• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Very newly diagnosed

sheebee

sheebee

Active Member
Messages
40
Location
Shropshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello,

I'm Sheila. I'm very newly diagnosed. I bought a glucose meter and tested myself all last week as i was experiencing symptoms of thirst and running to the loo too often. My mum had diabetes so it rang a few bells. My readings were between 15 and 24 2 hrs after meals so i went for blood tests last Thursday. GP phoned Friday to say 'looks you definitely have diabetes, keep sugars down until your appointment with DN on Tuesday, you will probably need tablets...'

So i've cut out all biscuits, cake etc and severely limiting cereals, bread, potato, rice , pasta .
Unfortunately ive run out of testing strips as they only put 10 in the starter pack so im running blind atm . Hopefully i can get some on prescription on Tuesday.
My main problem is that im hungry all the time now, so im wondering if im overdoing it on cutting out everything. Just trying to hang on until Tues really.
My other problem is that i am vegetarian (no fish) so im stuck with eggs and quorn and vegetables atm.

.Any suggestions welcome

My friend put me in touch with these Forums and i think they are going to be invaluable

:)
 
Hi Sheila and welcome to the forum :) You have made a great start by getting a monitor, cutting carbs and finding this place.

Many people here, myself included, have brought their bg levels down by following a low carb/high fat diet http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf. You could be hungry if you are not eating enough fat. Have a piece of cheese or some nuts if you are peckish.

This forum has a great low carb section with lots of recipes and meal ideas. If you see anything I've posted, it will be veggie :)
 
Shebee, good thing that you have taken action yourself. If you continue as you have started, you may go without strips for a short time - but in the long run, you will definitely need them.

Your numbers are certainly running (much) too high. When quickly bringing numbers down - as you seem to be attempting - it is a well-known experience that your whole system will become somewhat whacky - your body will somehow wish to tell you: we crave carbs - we are used to having them - please give us carbs! - This will pass, however.

One thing to keep you from being hungry will be adding fats to your diet. You will need this for energy.

Butter is a good thing (smear you vegs with butter). - If you drink coffee, use full cream. Full-fat Greek youghurt also comes to mind.

Look into full fat cheeses. And there are some very low carb crisp thin breads around (Wasa comes to mind). With butter and a good cheese they are lovely.

I suppose you are not a vegan (which could make this really difficult).

Wish you the best in your 'fight',

kindest, annelise
 
Thanks Avacado and Annelise,

I will def try the fats it sounds like it will help. and yes my body is screaming for carbs! im not vegan so phew! thanks again, i will check out the recipes. Glad to have you here, its going to be a life changer.

Sheila :)
 
sheebee said:
Hello,

I'm Sheila. I'm very newly diagnosed. I bought a glucose meter and tested myself all last week as i was experiencing symptoms of thirst and running to the loo too often. My mum had diabetes so it rang a few bells. My readings were between 15 and 24 2 hrs after meals so i went for blood tests last Thursday. GP phoned Friday to say 'looks you definitely have diabetes, keep sugars down until your appointment with DN on Tuesday, you will probably need tablets...'

:)
Click to expand...

Hi Sheila

I think nuts are a great idea. I forgot to mention them to you...

I have switched to full fat everything. I use full fat milk for my oatmeal porridge, butter or olive oil when I do my scrambled eggs, and full fat yogurt. I know some people here use double cream in their coffee, but I think that's too rich for me. Many here swear that by increasing the fat content the cravings for carbs diminish. I don't really understand why that is, but it works for me also.

We all have been told that a low fat diet is a good diet. From all I have read on this forum (and many have gone into the science behind it all) this does not seem to be the case. It seems our bodies need some fat and it certainly makes our food more palatable.
 
Don't be surprised if the nurse does not give you a prescription for test strips :( It seems to be the way at the moment. S/he may also tell you that you don't need to test at all. This is rubbish advice.

It is most important to test foods as a newbie to see which are suitable for you. I like beans (kidney, borlotti, chickpeas etc...) and lentils for protein. They are quite high carb, but through testing I have discovered I can tolerate them. Everyone is different, that is why it is important to test. Any questions ever, just shout :)
 
I agree with Avocado... you need to test even if the DN tells you that it's not necessary. It is also likely that the DN will tell you to follow the Eat Well plate. Utter rubbish... The Eat Well plate contains bread, pasta, rice, potatoes - in other words all those things that make our blood sugars rise. We need to keep them at a steady level without peaks and spikes. As far as I understand diabetes it is the high peaks and spikes that ultimately cause damage to our organs or sight.

I trust the advice given on this forum far more than any advice I get from the dietitian.
 
I definitely want to be able to test, i need to be in control. I will try and get some from DN but if not i will buy the strips

Nuts yes! i dont eat enough of those and they do fill me, on my shopping list now. I do want to eat chickpeas and the other pulses, but saw they have carbs in so wasnt sure what to do, so testing will be needed whatever DN says. I would like to see how i react to porridge too as i love this for breakfast and its satisfying.

I haven't heard of the Eat Well plate as i haven't got that far, but will take note of what you say. I cant believe carbs are the way forward, what you say make much more sense.

Thanks guys
 
sheebee said:
I haven't heard of the Eat Well plate as i haven't got that far, but will take note of what you say. I cant believe carbs are the way forward, what you say make much more sense.

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

The Eat Well plate is just the NHS advice for balance meals. I am sure you have seen the image; they are pretty much everywhere.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx

If you look at it you'll see that nearly a third is starchy foods (e.g. carbs - rice, pasta, bread, potatoes) - all those things that make our blood sugar levels rise. They may say to you to just eat smaller portions, but I do believe that it is wiser to test what is safe to eat, irrespective of what the DN tells us.
 
There are lots of healthy substitutes for pasta, rice, cakes etc. They usually involve vegetables and nuts so should be right up your street :)
 
Hi Sheebee , I am also vegetarian .. I find chickpeas and lentils really spike my sugars .. So do test I hope you can tolerate them. I can have a small amount of pearl barley, so use this instead of rice. Almonds seem good for me, but we are all different, and what works for me will not work for you.
My DN cannot understand vegetarians or the low carb high fat diet, yours may be the same, so be ready to find your own path to keep your sugar under control. I am lucky that my wife is an inventive and supportive cook, so it can be fun.
 
Hi Enclave, nice to meet you. Sounds like i will have to test everything gradually. My hubby is the cook in our house, he is in a bit of a panic lol. but he has done well today and done cauliflower rice ... not bad ... filled me up a bit. How do you get on with Quorn?

Ah Gudrun, THAT Eatwell Plate! but its not even orientated towards diabetes, cant believe they suggest that. havent they come up with a low carb one for diabetics?!

Thanks again everyone

Sheila
 
sheebee said:
Hi Enclave, nice to meet you. Sounds like i will have to test everything gradually. My hubby is the cook in our house, he is in a bit of a panic lol. but he has done well today and done cauliflower rice ... not bad ... filled me up a bit. How do you get on with Quorn?

Ah Gudrun, THAT Eatwell Plate! but its not even orientated towards diabetes, cant believe they suggest that. havent they come up with a low carb one for diabetics?!

Thanks again everyone

Sheila
Click to expand...

Well, they sent me to a dietitian because I'm prediabetic and obese. I told her that I'm concerned about the prediabetes and worried about my weight only in as far as it would impact on my health. Vanity has long gone out the window ;)....

She suggested the Eat Well plate, but just smaller portions (to lose weight). I was already on this forum and had already started to cut out starchy carbs and seen the amazing results. When I pointed that out to her, she was somewhat flustered...

I wrote about it on a thread in Prediabetes. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/dietitian-and-low-carbs.57339/
 
Hi Sheila and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful, in addition to the advice already given to you by 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 100,000 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
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 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.
 
Hi Sheila and welcome to the Forum, I follow the LCHF diet and it has definitely made and impact on my bg levels. I had my first HB1Ac test last Friday since being diagnosed T2 in Feb this year. I will publish results when I get them, hoping they are good.:)

I haven't had any dietary advice yet, but am going to my first day at the X-Pert course for T2 Diabetics tomorrow, It will be very interesting to see what their advice is on controlling diabetes. If they suggest the Eat Well Plate, I will certainly be giving my views on that one, I have all the info I need to prove them wrong.

The advice on here has been fantastic, I haven't looked back since joining this Forum and certainly wouldn't risk the advice from the NHS.

Good luck, hope all goes well for you.

Marilyn x
 
Hi Marilyn

Thanks for the welcome. I hope your Hb1Ac test results come back good, im sure they will.

Glad i came on here before going to my first appointment with diabetic nurse. Thanks to my good friend Gudrun who pointed me in the right direction :happy:. So tomorrow we will see what the nurse says to me about diet .. will be interesting... I wonder if i will be offered the X-Pert course? Did you get any glucose testing equipment , or at least strips, on prescription from your practice?

Sheila
 
I hope you have a better time than I did on my first db meeting. Sorry I don't eat quorn
 
I find my bg is ok with quorn as long as it is not breaded or battered obviously. There are carbs in quorn, but not too many, plus I usually eat it with something fatty (cheese, eggs, coconut cream) which slows down the carbs (not a scientist)

Good luck at your appointment today, Sheila :)
 
Back
Top