3 weeks in and I’m struggling with everything!

daisy1 said:

@Mrs Allport

Hello Mrs Allport and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

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Bertyboy said:

The important thing is not to fret too much about it or get too hung up about everything you eat - you risk doing more damage with stress. Remeber that every person is different and has different tolerances.
Take a common sense approach and concentrate on the low hanging fruit initially; start to do a little research and, if you are comfortable to do so, experiment using a blood glucose meter. You may or may not be able to persuade the DNS to prescribe one for you, but even if not, you can buy something reasonably good for not very much (as well as my prescription meter, I have an "SD Codefree" on I bought from Amazon. The strips are about £15 for 100).
I would say make sure to get rid of direct sugars first and foremost. And that doesn't just mean granulated Tate & Lyle, sweets or chocolate. You'll soon find that almost everything that you buy in a supermarket that is prepared (from soups to microwave meals to cereals to sauces) have a lot of sugar added. Read the nutritional section of everything that has "ingredients and try to avoid things with more than just a trace of sugars. Most fruits are high in sugar, especially tropical fruit. Berries have lower amounts of sugar so might not affect you too badly.

Once you are comfortable with that, next to look at are the simple starches which will quickly turn to glucose - cereal grains and pulses, especially when refined, starchy root vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips etc. (tubers are just energy stores!). Less refined, "brown" versions of rice, wheat etc. are lower GI but you might be surprised how little difference it makes in practice. Controlling portions may be easier....as I say, experiment and test before and a few hours after you eat and see what foods do what for you. Don't feel like you have to wait on your medical team to encourage this.
As time goes on, you will have more information about your diabetes and how your body deals with it.

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Resurgam said:

I'm afraid that you are still eating carbs - the colour doesn't matter carbs become sugars and float round in your blood as you can't process them.
Most people cut our processed grains such as bread and pasta, rice etc. also remove the heavy starch veges such as potato and parsnip and concentrate on the low carb foods to find out just what they can eat and also get the most nutrition - the dense carbs have few micronutrients and although some have things added to try to prevent malnutrition, green growing things are far better able to sustain life.

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Pinkorchid said:

When I first joined this forum everyone was eating blueberries and greek yogurt as it was said they were the best fruit to eat along with raspberries I had so many that I got to the point that if I never saw a blueberry or a greek yogurt again it will be to soon

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derry60 said:

No bread pasta rice grains at all. Eat all veg that grows above ground. Eat meat with the fat on.. Eat eggs full-fat cheese full-fat cream. Eat plenty of green leafy veg, (Not root Veg, unless your body can tolerate a small amount) Eat plenty of leafy green salad. You can have Eggs and bacon, Olive Oil, full-fat butter, coconut oil Avocado oil and Advacodo. Berries and fresh cream, not blueberries high in carbs. All meat is allowed and fish..Nothing with coated breadcrumbs on though

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Bluetit1802 said:

Brown, white, or sky blue makes no difference I'm afraid. They all contain the same amount of starchy carbs and will raise your levels. The brown varieties are often slower to release the glucose, but it will still be released. This also includes breakfast cereals (including porridge oats). All grains will do this. Sadly, potatoes and most fruits will do the same.

If you buy yourself a blood glucose meter it will help you understand as you will see at a glance what each meal has done to your levels and be able to work on tweaking your food choices using the results of your home testing and a detailed food diary.

Have a look at this website for some ideas on which foods are "safe" and which need careful monitoring to calculate suitable portion sizes. (eg. you may be OK with 1 potato, but have a disaster with 2.) https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodlist

If you buy a meter we can help you use it to your best advantage.

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Alexandra100 said:

Many of us here use either the Codefree or the TEE2 meters because their strips are the cheapest. The Codefree strips work out a bit cheaper if you buy lots, but I'd like to put in a word for the TEE2 meter. Firstly, the fact that it's free, but you get a useful little carrying case, 10 free strips, 10 free lancets (which will last for ages if, like me, you re-use them) a free lancet gun and free bottles of testing fluid. Then, customer service is fantastic. You can speak directly to a REAL PERSON 24/7 on a freephone line whenever you have a question or if you prefer not to order online. Your order arrives pretty much by return of post. You can have a replacement gun, batteries and more testing fluid, as well as the CD and cable for connecting to a computer, all free. (The CD & cable I failed to make work, but at least they didn't cost me anything.)
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
I don't think anyone has reported a difference in performance between TEE2 and Codefree meters. Quite honestly, neither is terribly accurate. The Codefree meter is a nicer object in itself. For the Codefree I have not found customer service very good, though others have had better experiences. In any case they are not available at weekends. One's order is much slower to arrive, as they use the cheap but unreliable Hermes courier service, whereas the TEE2 arrives by Royal Mail. Replacement batteries and testing fluid are not free.
IMO a beginner might as well start with the free TEE2. Then if they don't take to testing, or if they decide they'd like the Codefree with it's cheaper priced for bulk order strips, they have lost nothing. You would want to buy a tub of 50 strips initially for either meter (the strips will only work with the meter they are bought for.)
Don't forget to check the box to say you are are buying because of diabetes, so that they will knock off the VAT.

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KK123 said:

I definitely know what urbanracer means, he means getting up 5 or 6 times a night and peeing uncontrollably. I have never experienced anything like it, that, along with an incredible thirst that no matter how much you drank, was unquenchable. I thought the excess drinking was causing the peeing but in fact it was the other way round, the body was peeing out the excess glucose and depleting the body of moisture. It was horrible.

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