Confused.com!

Hi

Do you have much weight to lose? Lots of us have cut down on carbohydrates rather than calories, but weight loss does help however you go about it.

If you got a welcome message from Dasiy when you joined take a look at that and see if it helps.

Most GPs don't seem to bother with asking type 2s to record blood sugar levels. However I would suggest in the early stages that you check before breakfast (fasting levels) and before meals and 1 hour after and 2 hours after meals. Try to keep your levels in 'normal range' and see what raises them.


Cara

Hi
I remember feeling confused one year ago, but a bit more in control now, a bit more confidence etc....
But things are still very confusing, I don't test, but my hba1c test has come down every 12 weeks so very pleased with that....
Diet....sugar alternatives for me
Exercise....has increased
Eat....regular with portion control.....some low carbs but more eating smaller portions with weight loss...
Good gp support...
Have learnt some new information from this site...ideas etc....
Take medication....
Learning all the time....
It is a horrid disease.....I am learning new information all the time, but a year ago things at the moment have improved.....
Things will come together slowly, it's all a panic at first, well it can be....you will find lots of ideas here, then do what suits you best....
Tc best wishes kat

WonderfulLife said:

I have been diagnosed with type 2 for a couple of weeks now & still confused about some things.
1. As it is weight managed, am I supposed to be measuring my levels with a meter each day? And
2. Am I supposed to be sticking to a certain amount of calories a day?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

It's confusing.
Early weeks, so make good changes to start with, then take it from there.

Find low GI food.
I found leaving out pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, and eating lean meat, no pork, no lamb, oily fish, with salad, or veg worked for me. No fats. No eggs, no dairy.
A classic healthy diet, and avoiding unhealthy carbs, and avoiding fats.

Calories, I aim for 800 to 1200 a day.

After you've got used to that, you can start to refine it depending on what is the very best for you, and what you find you like and can stick with.

The situation boils down to this:

The damage caused by high blood sugar is greater the higher your sugar levels; and the damage accumulates the longer your levels stay high. One day where your sugar goes quite high a few times may be less damaging than months with somewhat elevated sugars. The more of this damage occurs, the more likely you are to face serious complications.

The HbA1c test is the tell-all of diabetes: it gives you quite a good indication of how bad your recent blood sugar levels are for your health.

For some people, getting their diabetes under control is as simple as losing some weight or doing more exercise. For others, they need to be more strict and zealous in their diabetes management, cutting out foods that cause big increases in blood sugars and being careful about portion sizes. If you belong to the former camp testing your sugar a couple of times a week (or less) just to keep an eye on things (diabetes is a progressive disease) should be fine. If you belong to the latter camp then you may be testing many times a day to identify problem foods or know when to cut back.

Ultimately it's down to how your body responds and how much effort you're willing to put in.