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New and unsure

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iggy-lil

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Hi,
I was diagonsed diabetic yesterday. Not sure which type yet as we are trying diet and exercise at the moment. Have a huge amount of strips and machine to test. Feel like a pin cushion. :crazy:

Dont know where to start, feel so alone (yet got a wonderful hubby and 2 loving teen boys) but yet really feel loney. Just feel so scared at the moment. :'(

Havent felt well for a while and just put it down to life/meds. After feeling like a demented fool over the weekend, couldnt quench my thirst I went to LLoyds chemist monday( didnt go to drs as sometimes I get the old''its your aniexty,, you are stressed'') , did test and it was 18.8 . Sent straight up to doctors, as I had not eaten night before did a fasting test and told to ring today.
Yesterday had phone call , they had results back a day early and had booked an appointment for me that morning.

So dont know really what else to say apart from I so scared everytime Im waiting for the blood meter to beep as I have been told if it hits 20 I have to go into hospital.

Thanks for reading x
 
Hi iggy-lil and welcome to the forum :) Don't worry, you will soon start to feel better about things when you know what to do and get into a routine. I felt like you at the beginning but I am fine with it now. Here is some information to help you get familiar with diabetes, whichever type you are told you are. I am sure you will have lots of questions, so just go ahead and ask and someone will know the answer.

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 30,000 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 ... rains.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 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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you

I found this site yesterday and there is so much information on here, already from yesterday I have found lots of help just by reading.

I have been given a log book to keep an eye on the results but also I am keeping a timed food diary so that I can watch my food. Just dont want to end up in hospital .
 
Hello iggy-lil and welcome.

Try not to worry too much as I started with readings in the 20's and didn't end up in hospital. 4 months later and thanks to this site my levels are now the same as an average non diabetic persons. Doesn't mean I'm cured as I have to watch what I eat but it means I'm safe and back in control of my life.

What worked for me and many other people on the forum is finding out that reducing carbohydrates is what really helps with blood sugar levels. So just to get things a bit clearer in your head that means drastically reducing or stopping eating anything with plain sugar in it like cakes and biscuits and sugar in tea and coffee. Importantly also try and at least halve starchy foods like rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, cereals and anything else made with flour. Replace those things with extra meat, fish, cheese, eggs and especially vegetables. Vegetables that grow above ground are best but most of us find carrots ok too. A small amount of fresh fruit is fine and I personally fine fruits that end in berry to be the best. If you're ok with artificial sweeteners then things like diet coke are fine but obviously the non diet versions of drinks are definitely out.

Blood sugar wise the NHS (NICE) guideline says to be under 8.5 two hours after eating any meal. Many of us see that as a bit out of date nowadays with 7.8 being a better target to aim for. 7.8 is what the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) recommends as a lot of modern research shows that 7.8 is the number where if regularly exceeded bad things will start to happen with your body. Depending on how much risk you want to take some of us aim for even lower targets of around 6.5 as that would be the maximum that 19 out of 20 average non diabetics would reach. It will take you a while to get your levels down to those, it took me around 2 months but day by day it got better.

One thing I found worked really well is a thing called carb counting. This just means that you work out from the backs of packets how many grams of carbohydrates you eat in a day. If you want to do that but are unclear how then ask. The main rule is to include the total carbohydrate count not just the "of which sugars" value. A good target that most people would recommend is to aim between 120 and 150g of carbs a day. This is called a low to moderate carb regime and would be what you would be recommended to eat by your doctor if you were Swedish or German as it's become standard practice within their health systems. The American Diabetes Association also recognises the value of a low carbohydrate diet.

A benefit of carb counting is it will allow you to fine tune the amount and types of carbohydrate you can eat safely when combined with your meter as no two people are the same. You may find you have to adjust your initial grams per day down (like me) or you might find you can eat more. Some people on the forum cut their carbs to a very low figure of less than 30g / day called VLC or very low carbing. Again while this may seem extreme it is not necessarily a bad thing and other countries don't actively discourage people from doing it. At those kind of levels AND if you are still producing enough insulin quite a few members discover they can give up all their medication if they want to. If you are wondering I still quite like carbs so eat around 65g / day on average, I'd love to eat a few more but then I wouldn't be able to keep my levels safe which to me is the most important thing.

Here in the UK you may find your local doctor and nurse will also have no problem with a low to moderate carb regime but some very much still do and may well recommend you eat all the starchy foods I listed above in quantity. Again the choice is entirely yours. If you want to eat at that higher carbohydrate level then most diabetics have to accept sooner or later they will be on stronger diabetic drugs rather than diet only or on safe drugs like Metformin as otherwise they find they cannot keep in those safe blood sugar ranges.

Losing weight is important if you need to. The extra weight is a major cause of what's called insulin resistance. What that means is that the insulin you produce is being stopped from working properly by excess weight. If you lose weight your insulin resistance will begin to get better and of course losing weight is good for other things like your heart. Unfortunately don't think by losing weight you will be "cured" If you are very lucky you might find that with a reduction in insulin resistance your ability to eat things may get somewhat better but how much better is really determined by how long you were running at high blood sugar levels as those high levels can and do destroy the very cells in the body that produce insulin.

Finally an idea of how long it takes to get your blood sugars under control. In me on a low carb and Metformin regime it took around 8 weeks. Each week I saw a gradual improvement. In some people it happens in days. We have had a couple of new members recently who cut their carbohydrates really low and got back to near normal blood sugar levels in just about a week. From this take it that everyone is different!

Just keep asking questions it's what the forum is all about.
 
Hey Iggy, and welcome.

Scary times, eh? Only diagnosed just over 4 weeks myself but feel like an old hand already! Thing is, I'm fast discovering that it's not as scary as I thought. Bit daunting at first, warrants very careful watching and needs us to take responsibilty.

My first reading was "alarmingly high" (Docs words) at over 30 and overnight fasting was 22 - no-one even mentioned hospital to me.

As I'm quickly finding out it's the start of a healthier you. You've just got to accept it and deal with it. I did initially and only at the weekend after 4 weeks did I get angry and peed off. Been very fit most of my adult life and taking it hard. Got over that. Guess everyone copes differently. So after a couple of days in the huff I'm back to "dealing with it".

This forum has been invaluable to me I'm working on the theory that the more I know the better I'll deal so I read everything I can.

Cheers, John
 
Hi Iggy.

It isn`t so bad once you realise you can actually do so much to help yourself. I was diagnose a month ago, and already have test results in a normal, non diabetic range. I feel better than I`ve felt for a long time :)
 
Hello Iggy.

I was only diagnosed last week and have been struggling a fair bit to try and get my head around things. I found this site when diagnosed and it has as John said it has been invaluable to me too. I have just been reading and reading trying to find out everything I can.

Best wishes

Sandra
 
Thank you for all your replies - a lovely welcome :wave:

Thank you for all your information - I am at the start of a huge learning curve.

I was given a few options and ideally they wanted me to go to hospital as I had ketones in my water and to start insulin as they werent sure if I am a type 1 or 2. After a chat about all options and what could happen we agreed to start me on a diet and a meter to check levels. They agreed to this as the ketones had gone down slightyly, but they made me and my husband promise that if my readings hit 20 I had to go to the GP who would send me in or if evening or weekend I was told to contact out of hours or go to A&E.

Iknow I have to do what is best for my health but have such a phobia( which I am going to have to get over ) and because of life circumstances I just couldnt go in. I do however have a bag packed ready just in case ( only so I get what I need not what DH thinks I want :roll: )

Today reading wise I think has been much better than yesterday. Im just hungry between meals. Im so used to picking its going to take a while. I have had a snack between meals but it just wasnt enough for me. Didnt give in though as I am determined to get this sorted.

Thanks again :D
 
Hi Iggy, and welcome.

I don't want to alarm you at all, but the reason they mentioned going into hospital to you was that high blood sugars combined with ketones in your urine can mean a very serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This is rare, but it left untreated can kill you - which lasts a lot longer than going into hospital! This condition is what your doctor is worried about on your behalf.

I stress that this is rare, and you mustn't worry unduly, but if your BG gets very high (that 20 figure!), or you feel really unwell and start vomiting, pick up that bag and get yourself down to A&E. They'll take good care of you.

As far as snacking goes - forget the usual carby snacks like crisps, toast, biscuits etc, and go for protein snacks. A bit of cheese, some cold meat, live yoghurt with a few berries and nuts in, a small handful of nuts by themselves - protein fills you up much better than carbs and will last longer, and best of all, doesn't affect your blood glucose :D .

Even before you see your doctor again to discuss which type you are, I would suggest that you cut down on your carbs now - controlling our carb intake is good for all types of diabetic, even if it's just halving our pre-diabetes portions. Try to avoid cereal for your breakfast (I have a 2-egg omelette every day), avoid 'white' foods, only allow yourself small portions of potatoes (1 or 2 new potatoes are better than old ones, and avoid mash like the plague). Steer clear of pasta for the time being. Switch from white or brown bread to granary or seeded bread, or try Burgen Soya & Linseed bread. which is quite good for BG levels. Most supermarkets have it now. Eat lots of protein (meat, fish, cheese etc) and green vegetables and salad. That should fill you up and help keep your BGs stable until you've got a proper answer from the GP

Share your worries with your husband, and get your lovely family to help you at this early stage. You need them to support and help you and not leave you worrying.

With any luck it won't be long before the old NHS care system creaks into action, and while some of us on here may moan about it from time to time, I doubt there's any of us who would rather do without it.

Don't be afraid to come back here with any questions or problems you may have. There's no such thing as a silly question on this forum :D . We were all newbies at first, lost and a bit frightened (to say the least!) so we know where you're coming from. You'll get help and support here at almost any time of the night or day - it's just a bit slower coming at 3am :wink: :D

Take care, and try not to worry. They'll soon get you sorted out. Diabetes is not the end of the world, and we all learn to live with it and take control of it. We don't let it control us!

Viv 8)
 
iggy-lil said:
I was given a few options and ideally they wanted me to go to hospital as I had ketones in my water and to start insulin as they werent sure if I am a type 1 or 2. After a chat about all options and what could happen we agreed to start me on a diet and a meter to check levels.
Click to expand...

Viv was typing much the same as I was at the same time so sorry if a lot of this is a repeat of what she just said.

Iggy what you wrote there makes a lot of difference. If they detected ketones then they are right to be suspicious that you might be Type 1 and in that case you should be very careful of your levels being very high because of a thing called DKA that is a dangerous condition caused by uncontrolled levels in a Type 1 diabetic.

Another thing on the cutting carbs stuff. If you cut your carbs drastically as I suggested in my earlier post (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, cereal, other things with flour) and also stop sugar (watch out for things like pure fruit juices btw) and don't start to see an improvement in your levels relatively quickly you also should go back to the doc and TELL him / her you've cut carbs and aren't seeing a lot of effect. Again that would be an indicator of Type 1.

One of the worst things you can do is to try and control Type 1 diabetes purely by diet, you can't, it's dangerous to your health and you will need insulin. If you end up as Type 1 and need insulin it isn't the end of the world. A great deal of Type 1's, my son included lead completely normal and otherwise healthy lives.

There are blood tests that will confirm Type 1. One is called a c-peptide test and the other a GAD test. It might be worth checking if your doctor has organised either of those for you.
 
Great minds think alike, Xyzzy!

Iggy, what I meant to type was: Switch from white or brown bread to granary or seeded bread. I'm in the middle of a very important ebay bidding war at the moment, and got a bit distracted :D . Must get back and see if I won! :lol:

Viv 8)
 
Thanks for the replies.

I am very lucky with my GP as he is the diabetic 'champion' ( I think thats what they call it when he specailises in it) for our health board. He did explain to me about why he is not sure which type I am as I am showing syptoms towards both and due to me being just over 40 could be either. As for the bloods they took some on monday ,blood fasting and something else, Its crazy as usually I take everything in but I cant rememeber the names of the test as my head was in a daze with the shock.

I also been told to ring/go anytime or ring. Have appt with nurse next week as he is off and then appt with him wk later. He has also discussed this with the first GP I saw on monday so should worst happen she is well informed for when he is away. To be honest this is the first time I have seen them take such an interest in me. I am on other meds one for aniexty and some others and usually when I go for a review everything has been blamed on stress/ anixty and off I go back home.

Even though I just have 2 days of readings I am going to ring our nurse just to check I am doing it right due to long wkend ahead.

I do hope things are going ok, fasting blood sugars on monday were 18.8 by lloyds chemist. Bloods this morning were 11.4 . I know its early days but so hoping .
Hubby is reading up as much as he can, I am also lucky as my mil is a retired nurse who is used to diabetics and I used to help my nan who was type 2.

Just wish I didnt suffer with aniexty as waiting for the meter to beep is stressing me. As for getting blood out of my fingers somtimes take a few attempts.

One good thing about this - I am going to be slim again this time next year :)





Fasting bloods done by lloyds on monday was 18.8. This morning 11
 
Iggy,
Don't get too stressed and anxious using that meter......stress can put the readings up!! :crazy:

You seem to be doing a good job, keep it up and I'm sure you will be fine over the weekend. :)

Regards
Angie
 
hi Iggy Lil..... yep it's not nice at first as you're coming to terms with a chronic illness.... but no matter what always stay positive as that is what counts. :D I was diagnosed in 1998 and I can't say to you that it is all smooth sailing as that would be not telling you the truth, but there is plenty of support out there. Make sure you build up a very good relationship with your GP and medical team as they should be kept up-to-date with everything you're experiencing. One lesson I've learnt over the years too is don't be afraid to speak up and be assertive if things don't seem to be working as you may need changes made to your diabetes management. What works for some doesn't necessarily work for all. Also I find that your body changes as years go by. Notice everything as this helps you understand your condition better. Eg.... it's not just food that impacts on your BGLs.... stress, lack of sleep, change in temperature, illness, etc can all affect you. Wishing you all the best. :)
 
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