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Gary1205

Well-Known Member
Messages
117
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I was diagnosed with type 2 in early March. My late father was a type 1 from the age of 18 and passed away when he was 58. I began feeling tired and getting up frequently in the night from about last October so had my suspicions and went to my GP in February. My Hbac was 98 and so I began trying to lose weight immediately. Diagnosis confirmed early March although did not start taking Metformin until mid March 500mg one with breakfast one with evening meal, also on a cholesterol tablet, Lipitor 20mg I think.
Have attended the Xpert course which I found useful and having started out at 16st 3 after 17 weeks I am now down to 13st 13. My next blood test is next week, which I am hoping will show a vast improvement. I have a meter but don't know if I should test more regularly, have only done so when feeling"odd" for want of a better desription so far, but generally have been in the 6s and 7s, the worst I have been is 9.9 when I was a bit stressed at work.
Feel I have accepted my condition for what it is and with watching my diet and doing exercise hoping I will one day be able to manage the condition without medication if this possible. I am a teetotaller and don't believe in taking drugs of any sort, of I which I class alcohol as one, just a personal opinion, but appreciate for the time being at least i need to take the metformin.
Am watching my diet and averaging between 1500-1650 cals a day and doing an hour on an exercise bike 3-4 days a week. I know the weight loss will eventually plateau and aim to keep it where I level off.
Appreciate any further advice including should I test myself more regularl, as I say when I have up to now the readings are nearly always in the acceptable ranges.
Thanks
Gary
 
@Gary1205

Hello Gary and welcome to the forum :)

It is a good idea to test more often, at least at the beginning. You need to test before meals and 2 hours after to see what effect certain foods have on your levels. In addition a fasting test first thing in the morning is useful. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful, in particular the information on carbs which should be kept low. If you want you can add more fat to your diet. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 Gary,

Welcome and well done with the weight loss, keep up the good work and you may well achieve your ambition of managing by diet alone.
 
Thanks Daisy and Urbanracer for your replies. My first diagnosis early March, I effectively went cold turkey sugar wise including cutting out a large glass of apple juice with my evening meal for example. it was two weeks later before the diabetic nurse started prescribing the metformin and during this cold turkey period suspect I may have been close to a hypo as I came over all cold in a hot office and really did not feel right at all, but having had a diabetic father I was already carrying some dextrose sweets with me just in case, so had some of these and felt the warmth rush back into me, did not have a meter at that stage so no way of knowing for certain what my glucose level was. I gather now that I am on metformin I should not get hypos. I explained what had happened to the diabetic nurse who gave me the meter on the day of prescription and it was she who suggested I only need use it when I did not feel right.So as i say the times I have tested either before or after meals has always with one exception been in the acceptable ranges that you have quoted. But thanks for the advice, I will start testing myself more regularly. That is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I asked, thank you so much.
 
Hi Gary, welcome :)

Regarding testing, the most important thing is to find out what different foods and meals do to your levels, so test immediately before eating and at two hours after starting to eat. The +2 figure should be no more than 8.5 according to NICE as Daisy stated, but many go for 7.8 or even lower. Try and get the actual spike (the difference) to be no more than 2, lower if possible. Once you have a record of meals you know won't affect you much (basically low carb ones) then you don't need to test those regularly any more.

Significant carb reduction is the key.
 
Hi and welcome. Fantastic weight loss results, good for you. Some brilliant help and advice from members on the site so have a good look round. Sounds as though you are already on the right track
 
Hi Gary and welcome
Your in the right place , so any questions you have ask away , your already doing fantastic keep it up ,it can be a long road but you've stared well good luck
Keep well stay safe JJ
 
Rod Sue and JJ thanks for the info, warm welcome and encouraging comments. Got in late from work so had my meal straight away having planned to do a test beforehand from tonight but did not happen due to circumstances. After my meal have done an hour on my exercise bike and just tested myself two hours after the meal having exercised showered and changed and got a read of 4.9, does this seem right? Still all new to me but was expecting a higher read.
 
My once a week treat of sausage and mash albeit smaller portions than I used to have with carrots and peas, that is the reason I thought it would be a higher reading even with exercise. As I say had hoped to test beforehand but circumstance conspired against me so do not know what my read was before. Also took a metformin with the meal.
 
Hmm it's hard to say with not having a reading before your meal, I would have expected a higher reading than 4.9, the fat from the sausages could have slowed down your spike.. Do try to test before your meal it only takes a minute ( I'm not lecturing you lol ) and makes everything easier to work out if you do :-)
 
Well firstly I must say that I have been made to feel really welcome on this forum, which I appreciate and I am obviously in the right place to get helpful advice with managing my condition.
Mrsass do not worry I have not taken it as a lecture just a helpful advice, as I say this is all new to me and I am sure things have changed considerably in the last twenty years since my father's passing.
Going back to my lower than expected reading last night, could this have been down to the exercise?
On a positive stepped on the scales this morning and have lost another two pounds since Monday.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi everyone, I just join this forum, I want learn from here, Please help me.
 
jack87 said:
Hi everyone, I just join this forum, I want learn from here, Please help me.
Click to expand...
Hi Jack. We're certainly here to help. Perhaps a mod can move your post to a new one so we can concentrate on your story. Do tell us more about yourself.
 
As an update, I emailed the person who ran the Xpert course re my meal and unexpected result of 4.9. She has advised me to take it as that i.e. a result! and that 4.9 is good.
 
Gary1205 said:
As an update, I emailed the person who ran the Xpert course re my meal and unexpected result of 4.9. She has advised me to take it as that i.e. a result! and that 4.9 is good.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum!

Yes it is "a" result (and a good one). However, the trick is to build up a number of results and look for patterns. e.g. same meal, but no exercise after. Two keys to self testing are 1) to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water (don't use hand sanitizer or alcohol) since a little bit of food residue on the finger can skew the results higher and 2) dry your hands thoroughly as a bit of water can skew the results lower.

You may find it useful to keep a journal of your results - include the time you ate, what you ate, readings just before you ate and 1 and 2 hours after you ate. Soon you'll see patterns and you can reduce how often you test as you'll pretty much know what foods in what amounts are going to do to your blood glucose levels.
 
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