# What happens next



## 2Bornot2B (Sep 6, 2016)

I was diagnosed as  Pre-diabetic six months ago. Dr has now prescribed medication. I have an appointment at the diabetic clinic on the 12th (next week) and I've been refered to a  dietician. 
So my question is, will I be advised to use a test meter? If so will I have to fund it myself. I'm annoyed with myself that I went form being pre diabetic to being T2 in six months.
Do I need to declare it on my driving licence and my private health insurance straight away.


----------



## palmoff (Sep 6, 2016)

Unless you use insulin you will probably not get a meter.
I went from no diabetes to injecting insulin virtually in a week so six months on the cusp is not bad at all.
Driving with diabetes in the uk is only notifiable if you use insulin good guide here  https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Living_with_diabetes/Driving/
You most probably will be put on metformin and told to watch your diet.


----------



## Ljc (Sep 6, 2016)

Hi, Welcome. Going from pre diabetic to diabetic seemingly quickly must have been a shock. But I'm thinking that perhaps you may not have been given enough good advise about food and exersize.
Sadly some professionals still tell us to eat lots of fruit and carbohydrates.
You have come to the right place to learn , so ask as many questions as you need K .
You will probably find this book very helpful,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...p=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1841198048

Also have a read through the stickies at the top of the newbies forum

Unless your put on medication that can cause your BG (blood glucose) levels to drop too low, Metformin doesn't, then sadly it's unlikely you will be provided with a meter and test strips. IMO unless you know what foods make your BGs levels rise to high then good control is impossible.
if they won't provide one and you can afford to fund your own then The SD Codefree meter is the cheapest one to fund that we know of, Test strips of other brands can be much much dearer to buy, from this site it's free postage and you can claim free from VAT.
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/


----------



## PinkGrapefruit (Sep 6, 2016)

I bought an SD code free meter. It's excellent. Only a small drop of blood needed and you get the result in 5 seconds. I'm currently doing a test before each meal, then one hour and two hours later. It shows you how you react to what you eat.

Sweet corn really spikes me (despite only having a little in some soup). But generally white carbs and grains spike me, so I am currently Low Carbing (no bread rice pasta potatoes) to balance my BS and lose fat and hopefully get my pancreas and liver working better.


----------



## Ljc (Sep 6, 2016)

Hi again.  I would inform your health insurers now.
As for informing the DVLA it depends on what medication you are on and what you drive.
Have a read through this link.
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Living_with_diabetes/Driving/


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Sep 6, 2016)

PinkGrapefruit said:


> I bought an SD code free meter. It's excellent. Only a small drop of blood needed and you get the result in 5 seconds. I'm currently doing a test before each meal, then one hour and two hours later. It shows you how you react to what you eat.
> 
> Sweet corn really spikes me (despite only having a little in some soup). But generally white carbs and grains spike me, so I am currently Low Carbing (no bread rice pasta potatoes) to balance my BS and lose fat and hopefully get my pancreas and liver working better.



I did exactly what Pinky is doing, both to burn fat and learn what foods raise my BG the most.  After about 6 months I no longer felt the need to test.

You might find this quite inspiring:





If I'm tempted to fall off the low carb wagon I watch it again and it seems to do the trick.


----------



## PinkGrapefruit (Sep 6, 2016)

Great video marsbartoastie. I'm tempted to get some keyto strips, just for curiousity... Have you tried them?


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Sep 6, 2016)

PinkGrapefruit said:


> Great video marsbartoastie. I'm tempted to get some keyto strips, just for curiousity... Have you tried them?


Glad you enjoyed it.  I have to credit Bilbie who recommended it to me.  If you're interested in new research he's your man.

My carb count is low compared with what it once was.  However, I think it's still too high to warrant testing for ketones.  If I decide to take it right down I'll certainly buy some test strips.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Keton...t_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JNK5HE568MQPJYAEMQJ0


----------



## nomore_Col_Blimp (Sep 6, 2016)

Not being on any medication I was advised it was not DVLA notifiable, however was advised by the PN to contact insurers. Both my motorbike and car insurers said they did not need to know ..... only if I was DVLA notifiable.

I have yet to contact my critical illness providers, although dreading this as I pretty much know they will either revoke or massively increase the premium to make it prohibitive! ..... this really annoys me. I have contributed to this for years expecting it to be there if I needed it, and kept up payment though I could at times ill afford it. I still don't need it - but now won't have the option as and when I do. Another bloody consequence of this god awful predicament!!

Sorry for the rant - just a bad day!


----------



## PinkGrapefruit (Sep 6, 2016)

nomore_Col_Blimp said:


> Not being on any medication I was advised it was not DVLA notifiable, however was advised by the PN to contact insurers. Both my motorbike and car insurers said they did not need to know ..... only if I was DVLA notifiable.
> 
> I have yet to contact my critical illness providers, although dreading this as I pretty much know they will either revoke or massively increase the premium to make it prohibitive! ..... this really annoys me. I have contributed to this for years expecting it to be there if I needed it, and kept up payment though I could at times ill afford it. I still don't need it - but now won't have the option as and when I do. Another bloody consequence of this god awful predicament!!
> 
> Sorry for the rant - just a bad day!



My critical illness and life insurance didn't change, as they are existing policies. But if I take something new out - it will be more expensive.


----------



## nomore_Col_Blimp (Sep 6, 2016)

Many thanks for this, very interesting and most useful! I hope the same applies to me!.

I thought if the 'risk' increases which (bewilderingly) statistically it does - so would the premium. I feel a degree reassured.

Thanks again.


----------



## Martin Canty (Sep 6, 2016)

PinkGrapefruit said:


> I'm tempted to get some keyto strips, just for curiousity


Yup, I have a few containers of Keto strips, It was interesting when I started a ketogenic diet but it wasn't giving me any particularly useful information. except that I was bouncing between small & moderate most of the time.


----------



## 2Bornot2B (Sep 14, 2016)

Thank you for your  replies,  my problem is I'm not educated in Carbs etc.  So very angry that I've allowed this disease get to this stage because of ignorance which has resulted in depending on medication


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Sep 14, 2016)

2Bornot2B said:


> Thank you for your  replies,  my problem is I'm not educated in Carbs etc.  So very angry that I've allowed this disease get to this stage because of ignorance which has resulted in depending on medication



I was cross with myself too.  Like you, I had been ignorant of the fact that while calories count, it was carbs that were doing the damage.  I found the following presentation extremely useful:


----------



## Andy HB (Sep 14, 2016)

2Bornot2B said:


> Thank you for your  replies,  my problem is I'm not educated in Carbs etc.  So very angry that I've allowed this disease get to this stage because of ignorance which has resulted in depending on medication



Depending on your circumstances (I'm not going to make any assumptions here!), it is possible to reduce and possibly even stop taking medications. When I was diagnosed, I was put  on gliclazide (a medication which stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin .... this is one of those medications apart from insulin itself which can cause hypos). Then this was replaced with metformin.

Immediately after diagnosis with type 2, I upped my daily exercise, modified my diet, ate more regularly (rather than intermittently) and lost around 4-5st eventually. I stopped taking the metformin around 6 years ago now and still have reasonable levels (although one stone of the weight has 'mysteriously' reappeared .... something that I am currently dealing with!).

So, don't necessarily assume that you are on medication for life.

Andy


----------



## nomore_Col_Blimp (Sep 14, 2016)

Andy HB said:


> Depending on your circumstances (I'm not going to make any assumptions here!), it is possible to reduce and possibly even stop taking medications. When I was diagnosed, I was put  on gliclazide (a medication which stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin .... this is one of those medications apart from insulin itself which can cause hypos). Then this was replaced with metformin.
> 
> Immediately after diagnosis with type 2, I upped my daily exercise, modified my diet, ate more regularly (rather than intermittently) and lost around 4-5st eventually. I stopped taking the metformin around 6 years ago now and still have reasonable levels (although one stone of the weight has 'mysteriously' reappeared .... something that I am currently dealing with!).
> 
> ...


Andy,
Thank you for this, your vignette is inspirational and gives me hope. I am but 5months into 'it' and currently am managing on diet and exercise .... and equally have lost 5st (BMI now 24). I had kinda thought it inevitable I would end up on medication within a short few years - despite my hard efforts! I think you are the first person I've 'seen' that manages to keep it this way, and I see your 'start point' was slightly higher than mine .... appreciating we are all different!
Are you also a dedicated 'LCHFer'??


----------



## Andy HB (Sep 14, 2016)

Nope (re: the LCHF). 

God knows what my carb intake before diagnosis was, but afterwards I did reduce the carbs to somewhere around 150g per day on average (hardly low carb).

My rule of thumb was what my meter told me. If the results were bad, I cut down what I thought was doing the damage. If they were ok, I carried on what I was doing.

These days I seem to have stopped eating potatoes (this is wife controlled!) apart from the odd fish and chips from the local chippy (very good chippy unfortunately) and am eating quite a lot more vegetables than I used to. The meat content of my meals has also been changed (I don't remember the last time I had a good sirloin or rump steak!). Chicken in various forms seems to be the order of the day. 

Andy


----------



## nomore_Col_Blimp (Sep 14, 2016)

Andy HB said:


> Nope (re: the LCHF).
> 
> God knows what my carb intake before diagnosis was, but afterwards I did reduce the carbs to somewhere around 150g per day on average (hardly low carb).
> 
> ...


Andy,
Again VMT - you give me hope!
I too was 'carb ignorant' - probably part of the reason I'm now here, and like you shudder at potentially what my intake was historically, take always, snacks, pies / pasties .... and of course booze! I am now sooooo 'carb conscIous' verging on carb 'phobic' and have significantly cut them all currently. My weight loss (and hba1c drop) have been dramatic, but high intensity exercise and diet seen to have 'done the trick .... so far. However my wife and HCPs (and a damned good friend who is also a Dr) are now concerned about me! and tell me I need to 'breathe and be a little kinder to myself'  .... I'm the preverbial skinny bloke now - and still shrinking!
I realise that whilst DUK has a wider view, on diet etc but that this forum appears dominated by  those who choose the LCHF way - which clearly is right for them. I however am still 'searching' for a more pragmatic approach. 
I am not a 'tester' and currently not sure if I want to, and have left it to the clinical appts so far - particularly the hba1c to point me in the right direction.... which again seems to have worked so far.
I long for those Fish & Chips ..... currently just a distant memory! 
Thanks for taking the time to come back to me, I really appreciate it.


----------



## Stitch147 (Sep 14, 2016)

I dont follow the LCHF as I know that for me it would be difficult to sustain in the long run. As this is something that will affect me for the rest of my life I want to follow a sensible eating regime that I can stick to for the rest of my life. I tend to stick to no more than 150g of carbs a day, but have change the type of carb I eat. I have the rare occasional treat (usually if I am on holiday or if its a birthday etc)., My eatng habits have changed drastically in the last 12 months since diagnosis. Ive shown food diaries to my Dr and he is happy with the types of foods that I eat. So even though LCHF works for some I personally dont do it.


----------



## Andy HB (Sep 14, 2016)

I do have to report that I have probably never tested my BG levels after fish and chips. I don't need to know that they're bad for me! 

It is for moments like that, I rely on my HbA1c check being ok. 

Andy


----------



## Mark Parrott (Sep 14, 2016)

I do LCHF but not strictly. I still have some underground veg but no potatoes, & have brown rice which seems to work with me. It's working though, & hoping my next HbA1c in Oct is one to be proud of. Then I'll have fish & chips to celebrate.


----------

