Newly Diagnosed

Hi and welcome,

What diabetes meds are you on? This will affect any responses.

Thanks for the information. (It will help in future to put your medication on your profile page and also in your signature. It is important when asking for advice)

When our blood sugars are high it affects our small blood vessels and can make the back of our eyes bleed and become blurry. The best way to help your eyes is to reduce your blood sugar levels, and the only real way to do this is by eating the right foods. Metformin does very little to help reduce BS levels and certainly not post meal spikes. Gliclazide does help by stimulating your pancreas to produce extra insulin, but it isn't a miracle cure. You also have to eat correctly.

Are you aware that all carbohydrate converts to glucose once inside our system? So it isn't just sugar, it is all carbs. Bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, breakfast cereals and anything made with flour are the worst culprits, plus we also need to be careful with milk and fruit. The less of these things we eat, the lower our blood sugars will be.

Have you got your own blood glucose meter? If not, you really need to buy one. If you have one, then you can use it to help find which foods you can or can't eat and in what quantities. Test immediately before you eat and then again at 90 minutes to 2 hours after first bite. Look at the rise and see what that meal has done to your levels. Keep a food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside. Pretty soon you will see a pattern and be able to reduce the portions of certain carbs or eliminate them completely. The idea is to keep all rises as low as possible and certainly under 2mmol/l preferably under 1.5mmol/l and at all times under 8.5mmol/l. (These are good targets for people just starting. They can be lowered as you progress.)

As you are on Glyclazide you need to be careful you don't drop too low, which is normally regarded as under 4mmol/l or higher if you start to feel ill.

lefebve83 said:

Hello, I have one of those meter's (Aero) my last reading was 6.8 that was two hours after dinner. Is that reason why my vision has gone partially blurry again? Since last week I have been having weetabix & 2 small pieces of brown toast, take it, that's not a good idea?

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The 6.8 sounds good enough to me, although it does depend what level you were before you started. A spike starts at the level you were before eating, peaks somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes normally (but not always) and finishes when it returns back to your starting level. The higher that spike and the longer it lasts the more likely it is to cause damage. By 2 hours you should be on your way down. However, as I said, 6.8 is fine.

Weetabix and toast is not a good idea, especially if this was at breakfast time. Try it tomorrow and test before and after to see what happens.

Hi @lefebve83 and welcome to the forum

I'm tagging @daisy1 for you so that she will post some very informative information here for you. Do read it to understand how diabetes affects our bodies etc.

Another tip is regarding foods that affect diabetics. You may have been told by the Diabetes Nurse to eat by the Eatwell Plate, which contains approx 1/3 carbohydrates. This might be OK for non-diabetics but it's not good for diabetics as the carbs are what puts the glucose level up. Even low Glycaemic Index carb foods will be converted into glucose, even though a bit more slowly.

Again, contrary to the normal advice given by the GP/Diabetic Nurse, you would do well to buy yourself a Glucose meter and test to see what foods affect your glucose levels and those that don't. This will be money very well spent if you have any hope of controlling your diabetes.

Regarding meters, it's the test strips that are the on-going cost so most members here suggest these two meters. There are others available, with different features, but will be more costly re the test strips. The decision is yours, of course.

SDCodeFree £11.99
Test Strips £7.69
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

Tee2 meter (Free)
Test strips £7.75/50
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/

There's obviously a lot to learn but do post questions on here as there are many very experienced and knowledgeable members

lefebve83 said:

Bit worried about my close-up vision as it's gone blurry, is that because of meds or because I have had a few days where my BS level was 10-12?

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I'm not knowledgeable enough to advise re blurry vision but I would expect others to comment either later this evening or tomorrow.

Having said that, I believe glucose levels can change your vision but I would have thought it would take longer and consistent highs to affect vision. As to what levels would affect vision, I have no idea and cant remember reading anything on this, tbh.

Could you pop down to your Opticians for a check? I'm sure they'd rather see you sooner than later, if there is a problem.

I think many people find their vision changes, sometimes quite dramatically in the months after diagnosis. It usually settles down to how it normally was, but if you are at all worried I would get a check done with an Optician.

In my case my vision improved hugely in the months before I was diagnosed, then went entirely the other way as my BG levels reduced quickly in the weeks after diagnosis. In the end my vision was back to "normal" after about 3 months, although I can really appreciate that this might be a worry for you, as it certainly was for me at the time.

@lefebve83

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want 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 well over 147,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.