Newbie and confused.com

[poppett]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed nearly 3 weeks ago after a paramedic tested me (i was having chest pains) and had a reading of 22. Admitted to a & e and released 4.5 hrs later being advised to see my doctor, which i did that evening. By then my BS was down to 14 and the doc booked me for fasting blood test. A week later was the dreaded results and confirmation that I was diabetic. Put on 2 x 500g metformin, which have been changed this week to glucophage SR 2 x 500g as the metformin as making me feel sick and upset tummy as well.
Along with the diabetes i have also been given meds for high BP and signed off work for 3 weeks with stress.

On Monday just gone i had my first visit with the DN - what a let down, i was expecting a lot more information so that i could start to really get to grips with what and how i should be doing things. Also I wasn't given a BS monitor, when i asked why the DN said that with metformin (as i was on that at the time) i didn't need to test. When i asked how will i know if what i'm doing to working or not, she said that i would have another blood test in 6 months time. Does this sound right?? Now waiting for referral to dietician, Paula Carr and to attend a DEREK?? course.

Just wondered what others experienced on first diagnosis??? - I feel a bit let down and left to get on with it.

Thanks x

 

[Paul59]

Much the same as you & you get to know more about the condition on here with knowledge from those that live with it day in day out, which is more than the Nhs can give us.
So welcome & ask as many questions as you want, it's the best way to lean.
Have a browse through the food & nutrition thread, lots to lean there on best way to gain control of it.

 

[Daphne917]

Unfortunately you are not alone in the way that your diagnosis and consequential visit to the DN went. It seems to be a common occurrence that the medical profession give you a diagnosis and then tell us to 'get on with it' without giving us the information, or tools, to enable us to do it.

 

[daisy1]

@poppett

Hello and welcome to the forum

To help you get started, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask lots of questions and someone will be able to help.


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 over 140,000 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-and-whole-grains.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 bloodglucose 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.

 

[sanguine]

Hi @poppett , welcome

You've just experienced the same rubbish service that most of us get on diagnosis. Never fear, you will get good advice here. To start with you may find the links in my sig below to be of interest. Have a good read around and ask any questions.