Advice for Newbie

sajlew63 · Sep 13, 2011

Briefly I was hospitalised with gall bladder/liver infection early this year. Hospital said I was not diabetic and my cholesterol was OK. Three months later after follow up blood test etc they said the same. Since then the GP sent me twice for blood tests. Results were 6.3 and 6.2. I then went to hospital for glucose tolerance tests. Dr told me the test was OK before I had the glucose but shot up 2 hours after, therefore I was diabetic. I had no symptoms whatsoever and was very shocked - too shocked to ask questions.

This was a few weeks ago. I have seen the nurse who checked my feet and said they were very sensitive and I am going for the eye screening test later today and seeing dietician next month as I am on diet only.

After reading this forum I decided I had to get a blood glucose monitor which I did. It is hard to test as often as I feel I would like because of the costs of the strips. I have posted a few days results below - could anyone tell me if they are OK for a beginner please.

Fri

5.55.a.m. 4.6.
11.45 6. 6. (Breakfast had been 2 Weetabix and Oatley milk)
4.30. 7.9
6.40. 11.00 (Tea had been egg and two slices Burgen Bread with butter)
7.50. 8.2.

Sun
12.10.pm 3.8.
1.50. 11.1 (Lunch had included 3 slices roast beef and 2 roast potatoes)
3.00. 7.6.
8. 50 5.8.

Mon
6.20. a.m 7.1
12.15 2.6. (Breakfast 1egg omlette. One slice wholemeal bread with Flora lite)
5.10. 4.4.
10.00 11.5. (Tea had been roast beef with two slices Burgen bread with butter)

I have been on a low fat diet all year because of my gall bladder problem. I am trying to cut carbs now and can see bread and potatoes are raising my blood sugar. I do not feel as good as I did on the low fat diet. I find that my blood sugar is highest one hour after a meal, not two hours.

Any advice would be appreciated .

daisy1 · Sep 13, 2011

Hi and welcome to the forum You are certainly doing the right thing reducing your carbohydrates which should improve your levels. However, I can see that you should reduce your carbs even more as you have a lot of higher carb foods in your list. You can already see which foods give you high readings. You should test before and 2 hours after a meal and the readings should be similar. At 1 hour it is normal that the level is higher - that will normally be the peak level.

Here is some basic information written for new members which should help you to get started on your control of your diabetes. Ask as many more questions as you need to - someone is usually able to 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 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.

sajlew63 · Sep 13, 2011

Thank you for the welcome and I will read the information. It is very hard already being on the low fat diet (which has not really been a problem) - cutting carbs is harder!!

borofergie · Sep 13, 2011

I'd be a bit concerned about those 2.6 and 3.4 mmol/l readings which, presuming they aren't typos, are well in hypo territory.

How were you feeling when you got those? Did you do anything to correct them?

Most of your readings are quite good, but you can see how bread and potatoes spike you. If I were you I'd avoid them and the Weetabix.

sajlew63 · Sep 13, 2011

I did feel sort of weak and faint those mornings - can not understand what caused it? I had breakfast and soon after felt a little better. On one occasion the meter did say LO. Would like to know the best way of raising it quickly. Also it may be I have not got the diet OK yet but there do seem to be such wide variations at times in the readings.

Really appreciate the comments - this condition is bothering me more than when I was seriously ill in hospital!!!

daisy1 · Sep 13, 2011

sajlew63 said:
I did feel sort of weak and faint those mornings - can not understand what caused it? I had breakfast and soon after felt a little better. On one occasion the meter did say LO. Would like to know the best way of raising it quickly.

If you have a hypo which is a reading below 4.0, to get the levels up quickly take glucotabs, orange juice or a sugary drink. Then, if your levels are coming up, eat a small carby snack or, in your case, breakfast. This should do the trick.

sajlew63 · Sep 13, 2011

I will certainly do this in future. I am so glad I found this forum. So much to learn for a newbie

Tracey69 · Sep 13, 2011

Hi and Welcome.
Hope you are well. As the person before said test before you eat and 2hrs after. You could ask your doctor to put testing strips on your repeat prescription, I know they offer them to type 1 but have also looked at the prices in boots, your right they are expensive, so please ask your doctor or nurse, as you may find you need to do more test until your confident in what your doing.
Please feel free to contact any of us, we are all here to help if we can.
I am a type1 diabetic and have been for 36 yrs now.
Take care
Tracey

sajlew63 · Sep 13, 2011

Thanks Tracey. I will try to get strips on prescription when I next go to see Doctor. I just had the first diabetic retinapathy screening and things are a little blurry, but the drops were not too bad. saw the pictures and they have to go for further investigation, but it looks as if the eyes are OK!!

I am grateful for the help I am receiving from folks on here.

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