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My story

eldergarth

eldergarth

Well-Known Member
Messages
849
Location
nottinghamshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
marmite peanut butter
Hi all firstly would like to say thanks to you all for the wealth of info on this site that has helped me to come to terms with my diagnosis and to help me partly control my diabetes with my LCHF diet.
My story
My diagnosis started I guess on new years eve when I went for my routine eye test and they found a bleed in my left eye and my optician asked me to return in a weeks time so they could check if still there and it was but getting larger so they referred me to my docs on a emergency appointment .
My doctor took a number of bloods and urine tests and asked me to return in 4 weeks .
The following morning at 3am I was woken by heavy knocking on my front door it was the out of hours doctor from our hospital who had come to take me to A&E as my bloods had a reading of 38 and after arriving at hospital my reading was at 29.1 and high keytones (at the time did not understand what this meant )
After having 2 insuline drips over a 4hr period my levels dropped to 18 and then was allowed home as long as I reported to my docs .
I am know T2 diagnosed and taking gliclazide and metformin every day but my goal is to hopefully control my diabetes with my diet .
It has been a very rocky road since my diagnosis with my levels all over the place for the first couple of weeks with my average blood reading being 15.6 and a fasting level no lower 12 i suffered 2 hyper's in the first week of my diagnosis.
But now I have an average of 8.4 and a fasting level average of 5.3 although I did suffer my first hypo last week at work .
I have my meds review in a weeks time and will be attending a 'DESMOND' course in 4 weeks time .
I have at present been issued with a Glucorx nexus testing machine and test around 4-6 times a day depending on how my levels are .
 
Hi eldergarth, sounds like you are doing well to me you are in the best place joining this site stay with us and you will be fine, there are many forums for you to explore. Go to the forum "What Have You Eaten Today" There are lots of ideas on there for you to try and then test 2 hrs after you have eaten to see what you can and can not eat, I'm afraid its all trial and error at the beginning but you will get there sooner than you thin, good luck. Hope this has been helpful:) 2
 
@eldergarth hello and welcome to this super forum. @daisy1 please post the information for newcomers. You seem to have had quite a time with your diagnosis. You are doing well to get your levels down. There are Manx very friendly, kind and supportive people here who will do their best answer any questions you ask. Good luck. :)
 
thankyou @mo53 for your warm welcome I'm afraid to say I was some what left in the dark as to diet ect from my doctor it was basically here is your meds and your glucose meter see you in 4 weeks so had to start to find answers to my questions and thankfully found this site a gods sends.
 
Yes that seems to have happened to a number of us. Mind you, my levels were nowhere near as high as yours . The information that daisy will post is excellent. On the front page of the site there is a link to the low carb online course which is free. I have read posts from people saying it is very useful. I use myfitnesspal website to keep a food diary as it calculates calories and gramma of carb eaten.
 
@eldergarth

Hello Eldergarth and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this useful. Ask any questions you may have 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 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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 @eldergrath
Welcome to the forum. It has been a great place for me and I'm sure it will be for you. LCHF is a great place to start and having a meter you can test the impact that meals have on your levels is fantastic
 
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