Newbie Intro

mikeb508 · Feb 4, 2012

Hi All,

Just a quick introduction, after a visit to the GP because of some concerns with water retention in my legs, I am now the proud owner of a prescription charge exemption certificate (and T2).

Had my suspicions for a while to be fair, few symptoms but I'm a bloke so I didn't do anything about it.

So after 40 years of abuse my body is finally getting it's own back, dedicated carnivore, eating what I liked and not what was good for me, no exercise, seriously overweight (stable but too heavy) and smoking 30 a day, blood tests came back fasting BG at 16 and Cholesterol at 7.1, what do you know, maybe I'm not indestructible after all.

So bye bye full english, chocolate, potatoes, pastries, sausage rolls...... you get the idea. Hello salads, fish, steamed veg.......

I'm starting again, got my Metformin and my Simvastatin, serious diet (I don't mind porridge anyway), as little fat and sugar as possible, joined the local gym, an hour (ish) 3 times a week before work, and replaced the roll ups with an E-cigarette (just nicotine none of the other nasty stuff).

Got to go back in a couple of months for the HbA1c and I guess we'll see whether it's working, only been going a couple of weeks so far but feeling better, lost a few pounds, and I'm getting used to the rabbit fodder. Lots of reading, given up on diet management as there are so many contradictory opinions so I'll just try to be sensible avoiding the starchy carbs, sat fats and sugar.

Bought a BG monitor just out of interest, 5.3 this afternoon :thumbup: and 10.4 this evening :thumbdown: guess I can add melon to the "No" list.

So that's my (not so) brief introduction, any advice gratefully received, and I look forward to talking to you all in the future, I'd better go now as I have to go to the gym tomorrow to make amends for my skipped session this morning.

regards

Mike

daisy1 · Feb 4, 2012

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum Thank you for the interesting introduction. It's a shock, there are many adjustments to make, but in the end it's not too bad once you get used to it. You will see by reading this forum that there are still plenty of nice things you can eat - have a look at the Food and Nutrition section. It's by no means just all rabbit food! The important thing is to reduce the carbohydrates you eat. You can try out different foods and, by testing, see if they are OK for you - we are all different so you have to find what happens to your own levels. Test before and 2 hours after eating something then you can see the effect it has on your levels.

Have a look at this Basic Information - it was written for new members. It contains a lot of information that should be useful to you. Ask as many questions as you like here as there is usually someone who has the answer.

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.

Jen&Khaleb · Feb 4, 2012

Great intro!

Grazer · Feb 4, 2012

Welcome Mike! Daisy's post is great general advice on the way to go. Most of us on here avoid starchy carbs and reduce the amount of carbs in total we eat to more modest amounts. It's a sure fire way to get your blood sugars better under control. Personally, I don't over-concern myself with a bit of fat. Full english (leaving out the beans and bread) is a very low carb breakfast, and if you grill the bacon etc you don't get so much fat (some sausages have lots of carbs, so get good meaty ones) If you cut the carbs, you'll lose weight without concentrating on the fat. Get used to reading the "Nutrition info" on the side of packets, and remember, it's not the sugars but total carbs you're looking at. ALL fruit has carbs, some worse than others. Berries are the best; most of us find bananas a no-no.
Diet doesn't have to be rabbit food. I eat well; I just avoid the starchy carbs and don't bother about other stuff too much. Nonetheless, I've lost 22 pounds (even though i wasn't overweight), Cholesterol is down from 5.5 to 3.8 (even though I'm probably eating a little more fat) and blood sugars down near the normal range.
Good luck, and welcome again! Keeps asking whatever questions you have - someone will always answer.

Camilla · Feb 4, 2012

Hi Mike

Above all you now need to learn all about diabetes and amend your diet. The most important thing is to restrict your carbohydrates - first identify exactly which ones they are. Once you do that, you should get good results and get down to the right blood sugar levels.
Some good books are necessary really to find out what you need. Dr Bernstein's book 'Diabetes Solution' is the one that got me sorted out.

I sense you are disappointed in yourself, in shock, in a panic and blaming yourself. Don't. Just try to be calm and work out how to tackle this thing. Many many of us are successfully controlling our diabetes, so remember all will be well as you gain experience in dealing with it. I have brought mine under control through diet and moderate exercise alone, like many others do. But whatever it takes, it is essential to get your bg down to normal healthy levels.

mikeb508 · Feb 4, 2012

Thanks for all the greets, don't worry not suicidal, accepting that this is the kick up the youknowwhat that I needed to improve my lifestyle, it's actually done me a favour. Doing lots of reading and adjusting it's not a problem. checked my fasting BG this morning 9.4, better than the 16 I got on the blood test a fortnight ago, so I guess I'm doing something right.

Got a Optium Xceed monitor cheap, but having trouble with the new freestyle strips as it's supposed to shot 45001 as the lot no and doesn't need calibrating, but it still has the lot no of the out of date strips I got with the machine, says to contact customer care but they are shut until Monday, not a major issue, just a bit irritating.

Mike

mikeb508 · Mar 12, 2012

Re: Newbie Intro - update

Just got back from my first review, diagnosed mid January with fasting bg at 16, HBA1C 12.1, and Cholesterol at 7.1, turns out I had a slight misunderstanding with the doc, should have taken 1 metformin a day for a week then stepped up to 2 a day, only been taking 1 for the last 8 weeks but guess I must be doing something right diet and exercise wise, weight down about 8lbs (only another 70 to go), fasting bg (self tested) down to about 6.8, HBA1C now at 8.8, Cholesterol down to 3.5, come back in 3 months, keep taking the pills!

Seems you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

Regards

Mike

Jen&Khaleb · Mar 12, 2012

Well done. I just read your other post too with the Optimum. If you change the date in the Optimum prior to the date on your expired strips they will work but they wont guarantee the accuracy. Obviously not good to be using really old strips.

marti · Mar 15, 2012

Welcome aboard i am Martina from Canada, i am a type 2 diabetic for 7 years and i am on Lantus insulin. this is a great board to get lots of great info on

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