NEWBIE AND SCARED

Hi Lou, someone will be along shortly to get you the advice you need, you could by giving us an idea what you eat and any meds you are on.
Welcome, you have come to the right place.

Hi Lou - sorry to hear that you have joined the T2 club. It is scary when you first get the diagnosis and don't know what to do with it. Please don't worry too much, there is a lot that you can do for your health and over time you will learn what works best for you. Initially, I would advise that you avoid sugar, white bread, white pasta and potatoes. Keep away from fruit juices and drink plenty of water (tea & coffee allowed too). Keep to a good sustainable fitness regime - walking, swimming, gym or whatever exercise you enjoy. You will be surprised at what a good brisk walk can do to reduce your blood sugars!! Now you have a diagnosis, you can turn it into a positive thing and feel fitter than you have in the past. Good luck with your appointment in November and keep posting with your progress. All the best

Hello Lou and welcome.

It is a shock, isn't it! We have all been in your position so understand exactly how you feel. It is quite normal and natural to be confused and worried, but please understand this disease is very manageable. It does require some lifestyle changes in terms of diet and maybe a little added exercise, and this will take some time to get your head round it, but worry not - you will do eventually. We are all here to help you.

It is very common to be left in the dark by your doctor, and very common to have to wait for a clinic appointment with a nurse. In the meantime you can be reading all about it and learning. This forum is a great place to start.

In order to learn what foods you can and cannot tolerate it is recommended that you have a test meter (not usually prescribed for T2s). With this you can measure your blood glucose (BG) levels before and after meals and see what ‘spikes’ you. Again this may be contrary to professional advice you might receive which often regards testing as pointless. But how else are you supposed to learn? Many on here use the SD Codefree system because the strips are the most cost-effective. Have a look here. http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm If you buy the strips in bulk there is a special code to use, which we can let you have should you decide to buy one. I think you will find a home meter to be the most useful tool in your journey.

We are all different in what we can and can't eat. It is down to you, by using your meter, to determine this. However, in the meantime try reducing your total carbohydrate intake, especially potatoes, cereals, rice, pasta and bread. These can be the main culprits in raising blood sugar levels. We also need to be careful with fruit and juices as most of it is full of sugar, and also milk needs care. You can eat meat, fish, oily fish, eggs, dairy foods (except milk), salads, mushrooms, tomatoes, most (but not all) vegetables, olive oils. The list goes on. Don't be afraid to eat - skipping meals will not do you any favours.

Take a deep breath ..... take your time to digest all the information (much of which is confusing and conflicting!) ..... baby steps ....don't panic ..... ask every question you have.

hi, everyone throws a wobbly the first week, it is scary, so you aren't an orphan feeling like it....now relax, you probably have been diabetic for a while and just didn't know. you don't need to learn everything in the first week. It will take a month to get your head around it and this week will be a right off

have you eaten? if not go and cook up a steak and eggs with mushroom and tomato with lashings of real butter, this is very low carb and good for diabetes

then have a read of these sites that helped me
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic or better the rate of ~80% remission, for surgery T2
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html

more diet plans
http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com/low-carb-mediterranean-diet/
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

SD codefree meter
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
if you buy extra boxes of strips there is a discount code
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

Hello Lou and welcome to the forum

To add to the wealth of advice you have received, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful.

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 100,000 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.

Hi Lou, welcome to the forum from me too

Hi and welcome to the forum Lou.

Hi Lou, welcome. Don't panic, this is manageable . Have a read around and ask any questions that come up.

Do you know what your diagnosis blood levels were? You can ask for a printout at your GP reception.

Hi and welcome. Yes, follow the advice from the other posters and reduce your overall carbs and do get hold of a meter. When you see the GP you may be given diet advice contrary to what you see in these posts. Just bear in mind that we all have experience with our diabetes and what works whereas most in the NHS and dieticians don't have that same experience and may offer poor diet advice.

Hi Lou, it is scary when you are first diagnosed. I discovered I was type 2 in August 2013, following a test to rule out cancer. On one hand it was the best news that I was all clear but finding I was diabetic was very scary. Since then I managed to get my sugar under control and lost nearly 3 stone in the process. I feel so much healthier than I have in years, I never realised how ill I felt before diagnosis! I thought it was normal to always be tired, have bad headaches for days at a time and no energy. Believe me, once you have got into a routine and got used to the meds you will feel so much better. In the meantime, don't panic, just start making those changes, get a little exercise, cut down the processed foods and bad carbs, change to wholemeal fibre foods. Maybe keep a food diary to help you. I got a brill book called carbs and cals which was a great help in those early days. With the right diet and health care, you will feel much healthier! After years of struggling with my weight and yo yo dieting on weight watchers, I have found this is helping me keep my weight off so much better than anything I've tried before. The difference is that this time it's for good!!!