Newbie Here

Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi! I'm Laura. New to this forum. Im 42yoa and a mom of 4. Just diagnosed with diabetes this weekend, while on vacation, when i went to the hospital on July 4th for chest pains and my blood sugar came back over 300. Hope to learn alot from this forum and meet people that are dealing with diabetes too.
 

catinahat

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,386
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Reality tv
@daisy1
Welcome to the forum,
daisy1 will be along soon with her new members information pack. It's a great place to start learning how to get things under control. Any questions just ask, there is always someone willing to help.
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@lcsodispatcher

Hello Laura and welcome to the forum :)

Here, as a place to get started, is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helps you. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help you.

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.
 

4ratbags

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,334
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome to the forum, you are in the right place. Your post jumped out at me as I am 42 and a mother of 4 and I also had to go to hospital with chest pains and my BS was over 300 as well, it just seemed ironic. Anyway enough about that, don't be afraid to ask any questions, there is always someone on here who can help. Have a good read through the post above as it contains much of the information you will need to kick diabetes to the curb. It can be done, look forward to hearing more from you. Keep us posted on your progress.
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi and welcome. That blood sugar reading implies it was taken outside of the UK. Be aware that any reading in the UK will use mmol units. Can you let us know you current BMI and what sort of diet you have. If you should have excess weight then a low-carb diet is the highest priority. Do get hold of a glucose meter so you can learn what foods affect you. Do see the UK GP and register as a diabetic. You may be given the drug Metformin which is vary safe and most of us have. It doesn't work miracles but helps.