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Chris1

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people who moan 'why me?'
Hi, I have just spent ages trying to get in touch. I'm afraid my computer skills aren't up to much!
I was diagnosed with type 2 a few months ago and feel really lost. I have numerous other health problems including Wegeners granulomatosis, chronic kidney failure and diverticulitis. I've been told that my diabetes is probably due to the long term steroids I've been given. Hey, thanks guys!
I think I have coped well so far as I refuse to give in, but this seems to be the last straw. I will be okay once I get my head around it and will come out fighting but I really don't know at the moment what I'm up against. I feel as if I've been given tablets and left to get on with it. I go to the diabetes clinic but all they seem to offer is 2 monthly blood tests. What more is there? Any advice will be gratefully recieved, Chris
 
Hi Chris & Welcome!

There's lots of good support here......and one of the mods will probably be along to post the normal advice for new Type 2s shortly.

I'm now in my second month as a type 2, and I have found that the best way for me to deal with this is to get a blood glucose meter and test blood sugar levels before and after meals so you can see what foods are giving you problems and eliminate or reduce them in your diet.

I think diet is a powerful tool for Type 2 diabetes - with or without medication, but you need the data that a meter and a good testing regime will give you. A low carb diet makes it easier to keep the sugar levels down as well - but may not be suitable with your existing kidney problems - I'm not an expert though, so I'd advise you to do some reading on that!
 
Have a read and see if there is anything that you can use here.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.
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