Hi all - just joined

@Brunneria depends on the protocol, but from what I saw in A&E they don't touch on blood sugars directly and still refer to the consult / diabetes team or on call endocrine registrar unless medical emergency/ symptomatic such as dka or hypo sliding scale is discouraged, to fully see patterns if there are any.

Irish Maeve said:

Hi Jack. Just getting around to contacting members who have given me advice and to say that I have taken it all on board. I have revised my diet drastically the past few days and it has worked wonders for AR. I have avoided all carbs (bread, potatoes, rice etc) No coffees or anything containing sugar. And the difference is amazing. The lump/tightness has almost gone completely! I am so relieved. I have eaten regularly and concentrated on fruit, veg and fish. Nuts, berries and grapes to snack on. I am very slim and unfortunately I am going to lose a lot of weight but I would rather feel well at this point in time. I will check out the links you posted asap. Thanks once again for your help.

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That's great news, it's easier if a change of diet fixes it
Have tea and coffee, you will get use to it without sugar and infact will taste terrible if someone puts sugar in

The bad new is you can only have one piece/serve 15g carb of fruit a day. Because fructose is a carb

When your BG readings are normal, then you can start reintroducing carbs/sugars.
In the mean time join myfitnesspal for free and google carb counting

This helped me too
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

That is fantastic!

Am so pleased for you.

Irish Maeve said:

Hello everyone. Haven't been on as life got in the way. I have read with interest all the helpful advice and I am pleased to say I am almost back to normal. Carbs have not been taken at all apart from porridge which seems to be OK. Food now consists of protein (fish, chicken, meat) and loads and loads of different veg. No sugar. The only thing is I am so hungry about an hour after my meal. I am sick of scrambled egg as it is the only way I can tolerate them - boiled/poached causes pain. I have been put on Ensure Vitamin drinks last week (1 a day) so hopefully that may keep a little bit of weight on. I have gone from 63 kg to 55 kg in the past 2-3 months. People are starting to make comments and I hate that (usually over-weight ppl I might add). I really don't care anymore as I would rather feel well again. I still take the ACV once a day and I really think it works! I also take DGL twice a day with Aloe Vera digestive juice at night - again this is very soothing on the stomach. I am going privately to a Dietitian next week and hope she can give me further advice. But I am thankful that having joined this group with the throat problem at 9 out of 10 (9/10) it is now down to 1 or 2/10 and my tongue is now a nice pink colour lol. I hope my experience may have helped anyone else having the lump and tightness in their throat as it is a horrible sensation. Oh I should add that this diet has improved my BS reading immensely. My fasting blood is down to 6.2 and throughout the day is stays around 8 or 9. Brilliant! It has never been so good.

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Happy for you @Irish Maeve x well done! Xx

Pipp said:

Hello
Welcome
I am not sure how to direct you to the links, but there are diet advice pages on forum.
Also, one of the moderators should soon respond with the new members guide.
Hope you get it sorted soon

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Hi Maeve and welcome to the forum

Here is the advice which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful.

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 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.

Here also is a diet which you might find helpful.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/vivs-modified-atkins-diet.18803/page-12#post-623477