Unbelievable to be labelled diabetes2

[Petarnott]

Hello,
I am Petra and I have just been diagnosed with diabetes2 which I was completely unaware of, but I went for a health check and they found too much glucose in the blood. She said the levels were just higher than the maximum normal levels but it's still diabetes. As well as coming to terms with this, I find the worst thing that I am now 'labelled' as a patient whilst an hour before I was just happy and healthy. Anyone else has the same experience?

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum
For many it does come as a shock but sometimes explains symptoms that people have been experiencing. However look upon it as a good thing that you have been diagnosed at a point where it should be quite possible with some modest changes to your diet to bring your blood glucose level back down to normal rather than being unaware until you started to get unpleasant complications.
This link has good explanation and some do's and don'ts as well as some menu ideas, it is a low carb approach based on REAL food. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
I found following the principal in the link was a successful way of reducing my HbA1C for 50 mmol/mol (just in the diabetic zone) to 42mmol/mol (top end of normal) in 3 months and to 36mmol/mol in another 6 months without medication. Anything over 47mmol/mol gives a diabetes diagnosis. You should also have eye retinal screening and foot checks and a repeat HbA1C in 3 months to see if the changes to lifestyle are being effective.

 

[JDH]

Hi

I was diagnosed 3 months ago type 2 and have just had the results of a second blood test. During this period I have lost weight keeping to a restricted diet but mentally it has been a shock. Statins have now bring suggested in addition to Metformin. I had an early warning a few years ago but didn’t take it seriously. It is life changing but not the end. After all how many cream cakes do we need. There is plenty of support. Take care
.

 

[Lucyr]

I think you’re looking at it slightly wrong, you weren’t healthy an hour before, you already had diabetes then and you just didn’t know about it. Now that you know about it you can be in better health than if you didn’t know, by taking care of it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Petarnott

It is quite common to have a fairly strong emotional reaction to a diagnosis with a long-term condition.

I was diagnosed with type 1 in my early 20s, and it came as a shock the first time I heard the phrase ‘chronically ill’ (which only really means a long-term condition that needs to be managed, but wasn’t a term I’d imagined being used about me at that stage of life!).

Some people think about their diagnosis as a form of grieving - with the same overwhelming emotions coming in waves or a chaotic jumble, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and eventually some sort of acceptance.

But I like @Lucyr ’s view of things. You didn’t go from ‘well’ to ‘ill’ in that moment. Changes were already happening in your body, and your metabolism was already beginning to struggle - but now you have the benefit of knowing what you are dealing with, so that you can work to improve your health.

Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy. Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life. Perhaps changes that they had been intending to make for years.

You might like Maggie Davey’s open letter to the newly diagnosed, which is an account of the way one woman began to come to terms with her own diagnosis.

Maggie Davey's letter to newly-diagnosed Type 2s

This disappeared from the original site, but @Alan S has managed to track it down. Rather than risk losing that link I'm posting the text here. I've had to split it over a few posts, as there is a size limit for each post and it wouldn't all fit in one! :) An open letter to the newly-diagnosed...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Drummer]

I hated all the high carb foods I was told to eat, and the low carb options I was instructed to choose.
These days I am likely to have meat or fish for breakfast, with stir fry or mushrooms - and I have coffee with cream, which is great, and it gives me normal readings too, so I find it hard to feel hard done by.