Probably Type 2 - Devastated

[Tac0caT]

Hi, I'm new here and just need to write down my thoughts.

I know nobody here can offer me medical advice and that's fine.

This is more me getting things off of my chest, so accept my apologies for it being long.

My doctors sent me a text yesterday that I might have type 2 diabetes following a blood test last week.
My Hba1c came out at 80mmol/mol.
I've been booked in for another blood test on 26th so that they can compare and I guess give a confirmed diagnosis.

I am devastated to be honest. I suffer with health anxiety, and just knowing that I likely have a condition that has a lot of possible side effects has got my anxiety working overtime.

I haven't really eaten since I found out yesterday either, because I just don't know what to eat now and don't want to make matters worse.

I am just so scared.

What kick started all of this was in January my anxiety started from nowhere and I had been getting chest pains, arm pains and I had an elevated heart rate. A&E checked me over and gave me the all clear, and told me it was just anxiety.
My doctor told me the same in February too.

Since then I've just lived with the pains, but then last week I started to get them in my legs in random places, which prompted me to reach out to my doctor and they ordered the blood tests.

I guess because of the above I'm worried that my Hba1c is massively high and all that extra glucose swimming around my veins and arteries is what is causing all of these pains and I am in fact in a worse condition than just Diabetes.
I do not want to go to an early grave, I want to see my children grow up, and be there for them and my wife.

I've been watching videos on YouTube to try and navigate my way through all of this, but my head is scrambled.
Some people say "You need to ditch carbs, and eat protein and fats" whilst others say "Protein will cause a spike 4-5 hours later and will cause x,y and z".

Another thing that's bothering me is that I don't even have any of the symptoms other than this blood test - Maybe I'm wrong.

A usual one is peeing a lot, I go maybe twice at work, and then maybe 4 times from when I get home until the next morning but I do consciously try and drink a lot of water, but not because I feel thirsty, I've been trying to lose weight.

I do feel tired, but I don't think I feel more tired than usual and I work a fairly stressful job, and I do do some evening work too.

I have lost weight, but as above I've been in a calorie deficit, I don't have any itching, my wounds heal fine and I haven't had any blurred vision.

I just don't know what to do to make any of this better. I feel very low and I'm not much fun to be around right now, which is obviously having an impact on my wife and kids.

Thanks,

Tac0caT

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Tac0caT 🙂 First of all, don’t panic. 80 is a bit high but it’s not horribly high. People here have had HbA1Cs in three figures. I’m sure you can improve that🙂

Please do eat. If you tell us an average day’s food for you pre-diagnosis, we can make some suggestions that will help.

 

[Tac0caT]

Welcome @Tac0caT 🙂 First of all, don’t panic. 80 is a bit high but it’s not horribly high. People here have had HbA1Cs in three figures. I’m sure you can improve that🙂

Please do eat. If you tell us an average day’s food for you pre-diagnosis, we can make some suggestions that will help.

Hi Inka,

Thank you for the welcome.

I just assumed 80 was very high as it's around double of the border between non and pre. So thank you for your reassurance with that.

A normal day for me generally is as follows:

Breakfast:

Either a coffee at home, or a Costa vanilla latte, or an Emmi Cappuccino Latte on the way to work.

10am:
Sometimes a sausage roll, or pasty

Lunch:
Usually a Tesco meal deal.
Either Chicken Salad Sandwich on brown seeded bread, or Tuna and Sweetcorn pasta salad, or chicken based wrap.
2 boiled eggs.
Sometimes a White chocolate protein shake

Evening meal:
This one varies a lot but is usually things like, Pizza, Lasagne, Battered Chicken, Fried egg sandwich, we do generally have a takeaway on a Friday, usually this is pizza but I have recently switched it up for a jacket potato or a battered chicken wrap.
Sometimes this is followed up with a sweet type snack for pudding, but not always.

Generally I stop eating at 8pm (but usually I don't eat anything after around 1800-1830.

As you can see I am not exactly regimented as such with what I eat currently, and I have been following an "Intermittent fasting" approach, whilst trying to incorporate more protein into my diet and being in a calorie deficit. I'm currently aiming for 2000 calories or less a day.

The plan was to accompany this with exercise, however my health anxiety has been a bit of a blocker in that regard as I panic when my heart rate increases, which obviously goes hand in hand with exercise but my anxiety renders all logic obsolete apparently.

 

[Felinia]

Hi and welcome. Feeling shocked and scared after your diagnosis is totally normal, and what most people go through. As Inka says, 80 mmol/mol is not horribly high and you can look on this as an opportunity to become a healthier dad and husband.
There's lots of stuff posted online, but this Forum is really the best place to seek advice and learn - between us we have centuries of experience. The initial suggestion for newly diagnosed Type 2 is to look at lifestyle changes. Please have a look at the Learning Zone on this Forum as it will give you all the information you probably didn't take in when you were diagnosed. I suggest one module a day, starting with food and then exercise. For you, dealing with the mental aspects will probably be very helpful as well.
Reading your food diary, I see you follow a very typical modern day diet, with lots of high carb foods. It is suggested that you should aim for less than 130gm carbs per day. This does not mean NO carbs, and the reduction should be done slowly so as not to affect your eyes. So you will be best advised to get your wife on board to help you make adjustments to your meals. It will probably benefit her, and educate your children as well. The items to reduce are bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereals, some fruits, processed foods, and of course cakes, biscuits, sweets, pastries. Smaller portions, bulked up with vegetables and protein.
I've run through your quoted meal items through my app, to give you an idea of your daily carb intake. Getting an app was the first thing I did on diagnosis and is great for portion control and keeping me on the straight and narrow. You will be surprised at how high some of the items are. (Shame they taste good)

Costa Coffee Vanilla Latte - from 17gm carbs for a small with skimmed milk, to 34gm for a large with full fat milk

Sausage roll (Greggs) - 24gm carbs
Cornish Pasty - 52gm carbs

Tesco Chicken salad sandwich - 45.7gm carbs
Tesco tuna sweetcorn salad - 51gm carbs

12" pepperoni pizza - 1/8 slice 17.7gm carbs, or 71.3gm for half the pizza
Homemade lasagne - from 40.8gm carbs for a 340gm serving to 62.5gm for a 520gm serving.
2 pieces battered chicken - around 12gm carbs

This is before you take into account your drinks, vegetables, fruit, puddings, snacks.

You might like to consider having some breakfast at home - for example Greek yogurt with berries, rather than stop for a latte and pastry. Then taking in a packed lunch like a salad with boiled eggs, tuna, chicken, or a thermos of home made soup. You or your wife could make batches of healthy home made foods. I use a slow cooker and freeze portions. These are just suggestions.

Some people follow lowcarbfreshwell.com/resources/meal-planners/ which would certainly give you plenty of ideas. It is said this is a marathon not a sprint, and to take it slowly so your body adapts. Have you considered swimming? I go to the pool twice a week. But exercise can be as simple as doing more walking, joining in more with the children and their games.

You are not alone, so please ask any questions you may have, as we have all probably asked them.

 

[Docb]

Hi @Tac0caT and welcome to the forum.

Echo @Inka - 80 is high and high enough to be giving some of the short term problems of diabetes, frequent peeing, thirst and feeling rough. It also high enough make you think about the risks of more permanent damage in the long term if something is not done to get it down.

Can I suggest you stop looking at YouTube videos until at least you have some idea of what your diabetes is all about. There is some good stuff on YouTube but it tends to be swamped by the rubbish and you will not be able to sort one from the other until you have some understanding. Same goes for much of what you read in the press.

This forum, reflecting the lived experience of members is a good source of information about how others have approached things and one thing you will pick up is that there is no magic solution to controlling blood glucose. There are common themes in those experiences where members have managed to reduce their blood glucose levels and these are:

1. Lose excess weight. The evidence for this, both anecdotal and scientific, is compelling.

2. Reduce carbohydrate intake. This is logical. Carbohydrate is converted to glucose in the gut and from there gets into the blood. Less carbohydrate, less blood glucose for your system to cope with.

3. Exercise. Less obvious than 1 or 2 but exercise takes glucose out of the system.

4. Medication. There are a number of medications which reduce blood glucose and will give an immediate benefit whilst you work on the other things.

Maybe one of these is best for you, maybe, like me, a combination of them is best. You to need to work out what is best for you and we can help with that.

So my thought for you is, don't panic, read around the forum and look at the learning zone. If there is anything you do not understand then ask questions. We have a rule on the forum that there is no such thing as a silly question.

 

[Martin.A]

Can't add much to what others have said except to say that whilst your 80 is high I'm one of those diagnosed with an HbA1c in 3 figures, but by adopting a low carb diet, becoming more active and losing some weight here I am, 5 years on, with my HbA1c in normal range, taking no meds and feeling fitter and healthier than I've felt since my 40s.

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Tac0caT . As others have said- DONT PANIC.

I am very pleased that you have found this forum. There is a wealth of experience to tap into and reading around you will see that it is a case of finding what works for you. @Docb has suggested some steps that you can take, and you will find that making small changes can have a big impact on your results.

Keep reading (and the advice to avoid You Tube is good) and keep the questions coming.

 

[Felinia]

One thing I forgot to mention. You are likely to be prescribed Metformin - the first medication usually given for Type 2. It acts in conjunction with changes to lifestyle, not just by itself. You will probably take one a day building up to four a day over a period of weeks. It can result in tummy problems which often settle down after a few weeks. It depends a lot on your job, as it can be quite disruptive at first. If your tummy doesn't settle, you can request the slow release version, which I had to do. Also there are other medications, its not the only one. Best wishes - I'm off to the pool now - the joy of being retired!

 

[Tac0caT]

Thank you for all of the responses, there is a lots of good information there for me to take on board.

I have picked up some chicken and a simple salad to have at lunch which is very low carbs.
Not ideal from the information provided here in terms of making the switch slowly but it is at least something to start with.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you for all of the responses, there is a lots of good information there for me to take on board.

I have picked up some chicken and a simple salad to have at lunch which is very low carbs.
Not ideal from the information provided here in terms of making the switch slowly but it is at least something to start with.

I don't think there will be any doubt that you are diabetic with an HbA1C of 80. There is a lot to take on board but your diet was certainly very high in carbs and from the estimate that was kindly worked out for you far exceeds the suggested no more than 130g per day that a low carb approach would be, it is not NO carb but making good decisions on the carbs you do have is important.
I think the Freshwell approach mentioned is one based on real food so fits in better with family meals. This is the link which is worth a look as the introduction is a good straightforward explanation of the principals of low carb and should be suitable if you are prescribed metformin, other meds you may need to be more cautious.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com

 

[wantonnoodle]

Another suggestion if you are struggling for meal inspiration, particularly if you like to use an old-fashioned cookbook, would be to look at the diabetes books by Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi. They have some good meal ideas, and they have some good introductions written by Dr David Unwin, who is a GP who has had a lot of success controlling diabetes through diet with his patients.

 

[Drummer]

Hi Inka,

Thank you for the welcome.

I just assumed 80 was very high as it's around double of the border between non and pre. So thank you for your reassurance with that.

A normal day for me generally is as follows:

Breakfast:

Either a coffee at home, or a Costa vanilla latte, or an Emmi Cappuccino Latte on the way to work.

10am:
Sometimes a sausage roll, or pasty

Lunch:
Usually a Tesco meal deal.
Either Chicken Salad Sandwich on brown seeded bread, or Tuna and Sweetcorn pasta salad, or chicken based wrap.
2 boiled eggs.
Sometimes a White chocolate protein shake

Evening meal:
This one varies a lot but is usually things like, Pizza, Lasagne, Battered Chicken, Fried egg sandwich, we do generally have a takeaway on a Friday, usually this is pizza but I have recently switched it up for a jacket potato or a battered chicken wrap.
Sometimes this is followed up with a sweet type snack for pudding, but not always.

Generally I stop eating at 8pm (but usually I don't eat anything after around 1800-1830.

As you can see I am not exactly regimented as such with what I eat currently, and I have been following an "Intermittent fasting" approach, whilst trying to incorporate more protein into my diet and being in a calorie deficit. I'm currently aiming for 2000 calories or less a day.

The plan was to accompany this with exercise, however my health anxiety has been a bit of a blocker in that regard as I panic when my heart rate increases, which obviously goes hand in hand with exercise but my anxiety renders all logic obsolete apparently.

I started with a HbA1c of 91 and was in normal numbers 6 months later - BUT - and it is a big BUT, I cut down my carb intake to where my after eating check was 8mmol/l or under.
That meant no bread, pastry - no grain at all - no potato, no coating on food, nothing sugary. I reduced portion size of peas and green beans.
I did not (and still don't) count calories, but my weight dropped considerably on low carb. I did not increase my exercise, but I did become more active as I felt so much better than for a long time.
Your present diet is really high carb, so there are a lot of changes you could make to try to lower your blood glucose levels and get into remission - as long as nothing more complicated is going on. I'm a really ordinary type 2, and for me low carb is the simple key to success. I hope that you find the same.

 

[harbottle]

Mine was 83 in 2021, almost 3 years ago, and I also had an elevated heart rate and leg pains. (Also blurred vision, but I have poor eyesight and just thought it was natural change in my eyes.)

I bought these books:

Another suggestion if you are struggling for meal inspiration, particularly if you like to use an old-fashioned cookbook, would be to look at the diabetes books by Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi. They have some good meal ideas, and they have some good introductions written by Dr David Unwin, who is a GP who has had a lot of success controlling diabetes through diet with his patients.

I used them for all meals. After two weeks, though, my heart rate returned to normal, pains all went away and eyesight returned back to how it been before.

I still use their recipes a lot.

 

[Felinia]

Thank you for all of the responses, there is a lots of good information there for me to take on board.

I have picked up some chicken and a simple salad to have at lunch which is very low carbs.
Not ideal from the information provided here in terms of making the switch slowly but it is at least something to start with.

As has been said, everyone is different so it can take time to find out what suits you best.
I would like to suggest an initial 2 prong approach, which is what I did. I kept a meticulous food diary, and got a blood testing monitor. The idea is to test immediately before and 2 hours after eating. You are ultimately aiming for a before reading of 4mmol/l to 7mmol/l, and an after reading of not more than 8.5mmol/l. (This is a spot check at that moment in time and is not the same as the HbA1c which is mmol/mol over 3 months).
I kept my food diary on my app as it saved me doing all the calculations - I just weighed and entered. I then compared the two to see which foods spiked my blood glucose, so I knew which to cut down on, or avoid, but also what I could eat. You will soon discover what is happening in your body. I discovered I could eat one slice from a Warburtons 400gm wholemeal loaf with no added sugar, or 2 small potatoes, but not rice, pasta and surprisingly, apples! Now I just test for new foods. I experimented with how many carbs I felt comfortable with and have settled on 75gm-90gm per day, but if I go over I don't panic, as long as I'm under 130gm.
I have substitutes, for example, cauliflower instead of potato, roasted squash instead of chips, black bean pasta instead of wheat pasta. Others suggest celeriac mash, cauliflower rice, courgetti instead of spaghetti - lots of different ideas.
If you search this Forum for suggested monitors, you will see what is current. Also the Forum Food/carb queries and recipes. Lots of ideas and pictures. (I post there most days as it keeps me honest). To this day I plan my food and enter it into the app first thing. One thing I don't do is beat myself up if I have a bad day. There's always tomorrow. Also I believe in moderation, not abstinence. But as I said, everyone has a different approach.
I hope this gives you some ideas, and hope you and your wife have fun trying out different things.

 

[Inka]

Hi Inka,

Thank you for the welcome.

I just assumed 80 was very high as it's around double of the border between non and pre. So thank you for your reassurance with that.

A normal day for me generally is as follows:

Breakfast:

Either a coffee at home, or a Costa vanilla latte, or an Emmi Cappuccino Latte on the way to work.

10am:
Sometimes a sausage roll, or pasty

Lunch:
Usually a Tesco meal deal.
Either Chicken Salad Sandwich on brown seeded bread, or Tuna and Sweetcorn pasta salad, or chicken based wrap.
2 boiled eggs.
Sometimes a White chocolate protein shake

Evening meal:
This one varies a lot but is usually things like, Pizza, Lasagne, Battered Chicken, Fried egg sandwich, we do generally have a takeaway on a Friday, usually this is pizza but I have recently switched it up for a jacket potato or a battered chicken wrap.
Sometimes this is followed up with a sweet type snack for pudding, but not always.

Generally I stop eating at 8pm (but usually I don't eat anything after around 1800-1830.

As you can see I am not exactly regimented as such with what I eat currently, and I have been following an "Intermittent fasting" approach, whilst trying to incorporate more protein into my diet and being in a calorie deficit. I'm currently aiming for 2000 calories or less a day.

The plan was to accompany this with exercise, however my health anxiety has been a bit of a blocker in that regard as I panic when my heart rate increases, which obviously goes hand in hand with exercise but my anxiety renders all logic obsolete apparently.

The good news is that there are lots of little changes you could make to your average day’s food as written above. For a start, I’d remove the calorie/carb laden drinks - ie the Costa coffees and the protein shake. Obviously, a sausage roll isn’t a great breakfast or snack either, but if you ate breakfast at home, you could have something healthier.

Don’t just think about what to remove from your diet, think about what to add too. You’ve made no mention of veg or fruit above. Adding green veg, salad and other low carb vegetables is not only great for your health but will fill you up.

 

[Tac0caT]

The good news is that there are lots of little changes you could make to your average day’s food as written above. For a start, I’d remove the calorie/carb laden drinks - ie the Costa coffees and the protein shake. Obviously, a sausage roll isn’t a great breakfast or snack either, but if you ate breakfast at home, you could have something healthier.

Don’t just think about what to remove from your diet, think about what to add too. You’ve made no mention of veg or fruit above. Adding green veg, salad and other low carb vegetables is not only great for your health but will fill you up.

You're 100% right, veg is a rarity for me unfortunately, but is something I will work into my diet going forward.

I have spent the evening reading a book called "The Glucose Goddess Method", whether it is factual or not I'm not sure, but there are some low carb recipes that look good.

I've also signed up to the learning centre and will work my way through that too.

Thank you for the advice

 

[Inka]

The Glucose Goddess mostly gets a thumbs down here @Tac0caT Here’s one of the more polite critical articles:

The Glucose Goddess - Should You Use her 'Hacks'?

Who is the Glucose Goddess? In this glucose goddess review, I dissect her hacks to see which ones stand up to current science.

abbylangernutrition.com

You’d be better off with the books mentioned above or the late, great Michael Mosley’s Fast 800.

DiabetesUK also has a recipe section:

Recipe finder - Enjoy Food | Diabetes UK

www.diabetes.org.uk

And Meal Plans:

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

.

 

[JITR]

... good introductions written by Dr David Unwin, who is a GP who has had a lot of success controlling diabetes through diet with his patients.

Here is Dr Unwin's diet sheet:
- https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/A_5_page_low_carb_diet_leaflet_Unwin_2021-converted.pdf
As good a starting point as any on docb's points 1 and 2 (lose weight and cut carbs).

 

[Studious Pip]

Hi, I'm new here and just need to write down my thoughts.

I know nobody here can offer me medical advice and that's fine.

This is more me getting things off of my chest, so accept my apologies for it being long.

My doctors sent me a text yesterday that I might have type 2 diabetes following a blood test last week.
My Hba1c came out at 80mmol/mol.
I've been booked in for another blood test on 26th so that they can compare and I guess give a confirmed diagnosis.

I am devastated to be honest. I suffer with health anxiety, and just knowing that I likely have a condition that has a lot of possible side effects has got my anxiety working overtime.

I haven't really eaten since I found out yesterday either, because I just don't know what to eat now and don't want to make matters worse.

I am just so scared.

What kick started all of this was in January my anxiety started from nowhere and I had been getting chest pains, arm pains and I had an elevated heart rate. A&E checked me over and gave me the all clear, and told me it was just anxiety.
My doctor told me the same in February too.

Since then I've just lived with the pains, but then last week I started to get them in my legs in random places, which prompted me to reach out to my doctor and they ordered the blood tests.

I guess because of the above I'm worried that my Hba1c is massively high and all that extra glucose swimming around my veins and arteries is what is causing all of these pains and I am in fact in a worse condition than just Diabetes.
I do not want to go to an early grave, I want to see my children grow up, and be there for them and my wife.

I've been watching videos on YouTube to try and navigate my way through all of this, but my head is scrambled.
Some people say "You need to ditch carbs, and eat protein and fats" whilst others say "Protein will cause a spike 4-5 hours later and will cause x,y and z".

Another thing that's bothering me is that I don't even have any of the symptoms other than this blood test - Maybe I'm wrong.

A usual one is peeing a lot, I go maybe twice at work, and then maybe 4 times from when I get home until the next morning but I do consciously try and drink a lot of water, but not because I feel thirsty, I've been trying to lose weight.

I do feel tired, but I don't think I feel more tired than usual and I work a fairly stressful job, and I do do some evening work too.

I have lost weight, but as above I've been in a calorie deficit, I don't have any itching, my wounds heal fine and I haven't had any blurred vision.

I just don't know what to do to make any of this better. I feel very low and I'm not much fun to be around right now, which is obviously having an impact on my wife and kids.

Thanks,

Tac0caT

Hi there! I'm also new on this forum cos of a recent blood test. Do you want to hold hands and navigate this together?

I'm doing the opposite atm. My diagnosis isn't 'confirmed' by the practice nurse so I'm giving in to every craving going... I think we can help each other x

 

[Tac0caT]

Hi there! I'm also new on this forum cos of a recent blood test. Do you want to hold hands and navigate this together?

I'm doing the opposite atm. My diagnosis isn't 'confirmed' by the practice nurse so I'm giving in to every craving going... I think we can help each other x

Hi Pip, Apologies for the late response. I haven't received an official diagnosis yet either.

Just my last test indicates I have it.

Whether my route is doing any good or not remains to be seen - I have eaten 10g of carbs yesterday, and only 545 calories.

After getting a bit emotional at work and calling the Diabetes Helpline, today I have been and done a small shop for some foods referenced in the guides above.

1 question I do have though - a lot of the advice above mentions low carb diets, but I am sure the person I spoke to on the helpline advised a meal should be 1/4 Protein, 1/4 Carbs and have fibre, but try to keep fats low? Maybe I wrote it down wrong.

Tomorrows breakfast is Greek yoghurt and Blueberries, lunch will be a 3 egg egg omelette with cherry tomatoes and some Feta cheese. Haven't worked out what my evening meal will be yet though.

Interestingly I still do not have any of the symptoms. I counted yesterday and I only urinated 5 times, my thirst is no different than usual (so far 3 pints of water at work, left at 1420 and I have just cracked open a bottle of water), I did feel tired at work today but that might be down to the lack of calories.

Maybe this is wishful thinking, or me looking for a way for this to be a mistake but I have read that stress and anxiety can raise hba1c results. As mentioned above I have had a rough time with Anxiety for the last 6 months, and also I have been pretty stressed from work and my wife's health too, also I quit smoking cold turkey in 2013 and started vaping in 2015 after a particularly stressful period and have been vaping since, if anything it is my mouth as much as possible - and although there are no long term studies on whether vaping can increase hba1c, there are short term that suggests it can raise it by at least 1mmol/mol. Nicotine itself can raise hba1c apparently by up to 34%. Also Vegetable Glycerin (used in the eliquid) apparently metabolises in the body as sugar.

At this point I am seriously considering just putting the vape down and seeing what happens.