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A bit bemused...

K

kingstreet

Member
Messages
5
Location
Stafford
Hi everyone,

I trotted off to the doctors last week thinking I had an inner-ear problem, citing my dizziness and nausea...

By Friday, I was diagnosed T2 diabetic, hypertensive and getting over the effects of a TIA. TBH I'm suffering the results of a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet, so I need to make some serious lifestyle alterations. Some gentle exercise is my starting point, together with my food intake.

I'm booked in to see the sister who looks after diabetics at our local surgery next week. In the meantime, I've spent time online researching the condition and I've got a few books from the library. I've changed my diet completely in an attack of zeal - out have gone the gazillions of carbohydrates I used to eat - white bread, roast potatoes, chips, crisps and savoury/salty biscuits, together with the large quantity of chocolate and sweet biscuits I used to go through.

I'm using a guide to "GI" foods and am now wondering if I should be eating some of the ingredients of my "healthy" diet;-

- wholemeal bread
- cornflakes
- bananas
- unsweetened orange juice?

I'm keeping a diary of what I eat and I'm taking this to my consultation next week. Any feedback from others would be welcome...

Last bit. I feel a bit lightheaded when I get up and walk around and I'm not sure if this is attributable to the blood sugar issue, blood pressure or the TIA. I've reported it to my GP who didn't seem too concerned but I was wondering if it was likely to be diet or medication related. Any thoughts, please folks...?
 
kingstreet said:
Hi everyone,

I trotted off to the doctors last week thinking I had an inner-ear problem, citing my dizziness and nausea...

By Friday, I was diagnosed T2 diabetic, hypertensive and getting over the effects of a TIA. TBH I'm suffering the results of a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet, so I need to make some serious lifestyle alterations. Some gentle exercise is my starting point, together with my food intake.

I'm booked in to see the sister who looks after diabetics at our local surgery next week. In the meantime, I've spent time online researching the condition and I've got a few books from the library. I've changed my diet completely in an attack of zeal - out have gone the gazillions of carbohydrates I used to eat - white bread, roast potatoes, chips, crisps and savoury/salty biscuits, together with the large quantity of chocolate and sweet biscuits I used to go through.
BRAVO- Well done

I'm using a guide to "GI" foods and am now wondering if I should be eating some of the ingredients of my "healthy" diet;-

- wholemeal bread - I would cut down or try Bergen
- cornflakes I couldn't without spiking
- bananas Lose them perhaps berries instead!
- unsweetened orange juice? Lose iMHO

I'm keeping a diary of what I eat and I'm taking this to my consultation next week. Any feedback from others would be welcome...

Last bit. I feel a bit lightheaded when I get up and walk around and I'm not sure if this is attributable to the blood sugar issue, blood pressure or the TIA. I've reported it to my GP who didn't seem too concerned but I was wondering if it was likely to be diet or medication related. Any thoughts, please folks...?
Click to expand...
 
Hi kingstreet and welcome to the forum :)
I am hoping that this information which we give to new members will help you as there is so much to learn at first. Ask all the questions you like as 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 30,000 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 ... rains.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 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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
The advice about wholemeal bread is a recurring theme. My diet sheet says I should eat it instead of white bread. The trouble is that my diet sheet is for people who have high cholesterol and has no advice about diabetes.

From months of owning a meter and checking all my meals I find that I am unable to eat bread no matter what the colour of the flour or in which way it is ground. Worse still, I can't eat flour full stop so anything made of it is out.

Other contributors on this forum have a similar experience.

I suppose I am warming you up to tell you that conventional "healthy eating" doesn't apply to the diabetic and you will have to discover for yourself what you can eat without getting high blood sugar readings.
 
Hi. Wholemeal bread is better than white but multigrain or Burgen bread is even better. I buy a Low-GI loaf from my local baker. Cornflakes like most commercial cereals are best avoided due to the sugar. They tell you on the packet about the added vitamins and low fat but don't mention the added sugar. Bananas really are best avoided. I do have one occasionally but try to keep it small and not with other carby meals. Natural orange juice is OK in small quantities only as most fruit juices are quite high-GI. Being light-headed isn't really a diabetes symptom although very high or very low blood sugar does bring a range of symptoms.
 
Thanks for your comments.

I'd noticed the conflicting advice/info on healthy eating, low-GI foods and also those which will help the blood pressure problem. I guess I'll get more experienced as I go along...

Interesting point about the vertigo, SF. Thanks for the link.
 
Hello again.

After three months of weight loss, 3 stone 4lbs so far, I've just had the results of my second HbA1C.

The good news is it's pretty much the same as my first, around 5.6. It looks like the blood sugar spike recorded the week I had the TIA was only caused by the TIA. I'm carrying on with my much healthier diet and metformin though. This will be beneficial in my efforts to lose more weight and to treat my high blood pressure.

I'm still a bit clumsy and uncoordinated, but my GP puts this down to the after-effects of the TIA and nothing more. I have to live with it until (if) it goes.

I'd like to thank you all for the information and advice you gave when I was very worried for the future.

Ian
 
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