# Hello from a newbie



## Stoobey (Aug 11, 2019)

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed as a type 2 just over 6 weeks ago, I've got to admit the news was a bit of a shock and sent me into panic mode for a few weeks...  I've been lurking on the forums, thought it was about time I introduced myself and said a big thank you to those who respond with help and advice on here.  For those of us not ready to face the world yet, reading about others who have gone through everything we feel right now and come out the other side is of great comfort to us.

I'm 45, rarely went to a doctors, I was feeling unwell a few days before I was heading off on holiday and though I'd better get it checked out, the unwell feeling went way, but I went for blood tests after I returned and my HbA1c came back at 97mmol.

On my first appointment with the diabetic nurse I tested at 15.9 mmols, blood pressure was 146/107 and BMI had hit 30 - who knew, sitting on the sofa, eating crisps, whilst glued to Netflix all weekend was so bad for your health.....  You'll be glad to know, I listened and made huge changes to diet and exercise, I haven't had a 2nd blood test yet, but on my last visit to the nurse, 3 weeks ago my blood pressure had come down to 126/87, I weighed myself this morning and have lost over 1 and 1/2 stone and over the past two weeks my average pre dinner blood sugar readings have been 4.5mmol and two hours after dinner 5.5mmol.

I feel I am on the right track, but I feel like I need to learn more on what foods effect me personally, for example, I know pizza is bad, I'm not desperately missing the double pepperoni, extra cheese pizza I used to love.  I would however like to know, what I can tolerate, If my friends have a poker night and order pizza in, could I have a slice, maybe two, or will my body totally reject it...  If I want to test foods, how is the best way to do this?  I do a pre dinner check on blood sugar, but then should I test as soon as I finish?  half an hour later? an hour / 2 hours later?  and what would I be expecting to see at these times?  I understand that diabetes is unique to each individual,  I'm just trying to understand mine.

I had a family birthday last week, we went out for a meal, I was so unsure on what to eat, but went for a steak, with sweet potato chips and a side salad, I skipped starters and desserts, my pre dinner reading was 4.7, two hour post dinner 5.2, would you think this means I could maybe indulge a bit more?  

Oh, I should say I'm currently taking 2x metformin, once a day, with my dinner, I'm not sure how much of an influence these have on my readings?

Sorry about all the questions, thank you for any responses you may give, thank you as well for advice given in different posts, it has helped me get through a difficult and confusing time.


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## Kaylz (Aug 11, 2019)

Stoobey said:


> I would however like to know, what I can tolerate, If my friends have a poker night and order pizza in, could I have a slice, maybe two, or will my body totally reject it... If I want to test foods, how is the best way to do this? I do a pre dinner check on blood sugar, but then should I test as soon as I finish? half an hour later? an hour / 2 hours later? and what would I be expecting to see at these times? I understand that diabetes is unique to each individual, I'm just trying to understand mine.
> 
> I had a family birthday last week, we went out for a meal, I was so unsure on what to eat, but went for a steak, with sweet potato chips and a side salad, I skipped starters and desserts, my pre dinner reading was 4.7, two hour post dinner 5.2, would you think this means I could maybe indulge a bit more?


Hi and welcome to the forum 

Ideally to test foods you'd be testing just as you were away to sit down to eat and then again 2 hours after eating, ideally your looking for no more than a 2-3 mmol rise post meal although things like pizza etc that contain a lot of fat can cause a spike later on unfortunately

Remember exercise can effect levels as well so say where you'd sat watching Netflix after a certain meal and had a rise of 4mmol, the effect of that meal may react completely different if you ate then went for a brisk walk etc
xx


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## Drummer (Aug 11, 2019)

You seem to be doing well, but might do even better avoiding the high carb foods - the sweet potatoes, for instance - maybe take along some roast chicken thighs to your poker night, or sausages - but having take low carb foods along to social gatherings in the last couple of years I know that I have to be careful not to miss out, as they vanish away very quickly if set down incautiously.
With steak I usually ask for mushrooms and courgette or aubergine, sweet pepper, and a large salad.


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## Stoobey (Aug 12, 2019)

Thank you all for your responses, I really knew nothing about diabetes before I was diagnosed and it has been a real eye opener. 

I have only tested myself pre evening dinner and two hours after, I'll try a first thing in the morning test tomorrow and see what the results are.  I have a check up with my diabetic nurse next Monday, I'm not sure when I'll be sent for a 2nd blood test, from what I understand it's a three monthly thing, so maybe the start of October.

I take on board everything said about the carbs, Pizza may have not been the best example and I have no desire to undo the hard work I've put in so far.  I have been reading posts about people eating chips, where some said they could eat no problem, others, in moderation and then a few saying they can't touch them.  I feel like I have no idea where I stand on this, I'd like to have some understanding on what happens to my body when I eat certain foods.  It could be that I am trying to rush this, I am still focused on weight loss, the time for experimentation could be when I have reached a healthy weight.

My family and friends have been incredibly supportive with me, although I do find that similar to how I was, they have preconceptions about diabetes and are completely unaware of the latest research, especially the low carb diet.

Thank you again for responses


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## Nomad722 (Aug 12, 2019)

Hi Stoobey,
Welcome to the forum, you will find plenty of friends here some with more problems than yourself.  I was diagnosed as a borderline case and went home terrified.


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## CathyB (Aug 12, 2019)

Hi Stoobey
I found it really helped me to keep a food diary and track my readings against each meal as well as first thing in the morning.  It helped me to see what foods worked best, those that came up higher were tweaked until the readings were acceptable.  Personally I don’t ever have treats outside what I know works as I can’t be trusted, one would lead to more and I know I would get complacent, although I know pretty well what I can and can’t eat I still test a few times a week just to keep me on track.


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## SueEK (Aug 12, 2019)

Hi Stoobey, the very best thing you can do is go low carb that reduces your bg’s, the weight loss will naturally follow. Glad you have a supportive family as they will encourage you. My family and I also were unaware of exactly what diabetes involved and how best to control it, we all do now but this is 7 months on. Good luck to you x


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## KARNAK (Aug 12, 2019)

Hi @Stoobey welcome to the forum. You`re doing well keep it up, test as soon as you are awake preferably before getting out of bed, we`ll explain later. If you have higher carbs on the boys day/night out, check before you eat, two hours later and 3 or 4 hours after grub. A pain in the ass but worth doing, keep us up-to-date please.


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## Stoobey (Aug 13, 2019)

Good Morning,

It's nice to meet so many of you and share your stories, I did a blood sugar test this morning and it came back at 4.5, My weight broke under 14st for the first time as well   (13st 13.8lbs to be exact lol),  under two months ago I was almost 16st, still not finished yet, but feels like a landmark passed.

I am still new to the new diet, so probably need some refining, but I would say I am on around 50g to 80g carbs per day, I shudder to think what I used to eat, everything was carbs, I was the guy who would always get the burger and chips from nandos, or dough balls and pizza from pizza express, then a sandwich and crisps later, but, no point looking back, learn from past mistakes and move on.

I appreciate all the advice given, I have a food diary, incorporating all my blood sugar tests (I work in data, I love numbers), Ideally I'd like to come off the metformin and control with diet and exercise alone, but I need to be patient.  I'd love to make my personal database where I can include all food types and what kind of reaction I have after eating them.

Thank you all


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## Pine Marten (Aug 14, 2019)

Hi @Stoobey, I think you're doing pretty well too, and an early morning test of 4.5 is excellent!

It can take quite a while to figure what foods you can tolerate and what you can't, but you've started well and good results are an incentive to carry on . I won't add to the good advice already given except to say do come back and ask any questions you may have - nothing is daft!


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## Stoobey (Aug 21, 2019)

Hey guys,

I had my check up on Monday and everything was good, but I've had a bit of a bad day today

I woke up as usual, started getting ready for work, everything was fine, then I started to feel a bit ill, I started getting this pain on the right hand side, lower abdomen.  I should have called the doctors right away, but I sat down a while, contacted work and said I wouldn't be in, then went back to bed.

I haven't left the flat all day, the pain, a sort of throbbing has been on and off all day, I made a sandwich for lunch (I haven't been eating bread often, I just wanted something easy, with some fruit).  Typically, I left it too late to call the doctors, when I did, they were fully booked for the day and advised me to call back tomorrow at 9am.

The throbbing has calmed down a bit, but is still coming and going, I just did a blood sugar test and it came back at 6.5 (I've not been above 4.8 before food or 6.0, two hours after food, all August), so something isn't right

I'm on 2x metformin before dinner, once a day, have been warned might have side effects, but, have also been lucky to avoid them so far.

I know I can't get medical advise on here, but has anyone been through something similar?  I've been pretty extreme with food and weight loss since I learnt I had diabetes, On Monday I was advised to slow down as I had hit a healthy BMI, having lost 2 stone since the start of July.  I know the pain isn't my appendix, as that ruptured a year and a half ago, I wonder if that was a sign that other issues were to come...

I'm not sure what to do, everything else seems normal, I haven't much of an appetite, but have been drinking lots of water, going to force myself to have some salad for dinner, I'm a little worried something isn't right with my liver, but it could just be I've overdone everything.


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## Stoobey (Aug 21, 2019)

Thanks for the response, yeah i did consider 111, I thought best to speak to someone who knows my history, I think I'm being stupid, reading up it's got to be some side effects from the metformin.  I've been doing stupid amounts of steps each day as well, I did 32k on Saturday, need to calm down.

It's so easy to start obsessing about every little detail


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## Stoobey (Sep 27, 2019)

Just an update,  I had my first blood test since diagnosis last week and had my appointment with my diabetic nurse this afternoon.

Some good news, my HbA1c has come back at 33, really happy that it's come done so much, I'm off the metformin, seeing how it all goes with diet and exercise alone.  My weight is now 82kg down from 101kg and I feel so much better for it.

It's a marathon, but days like this make me feel awesome


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## rebrascora (Sep 28, 2019)

Wow! Many congratulations! You have done brilliantly and in such a short space of time. Do you think it was the Metformin causing the abdominal pain you had? Good luck with keeping your BG in check without it, but by the sound of it, you have the right mentality to do it. Please keep us posted with your progress and thanks for sharing your inspirational story so far with us.


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## Stoobey (Sep 28, 2019)

Thanks Guys,

Sounds like it was just a pulled muscle around the stomach, it cleared up after a few days, but I am really glad to be able to come off the metformin and at least try and do things by myself.


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