New to type 2

andy3103

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi everyone
I was diagnosed type 2 after standard health check. Bit of a shock at first as I put my tiredness down to busy day etc.
Have had the chat with the specialist diabetes nurse which was invaluable.
Now got much clearer view on things and have started tablets with no side effects so far.
Great to know that there is this forum with others in the same situation.
 
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Liam1955

Master
Messages
10,964
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Anti-Gay People, Self Centre People, Two Faced People and Bad Language.
Hi @andy3103 and welcome to the Forum.:) I will tag @daisy1 who will provide you with some basic information that all newbies receive.
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
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Cruelty towards animals.
@andy3103

Hello Andy and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask any questions you want and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
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amgrundy

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,333
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Being bored
Hi everyone
I was diagnosed type 2 after standard health check. Bit of a shock at first as I put my tiredness down to busy day etc.
Have had the chat with the specialist diabetes nurse which was invaluable.
Now got much clearer view on things and have started tablets with no side effects so far.
Great to know that there is this forum with others in the same situation.
Hi andy3103 Welcome to our Forum, you will get over the shock we have all been there. You don't get much info from the Diabetes nurses or Doctors for that matter, stick with us we are a friendly group, someone will always answer you. Stay focused.:)
 
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Pinkorchid

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,927
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi andy3103 Welcome to our Forum, you will get over the shock we have all been there. You don't get much info from the Diabetes nurses or Doctors for that matter, stick with us we are a friendly group, someone will always answer you. Stay focused.:)
Not quite true amgrundy we don't all have bad GP's and nurses many of us are very satisfied with our diabetes team
 

muzza3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Cauliflower pretending to be rice and any vegetable pretending to be pasta
Hi Andy and Welcome

This forum has helped me enormously. There are many members with years of experience and you can feel comfortable to ask any question here and get a response.
 
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Prem51

Expert
Messages
7,393
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
*
Hi @andy3103 and welcome to the forum! It is a shock when you first get that diagnosis and takes a bit of time to get your head around everything, but there's a lot of good advice and support on here. Good to hear that your DN gave you good advice, from people's stories on here they are not all that helpful.
 
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amgrundy

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,333
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Being bored
Not quite true amgrundy we don't all have bad GP's and nurses many of us are very satisfied with our diabetes team
Hi Pinkorchid, I didn t say the doctors and nurses were bad, perhaps I should have rephrased it better. My doctors are very good but didn't get much information about Diabetes other than eat healthy and have go for your eyes and feet tested obviously, this site has told me more RE: diets and food etc; sorry if I have offended anyone.
 
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Pinkorchid

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,927
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Pinkorchid, I didn t say the doctors and nurses were bad, perhaps I should have rephrased it better. My doctors are very good but didn't get much information about Diabetes other than eat healthy and have go for your eyes and feet tested obviously, this site has told me more RE: diets and food etc; sorry if I have offended anyone.
No offence taken just saying some of us have teams who's advice we can take It has been said on the forum sometimes to newbies they should not take any notice of what their nurse or dietician says as it will be bad diet advice but this is not always the case
 
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amgrundy

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,333
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Being bored
Hi Pinkorchid, No offence taken, suppose I should have explained in a little more detail. I was just saying that all the advice I got was like I said eat healthy, was never told to cut any food out, just watch portion sizes. Spent days in supermarkets looking into no sugar and low fat foods, chosen what foods to eat myself with help of this website too. I love the forum < what have you eaten today?> some great ideas. My diabetic nurse is lovely but she did tell me to join this diabetic UK website, last week when I saw her told her I had joined and was pleased I did, so I asked her what she thought of it? she said she had not been on it.:)
 
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andy3103

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all,
Reading through all of the threads it seems there has been mixed support from GP's etc.
I suppose I have been lucky enough to have a specialist diabetic doctor and nurse based at our practise.
Thanks to everybody giving me support and advise.
Andy
 
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Southbeds

Well-Known Member
Messages
260
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all,
Reading through all of the threads it seems there has been mixed support from GP's etc.
I suppose I have been lucky enough to have a specialist diabetic doctor and nurse based at our practise.
Thanks to everybody giving me support and advise.
Andy
As you learn to control and reverse your diabetes with the help of this forum you may change your mind, hope your lucky