Recently Diagnosed

[Slimboy7509]

Hi,

I'm Mark 46 recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I had been having tingling in my toes and had insatiable thirst so plucked up the courage to go for a blood test. It came back that my BL was very high so I have been put on Metaformin and been taking this for a weeks.

It was a shock being diagnosed and am feeling very anxious and scared as to what this means. It seems to be a minefield about what I can eat, is the medication going to stabilise my diabetes. I heard such horror stories about going blind, having to have your legs amputated and going blind so I am really worried as I'm still quite young.

 

[HOBIE]

Welcome Mark 🙂

 

[Slimboy7509]

Thanks Hobie how are you?

 

[Ljc]

Hi Mark welcome to forum. It can be very scary when you’re first dx (diagnosed) as their is a lot of outdated or misinformation out there and I am sad to say , we can walk out of the GP practice knowing no more than when you went in.

With the right info and a bit of work from yourself Diabetes is a condition that can be well managed.
You have come to the right place for info and cyber support, so ask all the questions you need to about diabetes and we will do the best to help.

You’re probably wondering what on Earth you can eat. You’ll be pleased to know that we get to eat good tasty real food , not just lettuce and cress.

Just to get you started in the right direction
We are usually fine with protein and this is probably going to shock you good fats.
So things like cheese, butter cream and if you eat it, meat, high meat content sausages and burgers and veg that grows above ground are fine.

It’s carbohydrates our bodies can no longer handle too well, so we need to cut down on them esp the fast acting carbohydrates like potatoes esp mash , rice , pasta , bread esp white, things made with flour avoid fruit juice and grapes as they are full of sugar (fructose) , some veg that grow below ground are quite carby @nd obviously sugar
I know that sounds horrible but their are plenty of good substitutes that may suit you better.

Have a read through the T2 section of this thread. Their is an awful lot of info so take your time reading it
useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.
I suggest you start with.
Maggie Davies letter.
Test review adjust by Alan S , then later on read his whole blog .
Their is a link there to a much recommended book by Gretchen Becker who goes through her first year with T2 diabetes month by month and how she got it under control , it’s called something like T2 diabetes the first year.
Their is also a link to a glucose meter, that is the cheapest one to self fund the ongoing cost of the test strips , the SD Codefree meter. They are around £8 for a pot of 50 where others are over £15
Sorry for all the homework

If able , exersize helps a lot too.

 

[trophywench]

Hi Slimboy - yes horrible diabetic complications can and do happen so yes in this day and age - the medical profession it seems are obliged to tell us every flipping thing that might go wrong - but I can assure you that well controlled diabetes is a major cause of absolutely nothing!

Hobie's had diabetes for longer than me, I've only clocked up 46 years so far but so far neither of us has lost our sight nor have any of our legs had to be amputated or our kidneys failed.

Learn how to control your BG with the appropriate changes to diet exercise and medication as necessary - there will soon be someone along to tell you the best ways they have found to control their T2.

Edit - Lin's started that ball rolling!

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hi Mark - I don't know how good it is, but the American Diabetes Association has this little tool for estimating some diabetes complications risks: http://www.diabetes.org/are-you-at-risk/my-health-advisor/

Heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputation.

Needs Flash and some of the units are in American.

Lets you see how changing things like HbA1c, blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, smoking changes risks, according to whatever model they use.

At least it may be useful for giving some insights into the kinds of questions to ask yr health providers and understanding where they're coming from. (And also maybe some comfort around the real magnitude of the risks.)

I'd wager that for most diabetics the biggest risks are heart-related, but that's true of the general population I think? - just more so for diabetics.

EDIT: Probably not surprisingly, it appears that these kinds of model are pretty dubious when it comes to precise risk predictions for individuals. See eg http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/4/399.full (the tool linked above is based on the Archimedes PHD model talked about in the article).

Until a model has been shown to have sufficient individual-level predictive accuracy for members of the population under consideration, we believe it should be used circumspectly, with the risk projections treated as “ballpark estimates”—perhaps appropriate as one factor considered by patients and providers making informed, patient-centered treatment choices, but not appropriate for guidelines and quality measures to use with specific numerical cutoffs.

So, I'd say just a tool for focusing on what the main risks are likely to be, getting an idea on possible relative ballpark magnitudes & what to do about them - but not to be taken as gospel when it comes to percentages etc.

Sorry for going on: I'm a geek & get frustrated with the usual messages from the medical community about things like diabetic risk, when they're not accompanied by numbers estimates. How big a risk, compared to what other risks, with what uncertainties, for me personally compared to others etc etc.

Key message remains: fairly simple & sustainable lifestyle changes + maybe meds probably enough to reduce diabetes complications risks to the level where you don't have to worry hugely about them.

 

[Martin9]

Hi @Slimboy7509
I'm recently diagnosed myself as T2 as well, on diagnosis I had an HbA1c of 77 that was 3 months ago, but by losing a bit of excess weight (1stone 8lbs so far) and following the advice of the people here like @Ljc above I just yesterday received results from my 3 month blood test, my HbA1c is 35 that puts me within normal limits, and reduces my chance of diabetic complications considerably.
So the advice above certainly worked for me and hopefully will work for you too, but as we're all different what works for one may not work for another, but the advice above is a great starting point....

 

[SB2015]

Hi Slimboy welcome to the forum.
As others have pointed out it is possible to manage this condition and to avoid the complications that it can lead to. There is a lot of advice above, and that is a good starting point.
Keep asking questions.

 

[KARNAK]

Hello @Slimboy7509 glad you joined the forum and welcome. Lots of good advice already given, keep coming back you`ll soon learn about the benefits of good Blood Glucose control and the benefits of being a member of this forum.

 

[Drummer]

Some people seem to take delight in worrying newly diagnosed diabetics.
To put the problem in its simplest form - diabetics can't process carbohydrate. If you are a lucky type two and you stop eating the heavy carbohydrate foods, your blood glucose becomes normal. End of problem. You might even find that your weight reduces too.
It does mean cutting out rice, wheat and other grains, a lot of fruit as it is high in sugar, root crops such as potatoes - but really given the choice between something like a piece of salmon and a crispy salad or a baked potato and baked beans, I know which I'd chose.

 

[Slimboy7509]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the advice. Well done on getting the BSL down. Seems to be a huge amount of advice on the forum which is great and looking forward to feeling everyone's advice. Initially, was overwhelmed with what you can and can't eat but good advice from everyone. Hopefully, I can get the levels down over the next few months.

DX - Type 2
Dx Date 15 July 2018
Hbac1 91
Meds Metaformin 500mg twice daily.

 

[Slimboy7509]

Hi Drummer,

Thanks for the advice. Was getting really confused with what you can and can't eat but you gave some great info which clears the confusion up. Yes I agree, my GP spent an hour explaining the complications. As I already had had some tingling in my toes thought that lead to an amputation but understand now this can be managed well with diet, medication and exercise. Hopefully I can get the levels down in the next few months, and glad I joined the forum. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there.

Mark

 

[Slimboy7509]

Hi Karnak,

Glad I joined the forum a lot clearer on the condition now. Definitely will keep coming back for great advice and knowing how others are getting on.

 

[Slimboy7509]

Hi Ljc,

Thanks for all the great information got myself some bedtime reading🙂. The information really given me more of an understanding of the condition as I was confused about what diabetes really was enlightened about the body not being able to process Carbs so I can adjust my diet now and hopefully get my BGL lower. Thanks again🙂

 

[Slimboy7509]

Hi SB2015,

Thanks for the welcome. Looking forward to get everyone's wealth of advice.

DX - Type 2
Dx Date 15 July 2018
Metaformin 500mg
Started working out.

 

[Katieb]

Hi Slimboy. Glad you are feeling a bit better about your diagnosis. This is a fantastic place for support and advice. Have a good read of the food section too for some ideas on what to eat. If you can get a monitor and test, it will become your best friend! Ask anything you are unsure of and I am sure you will be just fine! Welcome! Katie