• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

New here, New medication, New attitude to life.

Tricki

Tricki

Member
Messages
18
Location
Kirklees
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
HI. Have been reading the site and the forums on, and off since 2009 When I was diagnosed. Am a bit of a lurker, so didn't bother to sign up for the forums.

A change in medication, and my attitude in general, has prompted me to learn more about my condition, to fill in some of the holes in my knowledge, so I'll be around for a while asking a few questions, and maybe joining in conversations, if I can get out of lurker mode :)

Am 39. Type 1. Was on Novomix 30 till a few days ago, when I changed to Novorapid and Levemir, and started Carb counting.

I have to admit I have been a little lazy in the past. After a period of learning the basics about diabetes, I didn't explore other options for my own treatment. My Blood Sugars have often fluctuated around 20ish and on to hypos, and even when I took care, I could never keep it very tight.

Am lucky enough that I haven't needed hospitalisation, and no signs of complications. My HbA1c levels crept up to 9.5%, which is not massively high compared to what I have seen of others - but it shows I was getting rather tardy and needed to improve.

Last June, something in me decided I'd better start to shape up a little and get a better handle on my health - not easy, as been a rather sedentary person.

But I managed to quit smoking, stop drinking, take some exercise at least once a week, and now am working on improving my control. Am signed up for a DAFNE course, but have been for a while, so no idea when I get off the waiting list. HbA1c back down to around 7.3% just from that lot, hoping to get better later on.

Not finding the adjustment TOO hard, but feeling a little like when I was first diagnosed. More information in a short period of time than normal (most of which I sort of knew but mostly forgotten, some that I should have known beforehand if I'd thought to look ) Having to change my routines, and the way I do things, and far more injections than used to before. Thankfully none of the panic of last time :)
 
Hi Tricki and welcome to the forum :) I'm glad you've stopped lurking and have finally joined because that way we can all help you. You sound as though you have already made a lot of progress. You may have seen this during your lurking but here is the information we give to new members which I am sure will help you. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is always someone here who will have an answer for you.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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...
 
Hi Tricki :wave:
I was also diagnosed in 2009 (will be 41 this year) and have been on levemir and novorapid since almost from the start. Have gotten by on rough estimates of food content (thx to long honeymoon I guess) but would like to learn more about carb counting. Looking forward to exchanging experiences!
 
Thanks for the replies - been too busy to reply till now, and actually found out the answer to most of the questions I wanted to ask on here this morning via the bdec site - did find it by chance elsewhere, but good idea to post it noblehead - its a really good site - I'd sign up if you haven't already fenix.
 
Thx for sharing Noblehead! Think I'll try to find something in Swedish though, carb counting might be difficult enough without having to deal with cups and ounces :wink:
 
Back
Top