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M

MrsBinns

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Hello everyone

Im Sarah and Im type 1 diabetic and i have been for 22 years. Im 27 years old. I have 2 children and im married and from Lincoln.

Been getting emails from Diabetes.co.uk for a while now so thought i would register here to chat with people like me.

My youngest daughter was born 14 weeks ago and since her birth my diabetes has gone way out of control. All through pregnancy i was fairly good. hba1c was 7 something and for me thats fantastic. Before pregnancy i was in the 12's!!!

I currently do carb counting and have novoprapid with meals and latus at night.

My problem is remembering to do my insulin if my daughter is screaming etc or sometimes i dont even get chance to eat and then i especially dont have insulin!

I know things are getting bad now after the years of high blood sugars as ive got background retinopathy in one eye and i have noticed in the past few weeks my grip isnt what it was. I even struggle with small buttons now :(

I need to get my self sorted for my children

I look forward to chatting to you all xx
 
Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum :) As you say you need to get yourself sorted out, here is some information we give to new members, although I know you are experienced with looking after your diabetes. I hope you can find something in here which will help you. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is usually someone who can answer.

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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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 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.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Sarah
I'm mike and i'm married to nikki we have no children and live on an island just off the north west of this beautiful country.I have type 2 diabetes and i think ive had diabetes for nine years,my memory not as good as it use to be but i guess that's down to the cocktail of drugs ihave to take these days but that's another story.I would just like to say welcome to this form and hope you and your family have a wonderful and very happy christmas.
Mike
 
Hello everybody,
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 on the 9th of December and it was scary at first as I worry about my wife and five children. I also lost my mother to diabetes so that added to the fear. I am from Brunei and being Asian I now have difficulty in trying to find what i can actually eat.
I just joined this forum and just want to learn all I can and I hope everybody can help each other here.
 
Hi Mike and Pipp and welcome to the forum :) Have a look further up this thread and you will see the information I posted for Sarah. I think it will be useful for both of you. Ask as many questions as you need to and you are sure to get answers.
 
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