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Hi - I'm newly diagnosed Type 2 & don't have a clue - help!

R

Rab19

Newbie
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3
Hi All,

I'm Rab, a 39 year old mother of 2 boys & had Gestational Diabetes with both of them. I was warned I might develop Type 2 & I've been on Metformin since my impaired GTT in Jan 09 - Doc thinks I've got it now though (pending confirmation of blood tests on Monday).

I cant remember what I did during the pregnancies, with regards to food - it's been a little while & I did really well when pregnant, even losing weight after the births, but I can't find any of my info.

Can someone please point me in the right direction for ideas for what food I should be eating again, what I can buy during my next shop & should I consider the low carb diet please? Doc was really busy yesterday & I think they assume I know what I'm doing due to the pregnancies, but I'm a doughnut & don't!

Many thanks & hope to hear soon


Rab x x
 
Welcome to the forum, this is the advice we give to newbies but if you are pregnant again then this advice may not be suitable.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!
Click to expand...

If you are Gestational again here is a link for info from our community pages.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/gestational-diabetes.html
 
Thanks very much for your reply - I read that before I posted & have tried to take note of that when we went shopping tonight :D

Nope - not pregnant again, just had GD twice, now very probable Type 2, but Doc says with Diet & Metformin we can control it, soooooo really after advice on the best foods to avoid, so I can plan meals etc. I'm very lucky that my Husband supports my whole eating pattern change & has said he'll eat whatever I dish up, so tonight, I loked for all the Carbohydrates that Sugar & Fats that Saturate & attempted to keep them all under 4.0 (I was told this is a good benchmark) - is that right please?

It's going to be hard, but I'm sure I can get through it - I'm back playing Ice Hockey again, so that should help!

Thanks again


Rab x x
 
When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.
 
Welcome to the forum

We all eat the same food in this house more or less – and more or less is my answer since my husband needs more and I need less. In addition I just don’t eat the starchy carbs - and he does.

My diet consists of lean meat and fish, eggs, cheese and vegetables (except potatoes) and fruits. I am careful about things like bananas and melon as they are too high for me but berries are good.
 
Hi Guys

Thanks again - I have an appointment with the Diabetic Nurse tomorrow & spoke with the Doctor this morning - apparently there's a small problem with my Thyroid & they'll keep monitoring this, the Cholesterol is ok & it shows that the blood sugars have been up for a while. He's written me a prescription for Gliclazide, but told me to hold off till speaking to the Nurse tomorrow.

I guess I'm just searching now for the right foods & meal options - it's so frustrating not knowing what will be good & what is bad. Obviously there are certain foods that are blatantly naughty, but I'd have thought bananas etc. were fine as they were fruit - I guess it's the naturally occuring sugars that are the problem.

Thanks for your replies & I guess I'll get there - I'd prefer to treat this without insulin, so fingers crossed!


Rab x
 
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