Hello just diagnosed type 2

[Phi]

Hi my name is phi
I love in Edinburgh Scotland
And I am a mature semi -retired student studying history.
I am 56 years old but disabled through having chronic CFS and fybomalga.
Exercise is difficult for me and I am diet controlled at the moment.
All I have been told us lose weight and cut down the carbs.... Useful advice!!!

I have just been diagnosed as type 2 and I'm still a bit confused
I was told not to check my blood glucose by the diabetic nurse one minute then told if I really wanted to I would have to buy everything myself. But as I am a mature student this would be expensive. Does anybody
Have any advice a) on type 2 and b) on glucose machine kits
And where I can get then cheep!y and what is the best one
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Phi

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @Phi,

Welcome to the forum. IMO, the best place on the internet for information and advice on diabetes.

Also, great advice from your health care professionals. Cutting carbs, for most of us T2s, has had a tremendous impact on our blood sugar levels.

Using a blood sugar meter is of great help to see how food impacts our blood sugar levels. Measure right before you eat and two hours after your first bite. Some of the meters are quite reasonable in price, tagging @Rachox for some info on inexpensive meters and strips.

Have a read around and feel free to ask questions.

 

[Rachox]

Hi Phi and welcome. I cut carbs and self tested to learn the effect of different foods on my blood sugars. I couldn’t exercise much when I got my type 2 diagnosis as I was waiting for surgery on my feet. But still I managed to normalise my blood sugars and lose a shed load of weight.

Here’s some info on meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned. For a meter with cheap strips go for the Tee2 + found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-plus-blood-glucose-meter/ with the strips found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-testing-strips/


With more expensive strips is the Caresens Dual which I currently use, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual


And to be totally transparent I used to use the SD Code Free which has the cheapest strips available. However I found it to be becoming less and less reliable. Here it is for anyone wanting to give it a go:

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/

and here for the extra strips

http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833


Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi my name is phi
I love in Edinburgh Scotland
And I am a mature semi -retired student studying history.
I am 56 years old but disabled through having chronic CFS and fybomalga.
Exercise is difficult for me and I am diet controlled at the moment.
All I have been told us lose weight and cut down the carbs.... Useful advice!!!

I have just been diagnosed as type 2 and I'm still a bit confused
I was told not to check my blood glucose by the diabetic nurse one minute then told if I really wanted to I would have to buy everything myself. But as I am a mature student this would be expensive. Does anybody
Have any advice a) on type 2 and b) on glucose machine kits
And where I can get then cheep!y and what is the best one
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Phi

Hello Phi,

Cutting carbs is actually... Good advice! We don't see that often. Although, I see more and more people come in here mentioning it, just not sure how to go about it. So who knows, the times, they are a-changing. Hopefully. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ is my little quick-start guide, but there's more to learn over on Dietdoctor.com, diabetes.co.uk (not .org!), and Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. But if cost-cutting's important, Fung and Dr. Eric Berg have video's on youtube, so... Quite free. And you don't have to sign up for dietdoctor, a lot of info on there is free. And the good news: With cutting carbs and maybe even intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast often works for people), your grocery bill'll probably get reduced as well.

It could be the CFS is related to your bloodsugars. And who knows, the FM could be impacted if you cut carbs as well. (Carbs are inflammatory, after all). Not to give false hope, just keeping my fingers crossed you'll feel a lot better on all fronts, soon. And if nothing else, your T2 is one thing you have control over.

Good luck!
Jo

 

[VashtiB]

Welcome Phi,

You have definitely landed at the right place. There is so much information here that you may feel overwhelmed- just take it as yo can.

First I agree with everyone else about the need to test. I became obsessive about it at first but it was the only way to tell if the advice I found here way right (spoiler alert- it is LCHF definitely works for me).

I had plantar fasciitis when diagnosed so exercise was very limited until recently. I think (from a newbie's point of view) that with all the advice etc it is okay to start concentrating on food and leave the exercise for a while. I was losing weight (albeit not as quickly as I would like) without exercise. Once you have lost some weight it may be that exercise becomes more possible. I've also read that the LCHF has helped others with other conditions so your other conditions may improve. I'd imagine just losing g weight will help them anyway.

You are very welcome here- there are some amazing people who are very generous with their time and expertise. People are willing to listen, sympathise and provide advice- whatever you need.

Welcome

 

[jjraak]

Hi @Phi

welcome on board

Have little knowledge og either of your other ailments.

But i would echo the other comments regarding other symptoms clearing up a little (Or a LOT)
personally suffered from asthma since age 11,for me it faded during mid teens then reappeared around late 40's.

after Dx and a month of two of with weight loss AND Lchf..it was only when someone posted up that their other illnesses had also responded well to LCHF, that i realised my asthma had all but disappeared...weird huh..
and for me too much Dairy in LCHF was almost a No-No pre Dx..(increased my mucus)

so you never know, hope it helps yours in some small way.

on the exercise front, i did read that exercise also makes the muscles CALL out for Glucose, thus helping the body to use up as much as possible, before then i guess, turning to fat to run itself.

A good thing if the Glucose IS the cause of our issues.

so for me that made perfect sense, the muscles NEED Glucose (energy) to work,
so i used resistance training ( weight etc) however on holiday with no gym that wasn't practical..so i hit on the idea of using one of the wife's Yoga type resistance bands..(pretty much just a BIG elastic band )
made a decent difference, i used after meals and still do after meals at work, (so you'll find me running on spot or stretching out the bands betweens my fists.)

Might be worth a consideration if or until you can up your own exercise.

good Luck finding YOUR way,
and we are all here to offer advice to set you on the right path.