Happy Christmas! You have Type 2 [emoji22]

this year just enjoy it. before and after welcome to the world of carb cutting. hi and welcome to the forum. i will tag our expert to give you some basic advice.@daisy. ps your not alone and with a little effort we can get your bg back to none diabetic levels.

Mantre said:

Ho Ho Ho!
I have been very newly diagnosed with type 2 this week and to say it’s a shock is a bit of understatement!
All I can remember from what the doctor said is the my first blood test came back with a count of 72 and the second was even higher!!!
Been given tablets which I started taking the same day and lucky enough to be seeing our nurse next week, but my only question is this...how am I going to deal with Christmas??????
Please help!!!!!!

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I started a rather naughty Mince Pie thread recently and there were a few good suggestions in there about low-carb alternative "treats".

Google for "low carb mince pies" (and get used to the idea of using almond and coconut flour - they just aren't the same as wheatflour but you can get used to it!). Also from memory I think someone said that Asda was doing nuts with some sort of festive theme, mince pie flavour or something, I keep meaning to go back and find that post because I wanted to try them.

One option is to eat normally, but greatly reduce the portions of the high carb stuff and increase the portions of the other stuff.

E.g. for Christmas dinner, a huge amount of meat, one potato (very high carb), a carrot (not bad but they do have significant carbs), a fair old helping of sprouts, a teaspoon of apple sauce, a little bit of stuffing, and check the carbs in the gravy to see how much you want to risk.

I'd definitely consider cutting back, or out, the alcohol. It's not great in itself for the metabolism, and for me it increases my appetite for food massively, especially the next day.

Not a great time of year for a diagnosis!

Hi @Mantre and a warm welcome to the forum. Perhaps at the moment it doesn't feel like it, but try looking at the news as your first Christmas present this year! An opportunity to put your health back on track, to learn about whole new and different ways of eating, and of finding out about delicious food that you can tailor to suit you, your body, your life and your purse - what's not to like? Our @daisy1 will be along soon to give you our new starts pack with lots of useful info and some equally useful links to more info. Have a good read of that as a helpful start.

There's a host of other helpful advice around the various sub forums here, browse around, take in a few things as and when you want, and ask any questions you like. there's always somebody around who can help or give a few pointers.

Enjoy !

Oh @Mantre , what a shock!

Just paging @daisy1 again as original tag doesn't work.

Hugs.

xxx

Edited to say sorry for repeating recent previous posters - didn't refresh screen before posting!

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It can be a bit overwhelming to take it all in to start. Rome wasn't built in a day and it may take some time to turn the ship in the direction required to control your blood sugars (sorry about the mixed metaphors!)

Adam's suggestion of just generally cutting down on the carb content in your meals for the meantime as Christmas approaches is a good suggestion. Take time to have a good read round the forum and see what others do to control their blood sugars.

You may find that official advice from health care professionals will be different to what may be advocated on this forum. Different people have different experiences and in the end it will be down to you to decide the course you want to steer after reading the information. Feel free to ask any questions ... None too simple or too difficult for someone to give an answer/opinion. I know I asked loads to start with.

As a diabetic for many years it wasn't until I started testing my own blood sugar levels that I found out how my body reacted to different levels of carbohydrate intake and I finally found a way of eating that is sustainable and keeps my diabetes in check better than increasing levels of medication.

Congratulations on the start of your journey and wishing you success in taking control of your health.

Happy (?) Christmas @Mantre and welcome to the forum. It will be a shock to get that diagnosis at any time, but I suppose just before Christmas might be the worst time.
But although a HbA1c (blood sugar level) of 72 is on the high side, it can be reduced and people on here with higher readings have reduced theirs by adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) approach to eating. Have a read round the threads to see how that works and ask any questions you want to. The people on here are friendly and supportive.

As for Christmas, I would just cut down as much on the sweet sugary stuff and starchy carbohydrates as much as possible. Maybe only one (or two small) roast potatoes, and a small bit of Christmas pudding or one mince pie with double cream rather than custard. But one or two days won't make a lot of difference so don't stress too much about it.

You should give yourself a Christmas present of a blood glucose meter so you can test how different foods affect your blood glucose levels. You should test before eating, then 90 minutes to two hours after eating. If your bs has gone up by 2 mmol/L or more that food should be avoided.
The TEE2 bg meter and the first 10 testing strips are free, and you can buy more strips for £7.75 for 50, at
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
If you do order strips remember to tick the box to say you are diabetic and you won't pay VAT.

Changing how you eat should be a quite a slow process to much to soon is not good so I would say do what you always do at Christmas with may be cutting down on the sweet stuff a bit. If you do want to go down the LCHF...low carb moderate/high fat/...route that is something you have to decide for yourself as it is not NHS guidelines but many people here do it as their choice but of course it does not suit everyone Sometimes other medical conditions or medication can be significant in what we can do so if that is the case then talk to your medical team about it

@Mantre

Hello Mantre and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and useful. Ask more questions if you need to 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 well over 259,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

Welcome.
Just limit your bread, crackers, potatoes, pasta and rice. Enjoy wine or spirits instead of beer or cider.
Diet coke, diet lemonade and plenty of water.
Enjoy cheese, cream and high quality chocolate 85%-90% which can be melted into a sauce or topping. So much to look forward to instead of stodgy foods.
Meats and fish is my fav.
Have you got a meter?

Mantre said:

Ho Ho Ho!
I have been very newly diagnosed with type 2 this week and to say it’s a shock is a bit of understatement!
All I can remember from what the doctor said is the my first blood test came back with a count of 72 and the second was even higher!!!
Been given tablets which I started taking the same day and lucky enough to be seeing our nurse next week, but my only question is this...how am I going to deal with Christmas??????
Please help!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Ultramum said:

As a diabetic for many years it wasn't until I started testing my own blood sugar levels that I found out how my body reacted to different levels of carbohydrate intake and I finally found a way of eating that is sustainable and keeps my diabetes in check better than increasing levels of medication.

Click to expand...

I think this is the key to a lot of it, certainly has been for me. Right now you'll be in the dark as to what your blood sugar is doing and how it reacts to various foods. You can only get so far if you just rely on other people telling you what works for them. Don't even trust popular books with alleged recipes for diabetics in - some will tell you that oats and wholemeal bread are better than cornflakes and white bread. You may find that's true for you, but for me there's no real difference - my body seems very good at extracting carbohydrates from any food I give it!

Same with exercise - you may find that's a really useful way of getting your blood sugars in a healthy range, and certain types work better than others for you.

This time next year you'll probably have learned so much about yourself that you wouldn't even consider eating one potato because you don't like what it does to your blood sugar. The good news though, is that by that time you'll also have probably learned about all sorts of new foods that you like, and you don't actually want the potato anyway.

You = me exactly this time last year. I had mixed information and didn't know what I was doing. I decided I would ignore it for the two days (Christmas day and boxing day) so eat what I'd been told was bad in the previous life which was the meat, sausage, cheese and so on. Yes I did have a Yorkshire and some stuffing. But actually the high fat content of what I ate meant I didn't do too bad when I tested my BG. The red wine also probably helped. This year I'm in a much better place and will be having Christmas dinner again, but knowing which bits I will eat and not feeling sorry about it. So, don't stress, read and learn, and enjoy Christmas. You really can, more easily than you might believe right now.

Hi there and welcome to the forum. This will be my first Christmas since diagnosis in late April. I have made fair progress but fully intend to enjoy the two days , Christmas Day and Boxing Day, filling my face with exactly those foods that I enjoy without a guilty feeling in sight and be they foods of higher carb value or not. My glucometer will be locked away and forgotten for 48 hours then it will be a case of strapping myself firmly into the seat of the waggon I didn't so much fall off but threw myself off.

Have a wander around the forum and prepare to be edumacated on the options you have in tackling the condition. Good luck.

I have to be honest because I was told balanced diet I had no issues for xmas dinner as plenty of fruit veg just more of everything over the festive period.
I may have drank more spirits than bitter. I used to be a bitter girl but not now. I don't drink at all. 2 pregnancies can do that.
After coming up to 16yrs of diagnosis and 15 Christmas's on eatwell plate rather than low carb isn't that much of hardship. I might miss a sherry trifle scoop or two but never really liked mince pies or Christmas cake or Christmas pud and brandy sauce. Many chocolates are sickly now....too sweet for me.
I'm enjoying good quality food more than quantity.

ickihun said:

I used to be a bitter girl but not now.

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That's good to hear.

I make huge trifles - just low carb ones - chipped fruit in gelatine, no sugar jelly, real custard thick cream - and almond biscuits in the bottom if I get around to making them. chopped nuts on top. No problem.
I have all the turkey and sprouts mushrooms etc - no potatoes and squeeze in a couple of Yorkshire puddings made with eggs and cream and bread flour - which is higher in protein - later on salads and cold meats scotch eggs - maybe a Lidl protein roll, if I have room. Maybe leave that until next day and have assorted cheeses with celery sticks and other raw veges, perhaps have a bit of apple, or maybe plums if I can find some - they can be surprisingly low carb. Low carb is actually the good stuff, and no hardship to stick to.

Not probably best time of year to find out, and like you i was a bit shocked particularly as not overweight and no one in my family has it. I saw and still see it as such a positive....it's made realise how **** i was eating....i look at ingredients all the time. I had lost a little weight and feel better for that. Biggest thing is i realised how unfit i was so now exercise....bought a second hand bike and love going out on it. Tend to go cycling in the dark....Grays looks better in the dark lol x