dealing with diabetes

georgeley63

Active Member
Messages
25
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
just finding coping with diabets diabetes difficult.
i am t1 with constant hypos and hyper glucose levels.

just need some advice and support for coping
 

georgeley63

Active Member
Messages
25
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome to the forum @georgeley63

Plenty of people here will be able to help so please ask away.
ive had diabetes since i was 8 and now im 17, but as i get older i find it harder and harder to cope with. not seeing results makes it even more of a pain to deal with. are there any strategies to manage it better?
 

totsy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,041
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
liars, animal cruelty
Welcome to the forum, what's a typical day of your meals and blood sugar readings,im sur someone will be able to help:)
 

cyclist

Well-Known Member
Messages
129
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Welcome to the forum George

Plenty of others here in the same boat and there is a great support network available

@daisy1 will pop along with some advice soon too
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
Hello @georgeley63 and welcome to the forum :)

To help you, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask lots of questions and someone will be able to help. How long have you had diabetes for ?


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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.
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi and welcome. Can I just ask a few questions about your insulin regime? I assume you are on Basal/Bolus? Are you carb counting? Have you checked you Basal balance to ensure it's in the right region. If it's too low you can end-up taking too much rapid insulin and causing large swings. Is your diet sensibly low-carb? If not a high-carb diet can result in large blood sugar swings. Can you also let us know your BMI as being overweight and on insulin can cause large swings.
 

georgeley63

Active Member
Messages
25
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
I carb count and before bed take the lantus injection. I'm about 187cm and weight 71 kg. my carb ration is 1 unit every 6g of carbs
 

noblehead

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
23,618
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Disrespectful people
ive had diabetes since i was 8 and now im 17, but as i get older i find it harder and harder to cope with. not seeing results makes it even more of a pain to deal with. are there any strategies to manage it better?

Do speak with your diabetes team if your struggling, they will look at your bg diary and advise you on adjusting your insulin to reduce the amaount of hyper's and hypo's you are experiencing.

When you do speak with them, ask about going on a carb counting course such as DAFNE, it will teach you how to match your insulin doses to the food (carbs) that you eat, it also covers other aspects of type 1 diabetes management such as getting the basal dose right, sick-day rules and how to adjust your insulin doses when exercising.

Whatever you do don't struggle alone.
 

georgeley63

Active Member
Messages
25
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
Do speak with your diabetes team if your struggling, they will look at your bg diary and advise you on adjusting your insulin to reduce the amaount of hyper's and hypo's you are experiencing.

When you do speak with them, ask about going on a carb counting course such as DAFNE, it will teach you how to match your insulin doses to the food (carbs) that you eat, it also covers other aspects of type 1 diabetes management such as getting the basal dose right, sick-day rules and how to adjust your insulin doses when exercising.

Whatever you do don't struggle alone.
Brilliant advice, thank you so much