Newly diagnosed

[Maggie/Magpie]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

It is probably a good idea to buy your own blood glucose monitor, unless your very lucky your gp or diabetic nurse won't supply one. But they are good to determine if how you are feeling is due to your blood sugars being too high or too low, then you can do something about it. Also it is good to test your blood sugars before eating and when you go to bed, some also do it 2hours after food to see what foods make them spike and hence learn what to avoid eating. This is useful during the first few months and if you try any new foods, also when you feel wiered/ill. You can purchase them from any chemist or on line. A lot of people on here go for the SD Code free as its cheap on test strips, but I'm sure someone will be along with the details shortly, as I don't use it I can't really advise.

I'm type two, diagnosed last October and on metformin also. Although mine has just been reduced as I've been having a few problems on it. But things are improving. Metformin takes a week to ten days to build up in the system before it starts working properly so if you have been on it 3 weeks it should be working by now.

Sounds like you want to get a grip on all of this and have the right attitude towards this diagnosis. If you have any questions do ask there's always someone around to answer no matter how silly you may feel it is, remember no question is too small either.

Also take a look at the Low Carb High Fat diet, It's worked for me to both loose weight and reduce my HBA1C blood test results but most importantly to feel I'm now in control.

Good luck with it all
Maggie

 

[daisy1]

@Darts_lad

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will 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 147,000 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 free 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. They're all 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.

 

[Goonergal]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

It is probably a good idea to buy your own blood glucose monitor, unless your very lucky your gp or diabetic nurse won't supply one. But they are good to determine if how you are feeling is due to your blood sugars being too high or too low, then you can do something about it. Also it is good to test your blood sugars before eating and when you go to bed, some also do it 2hours after food to see what foods make them spike and hence learn what to avoid eating. This is useful during the first few months and if you try any new foods, also when you feel wiered/ill. You can purchase them from any chemist or on line. A lot of people on here go for the SD Code free as its cheap on test strips, but I'm sure someone will be along with the details shortly, as I don't use it I can't really advise
Maggie

I use the SD Codefree and am very happy with it. You can get it from Home Health https://homehealth-uk.com/

You can also buy from them via Amazon. If buying strips, there are discount codes which only work on their website, not on Amazon. You also have to look for where to post the code - it's pretty close to final check out and simply selecting the quantity won't automatically calculate the discount, so be sure to check. The codes are
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

 

[Resurgam]

Read my post above!

In this parish doctors don't supply a meter to type 2s - I suspect they don't supply insulin either, from what I saw and heard at the diabetes education session last time. Very thin person being advised to go to hospital and one of the educators vanishing off with them as driver when they were intending to go to see their doctor instead.