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newly diagnosed

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jane58

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Type 2
Hi everyone. i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last week. struggling to take it in. didn't have much symptoms other than getting up to toilet a lot during the night. The diabetes nurse just called me and told me about my diagnosis. told me to loose weight and she would send me a pack in the post to tell me all about it and she would see me in 6 month. i got a reading on 77 she said but i dont even know what that is to be honest. I am assuming im not that bad as im guessing she just wants me to loose weight to get my blood sugars down and review me again in 6 months. i havent been prescribed anything. I'm totally confused to say the least.:(
 
The 77 is probably your Hba1c, or glycated haemoglobin - not too bad, as you guess, but for many people the way to lower glucose in the blood is to lower carbohydrate in the diet. Replacing starch and sugar with protein and fat often has good results - it is easiest to use a testing meter and once you see what your numbers are after eating you can reduce the high carb foods - which will have most effect, replacing with lower carb options, and lower the numbers bit by bit.
I found that once my after meal readings were under 8 I went on eating the same meals and saw my numbers drift down and down - presumably as my metabolism recovered.
I did lose weight, but wasn't trying to do so, I just wanted normal blood glucose levels.
 
High @jane58 and welcome to the forum. Sadly it is not unusual for people to be given a diagnosis of diabetes and then left to get on with it. I guess that is often because there is quite a lot to learn and many GP surgeries do not have the resources to devote the time needed to get patients sorted individually and rely on leaflets and things like that. That is where we can help. I suggest you have a read around the forum and check out the learning zone on the red tab above. Take your time and if there is anything you do not understand then just ask questions on the forum. There is a forum rule that no question is considered silly. We have all been where you are now and know what it is like.

One thing for sure is that an HbA1c of 77 is higher than what most of us would consider to be comfortable and you should be doing things to get it down. The obvious things are to lose weight if you need to, cut down on the carbohydrate in your diet, increase the exercise you do and if needed, take medication. Which you concentrate on and how you balance things is very much down to you, and as you read around the forum you will find that different people have taken different approaches. Another thing for sure is that getting your HbA1c back to sub diabetic levels is very doable and we will do what we can to help you get there.
 
Docb said:
High @jane58 and welcome to the forum. Sadly it is not unusual for people to be given a diagnosis of diabetes and then left to get on with it. I guess that is often because there is quite a lot to learn and many GP surgeries do not have the resources to devote the time needed to get patients sorted individually and rely on leaflets and things like that. That is where we can help. I suggest you have a read around the forum and check out the learning zone on the red tab above. Take your time and if there is anything you do not understand then just ask questions on the forum. There is a forum rule that no question is considered silly. We have all been where you are now and know what it is like.

One thing for sure is that an HbA1c of 77 is higher than what most of us would consider to be comfortable and you should be doing things to get it down. The obvious things are to lose weight if you need to, cut down on the carbohydrate in your diet, increase the exercise you do and if needed, take medication. Which you concentrate on and how you balance things is very much down to you, and as you read around the forum you will find that different people have taken different approaches. Another thing for sure is that getting your HbA1c back to sub diabetic levels is very doable and we will do what we can to help you get there.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your response, i am trying to loose 2 stone. im just a little baffled about what to eat and not to eat but there is a lot of information on here which will be very helpful
 
Drummer said:
The 77 is probably your Hba1c, or glycated haemoglobin - not too bad, as you guess, but for many people the way to lower glucose in the blood is to lower carbohydrate in the diet. Replacing starch and sugar with protein and fat often has good results - it is easiest to use a testing meter and once you see what your numbers are after eating you can reduce the high carb foods - which will have most effect, replacing with lower carb options, and lower the numbers bit by bit.
I found that once my after meal readings were under 8 I went on eating the same meals and saw my numbers drift down and down - presumably as my metabolism recovered.
I did lose weight, but wasn't trying to do so, I just wanted normal blood glucose levels.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your response. I will take your advice and lower my carbohydrates. i need to change my eating habits altogether. it will take me time to adjust and learn but i will get there.
 
Welcome to the forum @jane58

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and the way you have been left slightly floundering without much information to go on.

Hopefully the shared experiences of the forum, and some of the recommendations for resources and information others have found helpful will plug some of those gaps - but do keep asking away with any questions. As @Docb says - we’ve all been there in the beginning, not really knowing anything about how to fit our diabetes into a (relatively!) normal life :D

As well as the Learning Zone, if you would like a good overview of T2 diabetes to add to the knowledge you’ve already picked up, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
 
Mine was a bit higher (83) - I can only echo some of the advice here, but I seem to have managed to get it under control so far (Early days!) with low carb food and exercise plus weight loss.

I was pretty much told 'you're diabetic, take these pills, don't eat chips.' and that was it. I'm still fuming about it now.
 
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