Fairly Newly Diagnosed

[naquada]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with Type 2 on 7th Feb 2014.. I'm 41 and I'd assumed I'd had a kidney infection and went to the doctor to have a routine test... they noted my glucose in my urine was 'off the scale' and I did a fasting glucose test on the Friday..

First thing on the saturday morning I was woken by a knocking on the door, to be met by a doctor from my local hospital in a taxi wanting to perform another urgent blood test... Bleary eyed I let him in and he did a glucose test and read it at 24.... He then on the spot diagnosed me with diabetes and I pretty much promptly passed out.... Once i'd come to, he left and I was on my own with my wife until I could get to the doctors on the monday morning...

The diagnosis came out of the blue, although i'd lost a bit of weight in the last few months, and I was more thirsty.. I was as always following a good diet (mainly low GI/GL based), my BMI was good (I've never been overweight), and my blood pressure apparently 'perfect'. I took reasonable exercise, didn't smoke, and didnt drink that much alcohol, and i cook all the meals for my family from scratch with fresh, well balanced ingredients... however my father was diagnosed late in life with type 2...

At the start my blood glucose was bouncing around the 22-24 level.... over the last month or so, I've got it down to the 11 ish range... I've found that anything around 8 makes me feel extremely ill.. I dropped down to 4.5 which scared me a lot as i felt very very ill.. but i'm learning how things effect my levels (including my cold this week which has shot my levels through the roof)..

I've learnt a lot so far, and I know I have so much more to learn.. the ups and downs.. the positives and negatives... I just felt it was time (have joined here back in february!) to put my head above the pit and say Hello... !!!

Andrew

 

[DiamondAsh]

what a terrible shock for you... Glad you are here and I think you are on to a winner and you'll get your BGs down nicely and eventually be able to feel good on a low reading, instead of feeling peculiar. At the moment 4.5 is too low for you;

 

[AndyH1]

Hi Naquada,

you are another person who has found out that you don't have to be an obese, coke guzzling, donut binger to get Diabetes. Seems to be quite fashionable on the TV to suggest that we are all, somehow responsible for getting our condition.

I also have never been obese, never gone for sweet food, took plenty of exercise. But I have got T2 on both sides of my family.

If your levels have been that high for a while, it's no surprise you feel a bit hypo at 8>. Once you are better stabilised that should change, and you will feel fine. I used to feel wobbly if I went below 5, but now I don't get it unless I go below 4.

If you haven't got one already, get a meter and start testing. You should be issued with one, and test strips on repeat, if they won't give you one, by one (you could probably get one free, it's the strips that cost).

There's loads of good advice on here.

Andy

 

[totsy]

hi and a warm welcome

 

[Dzialo]

Welcome, You'll love it here BEST FORUM EVER!!

 

[daisy1]

Hi Andrew and welcome to the forum

I expect you have lots of questions and I hope this information which we give to new members will help to answer some of them. If there are any more questions you want to ask just go ahead and someone will be able to answer.


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

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.