Type 2 Help newly diagnosed

Andralina said:

hi , I'm newly diagnosed and struggling with what to eat. Just had some white rolls and now feel nauseous and a bit tired. Is this normal? Is it a symptom of my blood sugar going up? I havnt received any advice from the nurse except to watch carbs and look at this site. I asked about testing my blood and she said I didn’t need to. Im on metformin “so i feel a bit better” to be honest Im confused and not really sure what i am doing. Getting me down

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Welcome to the forums.

Sugar is a member of the carbohydrate food group. It can be called a 'simple' carbohydrate because it breaks down easily into glucose. Another name for sugar is Sucrose, and beware of things that end in 'ose' like Fructose (found in fruit) and Dextrose which is sometimes used in sweeteners and energy tablets.

Also in the carbohydrate food group are 'complex' carbs. The body takes longer to break these down but they still turn into glucose in the body. The foods to watch out for in this group are bread, potato, pasta and rice.

Start looking at the nutrition panel on food packaging. It will tell you the carbohydrate content in the food. Ignore the bit that reads 'of which sugars' because it doesn't matter to us. You can easily type in to Google, 'how many carbs in apples' (or any other foodstuff) and it will give you a good guide.

Type 2 diabetics are often told not to test their glucose - the NHS does not want to pay for meters and test strips but I doubt that you will find any forum members who agree with this. If you can afford it, then get yourself a meter, it's vital to knowing what food is doing to you.

Ask as many questions as you like, we love to help!

Hi and welcome.
What was your diagnosis?
White rolls will cause your blood sugars to spike so could well explain the odd feeling.
Nursey didn't give you the best advice about blood sugar testing either as many of us have found that it can pinpoint foods we should avoid. What she really meant was she won't prescribe you a meter and strips so you'll have to buy your own.

For some low carb food ideas then www.dietdoctor.com is a great resource with a huge amount of free info.

Andralina said:

Thank you both very much. I was diagnosed type 2. You have been really helpful and I’m going to take your advice about buying my own tester. How do i use it? Before and then after meals?

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At first, yes, just before starting to eat and again two hours later will give you a good idea of how you are doing.
If the meal raises levels over 2 whole numbers then it probably had too many carbs in it.
Once you get a few days testing done the pre meal test is not so important and you should be finding out the foods you should avoid and those you can tolerate.

Hi

Tiredness is something i suffered, but my hba1c was higher at 7.5.. but yes it can be a symptom

You say 'some' white rolls.. how many and what size? bread is quite high in carbs, as is potato/rice/pasta.. pretty much all the good stuff

So if you are going to watch and reduce your carbs, it would be a good idea to have a look at how many carbs are in the things you like to eat regularly.. for example an average slice of bread can have 15 to 18g of carbs... it quickly adds up if you are not careful. even fruits etc are full of carbs, so fruit juices can be an issue.

I would say start by looking at and logging what you eat, and seeing where you can make reductions.

Testing is useful but for T2 they often say don't bother, but how can you tell what's happening if you don't?

I agree with @searley

In my view testing is essential for anyone with type 2 diabetes although many/most doctors do not recommend it. If you don't test you can't know what effect different foods have on your levels. Some people tolerate some types of carbs more or less well than the carb level would indicate.

For me testing keeps me motivated. I found giving up carbs very difficult at first but I pretty much went cold turkey- less than 20 grams and usually less than 10 grams a day. For me I find that the fewer carbs I eat the less In crave. But it is very much an individual thing.

Once you have a meter you can start testing and find out the level of carbs your body can tolerate. Some can tolerate 100 grams of carbs a day others can't. This is why the meter is useful.

Ask around and read around the forums. There is a lot of useful information here. @searly and @urbanracer have useful links in their signature block.

Welcome.

Andralina said:

hi , I'm newly diagnosed and struggling with what to eat. Just had some white rolls and now feel nauseous and a bit tired. Is this normal? Is it a symptom of my blood sugar going up? I havnt received any advice from the nurse except to watch carbs and look at this site. I asked about testing my blood and she said I didn’t need to. Im on metformin “so i feel a bit better” to be honest Im confused and not really sure what i am doing . Its getting me down.

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Considering what you ate, yeah, that's normal. I remember the last time I had some white rolls. About 5 years ago. I saw my numbers go into 18, them 22, and they kept going up. That was the day after my diagnosis, and I used our diabetic cat's meter to check myself every hour, to see what was going on. It floored me, but it explained so much.

Bread, as others have stated, is full of carbs. And everything you ever learned about food is now out the window. Everything you thought was healthy, might not be, with your particular metabolism. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help a little to sort out what foods are carby and which aren't, and dietdoctor.com will be of great assistance, i'm sure.

You're going to be okay. It's not going to be like this forever. Get your bloods under control and you'll feel like a new person. Promise.
Jo