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New Type 2 Diabetic

J

Jubbly

Newbie
Messages
3
Hello all, just got diagnosed as type 2 diabetic on Thursday and after some advice from family found this site..
I'd been suffering with depression and anxiety until it became so disruptive that i had to see a doctor about it, i was given some medication with the promise of some counselling later down the line.. whilst checking for underlying conditions i was found to have high blood pressure, a blood sugar reading of 13 and something vaguely wrong with my liver function. After a second blood test came back as a blood sugar result of 11, the doc told me i was Diabetic and would need to start on Metformin immediately, i was sent for further tests on my liver (Hepatitis) and to a Practitioner Nurse who referred me to a diabetes education course and told me I’m overweight (no surprise at 24st). I was told that i "should avoid any foods that i like" and lose weight.
I asked about next steps and blood testing and was told that i would get another fasting blood test in a few months and don’t bother with self testing...

I've moved to a low GI diet (keeping food and how i feel diary), I've talked to work and reduced my working wk down to 41hrs from the evening and weekend working i was doing and started spending that time away from the desk/laptop doing some walking and now swimming... the result is 1.5st lost in weight and a little more energy.

Strangely, the doctor told me that the results suggested I’d had diabetes for a while, however I’ve not noticed any of the standard symptoms Thirsty, Peeing, Weight Loss etc... but i suppose everyone is different

I've looked at various info including that from NHS which all seems to be a bit conflicting and tailored to each individual, i wish i'd asked more questions of the nurse and doctor but i was quite shocked.

so..

Blood Testing, if I’m not taking insulin do i need to self test? if so, what’s a good brand/model to get? are supermarket cheapies any good?
Diet, Is a low GI diet ok for weight loss and diabetes? I've been told to stay away from fat, but is olive oil / oily fish / nuts & seeds ok? will i be able to go out for a drink with friends?
Complications, how do i go about getting feet and eyes tested? is there any activity or situation i should avoid.. e.g. on the news i heard that the current weather is a risk for diabetics.. but why? also my work wants me to cover manual labour strike activity instead of my day job as an accountant.. is there anything i should be wary of?

Any help or advice is most welcome, really don’t want to let this beat me..
 
Hi Jubbly and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Other members will be along soon to answer your questions based on their own experiences.


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.
 
Jubbly said:
Blood Testing, if I’m not taking insulin do i need to self test? if so, what’s a good brand/model to get? are supermarket cheapies any good?
Diet, Is a low GI diet ok for weight loss and diabetes? I've been told to stay away from fat, but is olive oil / oily fish / nuts & seeds ok? will i be able to go out for a drink with friends?
Complications, how do i go about getting feet and eyes tested? is there any activity or situation i should avoid.. e.g. on the news i heard that the current weather is a risk for diabetics.. but why? also my work wants me to cover manual labour strike activity instead of my day job as an accountant.. is there anything i should be wary of?

Any help or advice is most welcome, really don't want to let this beat me..
Click to expand...

Welcome to the wonderful world of diabetes, Its a question of finding out what suits you and how things affect you, as its different to everybody in some ways. I am not a expert on food and relearning after being diabetic type 2 for 13 years. There is conflicting opinions between us and the professionals. A fair number follow a low carb diet which works for them and I would have to leave it to them to advise on this.

Generally foods to avoid are foods made with white flour as they can spike your BS quite quickly, Wholemeal bread or Burgen bread is good, though watch out as not all brown bread is good depending how its made, I got caught out with granary thinking it was good, but spiked me quite quickly.

As for testing this is where support for type 2's is down to the postcode lottery. Most of us if not all on here would recomend self testing as you need to find out what foods do to you and how they react. As newly diagnosed you in theory should get test strips on prescription, you may have to ask for them and possibly have to justify why you want to test.

Meters these should not normally be a problem to get them for free direct from the suppliers on the likes of Bayer, Accu Chek, Life Scan, Abbott Medisense. Have a look at their web sites to see which meters you like, though some are only supplied to those on insulin. My own preferences are for two The first being the Bayer Contour next USB, great meter, great software (free), and the Accu Chek Mobile great if you are out and about as its what you could call a all in one meter. If buying a meter found Amazon pretty good (watch out for post and packing though) I bought the Accu Check mobile from there at just over £18 including 50 tests but only 12 lancets, I did get one free from Accu Chek, Bayer in the end sent me 3 next USB meters :). I also found all the meter suppliers I talked to, had very good customer services.

If you are self funding for test strips, then check the cost of buying strips direct from the supplier as they can sometimes be a lot cheaper. Then there are cheaper meter / strip options like the SD code free, Supercheck2 system, or nexusRX, though check out the reports on them.

The heat is knocking my BS all over the place, though I am on meds that can cause hypos and I have been high as 14.1 down to 2.6 (not nice)in this heat, another good reason to test.

Your doctor or DN should put you on the annual hospital eye photo tests and foot inspections, worth checking thy are doing so, I went many years without having either being done and its only in the 3 or 4 years I have been added to the hospital ey test, was left with the optician to check.

Also if you are not aware as you are on meds you are entitled to free prescriptions and free annual opticians eye tests, though you will need to get a couple of forms signed by your doctor, one for your optician and one to send of for your prescription exemption card. Keep any receipts for prescriptions as I think you can claim a refund for a certain period before getting your exemtion card.
 
Self testing helped me and I'm not on any sort of medication, let alone insulin.

You get advice telling you stuff you already know, don't eat biscuits, sweets, buns, cakes, chocolate bars etc but when I got a meter I very quickly discovered that a very plain ham sandwich caused my BG level to rise just as much as any biscuit. I would not have been aware of it had I not self tested.

Low GI foods are a good start but many medium GI foods are ok if taken in moderation. How much can you eat? Testing again provides a guide. Also, some foods, rye bread for example, or boiled new potatoes have completely different effects than supermarket brown bread or mashed potatoes. Again, you have to find out for yourself.

Eventually you will stop losing weight and so you will have to combine diet with an increase in activity. This really does make a big difference. It's worth the effort. But, the changes to lifestyle and diet that you make now have to suit you in the long term too, so it is worth the investment in time and money in discovering something that will work for you for the rest of your life. You might have ten or twenty years of bad habits to undo but it doesn't have to be painful. There's an entire world full of great healthy foods and lots of interesting activities to enjoy. It's all there to be discovered. The hard bit is cutting yourself free of the familiar.
 
Hi Jubbly welcome to the club - well done with your changes up to now. I have read on here it is in the NICE guidelines ( government guidelines that type 2 diabetics should have a meter so tell that to your DN. Sounds like you have your hands full with your other needs. Take your time and read and re-read all the information on this website. Keep up the good work and try and keep your chin up :D
 
Thanks all for the encouragement and info... i did purchase a meter in the end and havent heard back about referals etc... might have to do some chasing.
taking 4X 500g metformin now as per docs instructions, frequently incredibly tired and passing out.. i tested just after being out cold for 2hrs and my blood was 5 mmol/l which seems good... anyone else have this effect, i presume its something to do with metformin
 
more likely your body not being used to your bg levels, metformin normally upsets the tummy if anything but im no expert, id say you will get used to nice bg levels and stop feeling so bad, I hope anyway :)
 
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