newly diagnosed andtotally confused

[mammadot]

I am 3 weeks diagnosed, my hbc reading is 10.1
I have been checking my BM readings mostly pre breakfast but also spot check during the day and my levels vary from 18-31 and a couple of HI readings.
I feel pretty rough and although I am taking from tomorrow 4 by 500mg metformin I wonder if it should be having more of a positive effect on my condition.
Can anyone advise me

 

[daisy1]

Hi mammadot and welcome to the forum Metformin will only reduce your levels by 1-2 mmol/l but will reduce spikes after eating and helps with insulin resistance. Your diet will have more effect and if you reduce the carbohydrates you eat you will see the difference. Here is some information that we give to new members and I think it will be helpful to you. Ask as many questions as you like as there is usually someone who can 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 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.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.

 

[Grazer]

Hi! Daisy's right, metformin is a good drug but won't do much for your levels - diet will do that. Here's some ideas I've sent to others
In general terms you will need to reduce the total number of carbohydrates you eat per day. All carbohydrates turn to sugar when we eat them, and no type 2 diabetic on diet only, or on diet and metformin only, can control their blood sugars (BGs) without controlling their carb intake. Even those on strong medication normally Tchoose to control their carb intake to keep the level of medication they take down. The total number of carbs per day you can eat depends on how advanced your diabetes is. It’s perhaps worth starting at about 50% of normal levels for a non-diabetic then adjusting up or down according to how you get on. That’s 150 grams of carbs per day for a man, 125 for a woman. You can read the total carb content of food under “nutritional info” on the packet or wrapping, or look it up on the internet for loose food. Just google “carb content..”
You also need to stop or reduce the bad carbs; that is the starchy ones that make your BG go up quickly.
So obviously no sugar or glucose! But also no white bread, white rice, pasta, flour products like pastry, cake and batter. You can eat a little basmati rice, wholewheat pasta or the tri-color pasta fusilli ones in small quantities. Boiled new potatos are OK but not old pots mashed, boiled or in their jackets. (Roast is not so bad, the fat slows their absorption and conversion to glucose in the blood) Amongst other veg, parsnips are about the worst for BG, and carrots not great but ok in smaller amounts.
Multi grain bread (not wholemeal) is not SO bad, but lots of us eat Burgen soya and linseed bread from tescos and sainsburys, although all bread should be in limited amounts.
All fruit has carbohydrates, and needs to be included in the amounts of carbs you eat in a day. For most people, bananas are about the worst for pushing our BG up and berries (like strawberries, raspberries etc) are the least bad.
No sweeties!
Exercise is important. I tend to exercise about an hour after eating when I know my BG will be peaking. This helps to bring it down quicker and further. I do ten minutes hard work on an exercise machine, but you could run up and down stairs for ten minutes or go for a brisk walk.
Returning to types of food and quantities of carbs - you can only find out how many you can eat by testing. Most type 2’s are not given access to testing equipment, so you should get your own if you haven't already – although try arguing with your Doc that you want to manage to NICE guideline blood sugar levels, and can’t do that without testing! If you have to buy a meter, they are cheap and most manufacturers will give them away for free. They make their money on the strips you have to use! So go for the meter with the cheapest testing strips. Some people test before and after eating, on waking (fasting test) and before bed. But if you have limited strips because of cost, the key to me is testing 2 hours after eating. If your BG is above, say, 7.8 at that stage, you need to cut down on the carb content the next time you have that meal. Test after various different meals and you soon get to see a pattern of what you can and can’t eat, and in what quantities. You can then reduce your testing. I said “below, say, 7.8” because NICE guidelines are below 8.5 but most of us think that’s a little high. 7.8 is the max. Level at 2 hours after eating that a non-diabetic normally gets to so is perhaps a better target. Some then set progressively lower targets.
Good luck - it does get easier!

 

[xyzzy]

Hi mammadot and welcome to the forum.

Following on from Grazers excellent advice. Your readings really are rather high and its no wonder you are feeling rough. If you follow Grazers advice and cut down on all carbohydrates and don't see an improvement in your readings within a few days you should urgently go back to your doctors and say so as it maybe you have been misdiagnosed as Type 2 when you might be what's called Type 1.5 LADA or a Type 2 who produces very little insulin. About 3 people in every 100 Type 2's are initially misdiagnosed so its only a small chance and drastically cutting down on your carbs is a good way of determining what type you are as a normal Type 2's readings should respond pretty quickly in most cases.

Your doctor should be able to organise tests called c-peptide and GAD to confirm things if your readings remain high even after adopting Grazers suggestions. Did your doctor test your urine at all and mention anything about ketones?

Take care and ask as many questions as you need to.

 

[Defren]

Welcome to the forum mammadot. Once you get over the initial post diagnosis shock, and learn about how to control your own diabetes, and have some kind of control back you will feel better. I strongly believe knowledge is power. Although recently diagnosed myself, I have taken hours reading this forum and learning. I bought my own meter and I test, test, test. For me, this really is making a huge difference as I feel I am in control of my diabetes, it is not in control of me. Grazers advice is exactly what I am doing, the only difference, I have 30g of carbs a day or less, so am very, very low carbing. You will find your own level, and then the whole idea of being diabetic doesn't seem so scary. For me, the idea of early death due to diabetes complications has kept me well on track, and able to see a light at the end of what was or seemed to be a very dark tunnel. - Good luck.

OH!! Ask, ask and ask more questions, there is always someone who will be able to answer and help.

 

[mammadot]

Thank you very much for all your input.
Daisy I will be reading the information over and over it is a very good guide and informative I will no doubt learn a lot.
Grazer thanks for the info on carbohydrates and other food. My favourite food is bananas ,my husbands parsnip (he also is newly diagnosed diabetic) The infomation was very helpful and as we eat most of it we are looking at our diet to see if we can rearrange the things we eat to help me. Unfortunately I was daignosed with a genetic heart condition which was operated on sadly messed up and failed and has now limited my lifestyle greatly and cannot exercise like most. I do try some milder one but am extremely limited
I find the use of the WII and the grandchildren give me a lot of help so I am going to keep that up on good days(I am a mario kart nut) Your input to me has been so helpful \thank you
TO xyzzy I have taken notes on what you have wrote and wiil try to get some response from the GP. NO ONE has tested me for ketones which has amazed me but I will also be asking about this issue to.our tretment (my husband as well) has been a phone call to pick up a script with instructions on how to take the medication, for us to arrange a retinopathy, a foot test, anurse for bloods, and a further appointment and that a Diabetic Nurse would be in touch?? when?? not yet. no wonder we are so confused. I saw another GP and told him of my high readings(my sisters spare equipment) and my hbA1c is 10.1 and asked for some strips .He said no way and that I was lucky to have a HbA1c at taht level as his long term diabetics are higher....frightens you to death that a money saving idiot GP is in charge of us. Hopefully yhe more infomative GP will be back from holiday soon to help us out. But if it gets any worse the health service will be assisting me. Thankyuo and all the others this is a very good site and I will be reading and learning more.i
:lolno: :shock: :?