Am I or arn't I

GaryB59

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone, my names Gary and a day before my birthday (55) i had to go and see the Diabetic nurse to discuss my third blood test,i was informed that i was now on the Diabetic registar of my local practice,she then gave me the leaflets and mini booklets about diet change and the effects i could get if my diet didn't change, my question is,is that she never actually said what levels i had or which type, T1 or T2, im assuming T2 because of just the diet change. i also have an eye checking appointment and a foot appointment to go to now as well !
Any info would be appreciated,
Thanks
 

andcol

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
3,176
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I would say you need to ring the surgery and actually get your diagnostic levels because without them it will be hard to tell how far from normal levels you actually are.

In the meantime why not let us know what your current diet is and we can help you adjust it to lower you blood glucose levels.

I would also suggest you purchase a BG monitor (many of us use the SD Codefree as the test strips are cheaper than the others - have a look on amazon). Additionally have a look around the site and read the information and ask any questions you may have. @daisy1 will be along shortly to provide some initiial information
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi and welcome. Be wary of the diet info you have been given by the NHS as it can be truly awful and make your condition worse. Look around the forum and ask more questions and we can help with that new diet
 

GaryB59

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks for the info,i bought myself a book called "Can I Eat That"off Amazon , its quite helpful,but i'll deffo be looking on this forum for more info,diet at the moment is mainly looking at the packaging of foods to see all the content, its not confusing at all !!!!!!!!:eek:, ive upped my exercise and cut all the bad food stuff (i think they're bad!)
Again,thanks for the input, you can expect more questions for sure
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello and welcome.

It does sound like you are Type 2 or you would be given medication. You must ring up and ask for your test results. Without them you have no idea where you are and whether or not you are improving. You are working blind. Ask what type of test it was (HbA1c is the likely one). It is a better idea to ask for the print outs as these may show further details such as cholesterol, liver and kidney functions, which will all be very useful to you if you are to control this disease.

It is highly likely the leaflets will tell you to follow the Healthy Plate diet, cut out sugar, but eat anything else in moderation and include carbohydrates in every meal. Sadly, this diet does not help diabetics. Carbs are the enemy and need to be reduced. By how much will depend on what your home meter tells you - so you must get hold of one with plenty of extra strips, as you will need them! read food labels and look for the "total carbohydrate" amount. Ignore the "of which sugars". Try to avoid everything over 10g carbs per 100g. Even better is to keep it to 5g per 100g.

Good luck, and ask as many questions as you like.
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
Hi Gary and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members which Andrew Colvin referred to. I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you need to 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 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
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.