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Diagnosed 2 weeks ago - bit of a shock!

S

snowy_barks

Active Member
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39
Went for a routine medical for my work and the doc picked up sugar in my urine. Sent me for a glucose tolerance test and turns out I'm diabetic.

I'm pretty active, cycling regularly, but I'm 2 stone overweight and drink (drank!) far too much beer, my diet is pretty good, don't eat too many sweet things, always prefer main course to desserts, it came as a bit of a shock to be honest.

Anyway, I've bought myself a meter and have been testing, testing and testing. I have tried to read as much as I can and to understand as much as possible.

I have cut out the beer and reduced my carbs in my diet. Not finding the diet too difficult apart from breakfast. I always had "healthy" cereal for breakfast, muesli, porridge, shredded wheat but I have found I get a spike from these. Struggling to find a suitable alternative. Are there any bran based sugar free options? All the stuff in the supermarket contains sugar, even All Bran.

My morning fasting sugar levels seem to have come down from about 7.3 mmol/L to between 6.1 - 6.3, just by dropping my carb intake.

I am hoping to be able to control my glucose without meds by losing the weight and watching the carbs, is this realistic? Or am I better to take medication initially to help control the glucose while losing the weight? Is it true that some of the meds cause to increase weight?

I would just like to say that this site is superb. It contains an excellent range of info and the forums seem very useful.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, snowy-barks, and welcome. Daisy1 will be along soon with our welcoming information.

To give some suggestions concerning breakfast: there is no need to stick to carb-heavy breakfasts. I have a 2-egg omelette every morning; bacon and egg is fine; full English without the bread and beans (how did beans get in there anyway?); some people have plain yoghurt with berries and'or a few nuts and seeds; it's also possible to have salad - amazingly delicious for breakfast!

On the cereal side, I can eat Lizi's Granola (available from many supermarkets) but I can't eat the recommended portion size; this might be your problem with (eg) the shredded wheat; have you tried just one? If you want bread, you might try multi-grain wholemeal or Bergen bread (again, most supermarkets) - just one slice.

Have a look around the Low-carb Forum and the Weight-loss Forum, to get some ideas of how other people do it; we are all different! :D

Viv 8)
 
Hi snowy_barks and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information that Viv mentioned which we give to new members. I hope you find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is always someone here to give you advice.

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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
Click to expand...
 
Hi snowy-barks and welcome!
Yes, it's realistic to control your diabetes with no meds - that's what lots of us do. Excuse me for sending you a rather general post I've given to other new members, but I believe they found it helpful. You seem well read up, but you might find some of it useful.
Daisy will be along soon with dietary advice for new members which is great advice, so do read that. In general terms you will need to reduce the total number of carbohydrates you eat per day. All carbohydrates turn to sugar when we eat them, and no type 2 diabetic on diet only, or on diet and metformin only, can control their blood sugars (BGs) without controlling their carb intake. Even those on strong medication normally choose to control their carb intake to keep the level of medication they take down. The total number of carbs per day you can eat depends on how advanced your diabetes is. It’s perhaps worth starting at about 50% of normal levels for a non-diabetic then adjusting up or down according to how you get on. That’s 150 grams of carbs per day for a man, 125 for a woman. You can read the total carb content of food under “nutritional info” on the packet or wrapping, or look it up on the internet for loose food. Just google “carb content..”
You also need to stop or reduce the bad carbs; that is the starchy ones that make your BG go up quickly.
So obviously no sugar or glucose! But also no white bread, white rice, pasta, flour products like pastry, cake and batter. You can eat a little basmati rice, wholewheat pasta or the tri-color pasta fusilli ones in small quantities. Boiled new potatos are OK but not old pots mashed, boiled or in their jackets. (Roast is not so bad, the fat slows their absorption and conversion to glucose in the blood) Amongst other veg, parsnips are about the worst for BG, and carrots not great but ok in smaller amounts.
Multi grain bread (not wholemeal) is not SO bad, but lots of us eat Burgen soya and linseed bread from tescos and sainsburys, although all bread should be in limited amounts.
All fruit has carbohydrates, and needs to be included in the amounts of carbs you eat in a day. For most people, bananas are about the worst for pushing our BG up and berries (like strawberries, raspberries etc) are the least bad.
No sweeties!
Exercise is important. I tend to exercise about an hour after eating when I know my BG will be peaking. This helps to bring it down quicker and further. I do ten minutes hard work on an exercise machine, but you could run up and down stairs for ten minutes or go for a brisk walk.
Returning to types of food and quantities of carbs - you can only find out how many you can eat by testing. Most type 2’s are not given access to testing equipment, so you should get your own – although try arguing with your Doc that you want to manage to NICE guideline blood sugar levels, and can’t do that without testing! If you have to buy a meter, they are cheap and most manufacturers will give them away for free. They make their money on the strips you have to use! So go for the meter with the cheapest testing strips. Some people test before and after eating, on waking (fasting test) and before bed. But if you have limited strips because of cost, the key to me is testing 2 hours after eating. If your BG is above, say, 7.8 at that stage, you need to cut down on the carb content the next time you have that meal. Test after various different meals and you soon get to see a pattern of what you can and can’t eat, and in what quantities. You can then reduce your testing. I said “below, say, 7.8” because NICE guidelines are below 8.5 but most of us think that’s a little high. 7.8 is the max. Level at 2 hours after eating that a non-diabetic normally gets to so is perhaps a better target. Some then set progressively lower targets.
Do ask lots of questions; there is normally an answer on here. The more you get to learn about your diabetes, the better it will be.
Good luck!
 
Adding to Grazer's comments, you CAN drink beer in sensible quantities as alcohol has virutally no effect on BS levels. My wife makes us home-made muesli for breakfast from porridge oats, lots of seeds, nuts and sugar-free dried fruit. As you have found, most cereals and even oats do cause a BS rise. If you are started on Metformin it has little effect on weight perhaps a small loss of weight. If a Sulphonylurea such as Gliclazide is added later it may cause weight gain but that's because it is working by stimulating the panceas to produce more insulin. None of my meds have had any weight effect whatsoever but that's because my pancreas is knackered; hopefully you are more towards insulin resistance and that's where diet, exercise and tablets can all help.
 
Hi

Just thought I would add my comments as your pre diagnosis description sounded exactly like me!

I was diagnosed Type 2 just before Christmas, 2 stone overweight and drank too much beer. Diet wasnt too bad and moderate exercise.

Since New Year's day I have lost 1 and a 1/2 stone and I have been testing for about the last 2 weeks (since I bought a meter) and levels are averaging around 6. Before dinner tonight was 3.9 :shock:

This has been achieved with much less beer, drink red wine 2 or 3 nights a week. Have really increased the exercise, running a couple of nights a week, go to the gym and also a circuit training class once a week.
Diet is lower carb, not really measuring carb intake though. Burgen bread (soya and linseed) is good I tend to have a couple of slices for breakfast toasted with a couple of poached eggs. Lean bacon and the odd sausage are also ok for a treat :)

Hope this shows that you should be able to control your glucose while losing the weight. GOOD LUCK
 
Thanks for all the advice.

This site has been by far the best source of info I have found.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=27131#
Really would like to avoid any meds, hopefully my diet and exercise can change things for the better.

I also cannot believe the "official" advice given by the NHS on diabetic diets!

Thanks again.
 
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