Greetings

morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Howdy,

Diagnosed with Type 2 two weeks ago. I kind of suspected it but it took my sugar levels to hit the roof for me to go get it checked. Blurred vision, extreme thirst and weight loss were the giveaways.

However, rather than a hinderance I'm treating this now as a challenge. I was always saying I needed to change my diet and get more exercise. Now I got the kick up the behind I needed to actually go and do it.

So for me, this Diabetes thing is not actually the big bad bogeyman, but something to be overcome through my own choices from here on in. And there's plenty of help and support out there too. I'm not being cocky or blasé, just facing it with a positive attitude. :)

All the best,
Dave
 
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brettsza

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Dave

Welcome to the forum
Read around and there is a lot of info for what is good for us and whats not.
@daisy1 will send more info
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Thanks for that, I'll be spending some quality time in here later and for the next few days ;)
 

peony50

Well-Known Member
Messages
233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Welcome!

I like your positive attitude. Have you a specific eating/exercise plan you wish to follow?

This is a great forum with lots of friendly advice/chat.
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Nothing long term just yet. My big problem is cutting out the sugar so tea and coffee are the initial ones to change. And my compulsion for bags of sweets was quickly overcome. It's just a case of getting the high levels down to a more manageable level first and then thinking a bit further ahead. My hba1c was done last week and has come back with a reading of 107 so I need to take tackle that urgently first.

I intially thought I could just cut DOWN on the sugars but I know that's not the case now. My levels have come down, but not far enough.
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@morradichi

Hello Dave and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. The information on carbs will help you to control your levels. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will come and 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 140,000 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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brettsza

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dont worry I got it down from 142 to 46 in 3 months with diet changes only, i was a fruit lover and just stopped those and carbs went out of the meal and the change was massive. You dont even need to get it down by as much as I had to so all is well, I am not saying 107 is ok, Its definitely high but if I can do it so can you.
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
There ye see? I knew joining this forum was a good idea :)
Thanks for the welcome and the advice folks.
 
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KateA

Well-Known Member
Messages
271
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Meat and now sugar and carbs!!!
Hi and welcome to the forum @morradichi. Positivity and taking control is, in my opinion, crucial. There will be days when enthusiasm drops but they pass. Lots of information and advice here. Good luck on your journey.
 
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Sancho panza

Well-Known Member
Messages
465
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Nothing long term just yet. My big problem is cutting out the sugar so tea and coffee are the initial ones to change. And my compulsion for bags of sweets was quickly overcome. It's just a case of getting the high levels down to a more manageable level first and then thinking a bit further ahead. My hba1c was done last week and has come back with a reading of 107 so I need to take tackle that urgently first.

I intially thought I could just cut DOWN on the sugars but I know that's not the case now. My levels have come down, but not far enough.

you will get there
i was a big sugar addict 2 good heaped teaspoons in my tea and coffee
the only way for me was to empty the cupbords of all temptation including the sugar jar. it took a couple of weeks to get used to but i dont miss it at all now.
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Yes, I've removed all the temptations from the apartment. One thing that surprised me upon inspection yesterday, was the lactose-free milk I had switched to a few weeks back has 4 times the sugar content of ordinary milk. Like they say, the road to hell... :facepalm:
 
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urbanracer

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,186
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Not being able to eat as many chocolate digestives as I used to.
Yes, I've removed all the temptations from the apartment. One thing that surprised me upon inspection yesterday, was the lactose-free milk I had switched to a few weeks back has 4 times the sugar content of ordinary milk. Like they say, the road to hell... :facepalm:

Welcome morradichi. I've officially been T1 since October last year. Since I started reading the food labels on everything very closely the item that surprised me most (so far) was mango chutney - the one we have at home is 62% Carbs (57% sugar) - so had to re-evaluate the takeaway nights!

Good luck getting your BG's under control.
 
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Messages
18,448
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
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Bullies, Liars, Trolls and dishonest cruel people
Hello and welcome to the forum

Best wishes RRB:)
 
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Pasha

Expert
Messages
8,558
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Welcome to the Forums and may you soon be feeling on top of the world again, soon.
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Welcome morradichi. I've officially been T1 since October last year. Since I started reading the food labels on everything very closely the item that surprised me most (so far) was mango chutney - the one we have at home is 62% Carbs (57% sugar) - so had to re-evaluate the takeaway nights!

Good luck getting your BG's under control.
Yep, I was told I could work myself into a tizzy if I read everything on food labels. So rather than practically camping out in supermarket aisles, I'll take my nurses advice and just concentrate on moderation/moderation/moderation

However, seeing as you mentioned it I better check my beetroot chutney ingredients later. Amazing the levels of stuff you find in foods when you actually start to look at what's in them :wideyed:
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Welcome to the Forums and may you soon be feeling on top of the world again, soon.
Thank ye sir! I'm feeling quite good about myself as it happens. Confirming T2 answered a lot of questions that were piling up the past year or so. Probably the biggest one was the fear that my eyesight was deteriorating permanently. Now I know what was causing it, I haven't got that fear anymore.
 
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Daks

Well-Known Member
Messages
407
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Howdy,

Diagnosed with Type 2 two weeks ago. I kind of suspected it but it took my sugar levels to hit the roof for me to go get it checked. Blurred vision, extreme thirst and weight loss were the giveaways.

However, rather than a hinderance I'm treating this now as a challenge. I was always saying I needed to change my diet and get more exercise. Now I got the kick up the behind I needed to actually go and do it.

So for me, this Diabetes thing is not actually the big bad bogeyman, but something to be overcome through my own choices from here on in. And there's plenty of help and support out there too. I'm not being cocky or blasé, just facing it with a positive attitude. :)

All the best,
Dave

Welcome Dave,

Loving your upbeat positive attitude, I feed off it, positivity breeds positivity. Personally I turned my diabetes into something great, the silver lining has been a revelation of health improvement.

I feel alive for the first time in years, energy is raging, dropped 3 stones in weight and looking forward to a long healthy future.

Stay with the forum, low carb, read heaps and keep that positive attitude alive.

Daks
 
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morradichi

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
People with a talent for bullsh1t
Cheers Daks. I'm delighted to have found this site. Amazing that there is so much information out there.
And it seems like a great bunch of people in here too :)
 
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jay hay-char

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,682
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, and welcome to the Madhouse.

Interesting point about chutney - think of it as being just another jar of jam and you will probably get it in the right context. If it's any consolation, Lime Pickle is much lower in carbs, so you can still adorn a curry, albeit in different ways. (Unfortunately, you'll also need to exercise caution with curries as they often have lots of sugar in them, particularly in ready-to-use sauces and from the takeaway. Also go very easy on the rice: you just can't win, can you? :D). Lots of great ideas and support on here, so you won't regret hanging around :)