Newly diagnosed T2 member

[TonyCI]

Hi all.

Thought I'd get ahead of the game a bit and introduce myself on here whilst I'm waiting for my first appointment with the practice nurse on 14-Dec.

I was only diagnosed after going to the doctor for the first time in 8 years, after a bout of what I think was food poisoning that stopped me eating for 3 days, and kept me from sleeping for 3 days due to stomach cramps every 15 minutes. Did lose 8kg over the week though.

Doctor decided to do some blood tests to find the cause (still no answer there) and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, kidney, liver function were all fine. The only thing that came back abnormal was the HbA1c which was 97. The doctor thought this might have been an anomaly due to the 'food poisoning' and not eating for 3 days, so a second HbA1c was carried out and the result had gone up to 118.

Reading some of the posts, I know my HbA1c results are very high, and the doctor immediately started me on an increasing dosage of metformin (1 x 500mg daily, then 2 x 500mg daily before reviewing in a month).

If it hadn't been for the suspected food poisoning I'd never had realised I was diabetic as I've not noticed any of the normal symptoms - although as I've read, they can come on very slowly so that you don't notice.

So I am going to spend the time before my practice nurse appointment reading all the advice on here, and hopefully reduce my levels to a more manageable/liveable point.

Tony

 

[R2T2]

There is plenty of good information in this forum, which is good because the information from the diabetic nurse or doctorisn't always up to date.

 

[HypoBand UK]

Hi Tony Welcome to the forum.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Yes, many T2s are discovered by accident. All the info you need is on the forum somewhere. The first priority is to keep the carbs down. The Metformin will help a bit.

 

[TonyCI]

I think it's the pasta/gnocchi that I'm going to miss the most.

I hoping that it will be easier to wean myself off the 'bad' stuff by steadily decreasing the amounts over the next few months rather than trying to go 'cold turkey' on day 1 - combined with finding the lower index/load pasta (i.e. fettucini instead of white spaghetti) - or maybe swapping the pasta for stir-fried vegetables in the same sauce?

 

[Prem51]

Hi @TonyCI and welcome to the forum. You could try spiralised vegetables instead of spaghetti. You can buy ready spiralised veg in Tescos, or buy a spiraliser to make it yourself.
I was in Holland & Barrett today and found some pouches of 'Slim Pasta'. They are on offer at the moment at 2 for price of 1. Usually £2.49 for a 270g pouch. The 'pasta' is made from Organic Konjac flour, Organic oat fibre (4%) and calcium hydroxide (firming agent).

It has no carbs or sugar, and 4% fibre (the oat fibre). I bought one pouch of spaghetti and one of fettucine. I haven't tried them yet so don't know how they taste, but I thought they were worth a try.
Obviously more expensive than 'real' pasta though.

 

[superwoman1964]

For spaghetti try steamed shredded white cabbage. Or strips of courgette.

For mashed potatoes try mashed cauliflower or celeriac.

Instead of gnocchi have Brussels sprouts.

Instead of rice grate raw cauliflower and stir fry.

Just hope you like vegetables

 

[TonyCI]

Hi @TonyCI and welcome to the forum. You could try spiralised vegetables instead of spaghetti. You can buy ready spiralised veg in Tescos, or buy a spiraliser to make it yourself.
I was in Holland & Barrett today and found some pouches of 'Slim Pasta'. They are on offer at the moment at 2 for price of 1. Usually £2.49 for a 270g pouch. The 'pasta' is made from Organic Konjac flour, Organic oat fibre (4%) and calcium hydroxide (firming agent).

It has no carbs or sugar, and 4% fibre (the oat fibre). I bought one pouch of spaghetti and one of fettucine. I haven't tried them yet so don't know how they taste, but I thought they were worth a try.
Obviously more expensive than 'real' pasta though.

Thanks. Will keep an eye out for both.

 

[TonyCI]

For spaghetti try steamed shredded white cabbage. Or strips of courgette.

For mashed potatoes try mashed cauliflower or celeriac.

Instead of gnocchi have Brussels sprouts.

Instead of rice grate raw cauliflower and stir fry.

Just hope you like vegetables

Thanks.

I like proper veg (i.e. not lettuce) and have had celeriac & cauliflower mash in the past - so I should be fine. Think I might try some cauliflower & cheese tempura or dumplings.

I think part of the problem is finding new ways of getting the same sort of meals I enjoy now. Once I've done it for a while it will become second nature (hopefully).

I also forgot to mention that I work away from home a lot, and stay in B&Bs (no fridge/cooker) for 4 days a week, so these ideas will be used at home and I'll just have to stick to what I can find locally for lunch/dinner. Although I suppose a nice lean chicken/lamb shish with salad will do me (obviously no pitta or chips).

 

[Hiitsme]

Hi and welcome.
I will tag @daisy1 who will post a guide for newcomers.
I think you are already seeing how willing people are to share information and what they have found helpful.

 

[Devonbear]

Welcome Tony. First of all, don't sweat the high number. I'll bet you a fiver to your favourite charity that in 3 months, with a low carb diet, it will have come down by half.

As to pasta - LEEKS!! I know it sounds a bit weird, but if you've never tried it I recommend you give it a go. Just chop the leeks into rings and cook it up with whatever pasta sauce is your favourite (just avoid ready made sauces with carbs in..) The leek softens and unravels to create strips that are a tasty and super healthy analogue for the pasta. Of course it won't give you that immediate feeling of satisfaction that pasta does, but remember what that feeling is. It is your blood sugar shooting up. The flipside is that you also won't the post-meal crash you do with high carb foods. And remember, it's Low Carb HIGH FAT. So no problems with fortifying your pasta sauce with anything you fancy. Cream, full-fat cheese, yoghurt, strips of bacon whatever fatty food that will make it delicious for you.

 

[daisy1]

@TonyCI

Hello Tony and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members which I hope you will find interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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 150,000 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

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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.

 

[Catlady19]

Hello Tony, welcome to the forum!

@Devonbear thanks for the leek tip, I hadn't thought of that before!

 

[Jagman]

Hi all.

Thought I'd get ahead of the game a bit and introduce myself on here whilst I'm waiting for my first appointment with the practice nurse on 14-Dec.

I was only diagnosed after going to the doctor for the first time in 8 years, after a bout of what I think was food poisoning that stopped me eating for 3 days, and kept me from sleeping for 3 days due to stomach cramps every 15 minutes. Did lose 8kg over the week though.

Doctor decided to do some blood tests to find the cause (still no answer there) and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, kidney, liver function were all fine. The only thing that came back abnormal was the HbA1c which was 97. The doctor thought this might have been an anomaly due to the 'food poisoning' and not eating for 3 days, so a second HbA1c was carried out and the result had gone up to 118.

Reading some of the posts, I know my HbA1c results are very high, and the doctor immediately started me on an increasing dosage of metformin (1 x 500mg daily, then 2 x 500mg daily before reviewing in a month).

If it hadn't been for the suspected food poisoning I'd never had realised I was diabetic as I've not noticed any of the normal symptoms - although as I've read, they can come on very slowly so that you don't notice.

So I am going to spend the time before my practice nurse appointment reading all the advice on here, and hopefully reduce my levels to a more manageable/liveable point.

Tony

Keep your chin up tony,i thought it was the end of the world but its not.make some lifestyle changes and listen to the advice people give you.ive not ate cream cakes or sweets for months now but its worth it in the long run.
Regards jagman

 

[TonyCI]

Thanks all.

It's only been a couple of days, but I'm happy to say not finding it too difficult to find stuff that I can eat at the office restaurant at lunchtime.

For example, yesterday there was a nice tuna nicoise salad on offer, so I just had it with none of the potatoes. Today they had poached haddock, spinach and poached egg.

Tonight was a chicken shish kebab (no pitta) with mixed cabbage, onion, jalapenos & cucumber with a bit of chilli oil as dressing.

However, I'm not disheartened, as the more I read/research the more I realise it's not as bad as I first thought - and these first 2 days away from home have not needed too much of a change in my food choices.

 

[Devonbear]

Good job Tony. I think all the best foods are low-carb anyway.