Dazed and confused

[DEB260173]

Hi All!
I'm newly diagnosed (8 weeks ago now) and am finding it all rather bewildering! I'm being told that I have to eat carbs at every meal and yet I'm reading lots of posts on here saying that people are avoiding carbs and I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing!! Also, the doctor told me that I don't need to be monitoring my BG levels, but then how do I know if I'm eating correctly or not? :?
I've also been told that my blood pressure and cholesterol are too high and so I'm trying to get those and my weight down so there's a lot to think about. Can someone either give me some very straight forward advice or point me in the right direction?
Thank you, and it's good to be here!

 

[cugila]

Here is the advice we usually hand out to newly diagnosed Type 2's. Have a read and see what can help you.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Ken/Sue.

 

[k9kitty]

Hi there,
yes, it's so confusing when first diagnosed. The advice given to allnewly diagnosed T2's on this forum is a great help. Are you on medication for your diabetes?
I keep a daily food diary and note down any reactions. side effects, etc, and then I can take it along to my GP/Nurse and show it to them. With testing you need to argue your corner and point out that in the long term it will help you get you Blood Glucose under control and keep it so, if you are able to find out which foods you can and can't eat and what amounts without raising you BG too high. Like some I can have 50-60g of Carb a day and stay ok with test results. But it can be a question of trial and error.

I bought myself a Freestyle lite meter and took the results to my GP who then was happy to prescribe the strips because he could see how useful this was. If you can afford a meter and strips, strips sold on Ebay are generally cheaper, but do check expiry date which should be mentioned in advert for them by seller.

Once you cut down on the carbs and saturated fat, (not healthy fats), in your diet you will probably find you loose weight and there are other improvements.

Hope this helps a little