Low carb

Hi! Glad you made it over here in the newly diagnosed forum. As I said on your other post you’ll get loads of advise here. I’ll start by tagging @daisy1 who’ll post loads of useful links for you. Firstly it’ll help everyone if you can tell us a little more. Do you know your HbA1c test result and are you on any medication?
I’m now seven months from being diagnosed type 2. Once I was over the initial shock, I saw it as the proverbial kick up the bum to get healthier. I was started on Metformin tablets and tolerate them well now after a bit of stomach upset in the early days. I wasn't advised to eat low carb by my GP or Diabetes education course, but stumbled on this forum by chance and took up a low carb life style with self monitoring. I started by eating less than 100g carbs/day to begin with and then after 6 weeks reduced it to 50-70g/day, that’s what I continue on now. Caution needs to be taken on certain drugs going low carb but on just Metformin it’s ok. The best way to see what foods suit you is to test right before a meal and then two hours after the first bite, you’re looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmol/l and to be within these recommended ranges http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html , so it’s great you’re getting a meter.
This has all worked for me, to date I've lost over four and a half stone (still more to go) and got my HbA1c (blood test for 2-3 month average blood sugar) down to a non diabetic level, all due to the fantastic support and advise I got here.

Hi Audrey

The right level of carbs a day is personal to the indivdual and their aims and circumstances. If you read around the forum you will see varying levels from 20-150g. It's easy to see how well you tolerate a meal when you test with a blood glucose meter.

If you are in the UK this info will be helpful

I hope @Bluetit1802 does mind me borrowing this:

The most popular meters for self funding T2's are the Codefree and the Tee2 because the strips are much cheaper than other meters, and you need a lot of strips. You can't buy them in pharmacies.

Try here for the Codefree meter
http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/

and here for the extra strips
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

The Tee2 is here and the meter is free.
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/

Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for either meter)

@waterlily2

Hello Audrey and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to 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 well over 235,000 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 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. Most of these are 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.
  

waterlily2 said:

Hi, I’m Audrey. Newly diagnosed Type 2. Find it all very confusing at the moment but really interested in trying the Low Carb approach. Can anyone advise me of how many carbs I should be aiming for daily. I’m going to buy a blood glucose monitor tomorrow to keep track myself as I won’t be recalled to diabetic clinic for another 3 months

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Hi Audrey and welcome, your daily carbs are your choice, mine is around 80g a day. My meter was given by my surgery and my strips and lancets are on prescription. Are you on medication for being a diabetic, if so then your prescriptions are free but not necessarily your meter, depends on your medication. You need to fill out a form from your surgery.
Tracy

Hi @waterlily2
Welcome. I can't add to the great advice you have already been given, but I can add my personal experience. I too was 52 on diagnosis. When I went on the DESMOND course I was told that anything up to 58 is fine for a T2!!! I questioned that and was told I could try to get it lower if I wanted. Within 10 weeks of low carb diet I was down to 35 which is a non diabetic level. So, the moral of the story is believe in what you can do, eat to your meter and go for it! Good luck!

You’re on the right track already Waterlily. I’ve found being on Metformin and a low carb diet the easiest way ever to loose weight. I’ve tried them all before, calorie counting, milkshakes, the fruit diet etc... and failed with all of them. Low carb dieting is so easy once you get the hang of it. I got my HbA1c down from 70 in May, to 45 in July and two subsequent tests have been in the thirties
I keep records of each meal with carb counts and blood sugar readings on spreadsheets to see what suits me best (or not as the case may be!). There are also phone apps you can record info in too. Some produce some nice little graphs so you can see your progress.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I have just one more snippet of advice for you, if you choose to lower your carb intake then do it gradually. I had a humongous A1c on diagnosis that scared the bejesus out of me and I lowered my carbs so quickly that I got what is known as 'Carb Flu' (or sometimes as 'Keto Flu'). If feels like the early symptoms of flu with the resulting misery that flu entails and almost led me to abandoning the whole notion of lowered carb intake. So, go steadily and you will avoid this and give yourself time to practice taking bg readings and get used to reading labels. Best of luck.

N.B
Carb Flu is the result of the shock to the body of a sudden change to diet, nothing to do with infection. The body is saying 'Hey! This is not what I'm used to so stop it!' For me, it lasted about ten days until my body said 'Ah, I see what you are doing, carry on because now I like it!'.

waterlily2 said:

Rachox, that’s amazing what you have achieved, well done. That’s making me feel a lot more positive about the journey ahead

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Thank you! I’m just paying back now after receiving advise and so much help from this forum. It’s way more useful than the standard NHS advise. I’ve struck lucky with my GP who agrees with low carb diets. He draws the line at prescribing me tests strips though!

Morning and Merry Christmas to all!
I was diagnosed as type 2 about 6-8 months ago and was scared by the prospect. I was prescribed Metformin, 1/day which was ok. Not doing as my nurse hoped it would, she increased my dose to 2/day.
This caused my bowels to take on a life of their own!! I work outside lots and there are rarely toilets nearby! "I also teach in colleges and leaving classes unattended is a no no. I was afraid to cough or break wind-- maybe too much information, but I want folk to understand where I was at.
I explained this to my nurse, who then gave me slow release metformin. Started ok, ended up loose again.
I really went into dieting, lost a stone, (15 down to 14)and my HbA1c came right down (cant recall numbers, they weren't important to me at the time). Nurse took me off all meds, pat on the back.
Recent bloods came in at 15.8mmol so urgent action needed. Was prescribed Gliclazide 80mg, only half a pill 20mins before breaky. Now getting readings of around 10-7 before breaky, 7-9 pm.
Nurse altered dose to one pill before breaky today(28.12.17) and will call me in 2 weeks.
I was given an Accu? Monitor, lancets and finger pricker, and test strips free on a prescription. Maybe as Im 61? She did say they get samples given, maybe I was just lucky?
Great advice on this forum. I got really depressed at being issued with monitoring equipment but get a lift reading your contributions. Initially felt like my life had taken a dive, but realise all is not lost. Cheers!

waterlily2 said:

Archersuz, I’ve also been put forward for the DESMOND program, doesn’t look like the NHS are onboard with low carb so we’ll just have to prove them wrong

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It's worth attending, but stick your ground with low carb, and yes, we'll prove them wrong!

Rachox said:

You’re on the right track already Waterlily. I’ve found being on Metformin and a low carb diet the easiest way ever to loose weight. I’ve tried them all before, calorie counting, milkshakes, the fruit diet etc... and failed with all of them. Low carb dieting is so easy once you get the hang of it. I got my HbA1c down from 70 in May, to 45 in July and two subsequent tests have been in the thirties
I keep records of each meal with carb counts and blood sugar readings on spreadsheets to see what suits me best (or not as the case may be!). There are also phone apps you can record info in too. Some produce some nice little graphs so you can see your progress.

Click to expand...

Hi guys,

I am new to this so be patient.

I am LADA and struggling with weight loss and I was told of this low carb diet. I'm 6' and 19st, I was 20st 8lbs at my worst.

I want big changes for 2018 and a new low carb diet might just do the trick.

I think it's this DESMOND diet I'm looking for.

JK

moleman said:

Morning and Merry Christmas to all!
I was diagnosed as type 2 about 6-8 months ago and was scared by the prospect. I was prescribed Metformin, 1/day which was ok. Not doing as my nurse hoped it would, she increased my dose to 2/day.
This caused my bowels to take on a life of their own!! I work outside lots and there are rarely toilets nearby! "I also teach in colleges and leaving classes unattended is a no no. I was afraid to cough or break wind-- maybe too much information, but I want folk to understand where I was at.
I explained this to my nurse, who then gave me slow release metformin. Started ok, ended up loose again.
I really went into dieting, lost a stone, (15 down to 14)and my HbA1c came right down (cant recall numbers, they weren't important to me at the time). Nurse took me off all meds, pat on the back.
Recent bloods came in at 15.8mmol so urgent action needed. Was prescribed Gliclazide 80mg, only half a pill 20mins before breaky. Now getting readings of around 10-7 before breaky, 7-9 pm.
Nurse altered dose to one pill before breaky today(28.12.17) and will call me in 2 weeks.
I was given an Accu? Monitor, lancets and finger pricker, and test strips free on a prescription. Maybe as Im 61? She did say they get samples given, maybe I was just lucky?
Great advice on this forum. I got really depressed at being issued with monitoring equipment but get a lift reading your contributions. Initially felt like my life had taken a dive, but realise all is not lost. Cheers!

Click to expand...

Hi Moleman, I think you got given the ‘kit’ (monitor, strips, lancets and gun) because of Glicazide as it can cause hypos and you need to test your bs. I had the same kit when on Gliclazide, came off because of too many hypos and put on Metformin = disaster then put on Metformin SR = still really unpleasant with stomach doing somersaults. Appointment next week.

Hi @John5184

as @waterlily2 says above Best to start a thread in the section of the forum http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-1-5-lada-diabetes.41/