# Newbie - Diagnosed 6 days ago



## Mark_1979 (Sep 16, 2020)

Hello all, 

I thought I would introduce myself having been a lurker for the last few days.  After seeing the GP for fertility issues, I had sugar in my urine, and the GP ordered some bloods.  The results came back with a hba1c of 103, and I was put on Metformin straight away.  Thinking back over the last 6 months, I have had some blurred vision which I put down to a prescription change in my glasses, and I have been really tired, but again I put this down to other factors at the time.  I have a 3 year old, and have been working crazy hours through the pandemic ( I work in Business Intelligence for a large NHS trust, not frontline, and have been largely working from home, but obviously the last 6 months have been somewhat crazy from a work point of view).  I really should have been expecting the diagnosis and should have done something about my diet and lifestyle earlier given that my dad was diabetic and my uncle is.  However, I am where I am - 41 years old, obese (I was 22st last November, which I have managed to get down to 19st 10 as of this morning), and now diabetic. 

I saw the diabetic nurse at my surgery on Monday, and have been given lots of information, a glucose meter, and referrals for an eye check and for some education through Oviva (if anybody has any experience of this I'd be grateful to hear about it).  The testing strips she had were out of date so I only got hold of some strips yesterday.  My first test, prior to lunch, was 11.9, and I did a test this morning prior to eating anything which read 13.5.  Yesterday I felt better than in the previous couple of days, but today I feel worse again.  I appreciate that until I can get my blood sugars under control this will be somewhat of a rollercoaster, but I'm feeling quite low today.  I just want to get this nailed so I can be there for my daughter going forwards.  My dad died quite young (of cancer, though Diabetes was mentioned on his death certificate), and I don't want to go down that route.

We've started tackling the diet side of things by going down the low-carb route.  I need to try and work out which foods are having what effect on my bloods though.  So far, I'm not having any hunger pangs/cravings which is good.  In terms of exercise, I was doing reasonably well on that front already (hence the weight loss I've achieved thus far).  At the start of lockdown I was running daily, until I injured my ankle, at which point I changed up to using a cross trainer in my garage 5/6 days a week.  I'm now trying to make sure I go for a 30-40 minute brisk walk each evening as well.

I know it has taken years of abuse of my body to get to this point, and will take a considerable time to improve things so I will need to be patient, but it is good to read stories of people that have made positive changes and got things under control.

So anyway, hi!  Look forward to engaging with you all on this journey.

All the best,

Mark


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## Kaylz (Sep 16, 2020)

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum 

You seem to know quite a lot of what you need to do already which is fantastic, some newly diagnosed Type 2's get no information whatsoever!  Are you being prescribed the strips or paying out of pocket? Your quite lucky to have even been given a meter as they are under no obligation to do so unless you are on hypo causing medication

Are you pre and post meal testing to see what meals do  work for you?

We're a friendly bunch with lots of knowledge between us so should you have any questions please do feel free to ask them

Join in with our waking thread if you have time - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/group-7-day-waking-average.20148/page-3120#post-1002369 (of course I don't suggest you trawl all the pages, just skiff to the last few lol)

And have a look at our what did you eat thread for some inspiration should you wish - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/what-did-you-eat-yesterday.30349/ - there is a wide mix of carbohydrate intake there though as us Type 1's may get off a bit more freely with them seen as we can adjust our insulin for them

Welcome aboard 
xx


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 16, 2020)

Not sure what they will do long term, but they have prescribed strips initially - I bought some on Amazon as well, as could get them quicker than through the doctor.  

My plan is to pre and post test for a good while to try and work that out.  Just tested two hours after breakfast and I'm at 16.4.


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## Kaylz (Sep 16, 2020)

So yes that's high but from 13.5 that you mentioned this morning its only a rise of 2.9mmol, ideally the lower the rise the better but we look for  no more than a 2-3mmol rise post meal ideally, may I ask what you had for breakast?

How are you coping with the diagnosis? 

If they aren't going to prescribe you strips long term then it may be financially better when they do stop them to switch to a different meter and strips that are cheaper to self fund (depending on the type of meter you were given of course) but that's just if you grudge/can't afford the cost of your specific strips long term
xx


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 16, 2020)

I had a packet of Oats So Simple Porridge with semi skimmed milk, and a cup of tea, along with a couple of pints of water.

I'm up and down if I'm honest, mood is swinging quite wildly at the moment!


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## Ljc (Sep 16, 2020)

Hi @Mark_1979 welcometothe forum.  Sounds like you have made a great start.  
I am very pleased to hear you have been prescribe a glucose meter and test strips, this is most unusual and shows your nurse is really on the ball , advising going low carb is too .

Initially we use our meter to test howthe various carbohydrates affect us as we are all different in this respect.
To do this we test directly before eating then two hours after the first bite, if the difference is 3 or 4 mmol then that meal was fine.  
Atm your pre meal levels will be high   Which means your post meal levels will be but gradually your BG (blood glucose) level will come down .

Ask all the questions you you need to about diabetes , we’ll do our best to heop.


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## Kaylz (Sep 16, 2020)

Ah porridge isn't always tolerated very well by diabetics, even some Type 1's can't get it "right" with insulin to stop those pesly spikes, sachets are worse than your jumbo type too and then there were the carbs in the milk as well but it's not a bad rise considering! I too eat porridge but use unsweetened almond milk as it doesn't contain carbs 

It will get easier, there will always be ups and downs but it does get easier my lovely
xx


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## Docb (Sep 16, 2020)

Hi @Mark_1979 and welcome to the forum although sorry you have to be here. Like @Kaylz says, you seem to have got the basics sorted already and it looks like you are going to get good support from your GP surgery.  As for test strips, I get mine prescribed and order them one day and pick them up from the pharmacy the next - no need for Amazon!

My first thought for anybody is don't panic, work out what you have got to do, work out how you are going to do it, make a plan and then carry it out.  If you want inspiration then look at ColinUk's thread on the weight loss board.  That's not because of his use of the Newcastle diet, its because it shows what can be done if you sort out a plan that suits you and stick to it.

Can I suggest you get some base data together using your meter?  Test in the morning first thing, test at night last thing and do some testing immediately before a meal and a couple of hours after.  At the same time keep a food diary.  You can then begin to see the patterns of how your BG (blood glucose) varies through the day, what foods give you the biggest rises and give you a baseline from which you can judge progress.

Above all, just ask questions.  There are aeons of experience on the forum, tap into it!


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## Ljc (Sep 16, 2020)

Test strips , I t’s likely you will only be allowed a small number perhaps 50 test strips a month . if that the case . You’ll need more stripsto do the in depth testing we initially do.
The Gluco navii meter is one of the cheapest ones to self fund the test strips £8 for 50 Gluco navii test strips.
We use the mmol measurement in the U.K.
you are entitled to claim VAT relief.

Has your nurse arranged the certificate for free prescriptions as you are now entitled to free nhs prescriptions.


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 16, 2020)

Ljc said:


> Test strips , I t’s likely you will only be allowed a small number perhaps 50 test strips a month . if that the case . You’ll need more stripsto do the in depth testing we initially do.
> The Gluco navii meter is one of the cheapest ones to self fund the test strips £8 for 50 Gluco navii test strips.
> We use the mmol measurement in the U.K.
> you are entitled to claim VAT relief.
> ...



Is that all NHS prescriptions?  Because I am on some other medication as well (Anti-coagulant medication and omeprazole to deal with acid reflux) - that would be a big help.


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## Ljc (Sep 16, 2020)

Mark_1979 said:


> Is that all NHS prescriptions?  Because I am on some other medication as well (Anti-coagulant medication and omeprazole to deal with acid reflux) - that would be a big help.


Yes all nhs prescriptions.
You have to pay till you receive your certificate but if you keep your receipts/proof then you should be able to claim a refundfrom the time you were prescribed Metformin.


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## grovesy (Sep 16, 2020)

Where in the country are you? 
I have not heard anyone ever mention the course you mentioned. Some of these course are local ones, some that are more widespread but often can vary depending on the course leaders. You can just try it and see what it is like.


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 16, 2020)

grovesy said:


> Where in the country are you?
> I have not heard anyone ever mention the course you mentioned. Some of these course are local ones, some that are more widespread but often can vary depending on the course leaders. You can just try it and see what it is like.



I'm in Buckinghamshire


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## grovesy (Sep 16, 2020)

OK,


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## Felinia (Sep 16, 2020)

Hi
You seem to have researched well and made a good start.  

*OVIVA *I did the Oviva course last November.  It consisted of a 1 hour phone consultation with a trained diet/exercise specialist, followed by a half day group session.  I suspect that may be different now, perhaps a ZOOM or SKYPE session, but Oviva have a website which should explain their current procedures.  Some people qualify for weekly checks until their HbA1c drops - mine did not.  I learned a lot from it, plus the Learning Zone here.

By regular monitoring you should soon identify what suits your body and what causes spikes in your blood glucose.  I would suggest you ditch the packages as much as possible and stick to the raw ingredients.  I use unsweetened almond milk for my jumbo porridge as well, but not in my tea (YUK).  But I often have a breakfast of poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, or a mushroom omelette.  I make a lot of home made soups and slow cooker dishes so I know just what goes in them.  If you are working from home, that may be possible, and is simple.  Chuck vegetables, stock, poultry in a pan or slow cooker, set the timer and leave.  I even cheat by getting prepared veggie packs to reduce the prep time to a minimum.  It will be less carbs than grabbing a sandwich.

I found after a time, and very sore fingers, I was able to reduce my monitoring to just testing out the effect of new foods.  I also subscribe to an app which monitors all my cals, carbs, fats, protein etc. and helps keep me disciplined.  There are some I believe which also record your glucose readings.

Best wishes


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## KerryC (Sep 16, 2020)

Hi Mark,

I'm fairly new to the forum and I was only diagnosed as type 2 back in May. My Hba1c was 103 on diagnosis as well. Last month I had my Hba1c retested and it was down to 43. I know everyone is different but it's just to give you hope that it is possible to reduce your Hba1c results 

You have made really good changes already with your diet and exercise! Keep up the great work


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## Ljc (Sep 16, 2020)

KerryC said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> I'm fairly new to the forum and I was only diagnosed as type 2 back in May. My Hba1c was 103 on diagnosis as well. Last month I had my Hba1c retested and it was down to 43. I know everyone is different but it's just to give you hope that it is possible to reduce your Hba1c results
> 
> You have made really good changes already with your diet and exercise! Keep up the great work


@KerryC .  That is brilliant .  Well done


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## grovesy (Sep 16, 2020)

Felinia said:


> Hi
> You seem to have researched well and made a good start.
> 
> *OVIVA *I did the Oviva course last November.  It consisted of a 1 hour phone consultation with a trained diet/exercise specialist, followed by a half day group session.  I suspect that may be different now, perhaps a ZOOM or SKYPE session, but Oviva have a website which should explain their current procedures.  Some people qualify for weekly checks until their HbA1c drops - mine did not.  I learned a lot from it, plus the Learning Zone here.
> ...


Sorry i forgot that was the course you did for some reason it did not stick in my mind.


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## KerryC (Sep 16, 2020)

Ljc said:


> @KerryC .  That is brilliant .  Well done



Thank you, I was so pleased


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## Ditto (Sep 16, 2020)

Hello Mark.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 17, 2020)

Mark_1979 said:


> My plan is to pre and post test for a good while to try and work that out. Just tested two hours after breakfast and I'm at 16.4.



Welcome to the forum @Mark_1979 

Sounds like you are off to a great start, and have a really good grasp of some practical approaches for the future.

As others have said, the numbers matter less at this stage than the differences between them. If you can keep your meal rises down to 2-3mmol/L you should see your overall levels come down gradually. This is better, because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.

Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum look back later and recognise that their diagnosis became a catalyst which finally prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life. Weirdly, a diagnosis with diabetes can lead to you feeling healthier than you have in years, and with the benefit of regular checks so that and potential problems can be spotted and addressed much more quickly.


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 23, 2020)

Thought I would give a quick update 11 days into being diabetic.  I've been tracking my food every day, and logging blood glucose before and after meals.  I'm making good progress.  Fasting blood glucose has come down from 13.5-14.2 to 10.7-11.5, and I have had some readings in the low 8s, high 7s later on in the day.  Still a really long way to go but I am happy with the start.

Diet-wise, I've gone pretty low carb.  Eating a lot of eggs in the mornings, and a fair bit of chicken, smoked salmon, turkey burgers etc later in the day.  I haven't been feeling too hungry either - whether this is a factor of the metformin, or just due to my motivation I'm not sure.

I've lost around 3lbs so far, but it is nice not to feel bloated by all the carbs I was eating before.  I'm going for a brisk walk every day after my daughter goes to bed (tracking through Strava), and am up to around 3 miles each day now.

I may not get on top of this with diet and exercise alone - my father was a diabetic and he ended up on insulin, as has my uncle.  Neither were/are particularly overweight.  But I am determined to give it my best shot possible.

Thanks for all your responses and support thus far - I'm getting a lot out of this forum.

Mark


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## Ditto (Sep 23, 2020)

Never say never. Go as low carb as you feel comfortable with, bet you could reverse it and surprise yourself. 

What's a lot of eggs? Don't do what I used to do and have half a dozen at a time! No wonder I am doomed. Sheer piggery. It's all about portion control. See I'm great at giving advice. Just can't do it myself. Luv reading about others' success however, so well done.


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 23, 2020)

Ditto said:


> Never say never. Go as low carb as you feel comfortable with, bet you could reverse it and surprise yourself.
> 
> What's a lot of eggs? Don't do what I used to do and have half a dozen at a time! No wonder I am doomed. Sheer piggery. It's all about portion control. See I'm great at giving advice. Just can't do it myself. Luv reading about others' success however, so well done.



I would have 3 eggs scrambled as an example.


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## ianf0ster (Sep 23, 2020)

3 eggs isn't a lot. I was eating 14 eggs a week for months on end when I first started Low Carbing.


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 24, 2020)

Fasting bloods were 8.0 this morning.  Really pleased with how it is coming down.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 24, 2020)

Great progress @Mark_1979 !

Thanks for keeping us updated. Onward and downward!


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## Mark_1979 (Sep 30, 2020)

Fasting blood glucose levels coming down nicely.  I'm quite pleased given that it has only been 2 and a half weeks.  I've lost just over half a stone as well which is great.  The GP was concerned about my blood pressure and cholesterol as well, but BP has come down from 145/95 to 126/86 and they are going to hold off putting me on medication for either for now.  Symptom-wise I haven't had much other than poor eyesight in the evenings (this may be down to straining during the day).  Definitely have more energy, and I'm feeling more on an even keel.  Still get a heck of a long way to go, but it's good to keep an eye on progress.


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## Toucan (Sep 30, 2020)

Really impressive results @Mark_1979, thanks for sharing them.


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## adrian1der (Sep 30, 2020)

KerryC said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> I'm fairly new to the forum and I was only diagnosed as type 2 back in May. My Hba1c was 103 on diagnosis as well. Last month I had my Hba1c retested and it was down to 43. I know everyone is different but it's just to give you hope that it is possible to reduce your Hba1c results
> 
> You have made really good changes already with your diet and exercise! Keep up the great work


Thanks Kerry. That is really inspirational. I was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago so great to hear of your progress.


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## KerryC (Oct 1, 2020)

adrian1der said:


> Thanks Kerry. That is really inspirational. I was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago so great to hear of your progress.



Aww thank you, your so kind!  I hope you have a great success too! I've found this forum so helpful and I'm happy to help if I can in anyway  good luck on your journey


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## Mark_1979 (Oct 27, 2020)

So I'm now 6 weeks into my diabetes journey.  It's hard to believe as a reasonably well-educated person that I was so ignorant in terms of what I was doing to my body.  I've learnt so much in the last 6 weeks, not least from this forum.  I'm now up to 2000mg of Metformin per day (two tablets each in the morning and evening)

I have been enrolled on the Oviva diabetes support programme.  Given the current climate this is being run completely through an app - I upload pictures of my meals and I have a dietitian coach who comments on them. I can also log BG readings and weight in the app, and message back and forth with my coach.  We had one 30 minute phone consultation where she seemed very happy with my progress to date.  Otherwise I have had no contact with health services since my initial chat with the diabetes nurse.  To be honest I am ok with this as I feel there is much better advice here and online in general that that proffered by the GP.  Next week I have by Diabetic Eye Screening appointment - hoping I haven't done too much damage to my eyes!

I work in Business Intelligence for the NHS so obviously the first thing I did after I was diagnosed was to start logging things on a spreadsheet.  I wear a Fitbit so am tracking things like heartrate, sleep and steps, and track my food intake on MyFitnessPal.  I had already started losing weight before being diagnosed - last November I was 140kg, or just over 22 stone.  This morning I am down to 119.7kg or 18 stone 12.  This is the lowest weight I have been since I got married in 2015, so feel like it is a good start.  My fasting BG is gradually coming down (I've added a rolling 7 day average line to the below to smooth out the odd anomalous result.


I'm also tracking my readings before each meal.  It's quite satisfying seeing the number of readings that are coming down into the target range, and really quite motivational to track results. 


The other really cool thing to see has been the impact on my resting heart rate.  



For anyone that is new and struggling, I hope it is useful to see how quickly you can improve things.  I am aware that some of the BG control will be down to the medication, but am feeling super proud with the strides that I have made in about 6 weeks.  I am still testing a lot, probably excessively so, but it's helpful for me to see the impact that various meals have on my BG.  We even went out for a Sunday roast last week - it was pretty odd asking for a roast without roast potatoes or yorkshire pudding!  I try to avoid snacking at all but I do make sure I have 3 good meals a day (today as an example was yoghurt with mixed seeds for breakfast, tuna mayo and cheese with salad for lunch, and dinner will be rump steak with celeriac chips and broccoli).  If I get super hungry I might have a handful of macadamia nuts, or sometimes in the evening I make a chocolate mousse with double cream, cream cheese, raw cacao powder, and powdered erythritol.  My wife is being super supportive and has adapted her diet so that she is doing the same (she does occasionally sneak a packet of crisps or a bit of toast when I am not around.

Apologies for the long post - obviously I'm not delighted that I have ended up with diabetes, but I'm really pleased with how it is going in tackling the challenge.

All the best,

Mark


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## Kirsty79 (Oct 27, 2020)

Mark_1979 said:


> I'm in Buckinghamshire


Hi Mark, I'm also newly diagnosed type 2.


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## rebrascora (Oct 27, 2020)

Congratulations Mark on your fantastic progress and thanks for posting as I am sure it will be inspirational for others. You have every right to be proud of your achievements. I am sure your next HbA1c result will reflect your graph results and hopefully you will be able to start reducing your Metformin as the next step.


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## Mark_1979 (Dec 17, 2020)

Thought I would give everyone an update as I just got my 2nd HbA1c result.  It has been a long, hard battle at times, but I feel like I am winning it.  I'm still on 2000mg of Metformin a day, so I want to speak to the doctor about whether there is any opportunity to reduce that.  But I have come down from a HbA1c of 103 to 43 in 3 months - I'm absolutely delighted!


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## Christy (Dec 17, 2020)

That is fantastic! You must be so pleased and relieved!! Keep up the good work.


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## Ditto (Dec 17, 2020)

Well done.


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## rebrascora (Dec 17, 2020)

Well done! Great result! Keep at it! 

You should be able to start reducing your Metformin dose with that HbA1c result. Doc might be reluctant but be prepared to negotiate maybe 3 months on half that dose and then see what your next test shows. Most health care professionals have little understanding of how powerful a change of diet really is and therefore place more emphasis on the medication when in fact it often has relatively little impact in comparison.
Good luck with continued success.


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## trophywench (Dec 17, 2020)

Not sure which type of metformin you're on, but if it happens to be in 500mg tablets, probably likely to suggest you reduce gradually and there's no harm in doing that anyway, even if you're on 1000mg ones by taking one of them and one 500mg.  Can't see why he wouldn't agree on the face of that!


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