Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but....

drew900uk · Mar 28, 2012

Hi All,

Firstly, may i say that this site seems truly excellent!

I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with Type 2 at 32. Since then, i've started to play 5-a-side again and i'm eating healthily. I have 3 questions that i cannot seem to get an answer for and i'm hoping a forum member can help me out:

1. For the past 2 weeks, my fasting BG levels have been between 4.5 and 6. This seems pretty good to me but i was wandering how i compare with others out there? I dont know anyone else with diabetes (i dont think!).

2. I have starting taking a chromium supplement also, and was wondering when the best time to take it was. I have heard the mineral supplements are most effective on an empty stomach as opposed to multivits and the like which should not be taken on an empty stomach. Does anyone know when would be best?

3. I'm currently 6'2 and 100kg. This isnt a really bad BMI but can be improved. My question is that if I reach my ideal BMI, will this make my body more efficient in producing insulin.

I was a bit gutted to realise i had diabetes. Once I had time to reflect though, the recommended diet for someone with T2 diabetes is the same as anyone else. The same goes for alchohol intake. Maybe diabetes will actually have helped my health in the long run as i'll be excercing more and eating much ore healthily.

I intend to be a regular user of this forum so i look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Andy
Aberdeen, UK.

serendipity · Mar 28, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Hi Andy
Welcome to the Forum :wave:
The only Question I can answer is the fasting BG
Mine this morning was 8.2
Im sure others will be along to help you with your other Questions

Linda :mrgreen:

MaryJ · Mar 29, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Hi Andy

Welcome and keep asking those questions

1 - Brilliant numbers
2 - No idea, sorry
3 - Yes, losing weight and exercise helps with the insulin resistence

Watch the advice on T2 being the same as everyone else. Carbs are the problem for T2's, don't fall for the NHS eat a healthy balanced diet with starchy carbs with each meal.

Mary x

Grazer · Mar 29, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

To confirm what maryj said, your fasting results are great. Losing weight and exercise will not improve your insulin production, but it will improve the efficiency of the insulin you DO produce by reducing your body's resistance to it. And do watch the starchy carbs! What's "healthy" for a non-diabetic isn't neccesarily healthy for us. Do you test to see how different foods affect you? That's really important.

xyzzy · Mar 29, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Hi Andy

Your fasting levels are excellent what kind of levels do you get 2 hours after eating? If they go much above 7.8 then look to reduce your starchy carbs until they come into line.

I take a Chromium supplement along with a range of others. You realise there is conflicting evidence that it works at all.

Same height as you and started at a few more kilos than you but now down to 90kg with a BMI just outside "normal" and definitely seeing some improvement in insulin resistance. Still can't eat starchy carbs in any real quantity and to be honest no longer really want them too much any more.

Another test to do is take your waist measurement at its biggest point around your stomach and aim to get that under 38". That 38" measurement (for a man) is a good predictor of Type 2 diabetes. No breathing in and cheating!

The whole thing is a balance between insulin resistance and how much insulin you are still producing. If most of your problem is insulin resistance then losing weight and resistance can have really good long term effects. If your sugars ran high for too long though and you have consequently also damaged your insulin production capability then the results may be less good as you will simply be lacking insulin anyway but of course in this case losing weight and losing as much resistance as possible is even more important.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

daisy1 · Mar 29, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Hi Andy and welcome to the forum This is the information that we give to new members. I hope you will it helpful and ask any more questions you need to.

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.
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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.

drew900uk · Mar 29, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Wow, thanks so much for all your help.

My BG is seldom above 7.8. Usually on a monday morning 2 hours after breakfast it can be a little higher as i may have a few glasses of wine of a weekend evening.

I realise that there is conflicting evidence on the affectiveness of chromium supplements. I will however continue to use them as its only 10 quid for 365 at healthspan.

I am also trying to get most of my carbs from veg. Not sure what the best candidates are. I love to cook and have been cooking very tasty daals especially.

I dont particularly check my levels after what i eat. Not yet anyway. I'll get there though. At the moment i'm just concentrating on losing weight and making sure my BG is whithin the normal range and so far, most readings bar less than 5 have been less than 7.8.

Thanks all for your responses. I look forward to having a good look around the site. At the moment my parents are staying with me so i'll be laying low for a little while.
Thanks!!

sengawalker · Apr 8, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

I've been taking chromium since I was diagnosed 20mths ago tpe 2. I take 200mg per day in the morning with my breakfast, my levels have stabilised at 5.3. don't know whether it's my diet alone (I'm following the gi diet) or whether the chromium has helped.

drew900uk · Apr 8, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Thanks. When you say that your levels have stabilised at 5.3, I presume you mean pre food?

My levels have been 'truly excellent' to quote the doctor. I would live to hav a stable level though as after food I am still spiking, albeit usually under 8 or 8.5

drew900uk · Apr 8, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Another thing actually is that my BG seems higher after 1 hour or so as opposed to 2 hours. I presume that I should now look to test after 1 hour instead? I mean, the blood sugar spike is what we want to gauge after all.

Thanks

daisy1 · Apr 9, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

The reason for testing after 2 hours is that your reading should be approximately the same as before eating. That way you can tell if what you ate was right for you. If the 2 hour reading is higher than before eating, you need to reduce or cut out that food, having identified which of the foods is concerned.

drew900uk · Apr 9, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

Daisy, thanks. Information I have taken from this site suggests that between 4-7 pre meal, then under 8.5 2 hours after is acceptable for type 2 diabetics. that's what I've been measuring it on. Is that wrong?

BeccaJaneStClair · Apr 9, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

drew900uk said:
3. I'm currently 6'2 and 100kg. This isnt a really bad BMI but can be improved. My question is that if I reach my ideal BMI, will this make my body more efficient in producing insulin.

Hi Andy,

I'm also 32 and was diagnosed quite recently, too. Like you, I don't need tablets and was told to control things through diet. My levels from my initial blood test put me at the bottom of being diabetic, so close in fact that my GP has told me if I lose 2 stone he thinks I will have my levels back below pre-diabetic levels, so if you get down to your "ideal BMI", the same thing might happen for you.

Grazer · Apr 9, 2012

Re: Diagnosed 3 weeks ago with type 2. No meds needed but..

drew900uk said:
Daisy, thanks. Information I have taken from this site suggests that between 4-7 pre meal, then under 8.5 2 hours after is acceptable for type 2 diabetics. that's what I've been measuring it on. Is that wrong?

No, that's right. They are the NICE guidelines. However, some of us use that as a starting point, then set lower targets for 2 hours aftyer eating. Lower than 7.8 is a common one, as that is the maximum an average non-diabetic could get too at any stage after eating. Some of us try to get below 7. This ties in with what Daisy said - the nearer you can get to the +2 hour reading being the same as the before eating reading, the better. Most of us don't get the readings the same. I'm happy if it's less than 7, but it took a while to get there. As a newly-diagnosed, just aim at avoiding the big peaks and gradually set your sights for lower targets. All these readings are at +2 hours - you're right in that we peak earlier with a lot of foods (food type controls when, often about 1 hour after is the peak) but we're not trying to measure that.

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