carb diet higher fat diet, dropping some excess weight and upping exercise I have managed to bring my HbA1c levels to the mid 30s and lower.
So if you follow the advice above from @CathyB, @SueEK and @Stan78 you should be able to bring your levels down although we’re all different and what works for one may not work for others.
Best of luck
Martin9

 

[Drummer]

I'd advise concentrating on controlling your blood glucose rather than weightloss - it is the important factor in all this after all.
From what I have read from those who have been on the Slimming World diet, it could be used as a model of what not to eat. Many people have reported that they have pushed their readings back into normal figures and seen normal Hba1c levels when tested using a low carbohydrate diet, increasing fats by not choosing the low fat options and feeling a lot better for it too.
Having a Hba1c in the 50s is probably going to mean that the diabetes was discovered quite early on in the process, so with any luck normal numbers will soon return and the reduction in carbohydrate need not be so severe as I need to stick to with my thoroughly wrecked metabolism.

 

[Carol705]

Hi everyone

Sorry I've not been able to reply sooner, I've just finished a set of nights.
Thank you for all your helpful comments and suggestions.
I'm feeling less scared and slightly more positive, going to have a looks at some of the other messages on the site.

Regards
Carol