newly diagnosed

[Elaine Ann]

Hi my name is Elaine. I recently went for a routine blood test, my GP rang that night to inform me my sugar levels were high (20) and asked what I had eaten that morning for breakfast. She asked me to see her 2 days later and after a chat about symptoms informed me I had all the classic symptoms of diabetes. My most worrying symptom is my eyesight, I have been complaining about blurred vision for months, I even had my eyes tested between Christmas and New Year to be told it was probably because my eyes were so dry so was advised to use eye drops. Since then my sight has just got worse to the point I will not drive now as I do not feel I am safe. I have been back to the optitician(as advised by GP) given all the tests they could do then informed they would refer me to the hospital for a second opinion. My other main syptoms are very dry skin, dry mouth, thirst, sweating, being breathless, and overwhelming fatigue.
I have been started on metformin twice a day and also simvastatin. My BP is far too high app. 98/102 and my cholestrol was 7. All in all a dim picture! I am realy strugling to take it all in and feel realy daunted ny the diet changes as I have always had such a sweet tooth. I want to know how long before the metformin will improve my sugar level. HELP, I'm all of a dither!

 

[LeeLee]

Hi Elaine, DON'T PANIC (in nice friendly letters). Welcome to the forum. You've found the right place for help and advice, so fire away with any questions.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Elaine Ann, welcome to the forum 🙂 First, the good news - blurry eyesight is a common symptom when you are undiagnosed/newly-diagnosed and should hopefully correct itself in a few weeks as your blood sugar levels are brought under control - don't get any new glasses at this time! All your other symptoms should also be significantly relieved as things improve for you, and many people find that they eventually feel much happier and healthier than they may have done for some time! So try not to worry - with the help from your medical team and the forum members you will learn to control things and manage your diabetes well, it just takes a while to absorb everything. But there is no rush to know everything all at once - it's a marathon not a sprint!

To start you off, I would suggest reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter - these are well-known and trusted resources. Also recommended is Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which many of our members have found very helpful.

Please do ask any questions you may have - the friendly and knowledgeable folk here will do their best to help you out, and no question is considered 'silly'! 🙂

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forum Elaine 🙂

Metformin can take about 2 weeks to work into your system - but it won't fix everything by itself. Diet and Exercise are also important!

All carbohydrates in your diet (bread, potatoes, rice) are converted to blood glucose levels - so it's more then just dropping sugar.

Don't worry too much about your sweet tooth, your palette does adjust so sweet things can end up being too sweet and once you have good control you can have them in moderation anyway.

 

[Newtothis]

A warm welcome to the forum Elaine Ann 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Welcome to the forum Elaine.

I have a suspicion that you've recorded your BP wrongly. The first number should be bigger than the second because the first is the one when the heart beats (hence a higher pressure) and the second records the pressure when the heart is 'at rest' (hence should be a lower pressure).

Anyway, regarding the diabetes. There is much you can do to improve your symptoms. Losing weight if you need to, changing your diet (and this is actually easier than you may think because it doesn't have to be too restrictive) and factoring in some daily exercise (which needn't be anything more than a swift(ish) walk).

Anyway, from my experience that is all I needed to do! I hope it is as 'easy' for you too. As a guide to how I am now, it is very rare for my spot BG readings to exceed 7mmol/L at any time and I am usually in the 4's and 5's. My last HbA1c was 40mmol/mol (or 5.8% in the old money). At diagnosis, in October, 2009, my BG was mid 20's and HbA1c was 122mmol/mol (or 13.3%).

Good luck,

Andy 🙂

 

[Elaine Ann]

Hi Andy

Welcome to the forum Elaine.

I have a suspicion that you've recorded your BP wrongly. The first number should be bigger than the second because the first is the one when the heart beats (hence a higher pressure) and the second records the pressure when the heart is 'at rest' (hence should be a lower pressure).

Anyway, regarding the diabetes. There is much you can do to improve your symptoms. Losing weight if you need to, changing your diet (and this is actually easier than you may think because it doesn't have to be too restrictive) and factoring in some daily exercise (which needn't be anything more than a swift(ish) walk).

Anyway, from my experience that is all I needed to do! I hope it is as 'easy' for you too. As a guide to how I am now, it is very rare for my spot BG readings to exceed 7mmol/L at any time and I am usually in the 4's and 5's. My last HbA1c was 40mmol/mol (or 5.8% in the old money). At diagnosis, in October, 2009, my BG was mid 20's and HbA1c was 122mmol/mol (or 13.3%).

Good luck,

Andy 🙂

Thanx for yor repy. Yes indeed I did write by BP down wrongly, think I was just trying to get everything down too quickly. I am new at this "blogging" or whatever it is. I hope I am writing my reply in the right place. I am quite dim at these things, being 60 and already slowed up by Fibromyalgia. I hope you will bear with me. Well back to the dreaded BP readings! My highest reading has been 203/108, thank goodness it's not always so high but tends to vary between145/95 and 160/105. I have been advised by my nurse not to buy a machine and check my blood sugars but have read on here quite a few times that regular testing helps you find out foods that work best for you. Are you Type 1 or 2 but insulin dependant? The nurse said you only need to test if you are on insulin but unsure at the moment if this is the right thing for me as I do feel that testing myself I would be much more aware of what my levels are doing. I am seeing my GP on Monday to see how I am responding to the Metformin. I still don't feel great and my sight hasn't improved but I understand it hopefully will when I'm more controlled. Thank goodness for everyone on the forum to chat to. Thanks to everyone for replys.

 

[Northerner]

...I have been advised by my nurse not to buy a machine and check my blood sugars but have read on here quite a few times that regular testing helps you find out foods that work best for you. Are you Type 1 or 2 but insulin dependant? The nurse said you only need to test if you are on insulin but unsure at the moment if this is the right thing for me as I do feel that testing myself I would be much more aware of what my levels are doing.

And this is precisely why you should have a meter, so you can feel in control of your levels and gain knowledge of what works best for you foodwise. It is a lazy suggestion (in my opinion) by your nurse to suggest only insulin-users need to test, this is not the case at all but rather an excuse to dissuade you from costing the NHS money for test strips. This doesn't take into account how NOT knowing how you are doing might make you anxious or depressed, or lead to you making poor food choices that might otherwise have been averted. The bulk of the NHS's costs for diabetes are due to the treatment of complications - these develop because people do not manage, or are not provided with the tools to manage, their diabetes well.

Don;t be afraid to tell your doctor this and to request a meter and strips. Each case should be treated individually, and cost should not be a consideration, only whether you as an individual would benefit from self-monitoring. From what you have said, I would definitely say you would benefit! 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Hello Elaine,

Nope, no you're not dim! You've typed your reply perfectly!! 🙂

To answer your question, I am a diet and exercise controlled Type 2. I was on medication at the start. First gliclazide (which stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin .... and I was happy to get off that within a month because stimulating an already overworked pancreas didn't sound good to me!) and then metformin (I can't remember how much I was on, it was too long ago now!!).

I was on the metformin for a couple of months before I decided to do without. For me, that was an Ok decision, but there are reasons why it might be preferable to keep taking it. For example, it is understood to have a beneficial effect on the heart.

Regarding testing, the only reason why the medical types don't want us to test is cost. They may claim other reasons, but that is the primary one.

I tested once a day at different times to build up a picture of what was good for me and what wasn't. That strategy worked for me because my BG levels responded quite quickly to my change in lifestyle. I didn't need to do a before and after eating test because I was always happy when in the ranges suggested by my DSN. When I was too high, though, I just went for a quick 30min walk and retested. Usually, that brought me back down.

By the way, the Blood Glucose (BG) ranges suggested to me were:-

1) Before meals (fasting) : 4-7mmol/L
2) 2hrs after meals : 7-9mmol/L
3) Avoid <4mmol/L (Hypo)
4) Avoid >10mmol/L (Hyper)

There may be variations to these ranges for others, but it did the job for me!

Good luck,

Andy 🙂

p.s. Oh, by the way, I test pretty infrequently now. It averages out at less than once per week (my pot of 50 strips still has a few in and it was started in around September, 2011!)

 

[LeeLee]

Hi Elaine, until I joined this forum (diagnosed several years by then), I simply believed the nurses when they said I didn't need to test.

When I asked my new GP about it, he asked why I thought it would be beneficial. I stated my case, explaining the need to find out what's good/bad for me and my BG. I was given a meter, and have had no problem with strips. (Not that I ask for them much - my control is pretty good now that I've lost weight so I really only need to test as a touchstone now and again, or if I'm experimenting with something unfamiliar.)

 

[trophywench]

Well of course, in an awful lot of cases where they did used to just supply the meters and the strips willy nilly, they didn't actually explain to people properly how to use the results they got from the testing.

Or they did explain but people decided for whatever reason not to test - but were still picking up their scrips willy nilly. There was a lot of waste. And with the strips costing so much (the NHS pays about ?15 for a pot of 50) unfortunately the message started to percolate that T2s not n insulin don't use their strips. And then someone did a piece of research - which was very flawed in a number of ways! - where they concluded - and so this was the Headline News - that T2s testing, would make em depressed. So that sort of put the tin lid on it with all the NHS bean counters - despite what anyone else tried to tell em to the contrary. "They are too expensive and they make you depressed so let's not give you them in the first place ...."

Yes they are expensive - but they shouldn't make you depressed PROVIDED you know what to do about it when you get a reading you don't like - and are prepared to do whatever it is you should do to get rid of that too high reading!

You are doing great on the forum at the moment but I can suggest a Blog you might like to have a look at - written by a T2 - you'll immediately see the difference between a forum and a blog - and will most likely find it really helpful from a diabetes point of view. And I can vouch for the author Alan Shanley - he's a very nice bloke and very very sensible!

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.co.uk/

Enjoy !

 

[Andy HB]

.... And I can vouch for the author Alan Shanley - he's a very nice bloke and very very sensible!

Yep, I second that.

He used to post on this forum too. Maybe one day he will again, I hope.

Andy 🙂

 

[pippaandben]

Hi my name is Elaine. I recently went for a routine blood test, my GP rang that night to inform me my sugar levels were high (20) and asked what I had eaten that morning for breakfast. She asked me to see her 2 days later and after a chat about symptoms informed me I had all the classic symptoms of diabetes. My most worrying symptom is my eyesight, I have been complaining about blurred vision for months, I even had my eyes tested between Christmas and New Year to be told it was probably because my eyes were so dry so was advised to use eye drops. Since then my sight has just got worse to the point I will not drive now as I do not feel I am safe. I have been back to the optitician(as advised by GP) given all the tests they could do then informed they would refer me to the hospital for a second opinion. My other main syptoms are very dry skin, dry mouth, thirst, sweating, being breathless, and overwhelming fatigue.
I have been started on metformin twice a day and also simvastatin. My BP is far too high app. 98/102 and my cholestrol was 7. All in all a dim picture! I am realy strugling to take it all in and feel realy daunted ny the diet changes as I have always had such a sweet tooth. I want to know how long before the metformin will improve my sugar level. HELP, I'm all of a dither!

Hi Elaine. My eyesight was all over the place when first diagnosed. As I wore glasses in the first place with me I found my eyesight actually improved to the extent that I did not need them for driving. I was lucky enough to find an optician who had someone on the staff who had specialised in diabetes and eye care as part of her qualification. It might be an idea to ask in several opticians - if you have a choice. As she was doing research for a post qualification paper she monitored me on a fortnightly basis taking details of my medication as it changed over a 3 month period before she said I was stable enough to have the "proper test" for new glasses. It can be scary but do not be pushed into having glasses at this stage as they could be useless in a few weeks. If they are any good they would refuse you glasses anyway until you are under an average 10-12 mark. Do tell them you are diabetic though.