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33 diagnosed 4 days ago

G

Gomas

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi,

Not sure what's happened to be honest, four days ago i was feeling tired and thirsty, yesterday i'm injecting insulin in the Dr's Surgery.

My initial blood glucose reading was 25 on Friday, had metformin over the weekend, went down to 21, and following a Hba1c reading yesterday of 103 i've been given solastar (slow acting). Three weeks ago i felt absolutely fine, went on a weeks skiing stag do, first up, last to bed, so this is a bit of a shock! I've always been fit and healthy, but i've lost probably half a stone on my usual weight, and am now 6ft / 11st. I understand that my initial readings were quite high, so I suppose it's lucky that i went to the drs when i did (under pressure from the other half).

I've cut carbs etc over the last couple of days to about 140g (by the end of the today) and testing regularly and i'm fluctuating from 8 to 14 at the moment. Just trying to get to grips with what to eat and also how to put a bit of weight / muscle back on.

I know that i'll get to grips with all this, but it is a worrying prospect suddenly having to manage it all myself, but i can see there is a lot of good information here, that hopefully eventually i can help add to.
 
Hi,
Welcome to the forum
Tagging @daisy1 for the welcome pack.
Hope you start to feel better soon.
Take care
 
Gomas said:
Hi,

Not sure what's happened to be honest, four days ago i was feeling tired and thirsty, yesterday i'm injecting insulin in the Dr's Surgery.

My initial blood glucose reading was 25 on Friday, had metformin over the weekend, went down to 21, and following a Hba1c reading yesterday of 103 i've been given solastar (slow acting). Three weeks ago i felt absolutely fine, went on a weeks skiing stag do, first up, last to bed, so this is a bit of a shock! I've always been fit and healthy, but i've lost probably half a stone on my usual weight, and am now 6ft / 11st. I understand that my initial readings were quite high, so I suppose it's lucky that i went to the drs when i did (under pressure from the other half).

I've cut carbs etc over the last couple of days to about 140g (by the end of the today) and testing regularly and i'm fluctuating from 8 to 14 at the moment. Just trying to get to grips with what to eat and also how to put a bit of weight / muscle back on.

I know that i'll get to grips with all this, but it is a worrying prospect suddenly having to manage it all myself, but i can see there is a lot of good information here, that hopefully eventually i can help add to.
Click to expand...

Hi @Gomas ,

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you heve been prescribed a Glargine Lantus?? Which is indeed a long acting insulin.

It's not a bad idea to slowly decrease blood sugar levels at a steady rate.
I've no doubt you will most likely retrieve the weight lost as your BGs stabilise.

Still early bewildering days yet, so please ask any question.. I'm as confident as you are you'll get the hang of it!

Best wishes.
 
Gomas said:
I know that i'll get to grips with all this, but it is a worrying prospect suddenly having to manage it all myself, but i can see there is a lot of good information here, that hopefully eventually i can help add to.
Click to expand...

@daisy1 's info pack is very useful, but be aware that most of the advice to go low carb is directed at T2 diabetics, who have problems with processing carbs. As a T1, (assuming your diagnosis is correct, doctors have been known to get it wrong), your problem is that you're not producing enough insulin, and though many T1s go low carb (as they find it easier to balance smaller numbers of carbs with insulin) many don't, and it's up to you to decide how you want to manage your diabetes.

It can be extremely daunting to cope with insulin, counting carbohydrates and managing the illness at the beginning, but it should get easier with time, and even after 49 years of T1 I still get useful information and learn new things from these boards.

Good luck.
 
@Gomas
Hello Gomas and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.

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 well over 147,000 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.
 
Does anyone know why some doctors put patients on insulin immediately and others don’t? Just curious that some people with higher Hba1c than Gomas here don’t, yet others do.
 
I think you need some of the T1's on the group to give you advice they can help you more. There is a T1 thread on the group on the list on the home page. The introductory message here about diet is more aimed at T2's who are not on insulin
 
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