Overwhelmed Newbie

[Lucyr]

It is unusual to agree to a second test so soon after the first.

No it isn’t at all unusual. You have to have a second a1c to confirm the diagnosis!

 

[Lucyr]

Thank you - I might actually give the 1 a day a go.

Remember you will need to get a medical exemption certificate form from the GP if in England before prescriptions are free, you need to pay in the meantime. On the form you put on your details then the GP finishes it off and posts it and the card is posted to you. You’ll need to pay for any prescriptions before the exemption is showing as valid online, but if you let the pharmacy know you’ve applied they can give a specific receipt so you can claim it back.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

but if you let the pharmacy know you’ve applied they can give a specific receipt so you can claim it back.

It's an FP57, and as @Lucyr says the pharmacy should give you one if you ask. But you must ask at the time (apparently you can't get one later).

Medical exemption certificates | NHSBSA

It is the medical exemption certificate that entitles you to free NHS prescriptions, not the medical condition. If you do not have a valid medical exemption certificate, you may be liable for a penalty charge. Find out if you’re entitled to NHS dental treatment and other help with health cost...

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk

 

[silver minion]

Thanks for replying – how are you doing with being recently diagnosed?

Straight away I saw toe ticker and thought – aww no! I can’t be doing with feet at all lol!! They may pin me down.

My Doc surgery is good at getting the ball moving and I know I’m fortunate with that (my mind is still on the toe thing lol)

The feet check is not as bad as it sounds. I have very ticklish feet and found it OK. They barely touch your feet and toes with a fine filament to check if you can feel it. The other check is the pulses in your feet and ankles. Again it is not uncomfortable.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Whilst I’m not keen on this, I have to say the positive is that it will make me live a better life, reducing stress and looking after me more that I have done due to looking after others.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis @BigBirdy! But it’s good to hear that you are feeling this might help motivate you to make some positive changes, and concentrate on your health a little more 🙂

 

[BobbleHat]

Hello, welcome to the forum..I'm sorry you've needed to find us but glad that you have, if that makes sense!

I was diagnosed in July (aged 49) with an hba1c of 52 - so, not too dissimilar. I went through all the emotions. People on here know that I described it as going through the phases of grief. And, it is really. Numbness, denial, anger, depression. We're grieving the person we were before - the one who didn't have to think about every mouthful.

I had already decided that I would ask for 3 months grace period to try to manage my condition with diet. As it turns out, I didn't have to ask. My Q-risk score for a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years, was less than 10% (I think it went to 8.3% with the T2 diagnosis) so it was my nurse who said they were happy for me to manage it with diet until my next blood test.

I went low carb/ moderate fat and protein straight away (I average around 60g carbs per day now - some people can manage more but that's my sweet spot based on blood sugar testing). I also do time restricted eating - I don't start eating until lunchtime and try not to eat after 8pm). I found the Freshwell App really helpful (promise I'm not selling you one particular diet, as mentioned above! Just suggesting something you might want to look at).

I had my second blood tests in November. My hba1c is down to 39. I no longer have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver, I've lost just over 2 stone to date and 15cm off my waist. My cardiovascular risk is down at around 5% now. My cholesterol is still borderline but, I'll take that. I was worried that it would go wild now I eat full fat dairy and red meat so I'm taking the fact that it has stayed stable, albeit high, as a win!

It is overwhelming at diagnosis and everything you're feeling is totally valid but, once the dust settles and you've had a chance to catch your breath, Diabetes is a serious condition but T2 generally responds well to changes that are within our capacity to make. And this forum is a wonderful store of the knowledge and support we need to do that.

 

[BigBirdy!]

The feet check is not as bad as it sounds. I have very ticklish feet and found it OK. They barely touch your feet and toes with a fine filament to check if you can feel it. The other check is the pulses in your feet and ankles. Again it is not uncomfortable.

Thanks @silver minion - I like you have ticklish feet so not totally looking forward to that either 🙂 Now I'm coming slightly round to the whole thing- it is good to get these checks done! Some people are living with it and don't even know they have it.

 

[BigBirdy!]

Hello, welcome to the forum..I'm sorry you've needed to find us but glad that you have, if that makes sense!

I was diagnosed in July (aged 49) with an hba1c of 52 - so, not too dissimilar. I went through all the emotions. People on here know that I described it as going through the phases of grief. And, it is really. Numbness, denial, anger, depression. We're grieving the person we were before - the one who didn't have to think about every mouthful.

I had already decided that I would ask for 3 months grace period to try to manage my condition with diet. As it turns out, I didn't have to ask. My Q-risk score for a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years, was less than 10% (I think it went to 8.3% with the T2 diagnosis) so it was my nurse who said they were happy for me to manage it with diet until my next blood test.

I went low carb/ moderate fat and protein straight away (I average around 60g carbs per day now - some people can manage more but that's my sweet spot based on blood sugar testing). I also do time restricted eating - I don't start eating until lunchtime and try not to eat after 8pm). I found the Freshwell App really helpful (promise I'm not selling you one particular diet, as mentioned above! Just suggesting something you might want to look at).

I had my second blood tests in November. My hba1c is down to 39. I no longer have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver, I've lost just over 2 stone to date and 15cm off my waist. My cardiovascular risk is down at around 5% now. My cholesterol is still borderline but, I'll take that. I was worried that it would go wild now I eat full fat dairy and red meat so I'm taking the fact that it has stayed stable, albeit high, as a win!

It is overwhelming at diagnosis and everything you're feeling is totally valid but, once the dust settles and you've had a chance to catch your breath, Diabetes is a serious condition but T2 generally responds well to changes that are within our capacity to make. And this forum is a wonderful store of the knowledge and support we need to do that.

Thanks @BobbleHat for replying, I really appreciate the message. You really hit the nail on the head - the one who didn't have to think about every mouthful! The whole planning in advance - whilst I do like that, takes a lot longer now. I'm currently following the high fibre and low carb approach and the freshwell app was recommended quite a bit last night that I'm on that also - very good resource along with here.

Again another good point you made 'changes that are within our capacity to make'. It's knowing you have no choice and you need to make the changes! You've definitely given me lots to think about - so thank you for that, I needed that!

 

[Drummer]

Hi, thank you!

This was my first blood test done.

I am overweight and not as physically active as I was a few years back due to caring roles over the last few years. Particularly the last 8 months have been horrendous and I looked after everyone else neglecting myself (I’m cross about that one).

I love overnight oats in the morning with almond milk, fage 0%, peanut butter, blueberries and some almonds sprinkled over them. Lunch would have been a tuna / chickpea and anything in the fridge thrown in and dinner would have been veg with a protein. That was all before I let the ball drop and then it was stress, eating 1st meal at 2pm and lifting whatever I got my hands on.

I could and have eaten gherkins and pickled beetroot out of the jar and now I’m afraid to even look to see if they are a no no!

Gherkins and beetroot are low carb, unless sugar is added.
I would not eat oats, have never eaten peanut butter, blueberries on their own as the highest carbs of the fruits with berry in their name so I eat them only in mixtures. I don't eat many beans or peas as I discovered that I can extract more carbs than the listed amount, so small amounts only. It really pays to check the carb content as many people discover that they were avoiding things they could have eaten but having high carb stuff thinking that as it is 'healthy' it must be OK.
Chocolate is OK in moderation too - just not the bars which are over half sugar.
I get high cocoa chocolate and eat just one square if I fancy some - at 85% cocoa it is really very very chocolate - I used to get 95% but not found it on the shelves recently.

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

I think Metformin affects everyone differently, though in my experience it has been very easy to tolerate.

When I first started it I had a metallic taste in my mouth and some mild nausea after meals for a few days but those were the only side-effects I noticed. I was quickly brought up to 2000mg per day and while I was on that dose I noticed no side-effects. After big weight loss I got the dose reduced to 1000mg per day, and pending the results of my next HbA1c test I may get that down to 500 mg per day next week.

The only potential side-effects I'm currently concerned about are that Metformin appears to inhibit physiological adaptation to exercise. People taking large doses of Metformin appear not to get fitter as quickly when exercising or build muscle as quickly when lifting weights. These potential effects are less than ideal for me right now.

Metformin inhibits mitochondrial adaptations to aerobic exercise training in older adults - PMC

Metformin and exercise independently improve insulin sensitivity and decrease the risk of diabetes. Metformin was also recently proposed as a potential therapy to slow aging. However, recent evidence indicates that adding metformin to exercise ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Metformin blunts muscle hypertrophy in response to progressive resistance exercise training in older adults: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, multicenter trial: The MASTERS trial - PMC

Progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) is the most effective known intervention for combating aging skeletal muscle atrophy. However, the hypertrophic response to PRT is variable, and this may be due to muscle inflammation susceptibility. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

On the other hand taking Metformin has bee shown to have several benefits:

Is metformin a wonder drug? - Harvard Health

Metformin, a medicine prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, also has cardiovascular benefits and is used off-label to treat other conditions. Interest is growing in its potential to help lowe...

www.health.harvard.edu

It may actually slow down aging:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/22/1245872510/a-cheap-drug-may-slow-down-aging-a-study-will-determine-if-it-works

It's a complex thing and to be honest I'm not sure if I want to come off Metformin completely. My experience tells me I don't have to worry about side-effects, and the science says I might live longer if I keep taking it. At this time I'm going to try to get down to 500mg and then to try to get fitter and build muscle. If I'm successful in that then I see no reason to stop the Metformin.

For me I'm trying to balance the desire to get fitter and stronger with science that suggests that Metformin doesn't just inhibit physiological adaptation to exercise - it may also inhibit physiological changes in general, including those caused by aging:

Aging: Diabetes drug metformin may slow down biological clock

The type 2 diabetes drug metformin helped slow aging across multiple organs, including the brain, kidneys, and the skin, a study in cynomolgus monkeys has shows.

www.medicalnewstoday.com