Need help, newbie.

@jo.nix

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 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

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.

Did you get a printout of your results? HBA1C of 94 is pretty high. What is your usual diet?. That is step 1

That might explain a LOT !!

But in the context of addressing the issue, what is it by breakfast / lunch / dinner. Forgive me but we MUST know what you eat and then we can set about offering advice.

Mike

Hi,
Welcome
I was diagnosed in February 2015 with similar results. HbA1c 95 and fasting 18. Fortunately I was given a meter. It really does help as we all tolerate foods slightly differently. I tend to test first thing in the morning, before a meal and 2 hours after. First thing I noticed was Weetabix for breakfast spiked it. I now have scrambled eggs. Also for me rice and pasta both spiked so I avoided them. Also some fruit spikes but I can eat strawberries and blueberries. I have got some control now and am trying to see what quantities of some of these things I can manage. 50g of potatoes works for me but not for some others. I can now manage 1 small thin slice of wholemeal bread. It is a question of trying and seeing what works for you. Do ask questions as people here are very helpful. Many have a lot more experience than I do.

Hi and welcome. Everything is confusing at first but try not to panic, this is a long term thing not a sprint so it will take a while to accept, absorb and adjust to.

Many members try a low or reduced carb approach which means cutting down, or cutting out rice, pasta, potatoes and bread.

Some breads can be ok in small amounts for some people. The higher carb or lower gi seem best, mainly things with seeds in to slow the release of sugars such as burgen soya and linseed. Butter is fine. Bacon and eggs are a good breakfast choice for many.

Really need to ditch the chocolate, or at least go for a really good quality high cocoa content dark chocolate. Nuts are a good low carb snack.

I have salad with cheese for lunch most days, but I'm a veggie so don't eat meat or fish but again these are good choices for the non-veggie.

Fruit has a lot of natural sugar but berries seem ok for a lot of us. Good breakfast choice with full fat Greek or natural yogurt. Porridge is something that varies between people whether it spikes them or not.

Loads of recipes and ideas in the what have you eaten and other food sections on site.

I appreciate how confusing all of this is, I'm only recently diagnosed too but there is loads of useful info from other members.

Takes time but it won't seem so bad after a while as you learn what works for you and you get your head round things.

jo.nix said:

Thank you so much when I found out I automatically reverted to diet mode which consisted of rice, pasta potatoes and brown bed. The first few days I felt when just had the bad stomach off the metformin. But today no bad stomach but I've felt awful all day

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I did exactly the same! Glad you are starting to feel better.

jo.nix said:

Sorry Mike D I've just gone into complete panic and don't know wot to eat. Previous breakfast would of been buttery toast, mid morning chocolate bar and probably a sandwich and snack for lunch. And various evening meals, usually involving chips!! My new diet has been fruit, porridge, salad, eggs, rice bit of pasta, brown bread, fish,chicken. I had a rough time first few days with metformin but my stomach seems to have settled now. But today I feel all over the place dizzy, light headed on an off.

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Hi @jo.nix

Yep, understand all that.

Suggest you read around the forums re food substitutes. I know I'd have very ordinary (make that "bad") readings with fruit, porridge, rice, pasta and brown bread, even in small doses. Reckon you need to up the above ground vegies. As a suggestion with my meals as a guide, I have bacon and eggs for breakfast, avocados and salads for lunch (or oily fish) and lean meats (or chicken) with a side of asparagus or cauli mash (or both) for dinner.

Look up LCHF (low carb hi fats) diets as well ... and of course, test your numbers

Mike