Mo – Interview 25
Diagnosed a year ago, Mo currently takes metformin and gliclazide though she began trying to control her diabiates by diet alone.
Mo was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she went for a health check before going on holiday to Jamaica. She had been experiencing some of the symptoms for a while – extreme thirst, weight loss and needing to urinate frequently. She recognised those symptoms could be signs of diabetes and so was not surprised when she was diagnosed.
While Mo was on holiday she ate a lot of sweet mangoes which she loves. However she believes eating so many mangoes made her come up in bumps and her skin feel sore. Initially when diagnosed, Mo was advised to try to control her blood glucose levels by diet, but looking back she felt she did not have enough specific information about how to change her diet. Over the first few months her blood glucose levels continued to be high, so she was put on metformin and gliclazide.
The specialist diabetes nurse at her GP practice told Mo about an ongoing randomised trial study looking at the effect of diet, exercise and medication on people newly-diagnosed with diabetes, and Mo decided to join the study. She finds the study useful because she feels she is getting plenty of medical attention and information. She feels lucky to be able to see the study nurse whenever she needs to, and is pleased to have regular health checks. Mo does not like taking medication and hopes that she may be able to reduce her dose of metformin in the future.