Becca Jane St Clair

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Sharing a Secret – The Resuts of my Blood Tests

There’s been something weighing on my mind for the past several weeks and at fist I didn’t want to tell anyone — not even my family — but then Tim convinced me that I should tell my mom and his parents and then I branched out and told a few local friends who I thought could help me, I told one of my cousins, and I told a close friend who knows what it’s like to deal with this. I haven’t told any of my other close/best friends, for which I apologize. I should have come and told some of you sooner than now, but I just didn’t know how to word things and I didn’t want pity, and even with just the small group who know I’m already being given loads of (often conflicting!) advice.

When I went to the GP a few weeks back for the results of a blood test (done for unrelated reasons), my glucose level came back high. Dr Howard wanted me to do another Glucose tolerance test (the last one had been done in August 2010), so I had that the following Monday, and my results appointment with Dr Howard the following Friday.

My glucose level was 11.4. Under UK guidelines, I have diabetes (Type 2) (the cut off is above 11.1).

I had to wait over a week before I could see the diabetic nurse, and it was an AWFUL week. I didn’t know what to do and I spent the week cutting out as much junk from my diet as possible, and switching a lot of my habits around. I eliminated all white flour from my kitchen (my MIL got a huge bag of things), most of the white sugar (I left a little for guests who need sugar in their tea!), and anything else I knew was now on my “nono” list. I researched and picked up a few diabetic cookbooks and talked to my friends. A plan started to form.

On Monday, I saw the diabetic nurse. She confirmed that I was “barely” diabetic, with my Hb1ac level at just below 50 (which I understand is about 6.7%). If it was above 50, I would need medication, but as it’s just under, I’ve been advised to work on controlling my diet for the next two months when I’ll go back in again for another review. While it’s not possible to reverse diabetes or never have it again, it IS possible to eliminate actively having it provided I change my diet and stick to it.

I have decided to go low-carb and have eliminated bread from my diet. I now have lots of wholewheat wraps for my sandwiches and no longer have toast in the morning. I do my best to have breakfast every day – Weetabix, yoghurt with fruit, or an Atkins bar.

Baking is going to be the toughest thing to handle, but I’ve found low-carb flour (Carbalose and Carbquik) and I’ve also replaced my white self-rising flour with whole wheat self-rising flour.

I’ve also had to eliminate potatoes from my diet, which has been really rough!

So that’s where I’m at right now. My primary GP would like me to lose 2 stone (28lbs) in the next 6 months, but then he mentioned August to me, so who knows? I have managed to lose about 5 pounds so far in the two weeks since being diagnosed, so at least I’m on a good start.

Advice, products to get, and recipes are more than welcome, but if I start getting conflicting advice, whatever the GP and nurse say will always win.

The above will be cross-posted to my blog, facebook, and LJ. Anything appearing below this paragraph is specific to that page.

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4 comments

4 Comments so far

  1. miss m April 7th, 2012 15:54

    While getting a diagnosis of diabetes can be scary, it sounds like you found it SUPER early and are on the right track towards managing it. And the longer you can manage it with diet, the better.

    *hugs* 🙂

  2. falnfenix April 9th, 2012 10:36

    agreed with M. this is the type of diabetes you can cure. it just requires proper diet and exercise to beat it.

  3. Dineen April 12th, 2012 15:46

    Type 2 diabetes seems scary, doesn’t it? You *can* beat it with good nutrition and exercise. I am so glad that you are not taking any medication. In the US, Hba1c numbers are given as the percentage you mentioned and yours sounds so close to normal (under 6 is considered “not diabetic” here; World Health Organization 6.5 is the cut off). So take heart.
    Exercise is one of the best ways to increase your insulin sensitivity. And stress is the enemy of insulin (really the stress hormone cortisol blocks it); so learn to relax too. No need to fear.
    How do I know this stuff? My husband has lived with Type 1 diabetes since he was 3 (44 years now). He’s taught me a lot. (His best friend has Type 2 and has struggled, eventually becoming insulin dependent; so he learned a lot that way too.) Several of my family members have Type 2 diabetes, so I want to avoid it myself with good lifestyle habits too.

  4. Rebecca June 5th, 2012 0:26

    Stress is so hard to avoid. Can I go live in a bubble? LOL

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