Goonergal, as Yvonne Lane is known on the diabetes.co.uk forum, tells us how the forum has provided her with a friendly place to find out new things about diabetes and be part of the family community.
In our second Meet Your Diabetes Family segment, we catch up with Goonergal who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2016 and is now one of our diabetes.co.uk forum moderators.
Yvonne was not given much information from her health team when she was diagnosed, so the forum helped her to learn a lot and she encourages others to arm themselves with knowledge to best approach their diet and lifestyle for type 2 diabetes.
- When were you diagnosed?
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in either November or December 2016.
- How much did you know about type 2 diabetes before being diagnosed?
I knew a bit, my friend had gestational diabetes which then developed to type 2 diabetes.
- How do you manage your type 2 diabetes?
Through following a low carb diet.
- What support have you received since being diagnosed?
Its been limited medical wise. I’ve not received much information from them. When my GP diagnosed men, they mentioned Diabetes UK and also prescribed me metformin, which I refused. I Googled Diabetes UK but came across the Diabetes.co.uk forum instead – I’m happy I did!
- When did you join the Diabetes.co.uk forum?
It was a month or so later – January 2017.
- What were your first thoughts when joining the forum?
I’m not sure really. I think I was just looking around for information. I knew about low carb through a friend so I was just cross referencing my knowledge and looking at foods I could and couldn’t eat. I thought it was a friendly place. You could post a question and get answers, for example.
- How has the forum helped you with managing your diabetes?
It’s taught me a lot about diet and most importantly about testing my blood sugar levels. This was something that had never been mentioned to me before so was the first thing I asked about. They recommended me a meter and I could ask questions about it. There’s a lot of knowledgeable people on there who do their own research.
- What’s your favourite thing about the forum? Any favourite threads for example?
I’m probably most active on ‘what have you eaten today’. I’m also a moderator so I read through things I wouldn’t usually.
- What advice would you give to someone who’s just been diagnosed with type 2?
My first bit of advice would be not to panic. Look at what you’re eating and the carb content in different foods. Read about low carb and try to figure out what changes you can make to sustain this way of living.
- What advice would you give to the family of someone who’s just been diagnosed to help support them?
I think they need to understand why the person is making the changes they are. Dietary advice can be contradictory, so I think they need to take the time to read and understand. I live alone, so it was easier for me to make the changes, but if you’re living with a family, it’s important that they understand why you need to change your diet.
