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Newly Diagnosed In Need Of Your Help

A

adele1974

Newbie
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2
Hi All,
I went to the doctors about 5 weeks ago with all the classic signs of diabetes, the doctor sent me for a blood test. When I went back for the results the Doctor confirmed I was diabetic, she gave me advice on what was happening, what to eat, told me to make an appointment with the nurse. As I was leaving she asked if she could take my blood pressure, this was high, she then tested my ketones (2.4) BGL 15.9. They decided to put me on 2 metformin and I was to go back first thing monday, nothing improved so I was also put on 1 x glimepiride and 2 x metformin.

Skip foward 3 weeks I am now on 2 x gliclazide and 2x metformin twice a day, my BGL are around 12.1 before breakfast and during the day go up to 22.4. I have improved my diet keeping to a GI diet recommended by the Doctor, I have reduced the amount of food I eat and I don't eat between meals anymore! I've lost over a stone in weight now 11stone (right for my height).

The nurse now thinks that because I have had very little improvement in my reading and because I had high ketones at the start this maybe type1 diabetes, so i am now waiting for a hospital appointment to start me on insulin. That was a week ago and I am still waiting for the appointment the nurse said it could take up to 3weeks.

The Diabetic nurse as been great, I would just like advice from some people with first hand experience, is it normal to wait so long to go onto insulin? should I be trying other treatments before insulin? Should I be more demanding or shut up and wait?

Not feeling very well no energy, sleeping lots, no longer in control of anything!
Any advice
Adele (36Years old)
 
Welcome to the Forum Adele.

Can you tell us what foods you eat on your diet ? Unfortunately not all GI foods are suitable for Diabetes. I will post the basic information that Ken and I give to new Diabetics here and you can see if it helps any.

It may be that by reducing Carbohydrate in your diet your blood sugar levels may drop but if indeed you are Type 1 then you will need the insulin.


Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed Diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, Diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy Carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of Insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause Insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting Carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total Carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a Diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the Nurse/Doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own Diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Sue,
thanks for taking the time to reply. Well A typical day would be
Breakfast: Porridge with sweetners or crunchy bran,
lunch: Homemade soup (veg, potato and leek),
Dinner: wholemeal pasta with a mix of beans, onions,mushrooms in a tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmasan,
Snacks 1 x apple 2 x rice cakes.

I don't eat meat or fish, I do eat quorn, cheese, and lots of veg!! if I have bread it's wholemeal, pasta wholemeal, have an occasional baked potato try to not have too many. Homemade curry and chilli with basmati rice.

I'm trying to keep it simple at the moment still so much to learn!
 
Best thing is to keep a food diary, testing just before and two hours after your meals and see just what the food is doing to your levels. Then you can decide which foods you need to either avoid or reduce the portion size so that it minimises the rise in blood sugars.

If you eat pasta it may be a good idea to test at three and even four hours after the meal as this is a slow acting carb.

Please keep an eye on your levels and also test for Ketones when high to avoid DKA.

I would contact your GP again and get it clarified what type you are as this makes a big difference in treatment. A Type 1 has to use insulin but a Type 2 may have to use insulin.
 
hya and welcome,
there are tests that can be done which will show whether you are a type 1, my situation was similar to yours,
i was really unwell and had all the symptoms, i didnt know about diabetes at all, i was losing weight and drinking like a fish,murdering head etc, i was told to go to lloyds for a free check by a friend, i went monday am and my blood was around 15mmol so they sent me over to the drs who made me an appointment for a glucose tolerance test ten days later, i was obese so presumed to be type 2,


as the week went on i was feeling so so ill, i bought my own monitor and my bloods were 28mmol , i had totally cut out carbs/sugar all week and it had obviously risen, i rang my gp and was told to go to casualty, i had tests done and was found to have ketoacidosis ,i was put on drips and kept in, the tests showed i was type 1 and was told if id gone to bed that night i probably wouldnt have woke up, ive now been on insulin 6 yrs,
while u are waiting please go to hospital if u feel ill at all just incase u are type 1,
let us know how u get on :)
 
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