I admit it - I'm diabetic!

auburn said:

I have ordered a blood glucose meter so that I can monitor my levels and see how I am doing. 92 was a scary number to me (especially when my diabetic mother talks about 6's and 7's!!) and I should have the machine in a day or two.

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Gidday

Don't confuse the two @auburn ...... a "6 and 7" is a BS reading from a meter ... a 92 is your HBa1C which is around the 10 mark.

You still need to get that down. Welcome by the way. Ask questions and search the forum. Your diet will be critical in understanding how that's impacting on those numbers

I'll tag @daisy1 who'll give you some great info which you should read

Mike

auburn said:

Hello!
It took me a while to get used to it, but I accept the fact that I am diabetic now. At the end of April, I had a HB1AC test and it came back with a reading of 92, so I've been put on 500g Metformin in the morning and 500g Metformin at teatime. Advised to up my exercise, and lose some weight.
Diabetes runs in the family, so I expected it some day, but admit I didn't expect it quite so early. I'm 31.
I find there is a lot of conflicting information. Some suggests going low-carb, some suggests basing meals on starchy carbs. I have my first meeting with the diabetic education clinic next week, and will be grateful to speak to a dietician there.
I have made some swaps - I'm doing my best to stick to lower sugar fruits like berries, instead of bananas and grapes, and I'm now avoiding fruit juices - Would have happily had 2 glasses of guava juice, or apple juice a day. Now I'm on half a glass of "light" cranberry juice, and no-added-sugar diluting juice instead. If I have a banana, I am yawning within 10, 15 minutes, so I think these are bad for me now. And I have stopped having my vending-machine hot chocolates at work. God knows what's in those.
I have ordered a blood glucose meter so that I can monitor my levels and see how I am doing. 92 was a scary number to me (especially when my diabetic mother talks about 6's and 7's!!) and I should have the machine in a day or two.

I'm finding that I am yawning a heck of a lot now. And wanting to sleep/nap. I don't like this..
I have been lurking here for a week or so, decided to join in the community!
So - The next appointments are the diabetic clinic on the 17th, with the podiatrist and dietician, and my retinopathy thing on the 26th. Not sure what to expect!
~Jenny

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Welcome to the forum Jenny
Sounds to me like you are having to many carbs, that's why you are yawning.
I was the same after having cereal and semi skimmed milk. I'd be falling asleep
after half an hr of eating.
The people here are great and will get you on the right track. X

Hello jenny welcome
Have a look at this link http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
It explains how to reduce your sugar levels by using your meter to discover what foods you need to avoid or limit.

@auburn

Hello Jenny and welcome to the forum, love your avatar by the way.

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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 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.

auburn said:

Hahah, I just realised I wrote "500g" of metformin.... Not quite that high a dose, promise!!!

Thank you all for saying hello, and putting up these links and good information. I will certainly be reading in to a lot of articles to get the best. I'm no longer willing to bury my head in the sand, it won't help anyone, just make my situation worse, so I am ready to grab Diabetes by the horns and take control of my life.!

I just had a departmental meeting with a catered lunch, at work, and instead of the usual sarnies and cakes, my boss had ordered me in a chicken salad! I'm pleased that I have the support here, makes life easier. Though I did feel a bit jealous of the profiteroles, fondant fancies, and cakey things everyone else had. I know I can have these, just not as much as I used to. I chose not to today.o

With the blood testing, I guess there will be instructions in the kit (I hope!). I've read that "How to lower your blood sugar" page, thank you, Catinahat! I'll be interested to get started on seeing what affects my bloods.I guess to start with, to find out what has the most impact, will be trial and error. See, I could be sad that bananas look to be a culprit, but instead let's be positive - I have now discovered a liking of blueberries. Every cloud!

Looking forward to getting involved

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Hello and welcome to this amazing forum, you will get loads of advice and help,I'm type 2 also and was relieved to find this forum when diagnosed, within 3 months I had lost 2 stone and had my BG under control. Getting a metre is crucial, test every food before eating and again after 2 hours and you will soon recognise the foods which affect you. I kept a food diary which proved invaluable and I still refer to it. As you say anything ending in berry is good but I can also tolerate an apple a day and somebody else can eat bananas, when the craving gets too much, perhaps every few months I cave in & eat one. Once you get control you will be able to have the occasional treat and you will be surprised how quickly that can be achieved. Major things to avoid: bread pasta potatoes and rice also NHS nutrician advice as they tell you the opposite of everything here and it doesn't work. Whether you choose low carb high fat or low carb full fat I wish you luck on the journey

Hi and welcome to the forum. great that you have various appointments coming up so you will know where you are starting from. There are some great foods out there to discover, and some brilliant advice and support on here. Confusing times with the healthcare advice we are given, but a good opportunity to learn a better way for a healthier life

auburn said:

Thank you!
Unfortunately I got home today to a letter to say that my Diabetic Clinic on the 17th was postponed til the 15th July At least they told me, but come on.. Since April, surely I should have had some form of advice by then. I'll have been on the tablets for 10 weeks by then, and I have a 3 month check up 2 weeks later....

Ah well, I'm glad I found this forum to guide me!!

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Unfortunately the Nhs service seems to vary quite widely based on members various posts. The great thing about the advice on the site is that it all comes from people in the same position as we are all living day to day with this. Many people have discovered really useful things through trial and error so although not medically qualified are in the best position to suggest things. At least we aren't alone. All being well you will have improved things for yourself by the time you get to your appointment. Thank goodness for the forum

Hello and welcome.
Stay with us you will get lots of help.

Hello and welcome!

Be wary of advice to eat plenty of carbs (which you may get from the dietician/NHS) - as carbohydrates are what tend to raise your glucose levels so eating too many is definitely not going to help improve things. Your meter is going to help you make informed choices, though, about which starchy or sugary foods you should definitely avoid and which you may be able to eat without raising your glucose levels too much.

One of the other most useful things you can do to help manage your new diabetic diet, is to read the nutritional information on food packaging - particularly the carbohydrates values. For things like loose fruit and vegetables, you can do a google search, but where possible look at UK based sites for this as in the US they have a different way of listing carbs - they include fibre in the total which then has to be deducted to give "net carbs". In the UK fibre is listed separately. In general look for lower figures - e.g. around 10g carbs per100 g weight of food. Tesco's online grocery is a good source of UK nutritional information and one I use a lot.

Robbity