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New and scared

Hi there, believe it or not, your doc seems to be one of the ones open to new ideas which is all in your favour.

Tagging @daisy1 who will soon post information for you.

Don't panic though - we are all scared when first diagnosed. Did the doc put you on any medication?

This is a great forum and there are loads of people here who will be only too happy to help you answer any questions you have.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum. Your doc seems to be telling you to go low carb. There is a lot of information about it on this forum. So much information that it can be overwhelming at first. To start with you can eat any meat, poultry, fish, and seafood. Eggs are a staple, green leafy veggies as in salad along with broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale, green or wax beans, mushrooms, onion, avocado, olives, nuts (except peanuts and cashews) Olive oil, coconut oil, dill pickles, vinegar. Most creamy or oil and vinegar salad dressings (read label for less than 2 or 3 gram carbohydrate per serving) I believe unsweetened almond milk is ok and probably some soy or tofu cheese but you need to check labels. You will need to get a meter and test how different foods affect you. daisy1 has been tagged and will send you the welcome information that explains how to do this. Take a big deep breath, you will be all right and with a bit of time and a lot of reading it will get easier. We were all where you are not so long ago. In the meantime these are some foods to get you started. Please ask any questions you may have, these are a great bunch of people and very welcoming.
 
@misbehavinpanda - Hello and Welcome to the Forum . White Carbohydrates are what you need to cut out of your diet:- Bread, Rice, Pasta, Potato, Biscuits, Cakes and Pastry. Drink plenty of water and sugar free fluids.
Go to the top of the page and click on Forums, scroll down to FOOD and NUTRITION there you will see all kinds of various diets, hope these will be of some help to you.
 
Hi @misbehavinpanda Welcome to the forum

It's not so hard once you adjust - at first it can seem quite overwhelming and daunting but with time it does get alot easier - have a look for some paleo receipes or books, there are some great ideas there which will help you with your diet and talk to others, there's alot of folk here who understand what you're going through.
 
Hello and welcome,
There are other type2 colic on here and they will be able to help you.
Please Don, t be scared. When I joined here 2 years ago, my regular testing were on average 24 and now on average between 5.5 and 6.
I did this by regular self testing to see what foods affected me and cutting them out and with the help of the forum and the good people here
 
@misbehavinpanda

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and this should help you with your diet. 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 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

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. It's not as bad as it sounds. You can have proteins and fat as well as veg and non-tropical fruit. If you do have some carbs go for wholegrain ones. You can even have chocolate such as Green & Blacks 85% Dark which has no dairy and my grandson who has a dairy allergy enjoys.
 
misbehavinpanda said:
new here, diagnosed with type 2 yesterday. Doc has said I can't have potato, pasta, rice. I'm celiac and allergic to diary so I'm lost at what I eat now


Sent from my E2303 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
Click to expand...

I was scared ****less when I found out and cried my eyes out (happy to admit it). But a few months later I'm an in control diabetic, managing my condition and feeling better. I can't tell you not to be scared as it's inevitable - just remember you are not on your own, many people have conquered their diabetes. No diary might be harder but others here have done it. Best of luck, stay positive - it will help.
 
You have already done extremely well in finding this site quickly, The previous advice is gold dust, so please embrace as it took me a while to find this, and was too high carb when first diagnosed. If you are in a position to embark on some exercise, maybe start with walking and build up your pace over time - circa 10,000 steps a day is regarded as the recommended. If you can mix in some resistance training all the better - I gave myself a year to build up a good fitness level. Be sure to discuss any exercise program with Doctor first. I used the fear of complications to drive my exercise. I found splitting the majority of my low slow release carbs at breakfast and lunch worked for me, with plenty of water / green tea. I have dinner around 17:00 as general activity slows later in the day and this provides a good amount of fasting time. Don't forget to allow yourself time to mentally adjust, as this is tough but you will find gets easier over time.

P.S.
As the sugar decreases in your system you may get blurry eyes, due to your lens adjusting, you might need some cheap reading glasses temporarily (I went through 2 £5.00 sets). If you do get this, it should settle after a couple of weeks; I was in panic and did not realise this was normal.

January 2015 HbA1c 134, 98 kg
March 2015 HbA1c 59 (2 x 500g Metformin), exercise and diet
Dec 2015 HbA1c 41 (2 x 500g Metformin), exercise and diet, 92 kg
March 2016 HbA1c 42 (1 x 500g Metformin), exercise and diet, 92 kg
June 2016 HbA1c 42 (1 x 500g Metformin), exercise and diet, 92 kg
 
misbehavinpanda said:
new here, diagnosed with type 2 yesterday. Doc has said I can't have potato, pasta, rice. I'm celiac and allergic to diary so I'm lost at what I eat now


Sent from my E2303 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
Click to expand...

When I got diagnosed with diabetes, type 2, I was very sick with kidney infection. The infection caused my BG to raise and it became a vicious cycle, that I thought would never end. My BG shot up to 325 mg/dl for two weeks. When infection was calming down, my BG started to improve, but still ranging from 200 to 280 mg/dl. I wondered why and then I found out that the hospital kept giving me rice and potatoes as well as high sugar content veggies and fruits. When I was discharged, I was on a much better control of what I eat. Cut off all carb such us rice, pasta, bread and their all mouth watering friends. Suffered a lil bit with the extreme change for the first few days. But then it becomes easier. And my body is just fine without them.
My BG level significantly improved.

So yes, there's hope!
It's very hard I know, but you're not alone

Aini xxx
 

Gosh, now I knew why I got blurry vision. That's because my BG level has gone down.
My boyfriend has a pair of these reading glasses, they've been my good friends so far! xx
 
Welcome to the forum, you have come to the right place. It is always scary when you first get diagnosed. It might be worth thinking about buying a blood glucose monitor (I have a Code free SD as the strips aren't too expensive). Once you have a meter you can test to see which foods spike your blood (PS, your GP might say you do not need to test as a Type 2 but it is the only way to find out what foods make you spike). You test before you eat and two hours after to see how much it has gone up. If it has gone up more than 2 points it is probably too carby. There is lots of information and recipe books on here to help you low carb.
Take your time and don't panic, it takes a while to get your head around it all! Good luck and ask as many questions as you need to!
 
This may sound perverse, but well done for being scared! Next I hope you will get angry, then a resigned acceptance. These are normal human reactions to anything that we don't like or understand. The sooner you get through those phases the sooner you will get to the final phase, 'Make a Plan' You seem to be close already, and once you have a plan you can start to implement it and take back control of YOU!
 
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