Hello

Hi Evan and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I think you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help.


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 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.

Hi and welcome to the forum, Evan.

While not impossible, being diagnosed at 22 with Type 2 is pretty uncommon. Why do they believe you are Type 2? Have you been tested for Type 1 or Type 1.5?

I don't wish to alarm you, but your hospital experience and the presence of ketones sounds awfully similar to another poster here, carlos37. If you want to read his story you can find it here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34654&p=338979&hilit=carlos#p338979

Personally, I would keep bugging the doctors until they get this sorted out for you.

I'm also hoping by replying/bumping this post that other posters with more experience will see and respond to your post.

Best wishes,

hi evan i am no expert by any means but going of my experiencei would agree with above post i can only suggest that you might have onset of type 1 diabeates i thought in was type 2 for 4years i have struggled for a long timw with sugar levels and ilness what are your sugars they must have been high for you to have been kept in hospital i am supprised them giving you glizeride as i was told by the nurse at the hospital that if you have keytones you shouldnt be taking glizeride siptaglipton etc as this can make it worse with regards to keytones dont stop taking them though unless youir told to are yuour sugars still high after i had been in hospital my sugars were better for a month or so and so were my keytones then they returned and my sugars went high again if you are still feeling bad i would go back to a and e and keep going back until you are ok dont worry bout what anyone thinks or your health is more important

Hi Evan - sorry to hear you've had such a rough time since your diagnosis. There's plenty of information on this site for people in your situation, whether you're curious about diet changes, medication, BG testing or whatever it may be. The forum can be a really helpful place and has proven to turn many people's lives around. Hope everything works out for you!

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