Newly diagnosed with Type II diabetes.........scared and confused

@rubywitch67

I have been a type 2 diabetic for many years. For me, my first step was to see an endocrinologist or diabetic doctor every 3 months. This condition is generally not a death sentence, but a time of caution so that your diabetes doesn't get severe and lead you to future kidney or other problems. The next step is to see a dietitian who can guide you on perhaps changing your eating habits if that is the case. Getting your PCP involved makes for a great team of doctors. The most important step for you to take is to check your blood sugar levels daily and keep that under control. There is a lab test called an A1C that measures your blood sugars over a period of 90 days. Try to stay within the range that your doc says is good for you. In many cases, this condition can be reversed if sugars, exercise, and eating habits change. Stay within this forum for other ideas within Mayo Connect. Good luck!

In many cases not all; weight loss can be a very helpful step.

@rubywitch67 I’ve had diabetes since 1975 when I was 18 years old. I’m 66 now and still here! Previous posters have all suggested good things. There is a lot to absorb at first and it can be overwhelming. Once you get a team of providers together they can help you prioritize next steps to tackle so that the amount and pace is more manageable. (Think bite size pieces over a comfortable time instead of the whole thing at one sitting!) My additional recommendation comes from my perspective as a Christian believer. It is that you are created and loved by God. He is the great physician who will help and sustain you on this new journey. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

I also was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a bit over a year ago...it shocked me into taking action, since my GP wanted to start me on metformin. I already take blood pressure meds and didn’t want to jump into more meds.

Since my numbers weren‘t hugely high (A1C of 6.9) I decided to try lifestyle changes first. I read dozens of books on diabetes; many different opinions on best healthy eating, but all agreed on cutting out sugars, processed food, white flour products, bad oils... I did my best without being totally fanatic about it.

All my blood numbers improved gradually every 4 month blood test, I lost weight slowly (2-3 lbs a month); Now 14 months later, I‘ve lost 30 lbs, bringing my BMI to no longer obese. On my blood test last week, my A1C was 5.7 (just borderline!) and all my heart numbers are now in the normal range, after 20 years of being high. I‘m looking forward to seeing my Dr this week and showing her that more drugs aren‘t the only way to go!

I feel better, exercise is easier, old clothes are all too big, and I enjoy the healthier food. Lots of vegetables, cooked, raw, fruit, still eat meats and dairy and fats, just moderation and avoid the things that I feel are bad.

Best of luck on your situation; I hope you can learn what you need to do. I understand that some people don‘t have all the bad habits and overweight that I had to overcome, and meds are necessary in many cases.

@rubywitch67
Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!
As you see there are others with Type 2 Diabetes
I’m one of them too. When I got diagnosed I got angry! I had eaten healthy, being physically active etc.
Bur- you can’t fight genetics. Many times others in the family will also have Type2 diabetes.
Anyway, I avoided anything with added sugar.
Don’t be too scared-
Listen to the other members sharing their stories.
Weight loss is magic. I lost 45 lbs on a diet over a year.
All my numbers were normal then and I didn’t need to take the medication.

God bless you it is scary type 2 diabetes but it is a slow progressing process and there are many things that you can do and even Small Things help adding vegetables eating good good healthy fats instead of a deep fried there's many things you can do to help get rid of sugary drinks get rid of all kinds of sugar sugars of poison to a diabetic there's all kinds of good things you can eat berries blueberries mixed berries the Frozen kind I like best they're almost like eating ice cream and I eat them with them low fat cottage cheese or no fat cottage cheese or yogurt and it's it's really good you don't have to give up everything chicken breasts baked chicken baked fish salmon there's all kinds of things I I get Ezekiel 4.9 bread it's very good it doesn't have flour in it there's also a lot of things like spinach it helps it helps a whole lot they had spinach to your diet avocados are very good there's all kinds of good things and these things in small amounts make big differences and you'll see your A1C go down quickly I've seen mine go down from 6.4 to 6.1 and I've had diabetes since I was in my 50s and I'm now 73 I have never had to take insulin I think God for that he's the great position he loves us he died on the cross for our sins and he's ready to help us that he will use anything in our lives to get our attention so that will turn to him from our sins and trust him as our Lord and savior I pray a lot find a good church that preaches the Bible and you find plenty of help in prayer and in counsel and in encouragement and there are people in church that have diabetes and a whole lot worse and they help each other prayer and encouragement and fellowship and it always helps to have a good pastor that you can talk with about these things doctors are very limited if they don't know the lord they're very limited and although the Lord uses doctors to help people

@cgs you have some great dietary suggestions to offer in your post.

I am a Christian believer and can relate to the strong testimony of faith you expressed.

My only additional recommendation is to find someone who writes well. Your post needs some editing to add punctuation, paragraphs and sentence structure. This would clarify your fantastic ideas and make them easier to understand.

Thank you! God bless you.

The sad thing is medical society is trained to treat it, not prevent (many in bed with pharmaceutical world). Unless you are proactive as a patient, often, you fall prey to doctors not really noting how your sugar is creeping up in your annual blood work, IF, they order it, and IF, you study it too. I was pre-diabetic and found a good doctor who was progressive, put me on a medically induced diet, what to eat, and not...it was good for years, then, creeped up again. I did not understand how food interacted with pancreas, etc. I went to a John Hopkins endocronologist, who is trained to treat, and since my weight was normal, and I was highly athletic, running, weights, etc., I could not get into their program that offered life coaches. I demanded to see a Dietician, and ONLY the dietician truly explained and understood that despite the fact I avoided added sugars (including fruit), avoided, starches, rice, potatos, bread, pasta, etc., 5 days a week and ate mostly beans, nuts, etc, I was told I did not eat enough protein. So, he had me test my blood daily for 3 months, had me eating a protein whey 30 grams shake daily, and had me adding chicken, fish, daily..in three months I was BACK TO NORMAL range. I was never TYPE 2, was only prediabetes, but so far am back in normal rangew. My ex husband, who was TYPE 2, and for awhile, did not listen to logic, fainted, etc., FINALLY got a dietician, who helped him loose weight, make right food choices, and my daughter told me that he is now no longer TYPE 2 range. You'll have to take initiative, or you will fall thru cracks and be another person who just takes increased medication, to treat it, as life goes on.

First of all, don't panic! There are many resources and support groups out there like this one.

Knowledge is power - get a copy of your blood and urine labs. You want to know your HbA1c - this is a 90 day or so average of your blood glucose. It will give you an idea of how much change you need to make to get it reduced.
A urine test will determine if you have protein in your urine, which is a marker for kidney health and artherosclerosis (heart and kidney troubles go with long term diabetes).

Get a blood monitor. There are some very affordable models on amazon. The meters are all cheap, what you need to compare are the cost of strips. You'll be checking 2-3 times a day, especially at first. Some meters are for techy types and have bluetooth connections to your smart phone, others are simple meters. Whatever you are comfortable with.

Set up an appointment with an endocrinologist at least 2 a year and demand full blood / urine panels. Knowledge is power. Set up an appointment with a dietitian. Having a dedicated team of doctors will help you.

The dietitian may suggest a low fat, low calorie, high carb diet. There are two camps on the best diet for diabetics. I'm not going to choose for you but I had the most success for the longest part of my life doing low carb or keto type diet. This type of diet can be tough for some, however. The fact is that ALL carbs convert to sugar in your body - rice, pasta, bread, corn, oatmeal, cake, fries, mashed potatoes - all carbs. You will find it easier to reduce blood glucose levels when you eat less carbohydrates. Having bloodwork done also lets you know if you have high cholestrol, liver issues or anything else that can influence your diet. If you stick to the lowfat/high carb diet, be sure to pick whole, high fiber, un/low processed choices in smaller amounts.

If you really want to revolutionize your eating - check out Dr. Berg and Flav City on youtube. Getting seed oils out of your diet (vegetable oil, canola oil, soybean oil, etc) will reduce inflammation but this is not the first priority now. Diet and exercise can stave off meds for many people, but don't fear meds if doctors feel you need them.

Walk - the simplest effort burns calories - in the form of sugar in your bloodstream. So walk every day. If you can't walk, ride an exercise bike. Move a bit - doesn't have to be aerobic workout. Walking a mile or so may do wonders for your glucose levels 1 hour post meal.

Ask questions. Ask here, ask your doctor.