Hi, New To This Forum. Type 2

Hi @oldnevada ,

Welcome to the forums. Hypo's are fun aren't they! How are you managing your diabetes, any particular diet?

Welcome, I will tag @daisy1 as she has some info for people new to the forum that she can post. What was your latest HbA1c result? If you cut down on carbs you might be able to come off that new med that can cause hypos.

@oldnevada

Hello and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and, although you are not newly diagnosed, you may find useful. Ask more questions 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

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.

Hi and welcome to the forum

Welcome to forum oldnevada

oldnevada said:

Thanks for the info! I have no idea what an HbA1c is. My doctor never discussed that with me. I'm super careful with my sugars and carbs now. I use MyFitnessPal to follow and count them. I'm usually 300C under my allowed 2100C/day. So, working diligently at it.

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Well done! An HbA1c is a type of blood test that shows how stable your blood sugar levels have been for the 2 months before the test. It's the main blood test that is used to diagnose and monitor diabetes. Next time you see your doctor, ask them what the result was, as it will give you an idea how well you are doing. You usually get this test every 3 months until the result is stable, then it should be every 6 months.

CatLadyNZ said:

An HbA1c is a type of blood test that shows how stable your blood sugar levels have been for the 2 months before the test.

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Er, not quite although I think I know what you're meaning to say!

HbA1c is a measure of glycated haemoglobin. A proportion of glucose bonds with haemoglobin in the blood. This bond is permanent and only disappears off the radar when the blood cell dies. Typical life of a blood cell is 2-3 months although this can vary. So the HbA1c is a sort-of measure of average BG levels over the duration of blood cell lifespan. In theory though you could have the same HbA1c resulting from a steady, managed daily range of BG and from one where they were all over the place. So stable isn't quite the word.

Basically yes, the lower your BG the less haemoglobin is glycated and your HbA1c will decline.

sanguine said:

Er, not quite although I think I know what you're meaning to say!

HbA1c is a measure of glycated haemoglobin. A proportion of glucose bonds with haemoglobin in the blood. This bond is permanent and only disappears off the radar when the blood cell dies. Typical life of a blood cell is 2-3 months although this can vary. So the HbA1c is a sort-of measure of average BG levels over the duration of blood cell lifespan. In theory though you could have the same HbA1c resulting from a steady, managed daily range of BG and from one where they were all over the place. So stable isn't quite the word.

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You're right, stable was the wrong word. I meant to say it's a measure of what your BGs have been like.. a sort-of measure of average BG levels.