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Another newbie

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basher132

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Hello all.
Diabetes isn't something I'd paid much attention to until 2 weeks ago when I was diagnosed. I'd gone to the docs for something unrelated, but instead of seeing my usual guy, I saw a locum, who took one look at me ( imagine a prop forward who's let himself go a bit) and coupled with my age (42), said "you're at risk, have blood test for diabetes".
I promptly ignored it, but was bullied into it by my wife, so went and had the test on the Friday. By Tues, I had a letter from the surgery to say the result was high and to go and have another done. That was done on the Friday again, and by Monday I had a phone call from the practice nurse saying that that result was again high, and I had diabetes.
I asked what "high" was, and she said 11 and 8, it should be 7 or lower. I then joked that I'd never be able to eat or drink anything pleasant again, and she said "no, no, its not as bad as that !" I then tried to make an appointment to see her, but no appointment was available for 3 weeks. "Not to worry !" she said.
But I am worried.... are these figures very high? Will I ever drink lager again? Or eat bread? Or Chocolate ? Am I weird because the thought of a blood glucose meter makes me think "great, a gadget"?
I take it I'm type 2 , but nobody has said one way or the other, so I may be able to change my (not good) diet.
Once I see the nurse, I'll be pestering you all with more questions, so I thank you in advance for your advice and patience.
Cheers,
John
 
Hi John and welcome to the forum.
Yes, your readings are high but not excessively high. Some folks on diagnosis have readings in the late 20's. It's still a shock to be told you are diabetic though and hard at first to have to cut things from your diet. If you read around the forum you will find varying dietary advice. Many folk on here follow a low-carb diet with some success. I cut my carbs. down to a moderate level, so still have 2 slices of seeded bread a day. I also have the odd square of 70% cocoa solids chocolate to satisy my sweet craving. Once you get a meter and start testing your own blood sugar levels, you will find how your body reacts to the different foods you eat. Some on here can eat bread, others find it sends their blood sugars too high. Some can eat rice or porridge and for others they are a definite no-no. It really is trial and error at the beginning but rest assured, if you have any questions, there is always someone on here with good advice and sometimes years of experience, to help out.
Stay with us and you won't regret it.
 
By the sound of your blood tests yes you are porperly T2, what this means... At these readings a high chance you might be able to control with deit alone or mimium of meds but the doctor/nurse wil let you know....

As already been pointed out that you will have to look at your carb intake, which properly means a reduction of carbs... But when you think about it a level teaspoon of sugar contains 5g of carbs, if you have a sweet tooth and have things like biscutes and sugar in you coffee/tea you be surprised cutting out sugar in your coffee can reduce carb intake...

Another way of cutting carbs is checking portions sizes, another surprise for many... A medium portion of battered fish and chips contains about 70g carbs for the chips and the batter contains about another 20 gram a total of 90g of carbs that because of being cooked in fat could raise sugar levels for quite a while after eating them...

There are some who use a very low carb diet you're talking about around 30-50g of carbs per day, I truley believe that you have to be very motivated to follow this type of diet... Is it esstentrail to go so low some follow it because they need to lose weight and I'm not talking about a coupleof pounds others do it because they find that it's the only way that they can stablise there levels but at the end of the day it is really only you who can say whether such a diet is a realistic one or even a needed one... You could be fine on 250g carbs a day but there again you might find that you really need to reduce to 200g, 150g ect... Testing and monitoring is about the only way to find out your needs and your comfort zone..
 
I have to say not everyone counts carbs. A number of people on this forum swear by it, but i just try and limit it without getting too hung up on it.
My diet advice was basically:
eat loads of veg, don't go overboard with carbs, give the sugary stuff a miss (apart from special treats!) and cut down on fats especially I-can't-remember which one.

You will find your own 'ideal' approach to managing you diabetes and blood glucose levels. You'll get lots of advice on this forum :lol:

good luck, and welcome to the forum
 
Hi John,
Welcome on board, I just want add to the previous posts, when you see your Doc push him for a meter and a good supply of test strips. If you are diagnosed T2, many Docs are reluctant to supply them, but its the only way to find how you will react to a change of diet. You will get a lot of help from the many experienced contributors to this forum, I know that I did and have managed to stay off medication thanks to the good advice given. Sorry about the lager Mate :( but you may have to change your tipple.

Good luck
Graham
 
Hi John and welcome aboard,

The good news for you is that you would appear to be only just over the threshold of the definition of type 2 diabetes. It's good in the sense that you probably are still producing a lot of insulin. If you're a big guy, then that's even more likely.
It's partly this overproduction which leads to a condition known as insulin resistance - where over time you need to keep upping production in order to keep your blood sugars down.
You can start lowering your blood sugar level straight away by keeping a close eye on the carbohydrates in your diet. I'm sure you already know that it's the carbs that elevate your bs and when you eat less sugar or starch, the levels will fall straight away. Quite how much you need to restrict them will be something unique to you and your meter!
An added benefit is that this could well help you shift a few pounds if necessary.
Be aware that things such as white bread and potatoes can have as big an impact on your bs as table sugar, so that might be a good place to start. You might find that a few modifications on the nosh front will get your bs back on the right side of the line.

All the best,

fergus
 
Thanks all for the advice. I do eat *a lot* of bread; 2 rounds of sandwiches when not working, using a white uncut loaf, 1/2 a white french stick for mid shift meal when I am. Working nights doesn't help either, because I have to fend for myself for an evening meal , so tend to eat easy to prepare stuff against good-for-me stuff, plus of course the 8 squares of Cadburys' double choc to give me a sugar boost of the drive home at 5am. The irony is not lost on me, especially as I've now started to examine labels more carefully, and discovered the double choc is 60% sugar.
Hopefully, cutting out the bread and sweets will tip the balance in my favour.
Thanks,
John
 
Hi John,
Can't really add much to the excellent advice the others have given you - except perhaps on the lager front! Normal lagers have a high sugar content so won't do you much good at all. However, pilsner type lagers are fermented longer so that almost all the sugar is converted to alcohol. This does, of course, give them a higher alcohol content, but at least they won't send your blood sugars rocketing. The other good news is that alcohol actually lowers blood sugar - but don't overdo it!
 
Hi John, as a recent newbie I can confirm that reading the postings help immensely. I would agree with whoever advised to push for a monitor and strips - I was diagnosed T2 end of April and have only just accepted the fact that I need to get a grip and monitor my levels; I see the nurse each month and we go on my HBA1C results taken the week before seeing her - that's not going to help with finding out what in my diet sends my BG levels up so now I'm obviously at the stage where I've accepted I'm diabetic .....
 
Kazzie
HbA1cs taken "once a month".!!!!! Are you sure It's not just the circulating BG that you're getting?
Since a red blood cell lives about 120 days, there's no point in doing HbA1cs with less than a 3 month time interval . Do you do any testing of your own in between times? Are you one of those people who have been told they don't need to test?
 
graham64 said:
Hi John,
Welcome on board, I just want add to the previous posts, when you see your Doc push him for a meter and a good supply of test strips. If you are diagnosed T2, many Docs are reluctant to supply them, but its the only way to find how you will react to a change of diet. You will get a lot of help from the many experienced contributors to this forum, I know that I did and have managed to stay off medication thanks to the good advice given. Sorry about the lager Mate :( but you may have to change your tipple.

Good luck
Graham
Click to expand...
IMNSHO that's the most crucial thing that will help you. If as is often the case they refuse to prescribe you strips, buy the **** things and do this for a while

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

this protocol was devised by diabetics years ago and has provided many many success stories in the meantime, it really is important to close the feedback loop between what you eat and your subsequent BG levels.

When you have gained better control (likely as you seem to have caught it early) you will not need to play with your new toy <G> quite so intensively

Oh ansd swap out some of the lager for red wine like this Bordeaux wot I have just been imbibing, may help keep the BG down and also benefit the blood pressure
 
you've had lots of brilliant advice and a warm welcome already, so I'll just extend a welcome and

nope. you're not weird about thinking "yahoo" gadget-time when it comes to bg meters ... I have two, it's not exactly like being Bond's Q ... but hey - every little helps towards keeping your chin up!

keep smiling and remember that with support (wife who made you go = number 1 supporter, us lot here = therapy group) anything is achievable

oh - and I fully intend to have a very nice Christmas thank you :)

all the best, jem xox
 
Christmas won't be a problem for me. I'm working Xmas night and Boxing night, so I've little time to stuff my face, and drinking is definately out. Still not sure about New Years Eve , no rotas for next year yet, although the urge to get mangled at a NYE party has long gone.
I bought a meter yesterday, and just by cutting down on bread and generally eating less, coupled with not drinking the wrong stuff, this mornings' test read 7.1, which is less than the previous 2 hospital tests, so I'm really encouraged by this.
Cheers,
John
 
Awww that is good news basher, keep it up, its so encouraging when you see good results for your efforts.

Sorry you are going to work over Christmas, but at least I know I am not the only one, I will be working all over the holidays including New Years Eve I think, not sure about that one yet, but definitely Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day.

All the best to you

Karen
 
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