Diagnosed inadvertently!

[Newyorker]

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed yesterday, I called to ask the results of my blood tests and the secretary's looked at them and her first question was - are you diabetic?? Well, I said I wasn't but I guess I am now!! She told me the results of the tests and made an appointment for me to see my GP on Monday. Of course, being me, I could not have a whole weekend of really not knowing so had the dr. call me back. He told me that my tests were indicative of diabetes and I should come in and see him on Monday and then see a practice nurse. So I haven't had any advice yet. Feeling pretty lost!! I am also in mourning for all the lovely foods that I will no longer be able to have! I have read on here about the LCHF diet so guess that is the best way for me to go. My first questions is what do you have for a treat snack?

The other thing I wanted to ask is does anyone else have problems with feeling in their feet? That is what first brought me to the dr. but as I have fibromyalgia as well I let that symptom go as something related to that. Now I have partial numbness in my feet and always have painful neuropathy in my entire left leg. I have tried all the medications that you can for it - but none have helped and gabapentin helped me to put on 10 pounds! Are there any alternative treatments you can recommend to get the feeling back? Does reflexology or massage help? Will the pain lesson once I get my bg under control?

Thanks all for your advice, just reading thru the comments on this page, I know I have found a great place!

 

[daddys1]

Hi @Newyorker & welcome to the forum, you have certainly come to the right place for lots of help and information plus a lot of support.

I will tag @daisy1 , she will be along with a long list of very helpful information we give to all new members.

Please look a round the forum and don't be afraid to ask what ever questions you need to.

Don't panic as it will take a while for you to get your head around all this.

Reducing your average Blood Sugar levels can relieve the numbness in the feet and also reverse it.

What are you numbers like. Are you you Type1 or 2

Neil

 

[Phlogiston]

Hi Newyorker,
welcome.
Neuropathy in the feet can be a big problem for diabetics. Regular inspections will need to be part of your routine.
Cutting the carbs is a big step - our food producers and sellers love to sell us carbs in many forms. We are subversives, disrupting that.
You cannot cut all carbs. Your body's response to carbs will be different to others. The best thing to do is to get a meter and to test before and after meals to find out what carbs spike your blood glucose and what you can and can't tolerate.
I find that it is better to think about the things I can eat rather than those I can't eat. As far as snacks go cheese, nuts and olives make good savouries. Some on this site have spoken highly of beef jerky.
Good luck with the changes to you diet
Adam

 

[Newyorker]

Hi @Newyorker & welcome to the forum, you have certainly come to the right place for lots of help and information plus a lot of support.

I will tag @daisy1 , she will be along with a long list of very helpful information we give to all new members.

Please look a round the forum and don't be afraid to ask what ever questions you need to.

Don't panic as it will take a while for you to get your head around all this.

Reducing your average Blood Sugar levels can relieve the numbness in the feet and also reverse it.

What are you numbers like. Are you you Type1 or 2

Neil

They haven't told me what Type I am, but just assuming I am type 2! My fasting blood tests numbers were 7.2 first test and 8 for the second test. The other H test they did my result was 53. Do they sound ok?

 

[daisy1]

@Newyorker

Hello and welcome to the forum

As mentioned above, you need to look at your diet to get your levels down. Reduce the amount of carbs you eat. You will find a lot of information about carbs and levels below. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. I hope you will get more detailed answers to your specific questions soon.


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 140,000 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.

 

[daddys1]

Hi @Newyorker ,

The fasting bloods seem not too bad, and the HbA1c at 53 is not too high, HbA1c of 48 is the point where you would be diagnosed with diabetes.

Many are diagnosed much higher than this.

I am sure if you take control through the LCHF diet you will reduce these numbers.

As you will see from this forum most on here test, and eat to their meter. Once you have tested certain meals you will know what you can eat.

Have a look at the LCHF diet forum you will gets lots of tips there for what you should and should not eat. The main items, to stop eating or reduce are Rice Bread Pastry Sugars Pasta and most flour based foods. Watch some fruit also as most of us have berries. I can honestly say since being diagnosed I have thoroughly enjoyed my foods.

Neil
Ps see daisy has arrived, lots of info there which will help you. Going out now, good luck.

 

[Indy51]

There is an excellent recent post on the forum outlining one of the member's success stories that may be helpful to you:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/my-first-year-of-lchf.76070/

 

[kimbo1962]

Hello and welcome newyorker (nice tag!!)
Great advice already from Neil and daisy....you need to have a good read around here, ask as many questions as you need, lots of advice from real people dealing with the same thing and lots of friendship and support
I hardly ever think of what I "ccan't have now, I've changed my tastes so much now. Often at work I get offered things with "can you have?" I reply, "I could, but I'm chosing not too"!! It's got me through workmates birthday cakes etc nicely!!

 

[Newyorker]

Thank you all for the great advice! I am finding a lot of helpful advice on this site. I seem to have lost the thread where the recommendation for the type of blood tester and strips are - can anyone tell me the one I should get?

Thanks again!

 

[kimbo1962]

Thank you all for the great advice! I am finding a lot of helpful advice on this site. I seem to have lost the thread where the recommendation for the type of blood tester and strips are - can anyone tell me the one I should get?
Codefree from home health.co.uk is the most economical - and there's a code for buying 5 packs of strips that gives you a decent discount
Thanks again!