Recently Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes?

[Daniel_0101]

Hi Everyone,

I am glad there is a platform like this as I have felt so alone recently.

i was recently admitted to hospital as I had high blood sugar (27-31). I was told I may have Type 2 Diabetes as I exhibited some symptoms.
It has been just over a week since I have been discharged, and I have changed my diet and started to exercise more.
I was told to take 10 units of the fast acting insulin 3 times a day and 20 units of the slower insulin once a day, and take metformin twice a day.
My blood sugar was initially high, however it has started to stay in the normal ranges.
One day I trialed not taking the medication as at the very least I wanted to come off insulin as I heard it makes you put on weight, and as I am already on the heavy side I wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Throughout the day, my blood sugar remained under 10.

Questions -
If my blood sugar is in the normal ranges, do I still need to take medication?
Is it possible to come off medication so soon?
Are there risks to not taking the medication?

 

[trophywench]

Having started you on insulin so quickly, I'd be more inclined to wonder if they probably took 'a whole armful' of blood from you, to do more tests on, to discover properly whether you are Type 2 - or Type 1 ? Are you waiting for other blood test results?

 

[ianf0ster]

How often were you testing?

A finger prick Blood Glucose reading of around 30 is very high. I'm surprised that you could get it down to under 10 throughout the day without medication , though you don't say how often you tested or if you had help /advice from a Low Carb expert.

If you can get the 2hrs after 1st bite of each meal BS reading below 8.0 mmol and the spike from pre-meal to 2hrs after difference down to 2.0 mmol or below on diet alone then you certainly don't need medication (yet).

I agree that personally I think it is crazy to take insulin if you can use Low Carb to avoid it. But others have different taste in food and so can't /won't do sufficiently Low Carb. I suspect many of them are too scared of Fat and Protein, but I prioritise Protein and embrace the traditional fatty cuts of meat and fish, eggs and cream, cheese, nuts etc. It' just the highly processed so-called 'vegetable oils (actually bleached seed oils) that I avoid.

 

[ianf0ster]

Note that because you say you need to lose weight, in my reply above I'm assuming that the diagnosis of Type 2 is correct!

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Daniel_0101, welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It can feel lonely to start with but as I hope you'll see, there's a lot of support available on the forum.

Re your questions, we cant really give medical advice but some people with type 2 are able to manage their numbers with just diet and exercise. This is something they discuss and agree with their GP as they often prefer those with high starting numbers to use medication so they can reduce the numbers as quickly and as is safely possible.

If you are type 2, as I say it's plausible to not need medication with a really well executed plan and you can find many examples on the site. It usually takes 3-6 months to see real change so worth keeping that in mind.

 

[Daniel_0101]

Having started you on insulin so quickly, I'd be more inclined to wonder if they probably took 'a whole armful' of blood from you, to do more tests on, to discover properly whether you are Type 2 - or Type 1 ? Are you waiting for other blood test results?

Yeah, they took quite a bit of blood from me. They have confirmed that I am not Type 1, however they wrote "likely Type 2" on my discharge letter.

I was also surprised when I found out I'd need to take insulin too which is why I want to come off, however I am conscious of the risks of coming off early.

 

[Daniel_0101]

How often were you testing?

A finger prick Blood Glucose reading of around 30 is very high. I'm surprised that you could get it down to under 10 throughout the day without medication , though you don't say how often you tested or if you had help /advice from a Low Carb expert.

If you can get the 2hrs after 1st bite of each meal BS reading below 8.0 mmol and the spike from pre-meal to 2hrs after difference down to 2.0 mmol or below on diet alone then you certainly don't need medication (yet).

I agree that personally I think it is crazy to take insulin if you can use Low Carb to avoid it. But others have different taste in food and so can't /won't do sufficiently Low Carb. I suspect many of them are too scared of Fat and Protein, but I prioritise Protein and embrace the traditional fatty cuts of meat and fish, eggs and cream, cheese, nuts etc. It' just the highly processed so-called 'vegetable oils (actually bleached seed oils) that I avoid.

Before every meal and 2 hours after, so around 6 times a day.

I mainly cut down my food portions, and exercised more. I have been eating more veggies too. I have yet to receive advise on what diet would be best for me as I have not been able to get in contact with a dietician or a community diabetic nurse.

I was told to continue taking insulin by my GP this morning as it's apparently too early for me to try and come off medication, and I am not up for a review any time soon.

I was initially scared to foods in the Fat and Protein food group, however I have read there are a lot benefits to eating those foods.

Everything is totally new to me, and I am unsure of what I should be eating, some say fasting is good, however I am honestly scared of my blood sugar dropping.

 

[Daniel_0101]

Note that because you say you need to lose weight, in my reply above I'm assuming that the diagnosis of Type 2 is correct!

I am assuming it is too, I think I am just still in denial.

 

[Daniel_0101]

Hi Daniel_0101, welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It can feel lonely to start with but as I hope you'll see, there's a lot of support available on the forum.

Re your questions, we cant really give medical advice but some people with type 2 are able to manage their numbers with just diet and exercise. This is something they discuss and agree with their GP as they often prefer those with high starting numbers to use medication so they can reduce the numbers as quickly and as is safely possible.

If you are type 2, as I say it's plausible to not need medication with a really well executed plan and you can find many examples on the site. It usually takes 3-6 months to see real change so worth keeping that in mind.

Thank you.

I think I am still in denial which is why I am such in a rush to get off medication.
My GP has advised I continue with the medication until I am reviewed by a diabetic nurse.
My only concern with taking insulin is the weight gain, I am exercising daily, however I still feel that I am putting on weight, however I have not confirmed it yet.
I have been reading that some people with Type 2 do not always need medication, however I feel I may be rushing a bit too much.
I am still going through the whole blame and denial phase, hopefully it passes soon.

 

[Gwynn]

I can only speak for myself...

At diagnosis I was put onto insulin injections. My blood glucose levels were all over the place, high, low, you name it. But mainly very very high at 140 HbA1c.

I did several things. I stopped the diabetic medication afer a few weeks, after checking with the diabetic nurse that it was ok to do so.

I changed my diet from a very high carb diet to a very low carb diet overnight. And I reduced the calories to lose weight.

I increased my excercise from zero !!! To at least 30 minutes walking each day. Now it is at about 90 minutes a day.

The result was that as soon as I stopped taking all diabetic medication my blood glucose levels returned in the normal range and have stayed there ever since.

I lost a ton of weight, felt better, more energy, had a new respect for real food and started to really enjoy meals.

Have there been any negatives? Nope not as far as I can tell. However if things had not settled down I am not sure what I would have done as the support and advice from my GP was a bit scant.

I measure everything, calculate everything, monitor everything. It sure shuts them up at review time, and it enables, yes, enables me to live and change stuff on the fly. I do this on a very special App. Being able to change meal items easily makes everything so much easier overall.

Oh, and I do not take statins, except plant based ones which produce zero side effects. I don't think my cholesterol was that high at 5.0 but they do get worried about diabetics and cholesterol levels.

So yes, it is possible for some to come off the diabetic meds and yes, it is possible for some to reverse their diabetes.

However I urge you to seek medical advice before you do change things.

I wish you all the best and do let us know how you get on.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

My only concern with taking insulin is the weight gain, I am exercising daily, however I still feel that I am putting on weight, however I have not confirmed it yet.

To reassure you, insulin doesn’t automatically make you gain weight. I’ve been taking insulin every day for 30 years, and I’m pretty much the same weight I was in my early 20s.

I have put weight on, and lost weight occasionally in the intervening years, but is wasn’t the use of insulin that was responsible it was the amount and the sorts of foods I was eating.

Insulin allows you to process the carbs you are eating, and access the energy. If you take too much insulin (and balance it with too much food), then you will gain weight, but the right amount of insulin/food in balance will keep your weight stable 🙂

Welcome to the forum, and glad we can help you feel less alone.

Ask away with any questions, we have centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, and no question will be thought of as too obvious or ‘silly’ 🙂

 

[trophywench]

I agree with Mike - oddly enough this very day my GP has told me that according to my current weight and height, my BMI is 'perfect'. It may have taken me 71+ years to have anything whatever about me that is perfect, but there you go! Anyway - considering the two blood tests they have to do to prove you are or aren't Type 1, one of which usually takes several weeks to obtain a result from, as not all that many path labs can actually perform the tests, I'm pretty gobsmacked that 'they' have already told you that you are absolutely not Type 1.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @Daniel_0101

As others have said, I have not found that taking insulin causes weight gain. Alart from losing weight around my diagnosis (T1) matching the insulin to the amount of carbs I eat enables me to choose what I eat. Sometimes my choices aren’t the best so ‘my clothes shrink’ but then I drop back again.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Daniel_0101]

I can only speak for myself...

At diagnosis I was put onto insulin injections. My blood glucose levels were all over the place, high, low, you name it. But mainly very very high at 140 HbA1c.

I did several things. I stopped the diabetic medication afer a few weeks, after checking with the diabetic nurse that it was ok to do so.

I changed my diet from a very high carb diet to a very low carb diet overnight. And I reduced the calories to lose weight.

I increased my excercise from zero !!! To at least 30 minutes walking each day. Now it is at about 90 minutes a day.

The result was that as soon as I stopped taking all diabetic medication my blood glucose levels returned in the normal range and have stayed there ever since.

I lost a ton of weight, felt better, more energy, had a new respect for real food and started to really enjoy meals.

Have there been any negatives? Nope not as far as I can tell. However if things had not settled down I am not sure what I would have done as the support and advice from my GP was a bit scant.

I measure everything, calculate everything, monitor everything. It sure shuts them up at review time, and it enables, yes, enables me to live and change stuff on the fly. I do this on a very special App. Being able to change meal items easily makes everything so much easier overall.

Oh, and I do not take statins, except plant based ones which produce zero side effects. I don't think my cholesterol was that high at 5.0 but they do get worried about diabetics and cholesterol levels.

So yes, it is possible for some to come off the diabetic meds and yes, it is possible for some to reverse their diabetes.

However I urge you to seek medical advice before you do change things.

I wish you all the best and do let us know how you get on

That's great, I'm glad.

I have a review coming up in 2 weeks, and I am monitoring things too.
I will stop trying to do things on my own and wait for advice from a professional.

Thank you.

 

[Daniel_0101]

To reassure you, insulin doesn’t automatically make you gain weight. I’ve been taking insulin every day for 30 years, and I’m pretty much the same weight I was in my early 20s.

I have put weight on, and lost weight occasionally in the intervening years, but is wasn’t the use of insulin that was responsible it was the amount and the sorts of foods I was eating.

Insulin allows you to process the carbs you are eating, and access the energy. If you take too much insulin (and balance it with too much food), then you will gain weight, but the right amount of insulin/food in balance will keep your weight stable 🙂

Welcome to the forum, and glad we can help you feel less alone.

Ask away with any questions, we have centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, and no question will be thought of as too obvious or ‘silly’ 🙂

I'm glad, thank you.

That was the first thing the Doctor told me when I was in hospital so I have just been in a hurry to come off it.
I think I am on too much insulin at the moment which is another reason I have been trying to trial lower dosages.

Thank you for the warm welcome too.

 

[Daniel_0101]

I agree with Mike - oddly enough this very day my GP has told me that according to my current weight and height, my BMI is 'perfect'. It may have taken me 71+ years to have anything whatever about me that is perfect, but there you go! Anyway - considering the two blood tests they have to do to prove you are or aren't Type 1, one of which usually takes several weeks to obtain a result from, as not all that many path labs can actually perform the tests, I'm pretty gobsmacked that 'they' have already told you that you are absolutely not Type 1.

I was surprised too, as I was told it would take a lot longer. I assumed I was Type 1 as my dad is diabetic.

 

[Daniel_0101]

Welcome to the forum @Daniel_0101

As others have said, I have not found that taking insulin causes weight gain. Alart from losing weight around my diagnosis (T1) matching the insulin to the amount of carbs I eat enables me to choose what I eat. Sometimes my choices aren’t the best so ‘my clothes shrink’ but then I drop back again.

Let us know how you get on.

Thank you for the warm welcome and reassurance.

I think I may be on too much insulin which is why I have been worried about putting on weight.
I have a review coming up so I hope my dosage will be lowered.

I will keep you informed.

 

[ianf0ster]

@Daniel_0101
Hi. I have no personal experience of taking insulin, however I'm an active member of both this and the other UK diabetes forum and so have read the experiences of many many other T2s with insulin as well as T1s.

I notice that apparently you are a T2 diabetics thus prone to being overweight.
Most Type 1 diabetics suffer from the reverse.
Thus their experiences of taking insulin are quite different from those of the majority of Type 2's on insulin.

 

[Daniel_0101]

@Daniel_0101
Hi. I have no personal experience of taking insulin, however I'm an active member of both this and the other UK diabetes forum and so have read the experiences of many many other T2s with insulin as well as T1s.

I notice that apparently you are a T2 diabetics thus prone to being overweight.
Most Type 1 diabetics suffer from the reverse.
Thus their experiences of taking insulin are quite different from those of the majority of Type 2's on insulin.

Ah I see, thanks!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I notice that apparently you are a T2 diabetics thus prone to being overweight.
Most Type 1 diabetics suffer from the reverse.

Not sure that's true (of Type 1). It's true that it's common for people with Type 1 to lose weight before being diagnosed, but I'm not so sure we're much different to a random person after being diagnosed.

I'm (slightly) overweight, for example. There's an element of us being conscious of what we eat (and knowing that our weight is being monitored), knowing that we should exercise, and so on, so compared to a random person maybe we're less likely to be overweight. Doubt there's that much in it, though.