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Hi I'm a newbie!

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14
Obvious I guess!

Until 1997 the only diabetes we knew in our family was my paternal grandpa had had type 2 and had died of a stroke when I was 7. In 1997 my then 7 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 - completely out of the blue. He fought like made the first few injections when we were in the hospital and then realised that he would be allowed to do it himself - never looked back and never let me do it for him! However, he hated injections, really hated them with a passion, we had battles with the paediatric people locally - looking into pump options, being promised if we met certain goals and then the goals changed or because we had met them we didn't need the pump. Finally, he is now 25 and had a pump at the beginning of this year. The difference in him is staggering. He is so much more controlled, the tiredness has eased - he often couldn't work a full week because his body let him down, he is an HCA in the local paediatric outpatients!

In 2002 my Mum was diagnosed with type 2 - she is now 90 and still diet controlled with gliclazide as well - not great but at 90 we aren't really too bothered - take care of feet and eyes etc.
In about 2003 my brother was diagnosed with type 2 - he ended up on metformin but died 3 years ago from cancer.
Also in 2003ish my husband was diagnosed with type 2 - he was at an appointment at the hospital for an irregular heartbeat and they found out instead that he had diabetes and was kept in hospital for a couple of days to bring down sugar levels and work out his treatment. He went onto insulin fairly quickly.
Then in 2006 I was diagnosed with type 2! From nothing at all we all suddenly seemed to falling. I went onto insulin earlier this year. I've had a bad year healthwise - sugar levels way out of control. I've signed up here to try to do this low-carb thing. Something in my health needs to turn around and I am hoping that this will work out for us as a family. Whilst my husband and I are overweight the rest of the family aren't, we have become worse as depression sets in with illness and constantly feeling tired and just absolutely drained.

Hope I can contribute and also gain wisdom and advice from here.

Personal information - been married 32 years, have had 8 children - 3 still living at home, 1 married, 1 living with my Mum, 1 at university, and 2 sharing a flat 4 hours drive away whilst one of them works and one of them is working on his masters degree. I've been a stay at home mum for the past 30 odd years as we homeschooled our children, and am now trying to think about getting back into the work place as my husband has now retired!

I'm also a bit of a technophobe so might struggle with some of the intricacies of this forum!
 
Hi, Elizabeth. So..I'm pretty sure a few factors haven't helped....genes, luck, diet, stress....
I was diagnosed Type 2 earlier this year and had very little guidance beyond the usual - avoid sugars but eat a balanced diet blah...before finding this site. I'm sure you will benefit from it. By checking my levels at varied times, and eventually at certain key times, each day and recording the details (ie. food eaten, time, reading - before and 2 hours after eating), and by reducing my carb intake dramatically, I have really got my levels down. I came off my meds completely to see the full effect of the low carb diet, and am now toying with the same meds again to see if it will have an impact now my diet is under control (just to lose that extra wee bit off my levels at their peak). I am not on insulin, however, and my condition is not weight related at all - so maybe someone else can dive you more directly relevant info, but certainly I would recommend you explore the low carb diet info and the forums. Keep your doctor informed, of course, but, after you have thought about the info around...I'd suggest stopping bread completely..same with cereals and spuds. happy ot answer anything I can, but you'll find lots of people here more than ready to help. Good luck . Paul (ps. can't emphasize the value of a food/level diary enough).
 
Hello Elizabeth and welcome to the forum! @daisy1 will be along to give you info on how to monitor your diabetes, and the low carb high fat (LCHF) thread is really useful with tips on how to eat better for your diabetes. Also, have you looked at www.dietdoctor.com? Good help and advice in there too.
(I was very interested to hear that you did home-schooling! I would love to hear something about that, when you have a mo.).
 
@ElizabethPurkiss

Hello Elizabeth and welcome to the forum :) I am sure that your experience with diabetes is extensive in view of your family experience, but here, suggested by Liz, is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.

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 150,000 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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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.
 
Thanks for so many replies and such help already! I'll certainly be around more and really trying to get into a more healthy lifestyle. I'm not great at posting lots in these types of forums, but I am an avid reader!
Lizdeluz - I'm always happy to talk about homeschooling! I don't know if there is a messaging or private way of 'talking' here - if there is get back to me somehow and I can chat!
 
Hello and Welcome to the forum , hope you enjoy reading
the forum as much as I do :)
 
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