Struggling New T2

[Suel89]

Hi
I have recently been diagnosed as type 2 diabetic after a 6 years being pre-diabetic, and am struggling. I made lifestyle & diet changes when told I was pre-diabetic so eat well and exercise already and have been on the pre-diabetes course and followed all the advice given. Despite this my Hba1c has gradually risen and is now 48. Since my diagnosis I have tried LCHF diet, but struggling with this as I have been loosing weight, which I don't need to do. I have seen the nurse and agreed that it would be good for me to see a dietician. I didn't feel supported by the Diabetes GP. I wanted to find out about how my diabetes interacts with my other medical conditions, hypothyroidism and Vitamin D deficiency. He didn't want to answer any of my questions and just wanted to hand out a prescription for Metformin. When I asked about using it the only thing he would say was 'it doesn't make you put on weight' . Even though I told the doctor I wanted to see if I could control my blood glucose further with diet changes, the next visit to the surgery to see the nurse I was given a prescription for Metformin. I have also now been told I need to get my cholesterol down to below 4 (it's 4.4 at present), so not sure how to manage this and low carb. I also don't know whether to start the Metformin or wait for the dietician appointment.
Any support from this forum will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[Zillah]

Hi Sue189- there are many diabetic savvy people on here who will advise you, I'm struggling myself at the moment so sending you a big hug.🙂

 

[Northerner]

Hi
I have recently been diagnosed as type 2 diabetic after a 6 years being pre-diabetic, and am struggling. I made lifestyle & diet changes when told I was pre-diabetic so eat well and exercise already and have been on the pre-diabetes course and followed all the advice given. Despite this my Hba1c has gradually risen and is now 48. Since my diagnosis I have tried LCHF diet, but struggling with this as I have been loosing weight, which I don't need to do. I have seen the nurse and agreed that it would be good for me to see a dietician. I didn't feel supported by the Diabetes GP. I wanted to find out about how my diabetes interacts with my other medical conditions, hypothyroidism and Vitamin D deficiency. He didn't want to answer any of my questions and just wanted to hand out a prescription for Metformin. When I asked about using it the only thing he would say was 'it doesn't make you put on weight' . Even though I told the doctor I wanted to see if I could control my blood glucose further with diet changes, the next visit to the surgery to see the nurse I was given a prescription for Metformin. I have also now been told I need to get my cholesterol down to below 4 (it's 4.4 at present), so not sure how to manage this and low carb. I also don't know whether to start the Metformin or wait for the dietician appointment.
Any support from this forum will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Hi Suel89, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but you are only just at the point that a diagnosis would be made, with an HbA1c of 48 mmol/mol - most people with diabetes are urged to try and get down to this 🙂 As such, I am surprised that your GP is offering you metformin - the usual approach when you are borderline as you are is to allow a period of 3-6 months to se if you can manage to improve things via diet and exercise adjustments - and his comment about it not making you put on weight when you are concerned about losing it suggests he doesn't really have much interest in what his patient is telling him I'd also say that a cholesterol level of 4.4 is not high, mine has been around that level practically since diagnosis and both my consultant and GP find it perfectly acceptable, so again, it seems the GP is going through a tick box exercise of treatment. If possible, I would try and see a different GP - it's important that you get a doctor or nurse who will actually listen to you and not just dictate.

Do you have a blood glucose monitor so you can test the effects on your blood sugar levels of your food choices? By doing this you may find that there are some things you can retain in your diet if you tolerate them well - everyone's tolerances can be different for the same things, so it's important to discover your own 🙂 I'm guessing your current doctor wouldn't dream of giving you a meter and test strips, but it would be worth funding your own for a period of time whilst you explore the effects of different foods.. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how the process works. If you have to fund it yourself then the cheapest option we have come across is theSD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50. I'd also recommend reading Maggie Davey's letter and getting yourself a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker - these will teach you a lot about how to get to grips with things. Learning about your diet and how different things affect you will allow you to to have a more varied and sustainable diet 🙂

Diabetes is 99.999% managed by the individual who has it, not the healthcare team - they are there to support you with advice and various periodic tests the rest of the time - so you need to ensure you have a strong voice in any decisions made. I'd certainly be finding a doctor who actually wanted to help, for starters 🙂

Please let us know if you have any questions and we will be more than happy to help 🙂

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum SueL from a fellow T2. I'm sorry your Dr isn't listening.

 

[Bubbsie]

I have recently been diagnosed as type 2 diabetic after a 6 years being pre-diabetic, and am struggling. I made lifestyle & diet changes when told I was pre-diabetic so eat well and exercise already and have been on the pre-diabetes course and followed all the advice given. Despite this my Hba1c has gradually risen and is now 48

I didn't feel supported by the Diabetes GP. I wanted to find out about how my diabetes interacts with my other medical conditions, hypothyroidism and Vitamin D deficiency. He didn't want to answer any of my questions and just wanted to hand out a prescription for Metformin.

Sue with an HbA1c of 48 you are only just within diabetic range which starts at 48...42-47 is as you probably know pre-diabetic...I'm sorry your GP wasn't supportive & didn't answer the questions you had... sometimes the problem is our GPs are not terribly knowledgeable about T2 diabetes...when I asked my own GP how much he knew about my diabetes he admitted "not much"...so that may be why he didn't address your concerns...fortunately this is one of the conditions we can manage ourselves perfectly well...once we get control...anything can affect our BG levels...infections...other health care issues...stress & anxiety...since your levels have only risen a little that may be one of the factors that has 'pushed' you just into diabetic range...whether to take the metformin or not has to be your decision...you could ring the surgery & speak to the DSN...since you made it clear you wanted to continue on diet & exercise only that would seem reasonable...I would try speaking to them you have nothing to lose...when you're ready ask any questions you have here...I've no doubt one of us will have some helpful advice...could make some useful suggestions...when are you seeing the dietician is that a fixed appointment or have you to wait for a referral?

 

[Suel89]

Thank you for your replies and kind words. I should have said - I have been testing at home and have worked out a lot of things I can't eat. I eat a lot of good veg, chicken, meat and fish but cutting the carbs ( potatoes, pasta, rice, bread etc) has lead to weight loss. I'm currently at 55kg. Than you for the reading reccomendations, I work in a library so should be easy to find! I have to wait for the dietician appointment to come through, I'm not sure how long it will be. As for stress, I manage this with mindfulness and running. I know it has an impact as my blood sugar shot up after seeing the GP!

 

[Martin Canty]

Thank you for your replies and kind words. I should have said - I have been testing at home and have worked out a lot of things I can't eat. I eat a lot of good veg, chicken, meat and fish but cutting the carbs ( potatoes, pasta, rice, bread etc) has lead to weight loss. I'm currently at 55kg. Than you for the reading reccomendations, I work in a library so should be easy to find! I have to wait for the dietician appointment to come through, I'm not sure how long it will be. As for stress, I manage this with mindfulness and running. I know it has an impact as my blood sugar shot up after seeing the GP!

Welcome Sue, sounds like you are on the right track, perhaps add a few "good fats" to your diet regarding the weight loss as you cut carbs

 

[Maz2]

Welcome Sue. I went pre-diabetic, went on the course, cut out all the bad foods despite being told to eat them like bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc apart from a piece of Burgen Soya and Linseed occasionally. Got back to normal but have now gone back to 42 (pre-diabetic) again. Underweight so not sure what is happening. GP not sure either. I am nearly 65 and he is wondering if I have increased insulin resistance as I am getting older. He has a special interest in diabetes and is lovely. Forgot to ask him about seeing a dietician but have to speak to him after my next blood test so will hopefully remember then. He is taking tests unrelated to diabetes.

Back to testing and trying to sort it out all over again. Will have to see what happens. No test for a year as CCG only allows once a year for pre-diabetes so I am testing myself to see if I can sort something out myself.

 

[Maz2]

Hi
I have recently been diagnosed as type 2 diabetic after a 6 years being pre-diabetic, and am struggling. I made lifestyle & diet changes when told I was pre-diabetic so eat well and exercise already and have been on the pre-diabetes course and followed all the advice given. Despite this my Hba1c has gradually risen and is now 48. Since my diagnosis I have tried LCHF diet, but struggling with this as I have been loosing weight, which I don't need to do. I have seen the nurse and agreed that it would be good for me to see a dietician. I didn't feel supported by the Diabetes GP. I wanted to find out about how my diabetes interacts with my other medical conditions, hypothyroidism and Vitamin D deficiency. He didn't want to answer any of my questions and just wanted to hand out a prescription for Metformin. When I asked about using it the only thing he would say was 'it doesn't make you put on weight' . Even though I told the doctor I wanted to see if I could control my blood glucose further with diet changes, the next visit to the surgery to see the nurse I was given a prescription for Metformin. I have also now been told I need to get my cholesterol down to below 4 (it's 4.4 at present), so not sure how to manage this and low carb. I also don't know whether to start the Metformin or wait for the dietician appointment.
Any support from this forum will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Sue - there is nothing wrong with cholesterol at 4.4. It depends on the bad cholesterol level and the good cholesterol level and the ratio of good to bad. Saw my GP over my tests a week or two ago and my cholesterol had gone to 4.7. I was going mad as politely as I could as, obviously, I am in my GP surgery!!! I thought what the heck is going on. He said the overall does not matter these days (as long obviously as it is not sky high) but it is the bad cholesterol and the ratio. My bad cholesterol was down and the good up and the ratio good to bad up in favour of good. I just don't want you to panic over the cholesterol as they need to break it down and say which is which as it may not be significant.

 

[Maz2]

Just notice you work in a library Sue. What a lovely job. I love libraries and books.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear you are struggling @Suel89 you seem to have been working really hard. Such a shame that you don’t seem to be getting the support you need

 

[Suel89]

Sue - there is nothing wrong with cholesterol at 4.4. It depends on the bad cholesterol level and the good cholesterol level and the ratio of good to bad. Saw my GP over my tests a week or two ago and my cholesterol had gone to 4.7. I was going mad as politely as I could as, obviously, I am in my GP surgery!!! I thought what the heck is going on. He said the overall does not matter these days (as long obviously as it is not sky high) but it is the bad cholesterol and the ratio. My bad cholesterol was down and the good up and the ratio good to bad up in favour of good. I just don't want you to panic over the cholesterol as they need to break it down and say which is which as it may not be significant.
Got back to normal but have now gone back to 42 (pre-diabetic) again. Underweight so not sure what is happening. GP not sure either. I am nearly 65 and he is wondering if I have increased insulin resistance as I am getting older. He has a special interest in diabetes and is lovely. Forgot to ask him about seeing a dietician but have to speak to him after my next blood test so will hopefully remember then. He is taking tests unrelated to diabetes.

Back to testing and trying to sort it out all over again. Will have to see what happens. No test for a year as CCG only allows once a year for pre-diabetes so I am testing myself to see if I can sort something out myself.

Hi Maz2.

I hope you get some answers soon. It's so frustrating when you try really hard but your numbers keep going up. I will look at the numbers for my cholesterol tests and keep an eye on the ratios. I thought it was the breakdown that was important, but the nurse disagreed. Glad to have some help here.

 

[Suel89]

Just notice you work in a library Sue. What a lovely job. I love libraries and books.

And yes - working in a library is great, but it's not all about the books. We have to take them home if we want to read them! Love my job though.

 

[Suel89]

Welcome Sue, sounds like you are on the right track, perhaps add a few "good fats" to your diet regarding the weight loss as you cut carbs

Thanks for the advice. I have added fat - avocado, some cheese, olive oil, nuts etc. Maybe I need to add some more.

 

[mikeyB]

Hi Sue.

It’s worth knowing, because your GP didn’t answer your questions, that hypothyroidism and T2 Diabetes do interact. If your thyroid hormone level is low, your blood glucose may rise. Your diabetes won’t affect your thyroid hormone levels. If GPs don’t answer your questions, it’s because they don’t know.

There isn’t any interaction with Vit D levels, but you need to get that up to normal levels to feel well, it’s surprising how generally ‘off’ folk with low Vit D feel. Been there, done that.🙂

 

[Suel89]

Thanks for the information Mike, very helpful. I had my TSH checked recently and it was within normal levels, so I assume this means my thyroid levels are ok and not responsible for rising blood glucose levels. I know what you mean about Vitamin D, when my levels were low I felt so exhausted all the time.

Hope things are going well for you at present.

Sue

 

[HOBIE]

Thank you for your replies and kind words. I should have said - I have been testing at home and have worked out a lot of things I can't eat. I eat a lot of good veg, chicken, meat and fish but cutting the carbs ( potatoes, pasta, rice, bread etc) has lead to weight loss. I'm currently at 55kg. Than you for the reading reccomendations, I work in a library so should be easy to find! I have to wait for the dietician appointment to come through, I'm not sure how long it will be. As for stress, I manage this with mindfulness and running. I know it has an impact as my blood sugar shot up after seeing the GP!

Sounds like you are doing your best, Good luck !