High readings

Hello and welcome

Your BS reading of 29 was very high and bordering on dangerous, but your HbA1c of 90 was a lot less than that. (It equates to a BS reading of 13.9mmol/l. This is an average of the previous 2 to 3 months, so your levels have averaged at about 13.9, meaning some will have been very high, whilst others not quite as high.

I can't see any reason to complain if you weren't feeling very poorly at the time. I would put it behind you and look to the future and how you are going to control these levels. Your priority is to get them down to acceptable levels. The meds will help, but won't solve it. Diet is the key. Please don't for one minute think the meds will do this for you without a suitable diet and some effort from yourself. Your first job is to get a meter, your next job is to cut down or avoid the major carbs (potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, pastry, flour). By how much is up to you, but a meter will tell your body can tolerate. We are all different in how many carbs we can tolerate.

@daisy1 will be along soon with a guide for newly diagnosed.

Hello,

Those readings indicate that you can help yourself to reduce the blood sugar readings to desirable levels.

Cut out anything that has added sugar - cakes, sweet biscuits, sweets, drinks and beverages.

Eat less carbohydrate stuff - bread, pasta, rice, root vegetables and anything made with flour. Cut down gradually so that your body gets used to less carbohydrate.

As @bluetit said while I was writing my post, get yourself a blood glucose meter so that you can test your own levels and learn how certain foods affect your blood glucose. Edit: I see you have a meter. I know Type 2s are not encouraged to use meters but that really is the only way you can learn how well you are progressing.

@Rinjama

Hello and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members which I hope will be useful to you. It contains, amongst other things, advice on carbs which will be very important for you. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 130,000 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.

Rinjama said:

Thank you I do try to look after my diet, and have a meter but the PN encourages me not to use it. I have been feeling incredibly tired but put that down to pressure of work age and Christmas!! The diet advice I was given when diagnosed was very different to that I read now I'm feeling very confused. I need a bump start

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this will start you off

• Low-Carb Basics
• What Foods To Eat
• Low-Carb Menu Help
• Low-Carb Recipes
• Low-Carb Super Foods
• Low-Carb Restaurant Eating

it’s a long page and a few good video’s
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm



A dietician sitehttp://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-new-low-carb-guide-for-beginners.68695/


blood testing

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

food counting

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic the rate of ~70% remission, for surgery T2http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
Newcastle diet Lectures

http://www.fend-lectures.org/index.php?menu=view&id=94

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/events/public-lectures/item.php?roy-taylor-diabetes
shows BG lowering to normal rangeView attachment 8599
*Optifast site recommends 33%/20g more protein [tin of sardines or equivalent], this would help with any muscle loss

American diabetic association

Position Statement

http://www.professional.diabetes.org/admin/UserFiles/0 - Sean/dc132042 FINAL.pdf

Evidence is inconclusive for an ideal amount of total fat intake for people with diabetes;
therefore, goals should be individualized; fat quality appears to be far more important than quantity.


In people with type 2 diabetes, a Mediterranean-style, MUFA-rich [mono fats-rich] eating pattern may benefit
glycemic control and CVD risk factors and can therefore be recommended as an effective alternative to a lower-fat, higher-carbohydrate eating pattern.

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Rinjama said:

Thank you I do try to look after my diet, and have a meter but the PN encourages me not to use it. I have been feeling incredibly tired but put that down to pressure of work age and Christmas!! The diet advice I was given when diagnosed was very different to that I read now I'm feeling very confused. I need a bump start

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Ignore your nurse. Use your meter to learn. Test immediately before you eat, then again 2 hours after your first bite. Look at the rise in your levels. If it is more than 2mmol/l there are too many carbs in that meal which you need to reduce portion-wise or avoid completely. Keep a food diary including portion sizes, then record your levels alongside. Patterns will emerge and you will very soon learn how many carbs you can cope with, and especially the portion sizes.

With sugar levels like that you must test. I had high levels like that at diagnosis and wasn't given a meter or told to test; I wish I had done. Can I ask how old you are and your BMI?

keep trying to bring those readings down, but I don't think you have grounds for a complaint.

Rinjama said:

Oh my bmi is a diabolical 45

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Don't worry!
I arrived at this forum on that.
It's dropping.
Slowly but surely.


I heartily recommend low carbing - guided and monitored by a blood glucose meter.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how much better you feel when you have adjusted your diet and your blood glucose stops rising and falling like an elevator.