4 days from Diagnoses

vege

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi I'm Vege from Suffolk I'm 56 female and I was I was officially diagnosed this week after a blood test for another problem indicated that I was T2 diabetic .. A 2nd test week confirmed a level of 11 which had gone down from 11.5 the week before ( I had immediately started excising and improved my diet... the GP had said I needed to loose weight). I had no symptoms of diabetes I had removed sugar from my diet about 2 years ago after loosing weight and wanting to keep it off . A visit to the practice nurse and I was given 3 leaflets told to not eat more than 50g of carbs a meal and prescribed Metabet SR 500g for 2 weeks increasing to 1000g . She also said I should go onto statins when I was used to the metabet...My blood pressure was fine.. and cholesterol was 4.2.. my feet were checked and I was told I would be receiving details of a Desmond clinic . I have bought the carbs and calorie counter from Diabetes UK and started to read on here ..and I have also started to record my food intake and my exercise
its all a bit of a whirl really ... any advice is really welcome I don't no how long till I see the Desmond people but the nurse suggested it would be the New Year
 

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,808
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Welcome Vege, I'm the same age and was diagnosed type 2 in May. Once I was over the initial shock, I saw it as the proverbial kick up the bum to get healthier. I was started on Metformin tablets and tolerate them well now after a bit of stomach upset in the early days. I wasn't advised to eat low carb by my GP or Diabetes education course, but stumbled on this forum by chance and took up a low carb life style with self monitoring. I started by eating less than 100g carbs/day to begin with and then after 6 weeks reduced it to 50-70g/day, that’s what I continue on now. Caution needs to be taken on certain drugs going low carb but on just Metformin it’s ok, I believe your Metabet is Metformin too. The best way to see what foods suit you is to test right before a meal and then two hours after the first bite, you’re looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmol/l and to be within these recommended ranges http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
This has worked for me, to date I've lost over 4 stone easily (still more to go) and got my HbA1c (blood test for 2-3 month average blood sugar, the test you’ve had) down to a non diabetic level, all due to the fantastic support and advise I got here. Read around the Forum and I'm sure you'll find a way to do it too!
I’ll tag @daisy1 who will post loads of useful info for you.
 

KathyCP

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
HI Vege, welcome to the forum. I also had no symptoms and was diagnosed by chance, and very glad that it happened, as my feet and eyes have definitely been affected, but not drastically, and hopefully won't deteriorate now that I have my blood sugar levels under control. Great that you've been advised to restrict carbs - I cut out sugar after my diagnosis, which did help, but I have found that it's cutting down the carbs that has made a drastic difference. I'd strongly urge you to get a meter and self-test, as Rachox suggests. While very few of us T2s seem to be able to tolerate starchy carbs, you'll see from reading around the forum that we all react to other sorts of carbs differently (those that are found in fruit, pulses and some vegetables), so it's really worth finding out what you're body is comfortable with and what it doesn't like.
 

vege

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thankyou for your replies So you react to different types of carbs .. that's interesting I was surprised to see what carbs were in different things.. I eat a lot of veg having a free supply as my partner runs a box veg scheme... is this testing something I can start before I go to the desmond .. I want to feel like I'm doing something positive .. although a new diet and exercise programme is a good start I suppose
 

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,808
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thankyou for your replies So you react to different types of carbs .. that's interesting I was surprised to see what carbs were in different things.. I eat a lot of veg having a free supply as my partner runs a box veg scheme... is this testing something I can start before I go to the desmond .. I want to feel like I'm doing something positive .. although a new diet and exercise programme is a good start I suppose
The sooner you start testing, the sooner you’ll know what you can tolerate. I can tolerate one very small potato with my meat and veg. I am also ok with carrots. Some type 2s avoid all root vegetables. Danger foods tend to be starchy veg, fruit apart from berries, cereals, rice, bread and pasta. That’s why testing is important to find what your body can deal with. Your Desmond course will more than likely not advocate testing and the dietary advice will probably be old thinking.
Blood glucose meters are inexpensive, some are even free but you need to consider the ongoing cost of the testing strips.
 

AdamJames

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,338
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello Vege,

The advice to do your own testing, and consider going low carb, is pretty much the best advice based on my own experience. If you can tolerate the 50g of carbs per meal the practice nurse suggested as a maximum, I'd be very surprised.

When I started testing regularly, I realised that I was very carb intolerant. A quarter of a slice of rye bread, for example, containing 6g of carbs, would put me well in the danger zone. And the foods that many people recommended, such as oats, were no good for me - I might as well have been eating sugar or white bread.

A good example of how everyone is different is a recent experiment where people were given white bread and wholemeal bread. For some, they had less of a blood sugar with white bread than wholemeal, and vice-versa. The experimenters thought it might be something to do with people having different gut bacteria, as they had analysed that also and there was a difference.

So trust only your meter. And don't trust it too much: a modern one can easily be 15% out, my older one is rated to be up to 20% out, and sometimes I take multiple readings and sure enough I can get say a 5.6 then a 6.6 within seconds. So when you think you've found a food you like and it doesn't cause a dangerous spike, test it again at a later date. You'll probably get a different result, both because of meter inaccuracy, and also what you have been doing in the days and hours before can change things. It can be very frustrating, but at least it's data, and eventually you'll build a fairly reliable picture of what foods you can safely eat.
 
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Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. I would try to keep the daily carb total down rather than limit it to 50gm per meal as it's the total carbs that matter. Why are you being offered stains? Don't let the surgery place you on statins unless they can show that your cholesterol lipids ratios are not good. As your total is only 4.2 I suspect your ratios may be quite good. Statins are not a diabetes drug so don't let them imply they are. You need a fasting blood test for good lipids results so you may want to hang on until your next HBa1C blood test, ask for a lipids test and make it fasting.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I have found that a meal containing 6 grams of carbs from low carb foods is not going to raise my blood glucose as high nor as long as a small amount of a high carb food, even if eaten as part of a meal - but if eaten alone it will elevate my level and keep it high for quite a while longer than I would have expected. I can eat up to 60 gm of carbs a day as an absolute maximum and not see really high numbers - over 8mmol/l. I do prefer to stay lower, though.
I found that a first meal with a fairly small amount of carbs is my best option, then eating more carbs with my evening meal is fine.
 
Last edited:

daisy1

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

Hello Vege and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting. Ask as many questions as you want 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 well over 259,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 

TheBigNewt

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,167
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Remember Type 2 diabetes has been around forever. "Low carb" diets are now quite the trend, kinda like "gluten free" for people who don't have the celiac disease. Sales of gluten free foods/products in the US are up 30% this year, and they cost about 30% more. IMO 50g of carbs/meal is pretty low, that's only 200 calories. More important is to lose weight. Statins are not for diabetes, they are to lower a Type 2 diabetic's increased risk of a cardiovascular event. Where I work statins and low dose ACEI's (ie lisinopril) are prescribed to Type 2 diabetics routinely.
 
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Bluetit1802

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

If you want to find your personal carb tolerance level you do need a meter. If and when you get one we can help you use it to your best advantage. Everyone of us is different in which carbs we can cope with, and how many. You will find people on this forum eating between less than 20g a day up to about 100g a day. People taking insulin tend to eat more because they can (if they want) inject extra insulin to cover extra carbs. Those of us on Metformin or diet only cannot do this, we have to rely on our own natural insulin production. In my opinion, 50g carbs per meal is far too much.

Your doctor will have offered you statins because the NHS guidelines are to put all diabetics on statins, which can be counter productive because these pills can raise blood sugar levels and can have unpleasant side effects. If I were you I would ask for a print out of your test results so you can see for yourself which tests you had, what the results were, and what the standard range is. It is often essential to have these print outs as we have a lot of blood tests and need to know how we are progressing or deteriorating. Never rely on doctors or nurses to tell you. They are too fond of saying "fine" or "all is OK" when you may be teetering on the edge of not being. You need to know. It isn't just glucose that is important to diabetics, it is also cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, liver and kidney functions. By the way, if you are in England your surgery may put test results on line. You can ask about this service and how to register for it.
 

vege

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thankyou for all the information everyone.. I followed the link for the Low Carb programme I wasn't aware that you had to pay for it.. I shall look into getting my test results... looking up my surgery online it doesn't look like they have online information.. I also need to find out about prescriptions ... and prepayments.. I'm learning more everyday
 

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,808
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I did join the low carb program before they started charging, but to be honest I only looked at week one then went it alone I wanted to be able to adapt my diet myself and used websites like Diet Doctor and Ditch the Carbs for recipe ideas.
As for getting an exemption certificate (which is actually a card), you’ll need to get a form filled out and signed by your G.P. then send it off. Here’s the website with all the details:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/exemption-certificates/medical-exemption-certificates
 

Phoenix55

Well-Known Member
Messages
577
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Welcome Vege, I am also in Suffolk and diagnosed without symptoms two years ago. Do buy yourself a test kit, it lets you have a degree of confidence that what you are eating is not raising your bg too high. I kept a food diary with readings before and 2 hours after meals, exercise and noticeable moods for several months until patterns were clearly established by testing each meal at least twice. Now I test each morning and occasionally during the day to make sure that I am staying within the numbers that I am happy with, my experience with the local practice was less positive than yours following diagnosis so I am working on my own with online support that I have found here.

I was lucky and did not have too much weight to lose, and six months of a pound a week left me back at a weight I was happy with, not too thin but I dropped a couple of dress sizes so next summer you will need a new wardrobe! (A real hardship having to go out and buy new clothes. :))) Set yourself a target, I determined that I was going to take part in the Sudbury fun walk on Good Friday and raised money for a local charity by completing it. Make a start on losing weight and increasing exercise and you may find that you can cut back on the drugs if you want, check out the side effects of anything you are prescribed at the drug company's own website it can be an eye-opener and inform the decisions you make about how they fit into your life. Best wishes and good luck on this adventure into finding out about your body.
 

vege

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Bit of an update I have purchased a meter and am testing (pre breakfast results vary between 6.0 and 7.5 ) and keeping a record of what I eat. I am now on 2x 500g tablets of Metabet a day and finding it has the opposite result to many people.. I have lost nearly 3kg (diet started 27th November) down to 79kg I am also walking at least 2/3 miles a day My exemption form has been sent and I await the card but I have no news at all about the Desmond I was told about...
 
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DCUKMod

Master
Staff Member
Messages
14,298
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Bit of an update I have purchased a meter and am testing (pre breakfast results vary between 6.0 and 7.5 ) and keeping a record of what I eat. I am now on 2x 500g tablets of Metabet a day and finding it has the opposite result to many people.. I have lost nearly 3kg (diet started 27th November) down to 79kg I am also walking at least 2/3 miles a day My exemption form has been sent and I await the card but I have no news at all about the Desmond I was told about...

Hi Vege - My understanding is that for the DESMOND course; you should be attending within 9 months of diagnosis, so maybe not best use of time to watch every postal delivery! :)

Sounds like you are making your own way with this thing. Well done, and keep it up. Good luck with it all.
 

ringi

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,365
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I eat a lot of veg having a free supply as my partner runs a box veg scheme...

The easy rule to use for veg, is that
  • all grean veg is great
  • above ground other the fruit is OK
  • avoid fruit other than a few barriers
  • (tomato etc may be technically a fruit but think of them as above ground veg)
  • below ground veg you need to look up how much carb it contains (onions are ok, potatoes are not)
The more you cook or mash the quicker your body adsorbs the carbs, hence mash or baked potatoes are much worse than boiled potatoes. Juices are never a good option for the same reasons.

It is OK to add some butter, olive oil or lemon juice to the veg and salad, but avoid ready made dressing as they often contain suger.
 

vege

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Well things have progressed here and not in a good way.. the original problem I went to the doctors for has been diagnosed and I definitely have to have a quick Hysterectomy further diagnosis after that will decide if I need more treatment options..
I am now testing at around 6.1 most mornings and have lost another kg the metabet is definitely making me more constipated which may be a problem with the surgery.. any tips for hospital stays gratefully received as I don't want to lose the progress I've made.. many thanks for all your help this forum has been very useful
 
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Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,808
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Well things have progressed here and not in a good way.. the original problem I went to the doctors for has been diagnosed and I definitely have to have a quick Hysterectomy further diagnosis after that will decide if I need more treatment options..
I am now testing at around 6.1 most mornings and have lost another kg the metabet is definitely making me more constipated which may be a problem with the surgery.. any tips for hospital stays gratefully received as I don't want to lose the progress I've made.. many thanks for all your help this forum has been very useful
Sorry to hear about your need for surgery. I recently had a few nights stay in hospital just before Xmas. Any trauma will probably raise your blood sugar for a little while. I had surgery on one foot and a steroid shot in the other (steroid shots especially are renown for raising blood sugars).
They will probably check your blood sugar on arrival, before each meal, in recovery and at bedtime. I took my own meter and did the aftermeal tests when I was able. If you have chosen a low carb diet then breakfast will be impossible! Cereals and toast were all I had to choose from. I took a cool bag with nuts, low sugar custard mini pots, Babybel cheeses, pork scratchings, some home made low carb shortbread and 10 cal jellies. I had some weird breakfasts! Lunch and dinner weren’t so bad, my hospital did at least have a plain omelette, veggies and side salad at every meal so that’s what I lived on. I chose a full fat creamy yoghurt for dessert as they were less carbs than the low fat ones but they weren’t ideal so I just had a couple of mouthfuls. Hope it all goes well for you x
 

AtkinsMo

Well-Known Member
Messages
591
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I would do a lot of reading and research before I considered taking statins. Actually, that is quite untrue, there are no circumstances where I would consider taking statins. There has never been a clinical trial that has shown any benefits for statins for women, never. The women with the highest cholesterol have the greatest longevity. There is a tiny benefit for men who have never had a heart attack and a slightly bigger benefit for men who have previously had a heart attack, and this has been misrepresented as a 44% risk reduction, using relative risk measures, when it actually showed that 1% reduction in risk, as most of us would interpret it. Instead of 2 in 100 men having a heart attack not on statins, just over 1 in 100 will have a heart attack on statins. What all of these studies forget is that we all have a 100 risk of mortality! Statins frequently cause a rise in HbA1c. As Malcolm Kendrick says, Statins will not extend your life, they may change the cause of death that I write on your death certificate. The best things you can do, you are already doing, walk more, get good sleep, try to eliminate stress from your life as much as possible, get out in the fresh air and walk and of course, get your HbA1c down to normal.

Here is the video (previously posted on here) that explains it. Drug companies have a duty to make profits for share-holders not to make us well. Unfortunately, drug companies fund and provide most of the Continuous Professional Development for our Doctors and nurses, so they only get to hear one side of the story.