Hi, I'm very new to diabetes

Welcome @DiR

There's a mg/dl (USA) to mmol/l (UK) converter in the following link which should help you understand better:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

Hello @DiR and Welcome to the Forum . I will tag @daisy1 who will provide you with some basic information that all new members receive on joining the Forum.

Hello and welcome!

In the US your finger prick and blood glucose snapshots are measured in mg/dl. In the UK they are measured in mmol/l.
There is a conversion chart here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html or if you divide your US measurement by 18 you will arrive at the UK measurement.

HbA1cs are measured the same, or at least they were. Your 10 is 10% DCCT. Ours used to be that and some labs still work on that. The newer measurement (from 2011) is mmol/mol and you can convert one to the other here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html

Are you testing before you eat and again between 90 minutes and 2 hours after first bite? If you do this, and look at the difference between before and after you can see what that meal has done to you. If the rise is above 36mg/dl there are too many carbs in that meal. Keeping a food diary including portion sizes is a good idea. Record your before and after levels alongside and very soon you will see patterns emerging. You can then tweak those meals by reducing the carb portions or eliminating some totally.

The worst culprits are rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, anything made with flour. We also need to be careful with milk and fruit.

Hi and welcome I'm still a newbie here, so bear with me

I'm currently using a US app that can help you balance your Excersise, diet and meds, I'm currently converting my blood sugar the opposite way

The apps called diabetes in check by everyday health. I hadn't found this site of their app when starting out and this one dud what I wanted it to.

It will also give you the carbs in fast food etc so you can keep a better track on how your doing.

Hi @DiR and welcome! The only thing I may perhaps usefully add to earlier comments is that diabetes is not a disease per se, it's a 'condition' and one that can be managed. You'll get plenty help here on how you can manage it, so don't worry.

I'm not medically trained, so not comments from that angle. Just some advice. Don't panic. I became Type 1 (suddenly, no family history, no expectation or reason) in my mid 50's, am about 5 years on now. I found it really difficult at the start, everyone talks at you about what your numbers should be and how you should be able to achieve XXX just like that. Counting carbs or whatever else. I can tell you, yes some people seem to be able to treat themselves and achieve a level of stability with numbers, but I met plenty of people who couldn't. I am still trying to figure out what the hell my body is doing sometimes and it still throws curved balls at me. I can be stable for a while and then not so good, same diet, even to the same meal but eaten a different week and I can get different digestion reaction and different numbers. I have periods when I get up in the morning and numbers are ok, and periods when they spike overnight and no amount of trying to manage it makes any difference. I came to conclusion that sometimes my digestion works fine and at other times the body is sluggish and digestion can take hours (so numbers can rise 4 hours or 5 hours later instead of your normal 2), No amount of anyone quoting you the text book on how this works and how you manage your body is going to make any difference if you are unlucky enough to have a body that is stubborn and sometimes downright unpredictable. Just stay calm, don't expect too much of yourself and don't worry if you are not achieving the miracle target figures. Try to work out your body and your reaction yourself, and trust in your own judgement, it does get easier, just like learning to ride a bike it takes a while. PS. First few months they tried me on Metformin, it didn't work for me and about 6 months after diagnosis I went onto insulin injections and found it better. You are not alone.

999 stories you hear are either slightly negative or full of confusion and struggle. and then you catch the odd one.... Like the headline recently about some guy that was managing his life quite well thank you and had been a type 1 diabetic for 70 years ! Yes, that's right 70 years. If he can then the rest of us should not panic.. More stories of that type would help us all.

I seem to be able to control my blood glucose levels just by watching what I eat - I do Atkins and my numbers changed to almost normal in under 3 months. I try to keep my blood glucose under 144 in US terms, but I have found the things I can eat and stick to them. I eat those things which would have enabled me to lose weight years ago, but I have to eat less of them now.

@Dlr

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want 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 well over 147,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

Hello, dlr. I'm also from the USA. It will take some time, but the people on here will be able to give you lots of help.

welcome here Dlr