Newly diagnosed type 2

chili · Sep 10, 2010

Hi everyone, this is my first post so please be gentle with me

last week i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and it would seem that everything i like is no longer any good for me.
i have had my 1st visit to a nurse for an hba1c test and i have to go back next week for the results of that.
i am 50 next month work in a steel industry love sweets,ice cream,chips and whiskey and sugar in my tea. at the moment the only advice i have been given is to improve my diet and see how things go from there, thats all well and good but i am not too sure what is good and what is not good? oh o am 6' 1" and just over 16 stone i am a big build person so i carry the weight well and don't look obese .
i have today just ordered a free blood sugar monitor thing in case i need one, however again i have not beel told to monitor my blood sugar levels.
i am now having bran etc for brekkie, i have decided on these pre made pasta bowls for lunch at work and a banana, i am on a tate and lyle low gi fruit sugar in my tea.

i need help lol
should i be testing my sugar levels? if so when what time of day?
what brand stuff ie beans and tomato sauce are ok to eat?
can i still have a whiskey?

many thanks

jane22 · Sep 10, 2010

Hi there and welcome. I'm sure someone will be along soon and post the advice for newly diagnosed. It is good so do read it. I was terrible when I was first diagnosed and ate all the wrong things including things I thought were right but weren't ie pasta, rice etc. I can eat bananas but many find it sends their blood glucose to high. We are all different. You do need to test because otherwise you will have no idea of the best foods for you. You may well be told otherwise by your doc though. I test on waking, before meals and 1 or 2 hours after and at bedtime. Now I am well controlled and know which foods suit me I don't test as much and have days off but as soon as I realised I had to do something about myself I was testing a lot. You also need to try to get a bit of exercise every day. For me it always brings my levels down a bit more. Good luck with it.

daisy1 · Sep 10, 2010

Welcome
Good news :wink: You can still drink whiskey. And more good news you can also have red wine. In fact it is very good for you and can help bring BG levels down 8)
(no need to tell the Doc though!)

chili · Sep 10, 2010

daisy1 said:
Welcome
Good news :wink: You can still drink whiskey. And more good news you can also have red wine. In fact it is very good for you and can help bring BG levels down 8)
(no need to tell the Doc though!)

ah so its not all bad then

i suppose i should keep a record of any tests i do and what i eat, at the moment because i have only been advised for changing my diest i have to pay for all prescriptions etc and i suppose the needles test things are expensive?

catherinecherub · Sep 10, 2010

Hi chili and welcome,
Good advice here from Jane.

jane22 said:
Hi there and welcome. I'm sure someone will be along soon and post the advice for newly diagnosed. It is good so do read it. I was terrible when I was first diagnosed and ate all the wrong things including things I thought were right but weren't ie pasta, rice etc. I can eat bananas but many find it sends their blood glucose to high. We are all different. You do need to test because otherwise you will have no idea of the best foods for you. You may well be told otherwise by your doc though. I test on waking, before meals and 1 or 2 hours after and at bedtime. Now I am well controlled and know which foods suit me I don't test as much and have days off but as soon as I realised I had to do something about myself I was testing a lot. You also need to try to get a bit of exercise every day. For me it always brings my levels down a bit more. Good luck with it.

It is the carbohydrates as well as sugars that will send your numbers up. Be careful with pasta, bread, cereals, potatoes, root vegetables and rice and any products made with white flour. The same with fruit, test to see if it is suitable for you.
You need to test to see what these products are doing to your levels. Some you might be alright with, some you may need smaller portions and some will not be suitable for you at all.
Make sure you are well hydrated by drinking water and you can still enjoy your tipple in moderation.
Add some exercise in to your daily routine even if it is only walking.

chili · Sep 10, 2010

many thanks for info
i don't exercise as such at work i must walk about 6 miles per day and lift,bend etc (steel industry) on my days off i vegitate, go fishing or go down my allotment.
So the general consensus is that i do need to test. what i am struggling with is the food labels and what too look for, and what i can eat.
in general i never felt ill, i was eating ok but maybe 40 minutes after eating i was soooo tired, that was my only real symptom.
i am soo tempted to just say sod it and carry on as i was prior to my visit to the docs.

so lets say i eat some pasta for my mid day lunch.....
a. when would i do a blood test?
b. if after eating and my levels are high does this mean the pasta is not good for me?
c. if after eating and my levels are ok then i take it that the pasta is fine to eat?

sorry if i seem stupid i am trying

anniep · Sep 10, 2010

HI Chili

You are not being stupid, you are being very sensible trying to get to grips with this disease. It is very confusing and there is a lot to learn to begin with but hang around here and you will get lots of help and support.

Please don't be tempted to ignore this condition, it may be a disease with little symptoms to start with but the long term effects of ignoring it are disasterous.

You were quite right saying if the post meal readings are high then something is not good for you. Test before a meal and one and two hours after.

There is some advice that the monitors give to all newly diagnosed I'm sure that they will be along soon to post it for you.

You have started well by being proactive.

good luck

annie

jane22 · Sep 10, 2010

I'm not suggesting you live on packet food but it's a good idea to have a look on the packets where it will tell you how many carbs are in things, you can also get books which list the carbs in foods and find info on the web. I found it helpful to start with to have fewer carbs for breakfast and had good results on poached or scrambled egg on Burgen toast and if that isn't enough for you throw in a rasher or 2 of bacon and a grilled tomato.
I take a combination of drugs to get my BG down but I also try to keep the carbs lowish and am pleased with the result. For lunch and dinner I try to keep the total carbs for each meal around 30g. I don't usually have rice or pasta anymore but I have plenty of protein and a generous salad or green veg. Cauliflower especially mashed makes a good substitute for potatoes but I still have potatoes - just a couple of new ones with skins on. For snacks I usually have some fruit but have tested to find the best ones for me and as with many folk berries seem to fit the bill. A few berries with some plain yogurt is very nice and for puddings I sometimes chuck in a sugar free jelly too. As I said I'm ok with bananas but you really need to test to see if you are.
It is a bit of a fuss to begin with but I was surprised how quickly I got to grips with it all and in the last 3 months of really trying hard with it all I feel so very much better and my blood sugar is now ok.
I saw you go to your allotment - well unless you are sitting on a bench swigging your whisky lol that counts as exercise.
You may not be able to get the test strips on prescription but you can tell your doc that you want to be able to test in order to find out which foods suit you in order to be proactive and get your BG down. You might be lucky. Other than that some people manage to find them on ebay a bit cheaper. I found I had to test 6 or 7 times a day for a while to get a picture but now I do it a couple of times a day at different times each day just to keep an eye on it. If I want to add a different food into my selection I test a bit more. I also have test free days as I am confident I have it all more or less sorted now.
I'm sure someone will come along in a mo and post the nice guidelines. The numbers I aim for are between 4-7 on waking and before meals and less than 8.5 1 and 2 hours after eating. Not sure if that is exactly the same as the NICE ones but it must be close.

sugarless sue · Sep 10, 2010

chili said:
Hi everyone, this is my first post so please be gentle with me

Welcome to the forum Chili. Here is the advice that Jane mentioned.Hope it helps.

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.

i am now having bran etc for brekkie, i have decided on these pre made pasta bowls for lunch at work and a banana, i am on a tate and lyle low gi fruit sugar in my tea.

The only way to find out if these are suitable is to test as in the advice above. Many cannot tolerant pasta, bananas are high in carbs and even fruit sugars can have an effect on your Bg levels. it is all about testing and finding out which foods do affect you and then either cutting them out or reducing the portion down till your post meal reading is much the same as your pre meal reading.

chili · Sep 10, 2010

cool info there and it makes sense, i just can't understand why the Gp's etc say change your diet, but
give me no method of monitoring what i am eating.

so i am at the docs on wednesday 15th and the nurse on the 17th this will be mentioned then to them, i have worked all my life i want a bl**ding
monitor and some strip's hopefully for free.

ibbor103 · Sep 19, 2010

i agree with chilli, very good advice here about the way to self monitor, my hubby just diagnosed on friday got to go back for more tests on monday. dr wasnt very helpful so hopefully after reading up here he will have some questions to ask on monday.

chili · Sep 19, 2010

well good news.
i dug my monitor out that i purchased a year ago when i first suspected i had diabetes, went to see the nurse and she was over the moon that i wanted to self test myself out come her little pad and she wrote a script for 100 strips and 200 needles, went to boots on saturday and the needles were right but she prescribed the wrong strips really helpful woman there found the right ones on the shop floor at £28 per box of 50. my good fortune for the day was she gave it all to me for free andthe self testing is helping me understand foods that are good and not so good.
also got booked into see an nhs dietician for free.

today my wife bubble and squeeked my sunday lunch for me as i was at work and mircowaved sunday lunch is just not the same, 2 hours later am still 8.2 what do you suppose was wrong with the lunch
boiled spuds broc carrots chicken etc would frying it make it worse for me?

jaykay · Sep 20, 2010

Hey Chili, you ,might find you have to test a lot at first but some of the things that seem to affect a lot of people ( tho' not everyone ) are the 4 big carb no-no's : potatoes, pasta, rice and bread. I found it easier to cut them right out of my diet and find new foods to take their place but everyone deals differently. So your meal that included potatoes, well that might be the problem. Maybe try the same meal without potatoes and see what your bg does? The main thing is you're being pro-active 8)

anniep · Sep 20, 2010

Some of us would find the carrots a problem too. They are quite high in starchy carbs.

chili · Sep 20, 2010

jaykay said:
Hey Chili, you ,might find you have to test a lot at first but some of the things that seem to affect a lot of people ( tho' not everyone ) are the 4 big carb no-no's : potatoes, pasta, rice and bread. I found it easier to cut them right out of my diet and find new foods to take their place but everyone deals differently. So your meal that included potatoes, well that might be the problem. Maybe try the same meal without potatoes and see what your bg does? The main thing is you're being pro-active 8)

lol tell me m like a pin cushion at the moment, i get a little buzz in some kind of perverse way i was thinking of doing a sweep stake for each reading lol

jaykay · Sep 20, 2010

I know! I have a whole system worked out. I write it in my food diary so I know where I am. RTR means right side of right thumb, R1R, right side of 1st finger on right hand etc......it HURTS otherwise! :lol:

iggy · Sep 21, 2010

hi all
3 months ago i was told i have type 2. only went to doctors because i was tired . i'm an a gym junky so at 38 this was a huge surprise ??
i m now on metforming to try to reduce my count down currently taking 3 x 500 tablets a day. can anyone tell me how long i will feel sickly as i dont go back to the clinic till early next month .
thanks
ian

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