newly diagnosed type 2 ( no idea!)

[moonfruit]

Hello...diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few days ago after a routine blood test. I had told the practise nurse my symptoms around seven weeks ago but hey ho I suppose these things take time? anyway the doctor confirmed it last week along with high blood pressure and sent me away with three types of tablets and a basic sheet on what diabetes is, and also a sheet telling me to avoid skipping meals and to include starchy carbohidrates ie bread,pasta,chapatis,yam,noodles,rice,potatoes,and cerial at each meal reduce fat, eat more fruit, veg + beans and lentils. with instructions to come back in a week to see whether there are any side effects from the medication and we will make an appointment to see the diabetes nurse! :crazy:

in all honesty I don't have a clue all I have is a mixture of feeling overwhelmed, tired,sick and slightly dizzy, and worried that I'll end up becoming sicker because of lack of information, as Im a single working mum with little or no family support!

any advice will be more than welcome even if it is just things like what food to definately avoid and what to make sure I eat? :***:

 

[hanadr]

moonfruit
what you do next depends on your own mindset.You could just do what your doctor tells you. Alternatively, you can start learning FAST and take control. Since you found us here, i suspect you'd prefer the latter strategy.
Your GP will very likely tell you that you don't need to monitor your own blood glucose. If you want to take cont4rol a meter is essential.
Whatever you do don't just go out to buy one from a retail pharmacy. It will cost too much.I suggest you do some research on blood glucose meters and chose what seems to suit your needs, then contact the national supplier and ask them about their prices and services. Also check out your own PCT to find out if they will prescribe strips. Some simply DON'T. If you have to buy your own supplies, which many of us do, you'll need to know you get a good service.
The blood glucose level of a non-diabetic is usually aound 5mmol/l nearly all the time and if it goes away from there, doesn't stay away for long. For me anyway that's the target to aim for.
If you don't already, You need to understand what carbohydrates are, because it's they that cause blood glucose to rise fastest.
It's high blood glucose that causes the damage we call "diabetic complications". these can be nasty or even fatal.
It is likely to be helpful if you reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet, replacing it with green vegetables and fats.
It's not usually helpful to eat much in the way of "diabetic foods". they tend to be expensive. Once in a while it's probably OK.
I use a range of books to keep my knowledge up. I studied biochemistry, so I still have my old textbooks, but my references are:-
Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes solution..... By Richard Bernstein. this is American and a bit pricey, but comprehensive.
the Diet Deception...............By Gary Taubes. Also American and a real eye opener.
Collins Little Gem Calorie Counter... also lists carb content of foods
I also use David Mendosa's website, which is HUGE and Diabetes 101 and D-solve websites.
In the case of any chronic condition, Knowledge is power over it.
Hana

 

[daisy1]

Hi Moonfruit and welcome to the forum I'm afraid I don't agree with what you have been told about eating all those carbohydrates - that is exactly the type of food I avoid or at least reduce :roll: I also think you need to get yourself some testing equipment so that you can see what effect different foods have on your BG levels. Ask for a testing kit, and if they won't give you one, it really is worth paying for one yourself. Members here have discovered the cheapest meters and strips and will be able to advise you. Here is some information that should help you, which was written for new members. Ask all the questions you like, and I am sure there will be many, and someone will answer you.

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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

 

[moonfruit]

thank you for your help, will ask the doctor about meter and strips at my next visit. (although from what I have read I don't hold out much hope!) so a good start would be to severely limit carbs and stick to more fruit, veg and protein? is that right?

 

[MaryJ]

Hi moonfruit,

Not the fruit, i'm afraid. full of natural sugars. Although we are all different and until you get a meter you won't know what you can eat safetly. A general guide til then is stick to berry type fruits - (blueberries,raspberries, strawberries) avoid banana, grapes.

Veg - again til your meter avoid rooty type vegs (beetroot, parsnips) once you have your meter you will be able to get your own personal eating plan based on what doesn't cause a spike.

Protein- fine.

Mary x

 

[Defren]

Hello Moonfruit, welcome to the forum.

Fruit is a difficult one, some fruits like banana's, grapes and melon spike a lot of us. The best fruit are ones ending in berry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry etc. Veg that grows above ground is also much better than root veg. However, the only way you can possibly know what you can and can't tolerate is to test.

You must reduce carbs, cut down on bread, potato's, rice, pasta, wheat and wheat based products. Avoid low calorie, reduced calorie foods and go for the full fat version. If you eat ready meals, read the nutritional information very carefully.

There is a food forum here with loads of really tasty recipe's that are low carb and healthy. Being diabetic doesn't mean you should feel deprived in any way, it's about learning to eat differently. Most of us avoid cereal in the mornings, but as we can eat meat and dairy, substitute for things like bacon and eggs, omelettes, continental style breakfasts such as cold meats and cheese. There really are very simple and easy ways to manage diabetes, you will have humps in the road, we all do, but ask questions, as many and as often as you like. There is always someone who can help.

 

[Grazer]

You have to make a tricky decision here. You can do what your doctor says (normal, and easy way to go) or do what most of us here do, Which is the difficult way - to ignore the doctor which goes against our upbringing, and work out our own diet to keep our blood sugar down. That involves reducing our carbs, keeping clear of the starchy carbs you've been told to eat and testing to make sure your BG is below about 8 two hours after eating as a way of finding out the quantity of carbs you can eat.
If you go the easy way, that's fine, providing you understand you'll end up on increasing levels of medication until you probably end up on insulin.
If you go the difficult way, you need to know you may not get backing from your nurse or doctor, although they normally sit up and take notice when follow up tests show fantastic blood results.

 

[moonfruit]

at last...light at the end of a very dark tunnel :thumbup:
I am so pleased to have found you all on this wonderful site, you have no idea how much I appreciate your advice!
i will definitely be checking out the food forum thanks once again...feeling much more positive.

 

[Gappy]

All the above are wise experienced people with good knowledge and advice. All I will add is don't get paranoid, any change you make no matter how small is for the better. My weakness is I simply don't have the discipline to stick to the strict regime many many have, but by reading and taking in all the advice such as that above I've made sensible adjustments that I can maintain and have had great results (4 stone lighter and readings of 5.6) so I believe it's best to take all the advice on board and realise where your weaknesses are (mine was bread) and make the changes that you can keep to. Change only works if you maintain it so don't go too harsh and fall off the wagon early!

 

[Defren]

at last...light at the end of a very dark tunnel :thumbup:
I am so pleased to have found you all on this wonderful site, you have no idea how much I appreciate your advice!
i will definitely be checking out the food forum thanks once again...feeling much more positive.

Glad you're feeling better. The diagnosis of diabetes can and does send us into a tail spin, but there are ways to control things. It takes determination and discipline, but it can be done. My BG's are always in the 4's and 5's now. The funny thing is, when you low carb, you automatically seem to loose weight, which in turn helps your diabetes.

Keep reading, keep asking questions, and you'll get there.

 

[xyzzy]

so a good start would be to severely limit carbs and stick to more fruit, veg and protein? is that right?

YES :thumbup: :clap: :wave: !

Have a look at these links for the "style" of eating you should adopt. It's a bit counter intuitive to what we were all taught but it really does work so well worth putting the effort in. You might need to restrict fruit a as it does contain a lot of sugar. Fruits that end in "berry" are generally better. Also don't worry too much about upping things like cheese and eggs. I eat a lot of cheese and eggs and have just recorded normal cholesterol levels for the first time in years.

http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=my_lowcarb_dietary_programe_in

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

Its important to get a meter if you can. Once you have a meter you can fine tune the amount of carbs you are eating as that varies person to person. At the beginning you may find your levels are really high so just try to make sure the level you get two hours after you eat is less than 2 more than before your eat. If you restrict your carbs you should see your levels gradually begin to fall day by day. In some people it can takes weeks to get back to normal levels but in others it can happen really quickly. Once you have stabilised your levels the knack is to be under 8ish two hours after eating and between 4 and 7 at all other times.

Take care and welcome. Keep asking questions we all did when we started.

 

[moonfruit]

thank you all for your help xx
after taking a new tablet for blood pressure I went to work last week and totally flipped! I started to sweat and began shaking (very frightening) manager had to bring me home still off work now (although im not on rota for full week) as over the weekend I had to double my metformin and also introduce a choletsterol tablet plus the new blood pressure...lately though I sometimes feel really light headed/ confused and sickly! as I still don't have a moniter I have no idea whether this is the mix of tablets/ one in particular /or the diabetes? ie: glucose levels...I have been eating a very low carb diet mainly chicken and veg / salad.
any suggestions?

 

[MaryJ]

hi moonfruit

sorry you're not feeling so good.

the light-headedness, dizziness etc could well be your bodies reaction to the reduction of Blood glucose. If you've been used to having them pretty high, bringing them down can be similar to feeling of low sugar.

It's best to reduce gradually. A meter is an absolute must, can you source one for yourself?

And now to contridict myself, the new tablets could also be affecting you, you've had a pretty big upheaval in your meds in a short space of time, if it continues maybe a trip to the gp is called for

Mary x

 

[moonfruit]

thanks mary,
just back from doctors and he now wants to double my metformin to four per day plus one cholesterol and one blood pressure tablet next week..the only reason that he did not double them today is that I have diorrhea from the metformin
already talking about a fifth merformin and then eventually insulin! and was only diagnosed less than two weeks ago.
still refusing a blood glucose monitor as he says the metformin will keep my glucose level and so there is no need to check it myself. not sleeping and beginning to find that the initial symptoms of diabetes are creeping back ie thirsty and running to the loo! Hmmm.... off for the first visit to the diabetes nurse next week.

 

[Defren]

You seriously need to invest in your own BG meter. The cheapest one and the cheapest strips is the SD codefree. Have a look on either Ebay or Amazon. I bought mine from Amazon, then was prescribed one and strips. The Codefree does seems to test a little higher, but it will still give you a good idea of what foods you react to and what you can tolerate. Also, just because the Codefree tests higher than my Accu Chek, who knows which one really is right?


Please do get a meter.

 

[moonfruit]

thanks Defren...will certainly look into that today!

 

[Defren]

thanks Defren...will certainly look into that today!

:thumbup:

 

[tree-peony]

I agree about the meter, and incidentally, my levels went UP last time I increased my Metformin. Whatever you do, DO NOT increase the dose if you still have gastric problems.

 

[Defren]

If you are on regular Metformin, you could ask your GP to switch you to SR. These seem to be a bit better for those who have trouble with the regular ones.