Newly Diagnosed

Hi and welcome,

Are you taking any medication for diabetes?
Do you know what your HbA1c score was?
What sort of levels are you seeing 2 hours post meal?

Snacking is not necessary at all, in fact if you aren't normally a snacker there is no reason to start. Every time we eat we get an insulin response from our pancreas, so the more frequently we eat the more our pancreas has to work. It is best to give it a good rest between meals, and time to recover. Also, if we eat any carbs in these snacks our glucose levels will rise, which may mean they are higher than normal next time we have a meal, and this will then impact on the post meal levels.

If you need to snack it is wise to have something that contains very little carbohydrate, such as a few nuts, pork scratchings if you like them, a piece of avocado, even a hard boiled egg. I have never been a snacker, but on the odd rare occasion I feel the need I just have a cup of tea or a decaf coffee with some double cream.

I'll tag @daisy1 because she has some very useful information for newcomers. Have a good read round and ask any questions you like.

Hi there and welcome. Being diagnosed certainly is a lot to come to terms with even when you have family and freinds who have Diabetes. You will get over the initial shock and come to terms quite quickly when you take control of your health.

Hi @Suki9,

I agree with @Bluetit1802. You should only eat when you feel hungry. There is no need to snack if you are not.

I have found that once I minimized my carbohydrate intake (I eat about 30g of carbs per day, sometimes less), I haven't really experienced the same type of ravenous hunger as before and it was easy to skip meals. Even, when I got hungry, but there was nothing appropriate to eat, it was relatively easy to wait and have some food when I got home.

Good snacks include nuts, cheese, olives, avocado, cold cuts in general (unless high carb -- check the label), boiled eggs or even one or two squares of high cocoa content chocolate (more than 70% cocoa content, preferably higher).

@Suki9

Hello Suki9 and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful for you. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will come along and 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 250,000 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.

Suki9 said:

Hi
Thanks for your reply my HbA1c was 60 and and post meal I around 6-7 but just before lunch I drop to 4.3 - 4.5 and I know because I get very shaky hence I think I need something especially if I am away from home to keep my levels a bit higher . If I am at home I will have a banana which seems to be ok , I know the lower level is 4 but I start to feel shaky before I get to that , as i test my blood when feeling like this. I also take one 500 mg Metformin twice a day.

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You are doing very well. Those post meal levels are fine. Well done.

There is such a thing as a false hypo. This is when your glucose drops lower than your body has been used to. (and with an HbA1c of 60 your body has been used to high levels for a while). You get the hypo symptoms without actually having a hypo. It is possible this is what is happening to you. I can't say for sure of course, but if it is, feeding these feelings with something like a banana isn't going to help. All it will do is raise your glucose levels higher than they need be, and your body will carry on believing these levels are too low, so the shakiness will continue.

As you say, under 4 is hypo territory. 4.3 to 4.5 is normal. To stop the shaky feeling a cup of tea or coffee with a drop of milk would be enough. The body will soon learn that 4.3 to 4.5 isn't too low.

Suki9 said:

Ok thank you I had wondered if it was because I had been high before I will give the tea and coffee a go .

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The milk should raise you enough to stop the shakes, but not by very much. Try it and then test again in 15 to 20 minutes or so. Good luck.