Recently diagnosed type 2

[DM101]

Hey everyone, I was diagnosed type 2 last week and after reading quite a few of the threads on here I thought I should sign up and say hi.

I was only diagnosed a few days ago and to be honest I’m still trying to get my head around it. Being completely ignorant on the subject I just assumed as I’m not overweight that I couldn’t be diabetic. Apart from being a bit of a crisp muncher (3 sometimes 4 packs a day) and drinking only slightly over the recommended allowance, I (thought I) ate fairly healthily. For some weeks before being diagnosed I was feeling groggy most mornings though for an hour or 2 so the warning signs were there but being ignorant I didn’t know what the warning signs were of! I decided to buy a BP monitor and that was how I discovered something was wrong and a couple of weeks later I got the diagnosis. Just as my BP was beginning to be regularly around the 130 mark (from 160) due to the changes described a bit below.

I don’t even know how severe my diabetes is yet. No one has told me what my hba1c is. I didn’t even know it was a thing so I need to ask the nurse about that. I’m now on Metformin - 2 tablets a day to be increased to 4 over the coming weeks. My cholesterol is “quite high” too apparently.

Once I found out my BP was high I pretty much ditched alcohol and now no longer have any crisps. Switched to wholemeal and cut down severely on my salt intake But this was only a few weeks before my diagnosis so too late for that unfortunately. I’m quite lucky that I don’t have a sweet tooth so not having sweets/desserts etc doesn’t bother me. I do miss my crisps but that’s getting easier as time goes by.

I have found out a lot of information from reading a lot of the threads on here so thanks guys for that.

One immediate question I have though if anyone can offer any advice on is eating fruit. I have read on some sites that basically fruit is good so feel free to eat it as long as you don’t go mad. Other sites though (and my nurse) said to not eat too much (1 or 2 portions a day). I was trying to eat 3 or 4 portions of fruit until that conversation! I’m following her advice at the moment but yeah, I’m getting quite a bit of conflicting information. Probably depends on the individual I’m guessing?

Anyway I think I’ve said more than enough for now. Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers guys.

 

[harbottle]

Fruit: I eat a lot of raspberries and strawberries. They are pretty low in carbs - I tend to have around 30-50g of Strawberries at a time and similar for raspberries, usually in yoghurt mixed with peanut butter.

Today I had a satsuma and my blood sugar didn‘t spike at all, but I believe some people have different experiences. For Dinner we had salmon with orange and fennel - around 100g of Orange each, which is around 8g of carbs. That was an hour ago and my BG hasn‘t really changed from what it was at the start of eating.

I have eaten apples since diagnosis, but I was when I wasn’t measuring BG. I will probably try half an apple at some point and see if I can cope with it.

I guess that what you need to do: take a measurement, have some fruit of choice and see what happens in an hour and two hours.

 

[DM101]

Hi harbottle thanks for that. It does definitely sound like I need to buy a monitor as at the moment I have no clue what’s bad for me and what isn’t. I’ve heard about strawberries so have been buying them now. Because I don’t know if oranges are good or bad I only eat half an orange at a time in case a whole one is too much. My nurse also said that if I do have 2 portions of fruit to make sure that it is 2 portions of the same fruit.

I am certainly going to be armed with a lot of questions the next time I’m due to speak to the nurse

 

[Leadinglights]

As far as fruit is concerned, tropical fruits, pineapple, mango, bananas, grapes and dried fruit are all pretty high carb as is fruit juice, apples, pears, kiwi, melon, oranges are medium carb and berries low carb as a rule of thumb but portion size is important and people do have different tolerances.
The other foods to be watchful of are ALL carbohydrates not just cakes and biscuits but potatoes, rice, pasta, pastry, bread, cereals, starchy veg so cutting down on those is a good idea.

Two portions of the same fruit? what is all that about?

 

[DM101]

Hi leadinglights yeah I don’t know. When I spoke to my nurse for the first and what is so far the only time I didn’t really get any information apart from some answers to a bunch of questions I thought of on the fly during the conversation. I didn’t have any preparation time for that call unfortunately. I will be more prepared next time now I’ve done some research.

My GP did say that with the medication and my dietary changes she said I might be able to reverse it within a few months. I don’t know whether or not to take from that that means it isn’t as severe as it might’ve been but I don’t know. They could say that to almost everyone for all I know.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi leadinglights yeah I don’t know. When I spoke to my nurse for the first and what is so far the only time I didn’t really get any information apart from some answers to a bunch of questions I thought of on the fly during the conversation. I didn’t have any preparation time for that call unfortunately. I will be more prepared next time now I’ve done some research.

My GP did say that with the medication and my dietary changes she said I might be able to reverse it within a few months. I don’t know whether or not to take from that that means it isn’t as severe as it might’ve been but I don’t know. They could say that to almost everyone for all I know.

When you get the opportunity you should find out what your HbA1C is, it will be a number above 48mmol/mol as that is the diagnostic level but how far above that will give an idea of how much you will need to do. If it not too high then GPs will often give opportunity to improve by diet only so you may be well into the zone, but knowing where your starting point is helpful.
It would be useful to make a food diary of everything you eat and drink and estimate the amount of TOTAL carbohydrate you are having so you can see where savings can be made. Many people find a low carbohydrate regime is successful so reduce their carb intake to less than 130g per day or lower depending on what they can tolerate to keep their glucose levels well managed. The food diary will help you see how far away from that your are.

 

[DM101]

Yeah I will definitely try and find out what my hba1c is if I can. I’m guessing it must be fairly high if I’ve been put on medication. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be losing weight/watching carbs or not as I wasn’t overweight anyway but I’ve still lost 9lb anyway working on the assumption it can’t hurt.

 

[EmmaL76]

Yeah I will definitely try and find out what my hba1c is if I can. I’m guessing it must be fairly high if I’ve been put on medication. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be losing weight/watching carbs or not as I wasn’t overweight anyway but I’ve still lost 9lb anyway working on the assumption it can’t hurt.

Not necessarily, even though my hba1c was only 55, I was told to take 2 metformin a day and work up to 4. Like you not overweight. Although my profile says I’m type 1 ignore that as nobody knows what an earth I am lol.

 

[DM101]

Hi Emma lol really? How can they not know? But then I am very new to all this so that could be a common thing for all I know. yeah I definitely need to find out this hba1c number and also get a BG monitor. They are top of the list! I have to wait until next Monday to speak to my nurse so until then I’ve just got to try and decide for myself what’s best and what I can do to help myself as I’ve just been given medication and kinda been left to it at the moment. So that’s lose weight and watch the carbs for now.

 

[Leadinglights]

If you have lost weight that sometimes is an indicator that you may be Type 1 and there are tests that can be done C-peptide and GAD antibodies so it would be worth discussing with the nurse.
They may say that you should not have a blood glucose monitor as do many GPs because they do not want the expense so many Type 2 folk self fund buying a monitor with the cheapest strips which are the GlucoNavil or TEE2.A monitor is a valuable tool in managing your blood glucose levels as is reducing carbohydrates which is essential.

 

[DM101]

Hi leading I hope it’s type 2. I’ve been losing weight because I’ve stopped eating crisps/bad snacks and quit alcohol and I’m also watching the carbs. I’ve never been a big eater anyway so stopping that stuff I knew the weight would probably fall off. I can’t really lose more than about 2 stone or so more though as then I’d be approaching being underweight which I’m guessing would also be bad.

Thanks for everyone’s comments though so far. This forum has been so helpful already. Really appreciate it

 

[EmmaL76]

Hi Emma lol really? How can they not know? But then I am very new to all this so that could be a common thing for all I know. yeah I definitely need to find out this hba1c number and also get a BG monitor. They are top of the list! I have to wait until next Monday to speak to my nurse so until then I’ve just got to try and decide for myself what’s best and what I can do to help myself as I’ve just been given medication and kinda been left to it at the moment. So that’s lose weight and watch the carbs for now.

It’s actually more common than you think, there are quite a few of us that don’t tick the right boxes. Yes hba1c is a really good way to start and definitely testing at home will help you understand how you are being effected by the foods you eat. So much help available here, so don’t worry if your numbers are high or at the lower end there are many ways we can help you xx

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @DM101

Glad you have found us, and well done for de-lurking!

Well done on the positive changes you have been making already, and the weight you have lost. Were you carrying any extra around your middle? Or has the weight come off with no apparent change of shape?

Sounds like your symptoms came on quite rapidly?

Does anyone else in your family have diabetes?

 

[DM101]

Hi @everydayupsanddowns I guess I had a bit to lose on my waist. Was 12 stone when diagnosed. Lost 9lb so far. I do look a little slimmer I guess. I used to always be 10 and a half stone a number of years ago when I was pretty sporty so trying to aim for that weight again. Don’t really want to go any less than that if possible as even at that weight I used to get the odd comment saying I should put some weight on.

Yeah my mum is also type 2 so I should’ve been more aware of what signs to look for but being ignorant I just assumed that because I was a healthy weight I can’t be diabetic.

Trying to get hold of my nurse at the moment to see if I can find out what my hba1c is and to bombard her with all my other questions lol. Waiting for a call back now but told it probably won’t be today so still feel like I’m in limbo a bit.

 

[Cat2]

Just thought I say hi. I was diagnosed with type 2 a few weeks ago and it is so much to get your head round isn't it. At my lowest moments I've been crying to my husband 'what can I eat then? Everything has carbs, the nurse said not to eat too much fay either, aaargh!' But on the whole I'm certainly eating better than I was and slowly getting my head round it. Won't go into details as just done a long post on another newbie thread here:

http://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-newly-diagnosed-type-2.98197/post-1140594

Good luck with it all!

 

[Leadinglights]

Just thought I say hi. I was diagnosed with type 2 a few weeks ago and it is so much to get your head round isn't it. At my lowest moments I've been crying to my husband 'what can I eat then? Everything has carbs, the nurse said not to eat too much fay either, aaargh!' But on the whole I'm certainly eating better than I was and slowly getting my head round it. Won't go into details as just done a long post on another newbie thread here:

http://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-newly-diagnosed-type-2.98197/post-1140594

Good luck with it all!

Everybody imagines there is nothing they can eat, but you can still have some carbs but just not too much. Meals based on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, dairy, non starchy vegetables and salads, fruit such as berries but with smaller portions of the high carb foods will still give you tasty filling meals. Making some substitutions for some of the high carb foods so using celeriac, swede or butternut squash instead of potatoes or cauliflower rice or mash, edamame or black bean pasta instead or normal pasta will make saving on carbs.
Making the carbs you do have, have value in terms of taste and enjoyment.
Have a look at the thread What did you eat Yesterday for ideas of what Type 2 people have for meals bare in mind some will be diet only and some on oral meds or insulin so they may have different amount of carbs per day.
I am diet managed only and have approx 70g carb per day. I usually post in the thread.

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

Hi Emma lol really? How can they not know? But then I am very new to all this so that could be a common thing for all I know. yeah I definitely need to find out this hba1c number and also get a BG monitor. They are top of the list! I have to wait until next Monday to speak to my nurse so until then I’ve just got to try and decide for myself what’s best and what I can do to help myself as I’ve just been given medication and kinda been left to it at the moment. So that’s lose weight and watch the carbs for now.

What is HbA1c?

HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. If you have diabetes, an ideal HbA1c level is 48mmol/mol (6.5%) or below. If you're at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, your target HbA1c level should be below 42mmol/mol (6%).

www.diabetes.org.uk

very helpful on hba1c.