First visit to practise Nurse

[DerekGordon]

Hi,
Im Derek and was diagnosed by my doctor as T2 last Friday. After initially felling like "thats it my life's changed forever", i have just had a meeting with practise nurse and am feeling a bit more positive.
I asked my doctor if i could be treated by diet and exercise initially as i wasn't sure which drugs affected my driving licence (HGV Driver), he agreed to this and wants to see me again in 6 weeks for a review. The nurse also agreed this was a good course of action to begin with, although she was also keen to push the positive virtues of Metformin.
I took with me a list of questions which the nurse took from me and went through, answering each one thoroughly making sure i understood each answer.
She went through my blood test results
Blood Sugar 7.2
HbA1c 6.3 (Nurse was happy with this)
Cholesterol 6 (Need to reduce to 5 or lower)
Blood pressure 145/89 (a little high) :|
ACR No protein found
I will be invited for an eye test about midway through next year as the surgery gets the equipment brought in once a year. I have another appointment with her next Thursday for a foot exam and she is getting me a glucose test meter and a prescription for strips . I did ask if i should see a dietician and was told the waiting list was huge so i wont hold my breath.
Overall I think if i can reduce my cholesterol and and get a control over my BS spikes i should be able to maintain my HbA1c level and hold off on the tablets for a while.
So, no huge life changes, just reduce my sat fat intake cut out any added sugar and get a bit more exercise for now.
All the best
Derek

 

[Grazer]

Hi Derek! Welcome to the forum
Daisy normally sends newly diagnosed members a standard list of things to consider. I've copied it below for you, she may have missed your post. Thing is, it's a bit more complicated than just avoiding added sugar. Your readings look good, so you were obviously caught at an early stage which is good news. Nonetheless, lots of us on here have found that avoiding too much of the starchy carbs is important in controlling our blood sugars.

Thgis is Daisy's info which will explain:_

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

 

[daisy1]

Hi Derek I answered your other post and gave you the information I usually give to newly diagnosed members. Grazer has kindly given you the information that I usually post but unfortunately the links haven't worked. Here is a link to the document so that you can read the whole thing if you haven't already. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is usually someone who will have an answer for you.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088#p155405