Hello, my names Pete.

daisy1 said:

Hello Pete and welcome to the forum

To help you to get to know what you need to know about diabetes, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Other members will follow with lots of helpful information.

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 100,000 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.

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johnboy412000 said:

Hey Pete you found us here mate.Welcome aboard and im sure you will gleen some very useful tips from this site they are a bunch a great people all out to help.

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chris lowe said:

Hi Pete and welcome to our little community. You'll get lots of help and advice from us. I was diagnosed 4 years ago and this site was a real saver of my sanity. I hope the appt with the diabetic nurse goes ok. It's a lot to take in so it may help to take a few notes. You will probably be sent on a NHS DESMOMD course to help you manage the condition. The main thing they will trot out is the carbs with every meal. Check out the low carb threads on this site and you'll see that carbs are not the be all and end all of your diet. Good luck on the journey (oh dear, that sounds a bit X Factor)

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Bluetit1802 said:

Hi Pete and welcome,

Your doctor was wrong and was scare mongering. If you have the motivation and determination you can control this disease and stay off insulin, but it does require effort. There are several Type 2's on this forum that have actually come off insulin, and many others that have reduced all meds, even down to no meds at all, but they have all worked hard to do this. Diet is the key. Have a good browse round, read all the low carb threads and others, then try to chose a diet plan that suits you.

Your first course of action must be to obtain a home testing kit. You will be very lucky if your nurse gives you one, most don't, but you can ask. Failing that, you can buy one yourself as most of us have had to do. With such a kit you can learn which foods you can or can't cope with, because we are all different with what our bodies can handle.

Good luck, and ask as many questions as you like.

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noblehead said:

Love the name, welcome to the forum Pete

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