Good afternoon

Tony Allo

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
New to this, just been diagnosed with type 2, dam all that good food I can't eat, Started off 3 months ago dietary lost weight watched what I ate, then bingo my levels go up for some unknown reason. So now on Metformin 2 a day until April, hopefully levels will reduce by then.

Please can anybody tell me a good test meter to have, many thanks T.
 

Clivethedrive

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,996
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Jogging
Hi tony allo,and welcome to the forum, the cheapest is the codefree s4 meter, the strips are available on amazon @ £4 for 50 strips, my acu clix meter is good but the strips are £ 22 for 50
 

daisy1

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

Hello Tony and welcome to the forum :)

I expect there are a lot of things you need to know. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to answer. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful.


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 130,000 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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Tony Allo

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi tony allo,and welcome to the forum, the cheapest is the codefree s4 meter, the strips are available on amazon @ £4 for 50 strips, my acu clix meter is good but the strips are £ 22 for 50

Thanks Clive.
I want a meter so I can keep a check, although my Diabetic nurse said I don't need one!

With a meter I can test myself, and as I work away on a month on month off basis I thought it would be logical.
 
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Tony Allo

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thanks Daisy1

I've read through god knows how much information, brain overload, but I still don't understand why my diabetic nurse said I don't need a meter?
I work away on a month on month off basis and thought this would be one of the first things needed to keep check of my blood sugar levels.
 
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Reactions: 5 people
Messages
18,448
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Bullies, Liars, Trolls and dishonest cruel people
New to this, just been diagnosed with type 2, dam all that good food I can't eat, Started off 3 months ago dietary lost weight watched what I ate, then bingo my levels go up for some unknown reason. So now on Metformin 2 a day until April, hopefully levels will reduce by then.

Please can anybody tell me a good test meter to have, many thanks T.


Hello and welcome to the forum Tony

RRB :)
 
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Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Don't try to understand your nurse as regards meters. This is common practice everywhere. Just ignore her and test, test, test.
 

Snowy12

Well-Known Member
Messages
935
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Tuna,People spitting on the floor and ironing.
image.jpg
To the forum Tony.
 
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Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
The advice to not have a meter is to avoid cost to the NHS for test strips. It's also a bit of a control thing from the GP/nurse. You can't manage any form of diabetes without one and I wish I had had one right from my diagnosis.
 
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Tony Allo

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thanks Snowy 12
I had one day, the day I was told I was Diabetic and now needed to take Metformin that I felt down, got up the next day and thought things could be worse, so now on a positive track, just want to get my glucose levels on track and hopefully reduce my medication from 2 tablets per day to 1, time will tell. Watch this space.
 

Tony Allo

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
hello and welcome
i swear by my meter
Hi Ally
Good you swear by your meter and I'll swear at my nurse (Chuckle), just gone and bought a meter, can't start using it till tomorrow, due to work constrictions, then once I'm up and running, I'll be able to keep track, cheers for now. T
 
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britincali

Well-Known Member
Messages
170
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
One thing I've learnt in 3 months of being diagnosed is don't listen to 99% of what the diabetic nurse tells you.

I've learned more valuable information that's going to make me live longer on here than any of the so called health professionals combined.