Hello to all, just wanted to introduce myself, having been recently diagnosed with type2. The dr placed me on tablets last week and I am booked to speak with the nurse tomorrow for what I think will be the 'talk' that will change my life. Already made some adjustments,the main one being dragging myself back down to the gym and look to be seeing improvements already - I hope anyway.
Good evening to everyone
- Thread starter John sweeting
- Start Date
bernie.freeman
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 558
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- selfish people
Hi John, welcome 
you are in the right place to find support and advice on diabetes. Hope all goes well with your nurse tomorrow
you are in the right place to find support and advice on diabetes. Hope all goes well with your nurse tomorrowHi and welcome. Taking the exercise will be a great help. What you will also need to do is probably adjust your diet. This means taking control of your carbs and portion sizes. Not only will carb reduction reduce blood sugar but it will help with reducing any excess weight you may have. Nurses vary a lot in their understanding of the best diet for diabetics. If the nurse says to have a normal or balanced diet then that is not the best guidance as a normal diet will have too many carbs; bear this in mind in your discussion with the nurse. Do come back with any questions afterwards
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
Hi John and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this useful. I hope all goes well with your visit to the nurse and afterwards, if you have any questions, ask them here and someone will 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 well over 70,000 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
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
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.
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this useful. I hope all goes well with your visit to the nurse and afterwards, if you have any questions, ask them here and someone will 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 well over 70,000 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
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
- 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.
Hello John, sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but it's not the end of the world.
I was advised to have a healthy balanced diet, specifically advised against any low carb/Atkins style diet. It wasn't long before I was on Metformin and Pioglitazone. When I upped to exercise levels my BG control became so good that I was able to come off meds. They then called me diet controlled. Oh the irony, I was exercise controlled.
My advice would be, get exercise into your daily routine, and preferably some kind of sustained aerobic exercise. Make sure you get a meter asap. Prepare your arguments in favour why you need it, as your practise might be reluctant to issue you with one (the test strips are expensive). Use your meter, don't take your eye off the ball, it is after all, for most people, a progressive condition. Once you get control off your condition it might be possible to come off meds, but it might need you to suggest it.
lastly, don't take everything they say as gospel when diet is concerned. Do your research, try things out, learn what foods do what to you, and make your own mind up. We are all individuals and what works for one may not work for another. Although as others have said it might be sensible to look at your carb intake, especially starchy carbs and fast carbs.
I'm now on a moderate carb diet, and that has helped enormously in re-establishing control of my condition. I wish I'd been aware of the benefits of a lower carb diet before, as I might have delayed the deterioration of my condition, to the point where I am now back on meds, and possibly heading towards T1.5.
Andy
I was advised to have a healthy balanced diet, specifically advised against any low carb/Atkins style diet. It wasn't long before I was on Metformin and Pioglitazone. When I upped to exercise levels my BG control became so good that I was able to come off meds. They then called me diet controlled. Oh the irony, I was exercise controlled.
My advice would be, get exercise into your daily routine, and preferably some kind of sustained aerobic exercise. Make sure you get a meter asap. Prepare your arguments in favour why you need it, as your practise might be reluctant to issue you with one (the test strips are expensive). Use your meter, don't take your eye off the ball, it is after all, for most people, a progressive condition. Once you get control off your condition it might be possible to come off meds, but it might need you to suggest it.
lastly, don't take everything they say as gospel when diet is concerned. Do your research, try things out, learn what foods do what to you, and make your own mind up. We are all individuals and what works for one may not work for another. Although as others have said it might be sensible to look at your carb intake, especially starchy carbs and fast carbs.
I'm now on a moderate carb diet, and that has helped enormously in re-establishing control of my condition. I wish I'd been aware of the benefits of a lower carb diet before, as I might have delayed the deterioration of my condition, to the point where I am now back on meds, and possibly heading towards T1.5.
Andy
Well, my appointment was that bad and my urine test was 'clean' suggesting that I have started out well. I taken part in exercise for most of my adult life but stopped about three months ago when I took up a new post at work - I suspect that this might have lead to the steep rise in my blood sugars.
Needless to say I am now back down the gym and putting in serious sessions and my BG readings are going down daily (the one at lunchtime was 5.90, i am adopting to a new diet more easily than I thought and feel pretty good.
I was given a meter the day i was diagnosed and the nurse gave me a repeat prescription for strips the other day without question.
This forum is a cracking little tool and I shall be using it on a regular basis.
Needless to say I am now back down the gym and putting in serious sessions and my BG readings are going down daily (the one at lunchtime was 5.90, i am adopting to a new diet more easily than I thought and feel pretty good.
I was given a meter the day i was diagnosed and the nurse gave me a repeat prescription for strips the other day without question.
This forum is a cracking little tool and I shall be using it on a regular basis.
Hi John, sounds like you're on the right road. it's good to hear you're getting test strips issued. I thought everyone got them but reading some of the threads on here it seems a bit of a lottery.
It is surprising how easy it is to make some changes to diet. I thought life without potatoes wasn't possible, but I've weaned myself off them, also given up rice and pasta, just bread that's proving difficult.
Keep using those test strips, even if you think you're well controlled, don't get complacent like I did.
Andy
It is surprising how easy it is to make some changes to diet. I thought life without potatoes wasn't possible, but I've weaned myself off them, also given up rice and pasta, just bread that's proving difficult.
Keep using those test strips, even if you think you're well controlled, don't get complacent like I did.
Andy
