Just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes

[ajleigh]

Just been diagnosed yesterday as type 2. I was given a diet sheet and told to make an appointment with the nurse.
What happens now?

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Welcome to the forum. What usually happens is that you meet with the diabetes nurse and they tell you that type 2 is progressive and will slowly get worse and you will be giving a series of prescriptions of ever more powerful drugs until finally you will be on insulin injections. Then they will tell you to follow the eatwell healthy plate government dietary guidelines (no doubt that's the info on the sheet they gave you), which is mostly carbs ("we need to eat lots of carbs for proper brain function" they will say, but this is not true) and very low fat. Or at least that was my experience. Sounds like fun? I guess not.

Or, you can have a look around this forum and see how others, including me, have taken type 2 by the horns and wrestled it to the ground to surprise of the nurse who told us that type 2 is progressive. Very simply, I changed my diet to low carb/high fat by following this simple way to eat: eat only real low carb food (no factory processed "food", no margarine. no veg/grain oils, no sugar, no rice, no potatoes/starch veg, and no pasta/bread/grains). Eat fresh meat and fresh non-starchy veg and eggs and cheese. This website explains it in more depth:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

All this assumes that you have progressed by now so far with your diabetes that your pancreas is shot. In that case it's a little more difficult.

One critical piece of advice I can give you is to always get a print out of your lab results when you have a consultation to go over them.

Anyway, @daisy1 will be along soon to provide more info for you. Good luck!

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome,

If your nurse is doing her job properly she will weigh you, take BP, ask for a urine sample for testing, arrange for you to have a diabetic foot test (or she may do this herself) and put your name forward for retinal eye screening and a Type 2 course of some description. All this is routine and part of the Type 2 Care Pathway all doctors should be following. She may take further blood tests if you didn't get the whole range before diagnosis. Then depending on the level of your diagnosis (HbA1c blood test result) she may prescribe medication or suggest you try diet and exercise only for an initial period. Then you should get an appointment to see her again in 3 months time.

I strongly suggest you ask for a print out of all your blood test results, HbA1c, cholesterol, lipids, liver and kidney functions, full blood counts etc. You will need these for reference further down the line, and you need to know where you are starting from so you can set yourself targets for the future.

Good luck, and please ask as many questions as you wish.

 

[daisy1]

@ajleigh

Hello and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask all the questions 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

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.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. If the diet sheet you have been given is a standard NHS one then you may choose to ignore it and follow the diet advice on this forum and that given by Daisy. You need to keep the carbs down and have enough protein, fats and veg to make you feel full. Fats are not bad for us and all carbs are a problem and not just sugar. Bluetit has given you a typical good appointment scenario. You should be given an Hba1C blood test within 3 months. The surgery may wait for 3 months whilst you diet (which won't work if it's the NHS one!). The eye tests and other tests including further HBa1Cs should be given at least annually. You may be started on Metformin which is a good, safe drug which many of us have. It helps a bit but diet is the key.

 

[dunelm]

Hi @ajleigh and welcome to the forum.
Like you, I have been recently diagnosed as T2.
Lots of good info above and important to get the readout of your results.
Look around the forum and in particularly diet and testing using a kit.
Also - breath - it's not the end of the world it just means that you need to take charge. Smile and nod nicely at the nice diabetic nurse, say thank you very much - but take charge.

 

[Nat_2015]

i @ajleigh Welcome to the forum! I remember the day I was diagnosed - the surgery all of a sudden seemed to be buzzing and everyone behind the front desk wanted to get a look at me! lol The diet sheet is standard NHS diet blurb. This site and forum are your best resource for achieving good blood sugar levels - the advice already given is proof of this. Take some time to read as much as you can here, and on other sites too, so that when you go to your next appointments you can understand what they are saying to you.

Ask anything here and you will get plenty of answers to help you. Good luck in your journey

 

[smigger62]

Only advice I can.give is TAKE YOUR MEDIA .dont ignore whats being.said it's only to help you
..im sorry I did..now I'm playing catch up......good luck fighting . The fight

 

[SueB743]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Great that you are getting an appointment with the nurse. In the meantime have a good look around the site and try and process the information so that you can make an informed choice of what to do next.many members have been able to control through diet which involves making changes but ultimately worth it. All seems a minefield at first but once you get used to things it gets easier

 

[JoyceGlasgow]

Hi
Welcome to the forum. Like you I have recently been diagnosed Type 2. All a bit daunting but the support from the forum is great best place I have found for helpful information about what to expect.
Take care

 

[cath99]

welcome ask lots of questions here lot of people including myself been the newbie its hard i know i do low carb as it works for me keeps my sugers down and weight remained off , xx