Another Newbie with type 2

[Athertonian]

Hello all.

I am new to this forum because of my recent blood test.
I received a call from my local GP asking me to make an appointment to see him. It's a group practice and you can see anyone of five Drs. He told me the result of my recent Blood Test which registered on the Diabetes scale 56. My other tests showed levels of around 44 - 45 which has been average for years. They are not to sure what caused it to be so high but I have an idea why. It was a friends Birthday and a group of us went out for a Curry on a Thursday evening washed down with a few yellow fizzy drinks. Friday I relaxed and drank a bottle of Red wine. Saturday (St Georges day) was a party where I drank quite a few real ales and ate quite a few pieces of home made pie. Sunday I didn't indulge in alcohol but did venture for a carvery. Monday was my Blood test but it wasn't a fasting test. The results came back rapid because it was Tuesday when I got the call and Wednesday I began taking Metformin. I take one after Breakfast and the second week one after breakfast and one after evening meal. I have to take another Blood Test in 2 weeks but this time it will be on a Thursday where no Alcohol consumption and no pies etc.

I'm 60 and always kept myself fit, I visit the Gym three times per week where I do a work out that suits my now disability. I suffer from Osteoarthritis in both knees and wating a knee replacement. I am a CAMRA member (Campaign for real ale) and I enjoy good beer. Fellow beer drinkers who some suffer from Diabetes tell me Beer is ok, it's wine that is full of sugar. The beer I drink is made from (Water, Malt and Hops) and not the yellow fizz called Lager.

Does anyone else believe it could have been the binge that has caused my high levels or is it my general lifestyle that has to answer for.

Dennis.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Both I am sorry to say. The result you received is like a record of your life over the last couple of months and the binge did not help at all. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do something about it. You don't have to turn into a monk but I am afraid that the beer might take a knock. It's not true that beer is fine and wine is not. Both have sugar in and it is only spirits that don't.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi and welcome!

I agree with the Squire.

The test result you got is called an HbA1c, and it gives what is called 'an average' of your blood glucose levels over the last 2-3 months. It is weight more towards recent weeks, but a 4 day food and alcohol binge wouldn't give you a diabetic result of 56( diabetic is over 48) unless your body hasn't been coping for months.

Time for some decisions. You can do it by drugs (the metformin is the first step) but that tends to be a slow escalation of diabetes. Or you can reassess diet and lifestyle and exercise. There is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence on the forum that this can halt or even reverse the development of diabetes.

It is often said that managing type 2 diabetes is 80% diet, with the remaining 20% being a combo of exercise and medication.

Stick around, read up, here and on all the links and studies you will see scattered through the forum.

 

[walnut_face]

I feel for you @Athertonian, i like(d) my beer too, though not a CAMRA member. I was diagnosed at the start of the year with an HbA1c of 96!! I still have a beer but not more than twice a week, and then only a ½. Beer is also known as liquid bread. I still go down the pub, not as often, but none the less still keep in touch with fellow locals. So ½ for me then a G&T (slimline). As has been said your result is not caused by one night out. Your body can no longer cope (on its own) with the life you have led. Have a good read here and ask questions, I have found that a new normal aint that bad after all

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi and welcome,

I have to agree with the others I'm sorry to say. An HbA1c of 56 shows you are well over the diabetic level, not just as a result of a few days of high living, but shows your average glucose over a period of 2 to 3 months (weighted towards the last 3 or 4 weeks of that period but not exclusive of the earlier weeks) You can read about the test here.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

there are other interesting and important links on that page.

As for beer, it contains a lot of sugar and needs to be kept to an absolute minimum. (Sorry!). Spirits, red wine and a dry white are fine.

I will tag @daisy1 who has a lot of useful information for newly diagnosed. Do read her post, and take note of the role of carbohydrates in this game. Read round these forums and also the main website so you can learn as much as you can about this disease, how our pancreas and insulin work, what all the tests are and what all the numbers mean. The more you know the better able you will be to start to control things.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. With regard to alcoholic drinks it all depends on the amount of carbs remaining in the drink. With spirits there will be very little, with dry wine also not much as most of the carbs will have been used-up during fermentation. For beer it again depends on the type of fermentation but there could be quite lot. Note that the carb level is very different from the calorie level from the alcohol which can sometimes cause confusion. The meter will guide you.

 

[daisy1]

@Athertonian

Hello and welcome to the forum To add to the good advice you have received above, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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.

 

[Athertonian]

@Athertonian

Hello and welcome to the forum To add to the good advice you have received above, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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.

 

[Athertonian]

Wow!! that was an eye opener.

Seems as if my socialising life has come to an end because it revolves around Beer. Everyone I associate with are beer drinkers and the conversations are mainly about that subject. I have to change my lifestyle where beers are concerned.

I have never been one for eating biscuits nor sweet stuff. It maybe over fifteen years since I had a slice of cake because I don't like the stuff. Our fridge is full of sweet stuff like cheesecakes but again I have always given them a wide berth.

I can now see why I have not been losing weight, I get frustrated that I visit the Gym three or four times per week and I class myself as fit or even fitter than most people many years younger than myself. I played Football until I was forty three for a team in a local league. It was soon after than when I discovered I had Osteo Arthritis and this has progressed to me fining it difficult to walk any distance. I was a plasterer all my life which has contributed towards my downfall. I still do odd jobs but not on the scale I once did.

It seems as if my Beer intake has prevented me from losing weight, maybe now I may just shed a few pounds.

Dennis

 

[amgrundy]

Wow!! that was an eye opener.

Seems as if my socialising life has come to an end because it revolves around Beer. Everyone I associate with are beer drinkers and the conversations are mainly about that subject. I have to change my lifestyle where beers are concerned.

I have never been one for eating biscuits nor sweet stuff. It maybe over fifteen years since I had a slice of cake because I don't like the stuff. Our fridge is full of sweet stuff like cheesecakes but again I have always given them a wide berth.

I can now see why I have not been losing weight, I get frustrated that I visit the Gym three or four times per week and I class myself as fit or even fitter than most people many years younger than myself. I played Football until I was forty three for a team in a local league. It was soon after than when I discovered I had Osteo Arthritis and this has progressed to me fining it difficult to walk any distance. I was a plasterer all my life which has contributed towards my downfall. I still do odd jobs but not on the scale I once did.

It seems as if my Beer intake has prevented me from losing weight, maybe now I may just shed a few pounds.

Dennis

Hi Athertonian, Welcome to the forum you are in the best place to be. There are lots of friendly people on here ready to answer any questions you may have, you will get lots of advice and support on here. Go to the forum "What Have You Eaten Today " you will see lots of food menus on there from some of us, try some for yourself then test. You will see some people drink wines you may like them. Good luck keep us all posted. PS Your avatar Athertonian does this mean you come from Atherton in Lancashire?

 

[Liam1955]

@Athertonian - Hello and Welcome to the Forum.