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Recently diagnosed T2

H

hinder_a

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Pronouns
He/Him
Hello all, just looking for a little advice. Just under a year ago I was diagnosed Type 2 diabetic. I am 52 years of age, eat a reasonably healthy diet, am 5'10 and weigh 12st.

Prior to having an antibody test, the diabetic consultant was confident it would come back to show I am Type 1 (my daughter is also a T1 diabetic), so she prescribed me the Libre sensor. The test came back negative, so I am being treated as Type 2 and prescribed Metformin.

Because my BG levels were pretty erratic, lots of very high levels, they kept me on the sensor.

I am now under the care of a diabetic nurse in my surgery. I have lots of questions, but am not getting any answers. Type 2 is reversible, but I have no idea how to go about this. The only time my blood glucose is in range is if I haven't eaten any carbohydrates. I have read about LADA, and asked the nurse about this, again no real answer.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank You
 
hinder_a said:
Hello all, just looking for a little advice. Just under a year ago I was diagnosed Type 2 diabetic. I am 52 years of age, eat a reasonably healthy diet, am 5'10 and weigh 12st.

Prior to having an antibody test, the diabetic consultant was confident it would come back to show I am Type 1 (my daughter is also a T1 diabetic), so she prescribed me the Libre sensor. The test came back negative, so I am being treated as Type 2 and prescribed Metformin.

Because my BG levels were pretty erratic, lots of very high levels, they kept me on the sensor.

I am now under the care of a diabetic nurse in my surgery. I have lots of questions, but am not getting any answers. Type 2 is reversible, but I have no idea how to go about this. The only time my blood glucose is in range is if I haven't eaten any carbohydrates. I have read about LADA, and asked the nurse about this, again no real answer.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank You
Click to expand...
Have you looked on this website? It has a page on LADA. I wonder if the nurse has come across this as this website says, "LADA isn’t recognised as a separate type of diabetes yet. So when it comes to treatment, the most important thing is to take whatever medication helps you manage your blood sugar levels properly." Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
hinder_a said:
Hello all, just looking for a little advice. Just under a year ago I was diagnosed Type 2 diabetic. I am 52 years of age, eat a reasonably healthy diet, am 5'10 and weigh 12st.

Prior to having an antibody test, the diabetic consultant was confident it would come back to show I am Type 1 (my daughter is also a T1 diabetic), so she prescribed me the Libre sensor. The test came back negative, so I am being treated as Type 2 and prescribed Metformin.

Because my BG levels were pretty erratic, lots of very high levels, they kept me on the sensor.

I am now under the care of a diabetic nurse in my surgery. I have lots of questions, but am not getting any answers. Type 2 is reversible, but I have no idea how to go about this. The only time my blood glucose is in range is if I haven't eaten any carbohydrates. I have read about LADA, and asked the nurse about this, again no real answer.
Click to expand...

People have achieved 'remission' (Blood sugar in normal levels without medication) by losing weight and/or reducing carbohydrates in their diet. Research has shown that losing 'visceral fat' around the waist can help bring things back to life a little.
 
Unfortunately type 2 isn't reversible, but some people are able to get it into remission. There are some threads about this on the forum. Losing visceral fat around the abdomen can help. Has your waistline increased with age?
Are you following a low carb diet and what is your hbA1c?
I am sure more knowledgeable people will be along to give you advice.
 
Hi and welcome.

Can you tell us a bit about how your original diabetes diagnosis kicked off? ie. Was it picked up via a routine blood test or were you symptomatic and if so which symptoms?

Do you know which antibodies were tested for?
LADA stands for Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, so if you didn't have a positive antibody test for Type 1 then you are not likely to be LADA either, because they are both characterised by an autoimmune attack on your insulin producing beta cells. LADA just develops more slowly in more mature adults.

As regards aiming for remission with Type 2, you may be able to be referred onto the Pathway to remission Program by your GP practice. I am not sure if the program has been rolled out across all parts of the country yet. Basically it is based on the work of Prof Roy Taylor and his team at Newcastle and is a short period of 8-12 weeks on a very low calorie diet (800calories a day) soups and shakes diet designed to clear the liver and pancreas of visceral fat which can then enable those organs to return to normal function. About 50% of participants are successful but the weight loss needs to be maintained for remission to be maintained, so part of the program is supporting people through the reintroduction of real food.

Some members of the forum have devised their own 800calorie real food diet without the program and some have done it via soups and shakes themselves but prior to the program being rolled out on the NHS.

We have a remission section of the forum and quite a few threads from members documenting their experience following this approach and many have been successful.

Other Type 2 members have been successful in achieving remission through a low carb way of eating which they have adopted for life, so not a short term diet. This sometimes involves eating more protein and natural fats once a healthy BMI is achieved, to provide the energy that they are no longer getting from carbs.

I think I would want to be quite certain that you are not Type 1 or possibly MODY. Was your daughter tested for antibodies. Often children are just assumed to be Type 1 if they develop diabetes and are not tested for antibodies, so I wonder if you could actually both be MODY rather than Type 1.... which I confess I do not fully understand but is genetic.
 
hinder_a said:
Hello all, just looking for a little advice. Just under a year ago I was diagnosed Type 2 diabetic. I am 52 years of age, eat a reasonably healthy diet, am 5'10 and weigh 12st.

Prior to having an antibody test, the diabetic consultant was confident it would come back to show I am Type 1 (my daughter is also a T1 diabetic), so she prescribed me the Libre sensor. The test came back negative, so I am being treated as Type 2 and prescribed Metformin.

Because my BG levels were pretty erratic, lots of very high levels, they kept me on the sensor.

I am now under the care of a diabetic nurse in my surgery. I have lots of questions, but am not getting any answers. Type 2 is reversible, but I have no idea how to go about this. The only time my blood glucose is in range is if I haven't eaten any carbohydrates. I have read about LADA, and asked the nurse about this, again no real answer.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank You
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum. You look as if you are a healthy weight but say you were diagnosed last year. Had you lost weight before diagnosis? I know you mention a daughter with type 1 do you have close older relatives with type 2?
I have read posts under the remission thread from people who have put their diabetes in remission. There is actually a programme where people are supported. You are in the age range but you may be too healthy a weight. Measure your waist it should be no more than half your height. It is a way of checking if you have too much belly fat. Many people do well reducing carbs and moving more eg walking after eating. You would need to make sure you ate sufficient fat and protein.
How were you originally diagnosed and what was your hba1c? Has it reduced? I know from the forum many adults are diagnosed with type 1 and it is still possible that is what you are. I don't have sufficient knowledge as to the best way forward. Type 1 can take metformin whilst treatment and diagnosis are worked out and it is a recognised treatment for type 2.
This GP site is helpful though given your daughters situation you probably have a good knowledge of type1.

Good luck

NB I had an Internet problem before posting so @rebrascora has now covered much of the ground.

newforestpcn.co.uk

Diabetes & Metabolic Health | New Forest PCN

newforestpcn.co.uk newforestpcn.co.uk
 
Thank you for the responses, you have given me plenty to think about. As luck would have it, an appointment came through to see the diabetic consultant today, May 23rd.

To answer a couple of questions, my weight had always been around 13st. Over a period of time my wife had been telling me that I looked like I was losing weight, but I shrugged it off. One day my daughter remarked about my weight and suggested that I do a finger prick. So I did, and my BG was 29. In hindsight, I had had symptoms for at least a year. I went to the hospital, blood checked and my hba1c was 117... Two months ago it was down to 64.

The prescribed Metformin has obviously had a positive effect, given my hba1c has come down. But, I am struggling to get my head around the fact that my BG levels average between 10-14, and if I eat the smallest amount of carbs they go beyond that. The only time they eventually drop below 10 is if I don't eat any carbs.

I had a list of questions for the diabetic nurse in my surgery, who didn't have any answers. Though she did send me a pamphlet in the post "Everything you need to know about T2 Diabetes" a couple of days after the last appointment!

Hopefully I will be more the wiser after this appointment with the consultant, maybe further tests?

Again, thank you for the responses.
 
As a non medical person who has type 2 I still think you are likely to be type 1. Sadly that would mean it cannot go into remission but I expect your daughter would be pleased you shared something. All credit to her that she thought you should check your BG. I just hope you get the correct advice from the consultant. The Diabetes UK site is good but I was impressed how much info in one place the New Forest site has .

Good luck
 
hinder_a said:
Thank you for the responses, you have given me plenty to think about. As luck would have it, an appointment came through to see the diabetic consultant today, May 23rd.

To answer a couple of questions, my weight had always been around 13st. Over a period of time my wife had been telling me that I looked like I was losing weight, but I shrugged it off. One day my daughter remarked about my weight and suggested that I do a finger prick. So I did, and my BG was 29. In hindsight, I had had symptoms for at least a year. I went to the hospital, blood checked and my hba1c was 117... Two months ago it was down to 64.

The prescribed Metformin has obviously had a positive effect, given my hba1c has come down. But, I am struggling to get my head around the fact that my BG levels average between 10-14, and if I eat the smallest amount of carbs they go beyond that. The only time they eventually drop below 10 is if I don't eat any carbs.

I had a list of questions for the diabetic nurse in my surgery, who didn't have any answers. Though she did send me a pamphlet in the post "Everything you need to know about T2 Diabetes" a couple of days after the last appointment!

Hopefully I will be more the wiser after this appointment with the consultant, maybe further tests?

Again, thank you for the responses.
Click to expand...
It may be worth your while keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink with an estimate of the carbs alongside blood glucose readings before you eat and after 2 hours and a morning/fasting reading as that would provide evidence for your appointment that your current medication is not doing the trick and indeed your diagnosis may be dubious or you need something additional.
You may get some ideas for modifying your diet from this link. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
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