As a newby on here I hope you guys will guide me to a better life. I have been type 2 diabetic for 5 years and have been diet controlled all the way so far. My recent check up revealed changes so I have been advised to start on metformin which I have just started. Hope to get to know you all in time.
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Hi my first post.
- Thread starter Samm1956
- Start Date
Hi and welcome!
You have come to the right place
Was there anything in particular about your current life/diet/diabetic control that you wanted to focus on?
You have come to the right place
Was there anything in particular about your current life/diet/diabetic control that you wanted to focus on?
Energize
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 810
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
HI Samm1956u
Welcome to the forum. We're a friendly bunch here are there is a lot of expertise which members are happy to share. You don't say how you control your diabetes and, as it would appear you are wanting to tighten your control may I suggest a couple of things?
Firstly, do you have a glucose measuring meter? No doubt your Diabetes nurse will have told you that Type 2's don't need to test and also not to reduce your starchy/carbohydrate foods. This is very common amongst Type 2's but, in fact, they tell you not to test because they don't want to supply a meter and test strips, as they cost £££s
I would strongly suggest you buy yourself a meter and test immediately before meals, one hour and two hours after the first bite of the meal. This will show how that food is affecting your glucose levels. Control is almost impossible without testing, in most of our opinions here. The SD CodeFree is a reasonable priced meter and the test strips are the better price compared to others. Obviously, the on-going costs are the test strips, so do take this into account.
The second thing I would suggest is to reduce the starchy / carbohydrate foods in your diet. Initially, it seems rather daunting but, in fact, many of us on here enjoy the Low Carb High(er) Fat diet and don't feel hungry, myself included (which is totally amazing as I've never been able to stick at any other diet before If you need to lose weight, again the LCHF diet is useful for losing weight - yes, in spite of eating fats
I'm tagging @daisy1 who will post some very useful information, which will include some details regarding what causes an increase in blood levels. It is obviously up to you as to which way you feel you'd like to go regarding food choices etc. It's not a 'one-size fits all' scenario.
Wishing you all the best with getting better control and looking forward to hearing your progress
Welcome to the forum. We're a friendly bunch here are there is a lot of expertise which members are happy to share. You don't say how you control your diabetes and, as it would appear you are wanting to tighten your control may I suggest a couple of things?
Firstly, do you have a glucose measuring meter? No doubt your Diabetes nurse will have told you that Type 2's don't need to test and also not to reduce your starchy/carbohydrate foods. This is very common amongst Type 2's but, in fact, they tell you not to test because they don't want to supply a meter and test strips, as they cost £££s
I would strongly suggest you buy yourself a meter and test immediately before meals, one hour and two hours after the first bite of the meal. This will show how that food is affecting your glucose levels. Control is almost impossible without testing, in most of our opinions here. The SD CodeFree is a reasonable priced meter and the test strips are the better price compared to others. Obviously, the on-going costs are the test strips, so do take this into account.The second thing I would suggest is to reduce the starchy / carbohydrate foods in your diet. Initially, it seems rather daunting but, in fact, many of us on here enjoy the Low Carb High(er) Fat diet and don't feel hungry, myself included (which is totally amazing as I've never been able to stick at any other diet before
If you need to lose weight, again the LCHF diet is useful for losing weight - yes, in spite of eating fats I'm tagging @daisy1 who will post some very useful information, which will include some details regarding what causes an increase in blood levels. It is obviously up to you as to which way you feel you'd like to go regarding food choices etc. It's not a 'one-size fits all' scenario.
Wishing you all the best with getting better control and looking forward to hearing your progress
hankjam
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 4,846
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi @Samm1956 welcome to the Forum, hope you find it useful.
I am interested to know how you're going. How did the 5 years diet control go and what were your recent changes?
I ask as I am coming up 2 years diet control... and it's appears to be going okay but you never know what might be round the corner...
Good luck to you
Hj
I am interested to know how you're going. How did the 5 years diet control go and what were your recent changes?
I ask as I am coming up 2 years diet control... and it's appears to be going okay but you never know what might be round the corner...
Good luck to you
Hj
dbr10
Well-Known Member
Welcome. People are very supportive on here.
Hankjam I think it was pure luck I stayed diet controlled initially I cut out refined sugars and lost some weight. The regular check ups kept me focused on sensible eating. However this year has been difficult with lots of celebrations including 3 weeks in America for our Ruby wedding and my 60 th birthday it has undone all the hard work. Now with the new guidelines for putting people on metformin as soon as diagnosed the nurse thought it time I started on it as my blood sugars had increased quite a bit when tested. It seems my body is not making best use of available insulin.
Snapsy
Well-Known Member
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Location
- Switzerland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
@Samm1956
Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It contains advice about carbs and levels and includes a link to the Low Carb Program. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
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 210,000 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:
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
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 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.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It contains advice about carbs and levels and includes a link to the Low Carb Program. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
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 210,000 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
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
- 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 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.
A
asparagusp
Guest
She does! lol
Energize
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 810
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Umm, where, please? All I've seen is where Samm says "diet-contolled" in the original post. That could mean anything ...
What I was asking was what type of diet - calorie counting, how many cals; LCHF, LowFat, plenty of starchy foods etc etc etc???
Thanks, please enlighten me
SWUSA_
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 921
- Location
- Southwestern USA
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Insulin
- Dislikes
- Parsnips, turnips, swedes-the vegetable not the people.
Freema what happened to that cat? Welcome Samm!welcome here Samm1956
callyandy
Well-Known Member
Welcome @Samm1956 I think by now you may have got an idea of how great the people on these forums are. It seems we are a very select club which, as has been said before, no-on really wants to join.
I'm new to this too and have joined the LCHF programme, I'm on 4 weeks in. I took the decision to be quite radical and cut as many obvious carbs as possible (bread, pots, past and rice) as I fully aware that there are many hidden ones. I also stay away from naughty processed food and try to cook as much as possible so I have control.
This seems like alot of work, but the amazing thing is I don't feel hungry. So I don't feel the need to snack/ I can't say I don't miss things, but until I get a handle on what certain foods do to me, I just not eaten them.
Early days for me, but I hope you give the LCHF a go. It's not difficult and there are so many success stories out there, it must work.
Good luck to you, and keep us all posted.
I'm new to this too and have joined the LCHF programme, I'm on 4 weeks in. I took the decision to be quite radical and cut as many obvious carbs as possible (bread, pots, past and rice) as I fully aware that there are many hidden ones. I also stay away from naughty processed food and try to cook as much as possible so I have control.
This seems like alot of work, but the amazing thing is I don't feel hungry. So I don't feel the need to snack/ I can't say I don't miss things, but until I get a handle on what certain foods do to me, I just not eaten them.
Early days for me, but I hope you give the LCHF a go. It's not difficult and there are so many success stories out there, it must work.
Good luck to you, and keep us all posted.
Maggie/Magpie
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 279
- Location
- Isle of Wight, U.K
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Butternut Squash, Cabbage and confrontation.
Hi Samm1956 and welcome.
I'm new to. I've only been using this sight a few days but it's really supportive and helpful. I was pre-diabetic on metformin 500mg three times a day, then 2.5 weeks ago got the news that my Hba1c had gone up making me fully diabetic so they increased the Metformin to 1G slow release twice a day. It's been mainly fine, I had a bit of an upset stomach on the ordinary Metformin, which can be quite common, if this happens to you mention it to your GP and ask to go onto slow release as it dosen't happen on that one. Hope this helps
Maggie/Magpie
callyandy
Well-Known Member
M
mist
Guest
Welcome aboard 
