I got the results of my HbA1c today. Its 62 (8). The nurse wants to see me next wednesday.
Help!!! she sounded worried.
Help!!! she sounded worried.
Bad luck @serenity648 You have already found this forum, so that's a great start in managing your condition 
62 is not so bad and you should be able to get that down in no time so try not to worry.
62 is not so bad and you should be able to get that down in no time so try not to worry.Hi and welcome. Yes, 62 is not good so the nurse will want to talk about diet and probably some initial medication. You may well be prescribed Metformin which most of us have and is a good safe drug which helps blood sugar a bit but don't expect miracles with it. If it should give you any stomach issues that they should settle within 1-2 weeks but if not do ask for the SR (Slow Release) version. Sadly NHS diet advice can be very bad and may make your diabetes worse. Do follow diet advice which you will find on these forums and Daisy should be along shortly with a very good summary. Basically carbs raise blood sugar due to the glucose they are converted to so keep these down. Proteins and fats as well as veg etc are good as they hardly affect blood sugar and keep you feeling full for longer. If you have excess weight then the lower-carb diet should help with both weight loss and blood sugar reduction.
bulkbiker
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As no-one has tagged @daisy1 I will so she can give you her great intro to low carbing and controlling your elevated blood sugars by diet. Don't worry too much, you will find lots of useful advice here so check out some of the low carb forums and maybe some of the success stories so you can see its not all doom and gloom.
Just remember its your body, your condition and you can take control.
All the best
Mark
Just remember its your body, your condition and you can take control.
All the best
Mark
daisy1
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@serenity648
Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Read the advice which other members will give you in answer to your questions.
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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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 and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Read the advice which other members will give you in answer to your questions.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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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.
I am 99.9% sure i wont be told to self test. I have had a look at meters, and the link I was given to the SD Codefree one. Is this a good one to try first? and doesnt it hurt?
Thank you Daisy1 (sorry, cant see how to tag you)
Thank you Daisy1 (sorry, cant see how to tag you)
13lizanne
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To tag someone just type in @ immediately followed by username as in @serenity648 Good luck at your nurses appointment and with the self-testing
Many posters have said they are happy with the SD Codefree. Using the finger lance does hurt a bit (sorry) but you get used to it. If you warm the finger before using the lance you can use a low setting as blood flows more easily. Lances vary a bit so be prepared to try others. Always use the side of the finger and not the main pad area opposite the nail as it's less sensitive
If you are lucky (as I am) Metformin will change your world. I lost all interest in eating sweet food when I started taking it (500mg x2) and have lost around 17 kilos in 11 weeks without even trying. One thing you will soon realise is that the NHS hasn't got a clue how to handle diabetes and isn't the slightest bit interested in helping you. The SD Codefree is an excellent meter. Read this forum and it will all start to make sense.
I have ordered a meter and test strips today. I dont like the sound of taking tablets though : (
Hi @serenity648,
It is early days for you and you can tell your team that you are going to try diet and exercise for three months to see if you are able to improve your readings if you don't fancy medication. Nobody can make you take it and if after three months your blood glucose is not coming down then you may be more amenable to discussing medication. The choice is yours rather than someone telling you that you have to take medication.
If you read around the forum you will see that there are plenty of Type2 members who opted to try diet and exercise first.
Once your meter arrives and you start testing then your food choices will become more obvious.
Take care and try not to worry as this chronic condition is manageable.
It is early days for you and you can tell your team that you are going to try diet and exercise for three months to see if you are able to improve your readings if you don't fancy medication. Nobody can make you take it and if after three months your blood glucose is not coming down then you may be more amenable to discussing medication. The choice is yours rather than someone telling you that you have to take medication.
If you read around the forum you will see that there are plenty of Type2 members who opted to try diet and exercise first.
Once your meter arrives and you start testing then your food choices will become more obvious.
Take care and try not to worry as this chronic condition is manageable.
thanks. especially about the manageable bit. It feels a bit scary right now. And my son didnt help by asking if my legs would drop off. I think he is confusing it with misinformation about leprosy?
How long does it take for my sugar levels to come down if i start low carbing? I am a bit wary of the High Fat idea as I am the size of a baby elephant already
eldergarth
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It does take a few weeks to get your BG down on the lowcarb high fat diet but it is worth it dont worry about the high fat bit all your doing is replacing the carbs for fat to you energy and trust me you will loose weight without trying ive lost 1.3 stone in 4 weeks y following the lchf program on this site
Good luck
Mike d
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High fat does not have a bearing on weight if you low carb and mix it with daily exercise. Common misnomer
satindoll
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Hi,
HF doesn't mean stuffing loads of fat, it can be as simple as changing low fat spread to butter or low fat cheese to full fat and if you like milk in your tea going onto full milk and even putting double cream in your coffee, just these small changes can make a big difference.
Daphne917
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Hi @serenity648 don't look at it as High fat but Full fat. You are probably like me - thinking that you are eating healthily because you have low fat, low sugar foods and plenty of fruit however once I joined this forum and started to read the food labels I was horrified at the number of carbs in it. I changed to eating full fat yoghurts, milk, more cheese and eggs etc; cut down or stopped eating altogether rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, fruit apart from berries to name but a few. I haven't reduced my carb intake as much as many forum members because i can still eat 2 small potatoes, a slice of seeded bread or bran flakes (tested with my trusty BS monitor) but, even so, it worked and I am glad I took a leap of faith. Good luck in whatever you decide
where i live, in the back of beyone, we have a Tescos about an hour away, and thats it. I have yet to find good, unadulteratd food at Tesco, or full fat yogurts. Any idea of where to buy good foord online?
off to the nurse in a moment. I am already a bit miffed as she has asked me to write down everything I eat this week, and then went on and on about being honest, and putting down everything, and not cheating. She hasnt even met me yet, this was by phone, and she is already assuming i am a greedy pig and liar.
