New member, new to diabetes
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sanguine
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- Intolerance, career politicians, reality TV and so-called celebrity culture, mobile phones in the quiet carriage.
Hi, welcome. You're not on your own at all, most of us started in the same way. Have a good read around and ask any questions. Don't panic, it's manageable.
Andy12345
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hi welcome 
we tottally get how your feeling right now, please go ahead and ask anything you like, whatever the questions we have all asked them and someone can always help out, one way or another
Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
we tottally get how your feeling right now, please go ahead and ask anything you like, whatever the questions we have all asked them and someone can always help out, one way or another
Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
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It's good to know that I'm not on my own, I have tried to play it down where my family is concerned as I don't want them to worry over me. One thing I am struggling with at the moment is what I can and can't eat (carbs mostly). I have been recommended a carbs and cals book or app, is there anything else that anyone could recommend, I mistakenly thought that it would be easy and just look at the traffic light system most companies stamp on their products, but I was sooo wrong. Any ideas?
sanguine
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- Intolerance, career politicians, reality TV and so-called celebrity culture, mobile phones in the quiet carriage.
The carbs and cals book (more comprehensive than the app I think) is good for seeing what there is in different foods and meal portions. You need to look at the contents labels of foods and avoid things that have more than 10g per 100g total carbs (ignore the 'of which sugar' bit). Less than 5g/100g if possible. Carbs are sugar for us, getting those down is the most important thing. This probably differs from what the NHS might have told you.
What were your diagnosis test results?
What were your diagnosis test results?
daisy1
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Hi Julie and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help you. I am glad to see that you have already had some good advice from members.
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 100,000 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 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
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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help you. I am glad to see that you have already had some good advice from members.
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 100,000 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
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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
Squire Fulwood
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Hi, My name is Julie and was diagnosed 2 months ago with type 2 diabetes. I'm sure I'm on my own when I say I am totally bewildered by being diagnosed with diabetes. It would be nice to hear off others in the same boat
Welcome Julie you have certainly found the right place. This is definitely the home for the bewildered.
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Wow! You have answered 99.9% all of my questions. I'm not sure if anyone else is the same, but when you get told something that is going to be life changing, info goes in one ear and out the other and is literally just a blur.
I just wish I had of found you all sooner instead of spending the last two months worrying to eat something wrong. In the past 5 days I have read and learnt much more than I have since I was diagnosed, so thank you for your help, and I look forward to hearing from you all in the future
I just wish I had of found you all sooner instead of spending the last two months worrying to eat something wrong. In the past 5 days I have read and learnt much more than I have since I was diagnosed, so thank you for your help, and I look forward to hearing from you all in the future
I was diagnosed type 2 in February. Diabetes is now just an inconvenience to me, It may not be as bad as you think. What was your HbA1c result?
douglas99
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Hi, My name is Julie and was diagnosed 2 months ago with type 2 diabetes. I'm sure I'm on my own when I say I am totally bewildered by being diagnosed with diabetes. It would be nice to hear off others in the same boat
It's taken me nearly 3 years to get my head around it.
But I'm in a better place now, than I was before.
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To be fair I'm not sure, I have had no end of blood tests and then repeated before my GP gave me the news, I also have sacriolliac joint dysfunction (lower back pain) which I'm on a lot of morphine type medication, hence the reason why I was checked, rechecked and then re re checked just to make sure.
But, I have a review coming up with the diabetic clinic soon, so I will get all the details then, I think by then after everyone's kind help I will be armed with the right questions to ask.
But, I have a review coming up with the diabetic clinic soon, so I will get all the details then, I think by then after everyone's kind help I will be armed with the right questions to ask.
