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Good morning all!

Billy Ruffian

Billy Ruffian

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello Everybody

I'm male, 66 and 'White European'. I include this info in case it's relevant to my condition - not for any other reason!

Following two high Hba1c tests (56 and 58 (7.3% and 7.5%)) I've just been diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic. It seems that my fasting levels are consistently high. This was suspected a few weeks ago and I was waiting for the 2nd HBa1c.

I have been bumping along at borderline overweight/obese for two or three years now sometimes one, sometimes the other. I have periods when I exercise and others when I don't (mainly due to low mood and, occasionally, actual depression).

Since the beginning of the year, I've been a little more serious about exercise and have taken part in one 10k run and have another planned. I use the NHS Couch to 5K plan as a basis for training. Also, I have a Fitbit Flex to encourage me to be a bit more consistently active.

I'm watching my weight more carefully too since the first high A1c, using the 'MyFitnessPal' app which gives me a good idea of calorie intake and helps to set targets.

As you might be able to guess, I'm a bit of an app and technology user (overuser) and I find that constant checking and monitoring help me to keep on track. I wonder if I'm overdoing that aspect?

Well, that's me. I've already found a lot of useful stuff here and I look forward to meeting you all on-line!

Billy R.
 
Hi Bill R,
Welcome
Very similar to my figures when diagnosed.
From the info you have given, you seem to be a good candidate to go Low Carb eating.
If you read the Forums on Low Carb, LCHF you will get the idea, but really cut out White food, ie Bread, Rice Pasta potatoes.
This will immediately lower your Blood Readings, and will with exercise help on loosing some weight,and you will feel great.
@daisy1 Will be sending you some info as she does to new members.
Read around, you have found a good place to find answers
Good Luck
 
Hi Billy, welcome along. have you been put on medication or are you diet controlled? Either way for a type 2 you are best to cut down (or out) your carbs, I don't know if you are already doing this.

If you are struggling with meals you can list what you eat during day and we can try give you pointers.

I'll tag @daisy1 who will come along and post the info for newbies.

When you say your fasting bg was high do you know how high?

Abbie
 
Welcome from me,

Maybe you can use your "constant monitoring and checking" obsession by doing this with your blood sugar levels? If you obtain a blood glucose monitor and test strips (probably self funding as very few Type 2's are given these on prescription) you can start some lovely data sheets of your levels. This will be your best tool, believe me. By testing before you eat and 1 and 2 hours after you eat you can see exactly what that meal has done to your levels, learn from it, and lower your levels by adapting that meal to something more suitable. It is useful to keep a food diary, which you are already doing on MFP, but on a spread sheet, then record your levels alongside. You will soon see patterns emerging. Diet is the key, and monitoring your levels will give you the motivation.
 
teacher123 said:
Welcome aboard Billy :)
Click to expand...
I like the "Billy Ruffian" username - are you maintaining the war against the French?

If you take your diabetic condition seriously, particularly listening to the low/controlled carb advice that many of us have found to be the long term solution to healthy living with diabetes, you should do well. I was diagnosed at 60, followed the NHS diet advice for 7 years & was becoming crippled. Changing to low carb, with increased veg & fats restored my health. At 76 I am fit & well, with no diabetes complications.

p.s.
The story of the seventy-four gun warship Bellerophon will be familiar to anyone who's read Patrick O'Brian or C.S. Forester. The Billy Ruffian runs from its subject's birth (in a small shipyard in 1782) to her death (in a breaker's yard more than fifty years later, after serving as a prison ship). In the intervening years the Billy Ruffian played a conspicuous part in three of the most famous of all sea battles: the battle of the Glorious First of June (1794), the opening action against revolutionary France; the battle of the Nile (1798), which halted Napoleon's eastern expansion from Cairo; and the battle of Trafalgar (1805), which established British naval supremacy for 100 years. But her crowning glory came six weeks after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, when Napoleon, trapped in La Rochelle, surrendered to the captain of the ship that had dogged his steps for more than twenty years.
Click to expand...
 
@Billy Ruffian

Hello Billy and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members to add to the information you have already had from other members. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.


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 over 150,000 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-and-whole-grains.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 bloodglucose 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.
 
Hi Billy, welcome. I agree with @Bluetit1802 that your techie traits would fit well with getting a blood glucose monitor (SD Codefree is cheapest for strips).

An HbA1c is not too high (mine was 65 on diagnosis) and you should be able to bring it back with minimal or no meds from there, together with exercise and diet. How I did it is linked below.

Have a good read around and ask any questions.
 
Randburg said:
Hi Bill R,
Welcome
Very similar to my figures when diagnosed.
From the info you have given, you seem to be a good candidate to go Low Carb eating.
If you read the Forums on Low Carb, LCHF you will get the idea, but really cut out White food, ie Bread, Rice Pasta potatoes.
This will immediately lower your Blood Readings, and will with exercise help on loosing some weight,and you will feel great.
@daisy1 Will be sending you some info as she does to new members.
Read around, you have found a good place to find answers
Good Luck
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
IanD said:
I like the "Billy Ruffian" username - are you maintaining the war against the French?

If you take your diabetic condition seriously, particularly listening to the low/controlled carb advice that many of us have found to be the long term solution to healthy living with diabetes, you should do well. I was diagnosed at 60, followed the NHS diet advice for 7 years & was becoming crippled. Changing to low carb, with increased veg & fats restored my health. At 76 I am fit & well, with no diabetes complications.

p.s.
Click to expand...
Thanks - I chose Billy Ruffian because today is the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's surrender on that very vessel!
 
Thanks everybody for all the advice. I have started monitoring my blood glucose levels (self-funded at the moment). My doctor feels that I should try diet and exercise for now so I'll be following the advice above. I've started a spreadsheet but wondered if there is any app for recording glucose. I've found one but it isn't terribly intuitive and seems limited in scope. One which would sync across with the same app on my devices would help!

I've stalled a bit in trying to get to grips with the news but the positive things I'm hearing are helping. Thanks again.
 
@Andrew Colvin has designed one and allows members to download it. I believe it is very good.

Most apps are a bit OTT for someone not on meds, which is why I prefer my excel sheets with my own headings etc.
 
Mrsass said:
Hi Billy, welcome along. have you been put on medication or are you diet controlled? Either way for a type 2 you are best to cut down (or out) your carbs, I don't know if you are already doing this.

If you are struggling with meals you can list what you eat during day and we can try give you pointers.

I'll tag @daisy1 who will come along and post the info for newbies.

When you say your fasting bg was high do you know how high?

Abbie
Click to expand...
Diet and exercise. I'll check on my fasting levels when I get home
 
you can see the application that originated as a spreadsheet in the link in my signature. There is also a separate download thread. Dig out and hopefully you will find it useful
 
Andrew Colvin said:
you can see the application that originated as a spreadsheet in the link in my signature. There is also a separate download thread. Dig out and hopefully you will find it useful
Click to expand...

Thanks - I've downloaded the app (0.3.9.jar) - it's certainly comprehensive - can I put my height in anywhere because my BMI looks excessive!
 
yes in the options menu there is a height setting.
 
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