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Type 2 help

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SSweeney

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello, after some advice for my hubby please. He was diagnosed type 2 last August and his DN is not very helpful. We have been on the Desmond Day but we are still so lost. He was a waist size 34 and now has dropped to a 30 if not lower...he doesnt eat enough but is too scared to eat because it just puts his sugars into the teens. How does he eat to maintain or put on weight but still control sugars? Im so worried about depression being a factor in this too.
Any support will be gratefully welcome
T.I.A
Stacey
 
Hi Stacey, I was diagnosed at the start of the year and I’m just at the stage where I’m dropping the pounds and I’d be thrilled to get down to a 34 let alone a 30! However I’m most certainly going to eat.
I’ve been looking at various ways of eating and have come to the conclusion that low carb Mediterranean is probably going to be my way of eating long term. However that’s all depending on what my carb tolerance is, and I fear it’s quite low. So I’m also prepared to go full on keto. Which ever one is the right one for me one thing they both have in common is some delicious recipes and a multitude of really great ingredients to use so I’m expecting to eat really rather well albeit with smaller portion sizes than before.

Lots of folks find low carb or keto doesn’t really impact BG levels (because it’s the carbs which really screw with blood glucose).

Forgive me rambling on when this is about your husband and not about me but I’m chirrups to know whether you’ve day down together perhaps and explored which way of eating he wants to explore going forward or not?

What does he eat now and how does it impact his BG?
 
I think we are still lost right now...my hubby was basically told "stop the fizzy drinks' and left to it....DN even said she wouldnt issue testing strips too? Iv been trying to do some research and finding recipes.....cheese on everything to try and maintain the weight haha caveman style.....meat meat meat.....but now most of his 'fat' has gone his BG readings are always high.....two days ago he was up 27 just eating next to nothing....im worried his meds are not working now and his answer is to drink water to cure the hunger......or do an hrs workout just so he can have a carrot.
Im looking into a dietician too.
Did you get any formal help?
 
What are the medical reasons he has to reduce fat consumption? If there aren't any then don't do it! Have a splodge of cream in coffee, eat full fat Yoghurt, if you have eg a steak choose the 'well marbled' sort where the marbling fat merely cooks the steak to a superior and more tender degree, carry on trimming the fat from the edge after it's cooked if you want to - but not before.

Just because the NHS won't pay for a BG testing machine - doesn't mean you can't get one yourself. The forum here will point you at a reasonably priced one where lots on here find the strips we use for testing are about a third of the price of some you can buy over the counter at your pharmacy, and then explain how to best use it whilst you're using it to work out exactly how much of what your body can tolerate - cos what each person's body can handle is different! Some on here can eg eat a banana and not see any bad effects - I can only eat approx. 2 inches of one these days if I don't want my BG reading to shoot into the stratosphere - even though I can have as much insulin I want to, with it. My body just can't cope with them, end of story. Your husband's body isn't the same as mine or anyone else's, just cos we all happen to have some kind of diabetes doesn't change that!

He will need to test a fair bit to begin with but as he goes on and his diet gets changed to reduce or omit the worst offenders, eventually it's only when he fancies trying something different he'll need to test a bit more - or otherwise to just make sure occasionally his BG is still on track.
 
....two days ago he was up 27 just eating next to nothing...

With blood sugar that high, eating little and weight loss, I’d be wanting tests to make sure he’s not actually an adult-onset Type 1. Type 1, contrary to belief, is something adults can get not just children.

How was he diagnosed?
 
We were told Type 1 was only a childhood thing but you can be type 2 and need insulin.....I dont think the metformin works for him.
He was diagnosed with a blood test....hospital called him at 10pm as his sugars were 33! They were keeping an eye on his thyroid but since lockdown nothings really happened
 
Type 1 is most definitely NOT just a childhood thing! Yes it most commonly starts in childhood, but actually anyone can get it, there are plenty on this forum who were diagnosed type 1 in their 40s, 50s or even older. Sadly too many of them were initially diagnosed as type 2 purely on the basis of their age, and only after struggling for a while and finding that nothing worked did they eventually get the correct diagnosis. Theresa May is a type 1 who was only diagnosed a few years ago, and she's not young, is she!

With numbers as high as your hubby is getting, coupled with the weight loss, I’d get him to A&E quickly and demand a second opinion. If his numbers stay that high it will be doing serious damage to him. Not trying to scare you but if your GP is not very helpful then please look elsewhere for help. Some GPs are quite on the ball with diabetes, but others, sadly, are not. Good luck 🙂
 
SSweeney said:
We were told Type 1 was only a childhood thing
Click to expand...

Not true!

For example, former Prime Minister Theresa May and current Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle were both adults when they were diagnosed. I think the median age of diagnosis is somewhere around 20 (so you get more per year of childhood).
 
Hi, I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago and wasn't issued with a machine either but at my telephone consult yesterday I said I still don't think I know enough about what I am doing and am worried about not having a test to see how I am until August (that's when it's scheduled for) and DN decided to issue me with a machine after all so maybe it's worth asking again?
 
SSweeney said:
We were told Type 1 was only a childhood thing....I dont think the metformin works for him.
He was diagnosed with a blood test....hospital called him at 10pm as his sugars were 33!...
Click to expand...

I was going to say that was rubbish but it’s more than rubbish - it’s an incorrect, potentially dangerous statement from whoever told you that.. You can get Type 1 at any age!

More than 40% of Type 1 diagnoses are after the age of 30!

Please get him some further medical input as @Sally71 suggested. He really, really needs his diabetes type checking and some input from a specialist. If he is Type 1, with insulin he’ll feel an awful lot better and far more himself. He’ll also be able to eat properly.
 
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I was 63 when diagnosed as T1D so that statement is definitely false. My neighbour who is 77 was DX (Diagnosed) with
T2D 4 years ago and he is not overweight, doesn`t drink alcohol or smoke.

He needs to be reassessed as @Sally71 says get him to A&E to get his HbA1c and Ketones checked, he`s lost two sizes
on his waist a typical part of Diabetes especially T1. Please come back and let us know any outcome we do so worry about our members and their families.
 
Hi Stacy and welcome from me too.

I am another late onset Type1 at 55yrs old last year at diagnosis. Your husband has symptoms of Type 1 diabetes and it is very common for adults to be misdiagnosed as Type 2 through misinformation in the general medical profession. He needs to ask for GAD antibody and C-peptide tests to clarify if he is Type 1
Readings that high are dangerous and he needs to be started on insulin pronto.... you can argue about getting him tested for Type 1 later .... and don't forget to do that.... but he needs to be started on insulin now and it really should be a basal/bolus insulin system to save him having to be changed later but any insulin regime is better than none at the moment. Please make a fuss to get this sorted and if he starts to have stomach pains or problems breathing or his breath smells of pear drops, get him to A&E ASAP as he is going into Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) which is life threatening.
 
Welcome to the forum @SSweeney

Sorry you are not being very well supported by your surgery - it seems like there are some fundamental misunderstandings about types of diabetes there!

As others have said, 50% of T1 diagnoses happen in adulthood - it is certainly not only a disease of childhood!

Unintentional weight loss, highly elevated BG despite little or no carbohydrate being consumed are raising questionmarks here (we have far more people that you might imagine arriving on the forum, who are subsequently reclassified with a different type).

Is your husband contantly tired, and thirsty, and does need the toilet more than usual recently?
 
Hello and welcome to the forum @SSweeney 🙂

It's terrible how people are just being left to cope with D and it's worse now with the virus. I hope you get sorted asap.
 
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