Advice needed

urbanracer said:

Hi Steve, what were you told? Have you been given meds or is you treatment -diet only?

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daisy1 said:

@Steve1111

Hello Steve and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope that this will be useful to you. Unfortunately there is very little information given to people on diagnosis. Diet is especially important and you need to reduce the carbs you eat to keep your BG levels down. Testing before and 2 hours after meals is very important to see which foods are better for your levels. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be 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 over 140,000 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.

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DeejayR said:

Probably not, but if you live in Wales you might be lucky. Many people here prefer the Codefree meter because the strips are the least expensive.

You can upload the Codefree data onto a pc but there are other systems with other meters and you can get advice about those here too.

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Bluetit1802 said:

Hi and welcome,

Your result of 48 is good, believe it or not. It is only just within the diabetic range, which is 48 and above. So diet only is the best way to proceed, at least for now. I imagine that as you seem to be on the care pathway (eyes, feet, Desmond etc) you will be sent a letter in about 3 months for another blood test and check up review. You can use this 3 months to learn how to get your blood sugar levels down and work on it. Loosing weight (if you need to) is the best thing to do along with a little added exercise such as walking. Most members of this forum started with an HbA1c much much higher than yours.

Have a good read round this forum and learn which foods you need to avoid, and which you need to reduce in quantity. It isn't just sugar, it is also carbohydrates as these convert to sugar once in your body. Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals and anything made with flour are the worst culprits for raising BS levels, and we also need to be careful with milk and fruit. Good that you have cut out processed foods, but do be careful with your own home made meals too!

I'm afraid you will have to buy your own meter and test strips as these are unlikely to be prescribed by your GP. Many of us use the Codefree because it has the cheapest available test strips - and test strips cost a fortune if you aren't careful. Have a look here. http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm If you buy your strips in bulk there are promo codes that make them very much cheaper.


Good luck and keep posting. Ask as many questions as you like.

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Steve1111 said:

Thanks Bluetit for your advice i have started slimming world which i find to be a much cleaner way of eatting and have been exercising to help me out i am just having 2 pieces of a 400g load of wholemeal bread a day will change white to brown rice etc..

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sanguine said:

Hi @Steve1111

You want mmol/l assuming you are in the UK. mg/dl is more typical in the USA.

Plenty of good advice above. All carbs are like sugar to us, some just take a bit more time to impact that's all. Have a read of the top item linked in my sig below and ask any questions. Your experience is typical but you're not alone here!

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Paul59 said:

Hi & welcome.
You'll get some great advice here from the ones that live with the condition also. more than from the behind times Nhs.
I might add that at slimming world they will most likely talk about low fat products, they contain more sugar than the full fat ones so affect your glucose levels, best way is to do as many do on here & follow the low carb with increased fat & protein, bbut it's up to you what you do, but you will lose weight & get good control of glucose levels as well as saving money paying slimming world.
Best of luck.

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