• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Newly diagnosed type 2

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
A

Allan671

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, I was diagnosed type 2 four weeks ago, with HbA1c of 49. Have my 1st meeting with diabetic nurse this Monday, but put myself on low calorie diet on day of diagnosis. Also keeping an eye on nutrient and vitamin levels using 'myfitnesspal' App, and trying to cut out high GI foods. Have lost a stone in a month ( now 12st 8lbs). Hoping to learn from others on this forum rather than from local diabetic groups, since I attended some of these with my late father and found them to be repetitive and basic.
 
Welcome to the forum @Allan671. You are only just in the range so hopefully a few changes will make a big difference. Congratulations on the weight loss.
 
Welcome to the forum @Allan671

Well done for the positive changes you have already been making, and your terrific weight loss so far.

We have a few members who find MyFitnessPal really helpful in terms of keeping on top of their food intake and the distribution of nutrients.

It seems likely with an HbA1c of 49 that some relatively modest tweaks to your menu, along with cutting right back the obvious things like sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cake etc, will probably be enough to help your metabolism cope.

Low calories approaches can be extremely effective, but it may also be helpful to keep an eye on your total carbohydrate intake (not just ‘of which sugars‘), as it is carbohydrates that potentially have the biggest effect on raising blood glucose levels. Good to know you are aware of GI, and are aiming for sources of carbohydrate that are likely to release glucose more slowly, though these things can be frustratingly individual!

Hopefully your weight loss will help with your insulin sensitivity, which will also be a great help.

Have you considered getting a BG meter to check your individual responses to different meals and sources / portion sizes?

GPs are often a bit resistant to prescribe unless people are on glucose-lowering meds, but they can be a very immediate and direct way to examine how BG friendly your meals are for you as an individual.
 
Thanks. Yes, considering buying a BG meter. Will discuss with diabetic nurse tomorrow, but would be interested to know if there is a preferred brand/model. I'm a fan of smartphone apps, so would be interested in monitor/app combinations.
 
Hi and welcome. I use the myfitnesspal app too and have found it very useful. You may find your nurse will tell you she can't give you a meter (seems pretty much the norm these days), and she may even tell you that you don't need one, they cause more problems than they solve (quoting my own nurse!), but get one yourself. I have just got the Gluco Navii meter, plus bought extra test strips and lancets as starter only comes with 10 of each. It will show you what may cause a spike, and you can check new foods for their reaction, it is worth it. Others recommend the Tee machine, but their test strips have just gone way up in price, but they all do the same job. I'm only changing mine to a UK one as I can't get supplies for my original one, so bear that in mind too. Lower your carb intake a bit and that should help you - we are about the same level as I've got mine down from 57 to 48 on diet and exercise alone. Good luck.
 
One more here for the Gluco Navii meter. Remember the cost of the meter will be the strips - not the meter (it is also why quite few companies will give the meter away free!). Gluco Navii has some of the cheapest strips you can get A meter is a great way to feel your way around foods. I now only use it when I try something new, or I feel that I need to impose a bit of control on my eating.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Met with Diabetic Nurse today and it turns out my Hba1C was 53 when it was first tested 5 weeks ago. Last week's was 49, so my weight loss and diet have already been working. Next HbA1C will be in 3 months, but I think I'll still check my BG after meals meantime as suggested on here.
 
@Allan671 That's a great start, better than the numbers imply! You did that in only 5 weeks which means that only about two thirds to half of your blood cells tested would be showing the improvement since the others will be older blood cells.
So even if you don't manage any improvement in BG control your next HbA1C will be lower still - probably pre-diabetic.
 
ianf0ster said:
@Allan671 That's a great start, better than the numbers imply! You did that in only 5 weeks which means that only about two thirds to half of your blood cells tested would be showing the improvement since the others will be older blood cells.
So even if you don't manage any improvement in BG control your next HbA1C will be lower still - probably pre-diabetic.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm hopeful to drop to mid 40s when re-tested in 3 months. However, I'm aware that I need to look to managing in the longer term. Maintaining 800 calories with only low GI carbs is not much fun.
 
Allan671 said:
Yes, I'm hopeful to drop to mid 40s when re-tested in 3 months. However, I'm aware that I need to look to managing in the longer term. Maintaining 800 calories with only low GI carbs is not much fun.
Click to expand...
Brilliant result so far.
I did the 800 calories short term, reversed my diabetes, then went onto a Mediterranean style diet.
Although currently munching down a French stick, cheese, ham, and cider, wine and calvados in France, so there is light at the end of the tunnel!
 
Allan671 said:
Yes, I'm hopeful to drop to mid 40s when re-tested in 3 months. However, I'm aware that I need to look to managing in the longer term. Maintaining 800 calories with only low GI carbs is not much fun.
Click to expand...
You probably don't need to cut the calories now, in fact it's doubtful if you ever did.
I lost over 15% of my body weight without restricting calories or doing more exercise - just cutting down on the carbohydrates. I'm fat adapted so I don't get really hungry if I miss a meal or 2, My HbA1C is 37 and my Cholesterol ratios have improved, though the LDL itself is higher - which isn't typical except for in athletes and I'm no athlete.

Some people say that it's the Glycemic Load (GL) rather than the GI that matters. Personally I just eat whatever my BG meter tells me I don't have a problem with. Why eat food you don't enjoy when there are so many delicious foods which are Low Carb but higher protein and (traditional) fat that keep you feeling fuller for longer.
 
Right from diagnosis I did not restrict calories only carbs - I was so overweight but the GP would not be told that his cholesterol lowering diet was killing me pound by pound - I stopped all the high carb foods, and was no longer diabetic in 80 days, despite starting off with Hba1c of 91.
As you are starting off so much lower in the range it should mean a swift resolution of your diabetes - always assuming that you are an ordinary type two and nothing more interesting.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top