Hi, I have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I haven’t seen any medical professionals since my diagnosis and my appointment with the specialist nurse isn’t for another 8 weeks. My Hba1c was 132 mmol, which I know is 3 times above the norm. I am on metformin but have no idea what I should be eating. I don’t know if I am at risk of doing myself any damage. I have neuropathy in my hands and feet, I’ve lost 11kg since December and have a number of other symptoms. Can anyone offer any advice please.
Hello
@Mutineer ,
Eight. Weeks. Seriously?! Let's give that nurse something to drop her jaw over then! As for damage... Neuropathy IS damage, and indicative that there's other problems developing elsewhere, most likely... You're already seeing complications. Reversible ones though, hopefully. Mind you, the neuropathy.... It could get worse before it gets better. As you get your bloodsugars under control, your nerve endings'll heal, and then they can hurt a lot more for a while than while they were on the fritz.
@Jim Lahey 'll be able to tell you more about how he tackled his neuropathy though, so I'm tagging him in. (We're getting all hands on deck for you!
). Anyway... Getting those blood sugars down is relatively easy if you just get a blood glucose meter and, you know, change
everything about how you eat.
Sounds a little more daunting than it is, honestly. Once you know practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, it's relatively easy to rule things out. No more bread, rice, spuds, corn, cereal, fruit (save for the occasional hand of berries), and underground veggies. Brown or white doesn't matter, wholemeal is as bad for you as over-processed whites. That seems like I just directed your whole pantry to the bin, but there's still plenty of other things available to you that won't up your blood sugars.
https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- has a list, and basically everything I wish someone'd told me when I was first diagnosed and absolutely every single thing I wanted to eat seemed to be straight poison. Once you get a bit of a grasp of the idea, get rid of the carbs in your home to avoid temptation (my husband takes all his candy and snacks with him to work.
), and sit down behind the PC to check your shopping list. What is too carby, what brands can be replaced with something less carby... It helps if you check at home, you don't want to be stuck reading the Nutritional Facts for hours on end in the shop.
You can turn this around. A HbA1c of 132
is high.... But I've seen people here come back from worse. You can do this. And you'll blow the nurse out of the water!!!!
I have every faith in you,
Jo