Hello I'm New

[Jasonuk]

Hello Jason here i;m new!!

Was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 weeks ago random blood test showed bg at 24.1 im on Metformin 2x500mg twice a day, bought a blood glucgose moniter fri, its has a positive effect knowing wot my bs levels are
seen GP today, she said i dont need to check my blood sugers often, once a week max. as im not on insulin, since fri my pre meal test is not lower then 6.0, post meal test 2 hours after eating is not over 12.0, im struggling to eat 3 meals a day as have chronic pancreatitis and sleep apnea, i feel awfull, really ill

Jason

 

[sugarless sue]

Have a read of the info that we usually give to new type 2's. Please discuss anything you are not sure of with your doctor or dietician because of your other health conditions.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different .

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

 

[Jasonuk]

Hi sue,

ty for the info u posted, im new to diabetes, planning to be proactive in my treatment, live with 2 other chronic ilnesses as i posted its tough, have to take a lot of prescribed medacation daily, to improve my quality of life, being dx with diabetes is petrol on a already burning fire, my pancreas is failing due to chronic pancreatitus-inflamation of pancreas, on daily morphine for the pain, and cpap for sleep apnea,, digestive enzymes are not there , take creon with everymeal cant absorb food right
waiting to see dietition, eye dr, and foot dr/ people, dont know wots ahead and scared got to much going wrong, managing to eat 2 meals a day inbetwwen the nausea, pain, fatugue, taking 11 diffrent precribed medacations a day equalling 40 to 50 tablets a day is a nightmare, diffrent meds for each chronic health condition, i believe these are the cards i hold so better make the most of it!! ty again for info u posted looking foward to learning more

Jason

 

[Synonym]

Hi Jason and welcome.

Sorry that you are feeling so ill and hope you get some good help with it all soon. Sue's post is really helpful and following the advice will really help you.

You cannot possibly work out how to help yourself if you don't self test before and after foods so I would recommend that you ask for a meter and prescription for testing strips. If they refuse you will need to fund your own.

Keep in touch!