• 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

recently diagnosed and very confused.

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
davie533

davie533

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi there,my name is Davie I am 56 and I am type 2 and I am looking forward to be part of this forum as you are all so helpful when questions are asked and hopefully you will keep me right as since being diagnosed its all been very daunting and I am struggling with it all and very unsure where I go from here.
At the moment I don't need tablets and I am trying to lose weight and do more exercise to see if it can be controlled that way and I have another test in three months so we will see what happens then.
Thanks for reading this and any advice given would be much appreciated.I do have lots of questions which will be asked on the general message board.thanks.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of very knowledgeable folks round here. I'm new as well so we can learn together.
 
Welcome to the forum davie 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum Davie. I'm sure you'll get the help, advice and support you need and want on here.
 
Hi Davie.

So - were you given a fingerprick blood glucose meter, so you can test and see what different foods and/or exercise are doing to your BG ?
 
Hi everyone and thanks for your replies.Have not been given a test meter all I have seen since since my diagnosis is my diabetes clinic doctor who said as my bloods had dropped from 61 to 55 I wouldn't need tablets.He told me to stop eating sweets get more exercise and handed me a 2014 information pack and asked me to hand in a urine sample for testing and he would see me in three months for more blood tests.
 
Hi Davie. Do you understand much about the blood test you have had done? Its good news to see it has dropped from 61 to 55. This blood test is called a HbA1c blood test. It works out on average a three month average of your blood glucose levels. It is used to diagnose diabetes and also used to check on the progress of someone's diabetes.
A HbA1c reading between 48-53 is a very good range to sit in in order to feel well and prevent any future complications, so it is good news that you are sitting very close to that range. You have obviously changed some things for the better for it to improve so keep it up and good luck!
 
Hi there and thanks for your reply and your good wishes.I don't understand much about the test I had done to be honest and I'm grateful for you telling me what the good reading range is and its a relief to know that I'm not that far above it at the moment .I'm trying to decide which book to get which would help me to understand it all more but there have been several books mentioned in other posts so there seems to be plenty out there but its trying to get the one that would help me more.
One question I have is should I be checking my blood myself as it seems some do and some don't and would I be better spending more on a higher spec tester or are they much and such the same regardless of price.
 
Hi Davie.

Glad it helped. Personally I would advise against getting a glucose meter for a number of reasons. Firstly you aren't on any treatment at the moment, and usually you only need to monitor your own glucose levels if you are on medication which is quite potent at getting your sugars down (insulin being one of them, without confusing you).
As your bloods are within a decent range at the moment I also think finger pricking yourself could get you a bit stressed out if you don't understand why your levels differ from day to day or at different times of the day. I'd rely on your three monthly average blood test for now.
Your GP or diabetes team won't usually give you a meter u unless your on a treatment that requires you to monitor your levels, so that would mean you would have to buy your own and supplies (ie strips for the meter) can be costly. I hope this helps?
 
Also I'm sure you can order a booklet on type 2 diabetes from this website for more information, it is really really informative. Great to refer to if something pops in your head that you are unsure of.
 
Thanks again for that,I will just keep going with the diet and exercise and see what happens in the next test.Your help is very much appreciated.
 
davie533 said:
Hi there and thanks for your reply and your good wishes.I don't understand much about the test I had done to be honest and I'm grateful for you telling me what the good reading range is and its a relief to know that I'm not that far above it at the moment .I'm trying to decide which book to get which would help me to understand it all more but there have been several books mentioned in other posts so there seems to be plenty out there but its trying to get the one that would help me more.
One question I have is should I be checking my blood myself as it seems some do and some don't and would I be better spending more on a higher spec tester or are they much and such the same regardless of price.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest for a quick and useful introduction Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter. The best book available for Type 2 is the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, recommended by many of our members over the years (plus look at the amazon reviews! 🙂) This is the one book that every newly-diagnosed Type 2 should be issued with at diagnosis 🙂
 
I agree about the Gretchen Becker book, I was originally misdiagnosed as type 2 and found it invaluable. For example, it starts by explaining what all the blood tests mean, then guides you through the learning process.
It's a personal preference as to whether to test or not. If if would just worry you, then maybe it's not for you. It can be useful, however, for working out which foods send your blood sugars rocketing and are best avoided. I bought an SD Codefree meter as a spare, it and the strips are reasonably priced and it is just as reliable as my main meter. It's available via Amazon, and I gather if you subsequently order strips in bulk direct from the manufacturer, they give a good discount.
 
Thanks both very much for the advice will order up that book.My mind has been very much put at ease with the advice iv'e received on here already and it's all very much appreciated.The whole experience is so daunting and the diagnosis is just the start but talking with people that have experienced it all makes it all so much easier for me as I was really getting stressed by having diabetes which I knew nothing about.
 
It was very daunting for me when I found out too, ive only been diagnosed since august 2015. I felt that I had no one to talk to or support me through everything. But I was wrong. My partner has been great with everything and this forum has been a huge help to me. I had no symptoms of diabetes before I was diagnosed, I purely found out by chance when I went along to a health fair at work and my finger prick test came back at 26!!! Im also lucky that I have found a great gp to see at my surgery (much better than the first one that i saw) and he has been a great help too. You will get there in the end. There is a lot to take in too.
 
Diabetes Nerd said:
Hi Davie.

Glad it helped. Personally I would advise against getting a glucose meter for a number of reasons. Firstly you aren't on any treatment at the moment, and usually you only need to monitor your own glucose levels if you are on medication which is quite potent at getting your sugars down (insulin being one of them, without confusing you).
As your bloods are within a decent range at the moment I also think finger pricking yourself could get you a bit stressed out if you don't understand why your levels differ from day to day or at different times of the day. I'd rely on your three monthly average blood test for now.
Your GP or diabetes team won't usually give you a meter u unless your on a treatment that requires you to monitor your levels, so that would mean you would have to buy your own and supplies (ie strips for the meter) can be costly. I hope this helps?
Click to expand...


I'm afraid I couldn't agree with your advice not to test Diabetes Nerd. My type 2 is diet and exercise controlled only which means I have nothing to rely on except the effect that food has on me and how I adapt and regulate it to keep my levels on an even keel. Often doctors will suggest diet only to begin with to see if the patient can make inroads themselves or medication may disagree with them (as it did me). Having a meter put me on a steep but immensely useful learning curve and although I now don't have to test so regularly, I'm still taken by surprise on occasion at how certain foods can cause me to spike unexpectedly. Without testing I'd keep on eating them oblivious to their adverse effects. The HbA1c is useful for averages but it doesn't tell the whole story and to me it's like saying I made it to the destination safely but didn't take into account all the crashes en-route! A Hba1c of 55 still indicates some significant spikes.

We are all different and some people are quite happy to put their care totally into the hands of a nurse every 3/6 months but I prefer to be instrumental in controlling my own health and I've found using a meter provides that. Truth is it's too easy to cheat when you have no evidence to confront you! It stopped me taking it far too easy over Christmas too.

If my doctor wouldn't provide testing strips (he's very pro patient involvement/personal management however) then I'd feel I had to fund it myself.

Good luck Davie! You do what you feel suits you and I'm sure with the support in here, you'll get there.
 
I don't agree with not testing type2's either - how are you supposed to know what is going on if you just blindly stumble along with no guidance? I am still at the experimental stage and adding new foods in almost daily so I need to know how they affect my BG if at all.

My surgery does not provide meters or test strips for type 2's so I am self funding. Very shortsighted if you ask me. Its a brilliant little tool to learn with.
 
Well, I have to say that I have been involved with this forum since day 1 and have witnessed the benefits reported from countless numbers of people who have tested to discover their tolerances, regardless of what medication you are on. I excluded quite a few things from my diet soon after diagnosis because I saw the effects on my levels - even though in theory I am on insulin and can eat 'what I like'. These were foods I was told were 'healthy', and indeed generally regarded as being so if you don't have diabetes - in my case things like cereals and certain types of fruit. Ask anyone if they think a glass of fresh orange juice is healthy - for us, it's not it will send your levels through the roof! 😱

I think that generally people who seek out support from forums such as ours are people who are highly-motivated to take charge and look after their health - they want to understand things and know what is going on so they can take appropriate action. These very people would feel out of control and anxious if they were told to just do their best without any real knowledge of what that means. If you are motivated to test, and use the information to improve your diet and activity levels, then you should be supported by your healthcare professionals in doing so. Many HCPs agree with this, and will try to motivate and explain to those who aren't motivated what can be achieved, but many do not in some misconceived perception that you only need to test if you are at risk of hypos, plus they might make some short-term savings.

It is an indivdual choice, but people should be made aware of potential pros and cons, and not simply refused because it's easier to do that than educate and support people (in which case the big costs come along down the line when complications start to appear :().
 
Thanks all for your comment's.I'm thinking while I would be anxious about differing readings while doing testing that would be better than me going on thinking things were ok but testing would show they were not.Hope that makes sense.I have made an appointment with the diabetes nurse tomorrow so will ask her opinion and see what she says about testing.Everyone has an opinion and I'm grateful for all yours.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top