New type 2

Stop the fruit juice, it is doing you no favours. Find an alternative to sugar for your coffee (and everything else). Carbohydrates are the enemy of T2. Someone will be along with some links with useful information shortly. You will get loads of support here.

Do you know what your HbA1c test result was?

Can you tell us what you eat in a typical day?

Drinking that much lucozade could well be a symptom of diabetes. Same with me but mine was coke.

What does a decent meal contain?

I think you need to speak to a health care professional urgently. 22 is very high. We can't diagnose or recommend anything, only give advice. As you have had cardiac events, you are probably on statins. These raise blood glucose.

Most of us follow a low carb high fat or keto in my case. Unless the doctor or nurse is up with the latest research they usually run for the hills when we mention it.

So, did the chemist give you a test or have you bought your own meter?

Dbp76 said:

Do I eat something else ?

Click to expand...

You need to stay away from chocolate for now. It is not bannned from LCHF but you need to get your glucose under control first. Most of us eat 85 percent or higher as this has the least carbs.

Snacking. Olives, cheese, nuts (careful with cashews), pork scratching. If you google Fat Bombs you will se all manner of sweet stuff that is diabetic frieendly.

Look up the the price of the test strips, these are your running costs. The surgery may limit the number you can have and it may be cheaper to buy your own meter with cheaper strips. T2s are not normally given meters as per NICE guidelines.

If you follow LCHF I would normally recommend 200 strips per month. Their main use at first is to see what your readings are before you eat and two hours after the first bite. If there is a rise of more than 2 then there were too many carbs or the portion was too large. This way we can identify what foods suit us, and which foods we are intolerant to. We eliminate the foods we can't eat.

There are incredible recipes out thete, you are not going to starve, but to get the diabetes under control you will have to embrace change.

Hello and welcome,

I'm sorry you feel so upset and confused- it is totally normal. I am another who is a chocolate lover and I have to say I did find that it was difficult at the start. But it does get better I promise.

In relation to testing I suggest that you test before a meal and then 2 hours after the first bite. If it goes up more than 2 the meal had too many carbs for your body.

I agree with previous posters to ditch the fruit juice- it is not helping your body at all.

In relation to carbs and particularly things like chocolate- the more you have the more you will crave. It is for me an addiction and the first few days/weeks are tough but as the time goes it becomes much easier.

One thing you should know- after your body is used to high blood sugars it may resist going lower and you may feel dizzy etc. If in doubt test your blood sugar levels and get medical advice.

The good news is that you can turn this around and you will probably feel much better overall. It may take some time but this site is full of help and support.

Good luck and welcome to the club no-one wants to join.

Dbp76 said:

Thank you for the guidance. This is greatly appreciated. Can I ask?, do you take the test readings for every time you eat a meal, so breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome
I can see you have been given lots of good advice already.

Re blood glucose testing, its extremely beneficial. You may find this leaflet helpful.

The good news is that as soon as you lower your carb intake your blood sugars should come down. I and many other type 2 diabetics avoid bread pasta rice potatoes cereal fruit juice and most fruit as very carby and carbs do turn to sugar. Chocolate in moderation and as stated earlier 85% or over is best.

Lots more info here:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

I found a particular book by Dr Jason Fung very helpful. 'The diabetes code'.

Google is a great resource. I just googled reversing diabetes, found this forum and so much more.

For ideas on what to eat you will find this thread helpful:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/unread

Dbp76 said:

Thank you for the guidance. This is greatly appreciated. Can I ask?, do you take the test readings for every time you eat a meal, so breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Click to expand...

Yes. The primary use is to discover the effect of what you just ate had on you. T2 can't follow a prescribed diet. We all tolerate carbs differently, so we need our meters to see how different foods affect us. At the beginning, we have to test A LOT. Testing is not necessrily forever. If a breakfast of bacon and eggs doesn't have much of an effect, there maybe no point in testing every time you eat it.

Reformed choc addict here. Before that, a Coca-Cola/Pepsi/Sprite addict. Sugar is an incredibly powerful and potent drug. Just typing those words makes me taste the sugar in all those drinks again, even after many years.

Not sure if you (dbp76) are a smoker or not, but regardless, Allen Carr's book was recommended, in order to change the 'addict's way of thinking. In brief, the second you put down a cigarette, you are a non-smoker. People make the choice to become a smoker all over again, just a few hours/days later.

The same can be applied to chocolate. The minute I was diagnosed, I started thinking of myself as a non-chocolate eater, in exactly the same way as I consider myself a non-smoker. I haven't been tempted since.

I am off to bed now, I will check in again with you tomorrow. For weeks before I was diagnosed, I fell asleep straight after I ate. My vision was off. I was exhausted all the time. Once my glucose was under control, I stopped falling asleep after meals.

My vision suddenly changed, I put on my previous prescription glasses and although not perfect, they were better than the newest prescription. I certainly found that my energy levels increased after going keto and reducing levels.

Use your time wisely between now and your next appointment. Research the diets and how they can effect your personal circumstances. Not sure whether @bulkbiker can help you with any links that you could take to the GP regarding diet.

If you are a classic type two then what you can't cope with are starches and sugars in your diet. I believe Slimming World meals are high in carbohydrates, so not the best choice.
I advise cooking a chicken, or at least roasting a pack of chicken thighs, boiling up a dozen eggs to stick in the fridge - maybe buying a stack of tins of tuna. My breakfasts tend to be steak and mushrooms with whatever else I find in the fridge - green sweet pepper, courgette, even the outer sticks of celery chopped up and fried - aubergines are good, or salad stuff. Sugar free jelly works fo some - I mix in full fat yoghurt, or soya yoghurt and cream, and eat it with frozen berries.
Chocolate - I stocked up on the 95 percent chocolate in Lidl before Christmas and should be fine at least until Easter. If it is too strong a taste, try grating it onto real custard made with eggs and cream.
You might like cauliflower cheese - my own recipe - many have said it is good. Cook cauliflower until almost done. heap it into a warm dish, cover with cream cheese, then grated cheese - you can add a strong blue cheese, crumbled on top, or any herb or spice you might like. Place the dish back in the oven, not too hot, just until the cheese is melted and slightly golden. There is a lot we can eat and really enjoy - I like the huge salads I make in the height of summer, so refreshing and delicious.

Getting diagnosed is always a shock, and there is a lot to learn at first.
And lost of blood testing in the first few weeks until you discover how many carbs you can eat and which foods suit you.

I loved sugar, and ate loads of carbs. It was a huge change but I found a few recipes that are easy to make and help me keep on a much more sensible diet without feeling I've given up everything I enjoyed before.
What foods do you really love? Can you find a substitute that is low carb? eg 90 second bread, cauliflower rice, etc.
What foods do we eat that the old diet advice said were bad for us, eg double cream, whole fat milk, cheeses, eggs, real greek yogurt (and avoid anything labelled low fat as they often add extra starch/sugar carbs instead).