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New diabetes diagnosis and Overwhelmed

5K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  Paiden_blu 
#1 ·
Greetings Everyone!
I am Paiden and I am a 49 y/o woman, BMI 48, recently diagnosed with diabetes. My A1c is 6.7. I take metformin 500mg 2 x day along meds for HTN and ^choles. BP and choles/LDL/HDL all are normal with meds of course. For years I lead a unhealthy lifestyle with a diet of fast food, little or no exercise and managing depression/anxiety. Really, I am not surprised at where my I am with my health/mind/body/spirit. I mean I knew this day would come. But now that I actuallyhave diabetes, honestly, I am shocked and numb. I do blame myself.

Presently, I am just in the beginning stage of change and I am keenly aware that my lifestyle must change. All kinds of feelings are going through me: anger, denial, fear. I recognize that I have to put myself first and really do the inner work to be healthy in so many ways. So I have to accept where I am and move forward.

I started reading posts by others and feel better knowing that others are doing well. Some questions:

1. Doctor did not give me a Rx for a meter and supplies. Why not? Is that typical? Should I buy my own meter and supplies?

2. What should I expect from my first visit with the nutritionist?

3. Do I stop eating carbs completely? Is couscous and quinoa okay to eat?

4. What kind of attitude will help me manage my diabetes successfully?

Oh, did I tell you that I am terrified?
Thanks for listening.
 
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#3 ·
Hello and :welcome:

Being told you are diabetic does come as a shock - but it also provides a wake up call to take control before it becomes more than just an inconvenience.

Your HbA1c suggests that you're in a very reasonable position to grab your situation and nail it down without needing a lot of medication to help.

First thing is to review a couple of web sites. The first one is Blood Sugar 101. In particular look at You Did NOT Eat Your Way to Diabetes. The REAL Causes. and How to Lower Your Blood Sugar

The other site I'm going to suggest is LCHF for Beginners | DietDoctor.com and that will give you a lot of information to help with controlling your blood glucose.

Now, to answer your questions.

First as you will see from the second link in Blood Sugar 101, a blood glucose meter is an essential tool - even for someone like you and me - with a fairly mild situation to control. Over your way, the cheapest source of meters is probably WalMart and certainly in the short term at least, you could possibly look there.

Regrettably, I think you won't get a lot of really helpful information from your nutritionist. They must follow the ADA standard guidelines and suggest to you that you want to go High Carb, low calorie diet to get your weight down. There's only one minor flaw with this strategy.:( It does NOT work for us. You spend your time permanently hungry with frightening swings in blood glucose and inevitably, you go off the diet and then get told "bad girl!".

You do need to cut back on carbohydrates of all types but eliminating them completely is next to impossible. Off the top of my head, I've got to say NO to Couscous and Quinoa. They are not particularly useful but here on the forum, we have really only one rule and that is "eat to the meter". As you'll see in How to Lower Your Blood Sugar the rules of the game are to try something and test the result. If your meter says that you can eat, for instance, quinoa in the portion size you want without going over your target maximum blood sugar, then so be it! If not?

Lastly, don't be terrified - be determined instead that like the others on this forum, you, not your condition are in charge of your long healthy life!

Again, :welcome:
 
#4 ·
Hello Paiden,

Welcome aboard.

Most doctors start diabetic patients with medication to control BP & cholesterol apart from the ones to control blood sugar. This is in the belief that normally, patients are unable to control their diabetes, and the other two are soon going to follow. I've heard a Dr referring to them as 3 sisters. If one steps in the other 2 are not far behind, he said. But this belief is unfounded and members on this board are proof of that.

We recommend new members to also start reading bloodsugar101 and dietdoctor. These sites have a wealth of information on the subject & are good starting points.

Carbs convert to glucose upon digestion and need to be restricted (not completely avoided). Getting them from green vegetables in soups & salads is a good idea. A meter is a must for diabetics as the mantra that you will learn here, is "test, test, test". Why the doctor did not prescribe you one beats me. Do buy one if you can.

A 'fighting spirit' & a 'never say die' attitude will go a long way in helping you combat this condition. Once your eating habits have "improved" you will find your BMI & your BG inching downwards, and general health improving. Many members have completely given up their BP, cholesterol & sugar medication.

Good Luck.
 
#5 ·
Paiden - I was recently DX with Type 1. The first week or two was a little bit different. Not a shock so to speak, but just recalibrating how I did things.

6 weeks out, it's just part of the routine. Of course, my management is different than yours, but I suspect the emotions are similar.

Trust me - in a week or two, the "idea" of having diabetes will fade, and the "reality" of managing it will take hold. The management is far less than the idea.

Hang in there.

The bottom line is this - you didn't ask to be dealt this hand, but you got it. Now that you have it, you have to play it. The key is to make it a winner for you - and that is attainable.
 
#6 ·
Welcome Paiden

You've been given the basics of blood sugar control, so I won't repeat the excellent advice.

I just want to reinforce that you CAN gain control over this. And, really, it's not all that bad. LCHF (low cart/high fat) way of eating is actually so much more healthy than the usual low-fat/high carb WOE that we've all been told to do - that after a few months on LCHF you'll probably find that there were other health issues you didn't even know you had, that will no longer be there. This has been reported by so many who have come to this forum and started on their LCHF journey.

Your initial emotions are typical and normal. And a little grief over lost favorite foods mixes in there, also. Stick around, read the links, read the threads and be encouraged.
 
#7 ·
Welcome Paiden -

I'm relatively new to this forum as well but have found the people here to be incredibly friendly and helpful!

I felt much the same way as you - blaming myself for this because of past lifestyle habits - but I'm learning that is just not true. I must admit I started crying in the doctors office when I found out...

LCHF has been a life changer for me in wrestling with diabetes. I'm still working it all out, but this site has given me hope - and the tools - to get it under control. I know it can do the same for you.

You can do this!
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the forum Paiden. You've already been given great advice, so I'm just saying hello
 
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#11 ·
When I was diagnosed last summer, I was put on three oral meds (two for diabetes, one for cholesterol) and told to go buy a blood glucose meter (which I did).

A few weeks later, I discovered this site, from which I started doing LCHF. I also realized that the tiredness and muscle aches I had been experiencing were from the cholesterol med (Lipitor, a statin). When I also learned that statins can raise blood sugar levels, I stopped taking it; the muscle aches and tireness went away... and my cholesterol levels fell anyway.
 
#12 ·
Oh, go ahead and feel overwhelmed.

Grab your cell phone or watch and set a loud alarm for three minutes. Now, go for it. Throw pillows, yell "it's not fair!", cower in the corner, scream "I don't know what to do!", sob "I'm scared!" ... oops ... there goes the alarm. Okay, take a deep breath. Those feelings are normal and human - many of us know all about them - and they may come back from time to time but now it is time to get completely whelmed.

Go stand in front of a mirror. Look yourself in the eye and repeat after me:

"Right now, at this very instant, I am more in control of my life than I have been in years, decades, possibly in my whole life. Because right now I finally know I have an imbalance that may have been impacting my health and mental well-being for a long time. Oh, this is a new world and I have a lot to learn. But I am going to learn it! I am going read and think and ask questions and learn. Especially, I am going to learn about eat-to-your-meter BG testing. Because it is going to teach me what I need to know about re-balancing my imbalance. It may not be easy, and it may not always be fun, but I really do have a level of control over myself that - maybe - I never, ever imagined I could have."

You can do it. We can help by suggesting things we have tried and learned...things you can test for yourself. Some doctors have problems keeping up with diabetic science...but some do an excellent job. We are all hoping your doctor falls in the 'excellent' category.

You really can handle diabetes.
 
#13 ·
Warriors

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, support and encouragement!

Your posts are filled with determination and that warrior spirit! I need some of that. After a week of resisting my present reality, I am slowly becoming a little more accepting of my diabetes diagnosis and the changes I need to make. I bought the Walmart meter but need the control solution(??). I see the nutritionist tomorrow but after reading the LCHF site it might not be as helpful as I would like, but the support is welcomed. I did some food shopping for high protein snacks like nuts, cheese, yogurt. Purchased lots of bottled water. Will need to start cooking chicken, fish, etc.

John.in.France--This new way of relating to food is different for me. Looking back, I always preferred my proteins. Being hungry was a constant with dieting. It will be nice to not "diet". I've booked marked all the sites.

skb--I am a little upset with my doctor about not recommending that I get a meter. I don't get that. I have one now though. I will need to be more proactive.

gordonf--"you didn't ask to be dealt this hand, but you got it. Now that you have it, you have to play it". the wake up call John referred to. I can't stay in denial. Action is needed. I am more hopeful. You keep going too.

VeeJay--Yes. I am grieving my fave foods and snacks with "what am I going to eat? Letting go of my attachment to them will challenging. But you all did so I can too. Plus be healthier.

auntiekris--I am glad that the site has been helpful. More self-compassion is good for all of us. Keep it up!

mbuster--Ahhh! *waves ecstatically to ya!! Hello!

Patdart--Ahhh! Thank you!! *sniff*

silvertiger--I have so many questions but one step at a time, right?

Xenon--I am glad you are feeling so much better! I hope to come off my meds one day too.

gotsomeold--So insightful. I've printed this entire thread and put it up on my board to remind me of my warrior spirit too!

Thanks again. I appreciate your words.;)
 
#14 ·
I have no idea if Relion Prime has a control solution. I never saw it offered at Walmart.

I just jumped in to testing. The meter may be miscalibrated. The test strips may be faulty. But the odds are they are not.

I encourage you to step off the deep end. Test your FBG and record it. Test before a meal and record it. Eat, make notes about what you ate, test at 1 and 2 hours post-prandial, record them. Try very hard to not eat between meals...to let your BG settle down between meals. But, if you snack, then test and record. (Yes, my test kit has a permanent place in my purse).

Post a whole day for us. If the BG numbers look totally whacked because something is wrong with the devices, between us we will find that quickly.

It is much more likely we can discuss how your body is reacting to foods and you will be begin the learning, tuning, taking control process.
 
#17 ·
Try very hard to not eat between meals...to let your BG settle down between meals. But, if you snack, then test and record. (Yes, my test kit has a permanent place in my purse).
Can't the OP eat no-carb or very low carb snacks w/o moving the needle? I know those are hard to find, but there are some that can help in the early adjustment period.
 
#15 ·
I for one still do not see the significance of the "control" solution. It does nothing but get read by the meter using a test strip. The meter reading could be +/- 20% of actual, the strip can also introduce error into the reading, and I have to wonder how much error can be in the control solution. I haven't seen a BG meter that the home user can calibrate. Its not like the 4/7/10 pH buffer solutions that you actually use a couple of them to calibrate a pH meter.
 
#18 ·
Every six months I ask my Doctor's office to run a test, run my own test, and compare results. So far, the delta has been under 10 mg/dl...well within the +- 20% margin of error. Then, I compare my average readings to my HbA1c...again, that has been well below +- 20%. End result? I hope my little relion prime never defuncts!
 
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#19 ·
In the beginning of eating LCHF, and if one isn't yet to the point of eating enough fats to stay satisfied, then one usually does look for snacks. If the carbs are under 3g per snack, and loaded with fats, then it's really not necessary to test. However, if one grabs an apple, then, yes, test it.

Paiden, you might be interested in reading about what the rest of us eat on a regular basis - might lessen the learning-curve for you, and you just might find a replacement that just as good as one of your previous favorites.

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/6633-whats-breakfast.html

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/6926-whats-lunch.html

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/4227-whats-dinner.html

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/11557-what-do-you-eat-snacks.html
 
#25 ·
Thanks.
Yes. I noticed that I am always hungry! I don't cook regularly so 3 meals a day is a little tough. Right now I didn't make a whole lot of changes, just trying to get in 2-3 meals in at least without a lot of fast food and soda. Drinking tons of water. So little steps. The links are very helpful.
 
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