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Newly Diagnosed

katrinazammit said:
could it be that i have already been dieting for a month? im so new to this i feel stupid not knowing anything. My sister printed me the results, she is a midwife. and she red them to me first and said that the blood sugar is too high after 14hours of fasting.

What do you think i should do? i took a blood test around 4 years ago and my blood sugar was border line. i tried not taking medication but my sister suggested i should do as the doc said. and we'll see what works.
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I think you should continue the metformin unless you are getting side effects. :nurse: It generally works well at lowering blood sugar levels.
 
Hello and welcome , you really need a hba1c test to confirm your health in relation to your blood sugars ...
Sometimes you can request one as urgent , because it is usually done to diagnose and often done again 2 weeks after the first test ..hope that is right ....good luck , try not to wait to long for the blood test ......hope I have not misunderstood your mail ...
You have received some useful information as well....let us know how you get on if you would like to ...best wishes ..Kat
 
GregCanada said:
Something I'd be cautious of is the rate of weight loss. 5kg in 21days seems a bit quick, you may be stressing your body in other ways.
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I have tried hard to loose the weight by excersising.. not daily im afraid.. but my weight went down quickly (for now) is that ive got plenty to loose. Used to weigh 100k now 95k. Still a long way to go though.
 
katrinazammit said:
My hba1c is 8. Can someone please tell me what it means. And what can i do to reduce the number? Thanks
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Hi Katrina

First thing is to reduce your carbohydrate intake, and also tropical fruit such as orange and bananas. Use your meter to check what food spike you and what doesn't. The HbA1c will take a while to come down because it is an 'average' of 2-3 months but by adapting your diet you should see an improvement next time it's done.
 
sanguine said:
Hi Katrina

First thing is to reduce your carbohydrate intake, and also tropical fruit such as orange and bananas. Use your meter to check what food spike you and what doesn't. The HbA1c will take a while to come down because it is an 'average' of 2-3 months but by adapting your diet you should see an improvement next time it's done.
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Great thanks for the info. :)
 
An HbA1c of 8% is the same as 64mmol/mol so puts you fairly and squarely in the diabetic range. Anything over 6.5% (47mmol/mol) is diabetic.

Have you done anything about getting a home meter yet?
 
Bluetit1802 said:
An HbA1c of 8% is the same as 64mmol/mol so puts you fairly and squarely in the diabetic range. Anything over 6.5% (47mmol/mol) is diabetic.

Have you done anything about getting a home meter yet?
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You mean the one that you prick your finger? If yes i got 1. This minute it is 5.8
 
Yes, that's what I mean. 5.8 is fine, but when did you last eat? You need to test yourself immediately before you eat and again 2 hours later to get any real meaning out of the readings.
 
That's a good reading for 2.5hrs after a meal. Tonight, test before your meal, then test again 2 hours after and have a look how much your levels have risen. Hopefully it will be under 2mmol/l. If not, there is something in that meal that needs attention. If you don't understand, come back and tell us what the readings were and what you ate.
 
daisy1 said:
Hi Katrina and welcome to the forum :) You will find suitable recipes on here in the Food, Nutrition and Recipes forum. I am sure you will find some great things to try. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you like 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 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.
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