New & Shiny

[mish1953]

Hello
Im a Hamish, male, 58, v.large , geek .
Im t2 diagnosed in Aug 2010 also have osteoarthritis, low level asthma and chronic venous insufficiency, exercise is a problem . Have a blue badge due to mobility problems .

My GPs ( multi doc surgery ) have been trying to give me diabetes for years , they managed it last August :lol: . I am very ignorant of all the terms yet but am learning , I was told that I was glucose intolerent and had a reading of 6 - Im guessing thats BS level , saw the surgery nurse, had foot test with a podiatrist who told me I had loss of sensation in my feet ( I knew that already after standing on a bit of glass and not noticing until I saw the blood on the floor ) , I have had 2 retinal scans.
Ive had lots of infections this year, 4 perianal abcesses , feeling tired all the time, skin infections etc . Saw one of the older GPs last monday as I had blurred vision , who got me into hospital for a blood test on Tuesday, got a phone call from me surgery on wednesday to get my ass into the surgery - blood level 19 .
Started Metformin 1X500 on Thursday , going up to 2x500 next week , Going to see the diabetec nurse on Wednesday.
I'm a bit annoyed with the surgery 1) the previous diabetic nurse left and they haven't been following up with their diabetic patients and 2) Having had treament for infections well over 20 visits and having seen a doctor about 8 times this year not one of them asked about diabetes until last week - harsh words have been said .

Anway I bought a sel test kit to-day and have a BS of 8.9 about 2 hours after breakfast .
I going to get as much knowledge as I can and take control of this .

Nice to meet you all

Hamish frae Suffolk

 

[Osidge]

Welcome, Hamish.

Plenty of people on the forum with a huge pool of knowledge. I hope that you can get the knowledge that will keep your blood sugars.BP, lipids etc under control.

Regards

Doug

 

[daisy1]

Hi Hamish and welcome to the forum I hope that this information which was written for new members will help you to get your BG levels under control and perhaps help with some of your diabetes-related problems. As you will see from this information, what you eat is very important to get improved levels. If you have some questions, no matter how many, there is always someone here who will try to give you an 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.

 

[mish1953]

Thank you for the wellcome and information .

Looking forward to chatting