Ok. Deep breath. New Type2.
- Thread starter Hobbes
- Start Date
ButtterflyLady
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Welcome, it's understandable that it's a shock at first, but there is nothing to be scared about as I am sure you will be able to get things under control. You are on the right track, and once you get more information about what to do, you'll be on your way to managing it well. Good luck and keep us posted. 
axle 222
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- Not being able to do what I would like to be able to do
Hello welcome to the forum, plenty of people been in /at same stage as you, you will be fine. We all started scared ,but so many helpful people on here you'll soon be in control....wishing you well......
daisy1
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@Hobbes
Hello Hobbes and welcome to the forum To help you, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and you will get plenty of replies from other 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 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 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.
Hello Hobbes and welcome to the forum
To help you, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and you will get plenty of replies from other 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 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
- 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.
sanguine
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Patricia21
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Hi and welcome.
Dont be scared,I was scared but not now.
Stay with the forum and you will get lots of help and advice.
Dont be scared,I was scared but not now.
Stay with the forum and you will get lots of help and advice.
- Messages
- 2
- Type of diabetes
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- Diet only
What a lovely welcome. I have taken some of the advice already- I need to lose weight anyway so quite excited about the motivation for that. Unfortunately this news has coincided with being made redundant - I finish in two weeks. But my job involved lots of travel and overnight strays and this contributed to piling on weight- Prem inn Meals and too many nights in the bar. So I hope to mget a new less stressful job near home.
axle 222
Well-Known Member
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- 243
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Insulin
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- Not being able to do what I would like to be able to do
Bluetit1802
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Hi and welcome aboard.
It is only natural to be scared, but you have done brilliantly in finding this forum so soon after diagnosis. All the help you need is on here.
Was your score of 14 just a fasting blood glucose test, or was it an HbA1c blood test? You really need to know this. What did your doctor tell you? Did you ask for print outs of your blood results? If not, I suggest you do. You will find them very useful, if not essential, further down the line. You will be having a lot of blood tests from now on, and you need to be able to compare.
It is only natural to be scared, but you have done brilliantly in finding this forum so soon after diagnosis. All the help you need is on here.
Was your score of 14 just a fasting blood glucose test, or was it an HbA1c blood test? You really need to know this. What did your doctor tell you? Did you ask for print outs of your blood results? If not, I suggest you do. You will find them very useful, if not essential, further down the line. You will be having a lot of blood tests from now on, and you need to be able to compare.
JAY1JAY1
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- 623
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- Tablets (oral)
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- Diabetes
High and welcome
Good luck with the job hunting sorry but can't help you there . As for the diabetes lower your carb intake and it sounds strange but up your fat intake you will loose weight, keep away from anything that says fat free or light if there's no fat then there is a lot of sugar don't have them .you don't have to eat salad all the time ( some yes but not all) loads of other stuffs you can have .
Let us know how you get on
Keep well stay safe JJ
Good luck with the job hunting sorry but can't help you there . As for the diabetes lower your carb intake and it sounds strange but up your fat intake you will loose weight, keep away from anything that says fat free or light if there's no fat then there is a lot of sugar don't have them .you don't have to eat salad all the time ( some yes but not all) loads of other stuffs you can have .
Let us know how you get on
Keep well stay safe JJ
Gezzabelle
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- Messages
- 1,280
- Type of diabetes
- Prediabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hello and welcome. Scared is the natural reaction but trust me, ....it does get better and easier. Here on this forum you will find a lot of helpful advice and information that will help you on the way. Have a good look around the threads ..especially the diet and recipe sections. Ask as many questions you need to and try not to worry too much...stress isn't good for you
Gravity-Carb
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- Type of diabetes
- Other
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi Hobbes
Sorry about the redundancy situation, sometimes it appears that Type2 just needs a push of stress to tip the balance.
Onwards and upwards, welcome, there's a friendly bunch here, look around but try not to let yourself get over whelmed with all of the information. Think the long game, healthy blood sugar, and you'll be gold.
