Newly diagnosed...

Hi @Sillybillynana

Welcome to the forums.

I cannot be sure of what happens in your area (it varies substantially between regions) but I'd imagine that you will be given some dietary advice and possibly some advice about exercise.

It's nothing to worry about at this stage. It's good that you've been diagnosed and are in a position to do something about it.

Have a look around the forums though and get a feel for what's what.

Hello there and welcome to the forum. At diagnosis we are often shocked and scared, it can take a while to get your head around it all but you have lots of options so try to take some time to read around the forum to get an idea of what happens next.
The first thing you might want to look at is your diet and excercise regime. Don't worry, no one will ask you to join a gym and start wearing Lycra! Moderate excercise like walking regularly is great. With diet there is one option that has worked for me which is to lower the amount of carbohydrates in the diet. I will page @daisy1 who will post the welcome pack which I recommend you read before anything else.
What happens next is your choice, the more information you gather the greater your choices. Well done for being proactive with your health.

Sillybillynana said:

Thank you both of you . Look forward to reading the said info.
I have all ready been browsing and found I am better to stick to this section for now. Numbers are confusing me as I have seen smaller numbers and letters and not just a number like my given 47 but am sure I will learn all about that in time. Luckily I am an avid reader of info when I need to do, have all ready found out some bits I will use , like decrease carbs and exercise more. Thing is I have fibromyalgia and some days I can't do much but am making a vow to do what I can when I can .
I read this morning that someone started the Atkins diet with Good results .is this what others do ??
Would love to know how you do it !
I am pretty annoyed at myself as gp has been warning me for years it could happen and now it's here I'm in shock. Really need to do it this time but am complete rubbish with sticking to it for more than 3weeks.

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As to excercise, I am a wheelchair user and cannot do any so do not force yourself to do anything that may cause a flare up of your Fibromyalgia as stress and pain can raise blood glucose levels. Just do what you can when you can. I have lowered my HbA1c without one minute of excercise so it can be done.
Lowering your carb intake has much, much more of an impact on bg levels, as someone wise once said 'You can't outrun a bad diet'. I do not follow Atkins but LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) which when done gradually is a doddle. It aids weight loss and lowers blood glucose. This is not a diet as such, it is a lifestyle change and a change of attitude toward food in general.
There are sub forums here for other dietary approaches, you will find them if you scroll down the Forum List.
Do not be annoyed with yourself, all of we members wish we had the knowledge of what a western diet was doing to us plus we may have a genetic predisposition to boot.

use this as your final warning. you have a chance to avoid getting diabetes. take it lose weight if needed, cut your carb intake, exercise if you can that can mean just a little walk. lower your bp. stop smoking and lower your booze levels if you drink. the ones in red are the very important ones. oh yes and dont worry none of us are perfect so over christmas enjoy yourself but try to do it sensibly.

Sillybillynana said:

Would love to know how you do it !
I am pretty annoyed at myself as gp has been warning me for years it could happen and now it's here I'm in shock. Really need to do it this time but am complete rubbish with sticking to it for more than 3weeks.

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Hi @Sillybillynana and welcome to the forum. A lot of the Type 2 diabetics on here have found that adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat approach to eating has reduced our blood sugar levels.

Well done on taking action to get control now. I wish I had when I was pre-diabetic, but my GP didn't explain what it meant and I thought it was just the usual medical scare story. It's good that you are getting referred to a diabetes prevention team.
That might mean referral to a diabetes education course like 'DESMOND' - Diabetes Education for Self-Management of Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed, or something similar.
You need to be aware that these courses usually recommend the NHS 'Eatwell Plate' which suggests your main meals should be about one third protein, one third vegetables, and one third starchy carbohydrates.
But starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice turn to sugar quickly in our bodies so aren't good for T2 diabetics, or pre-diabetics.

I am in Cardiff, and got diagnosed as prediabetic with numbers somewhere around yours three years ago, all by the nurse at my GP. If any of this helps, this is what happened to me:

I was sent on a half-day diabetic nutrition course that said nothing at all about carbs, more about very general health, and was also referred to an NHS retinopathy clinic whcih checks my eyes every year. I initially had two 3-month HBAC1 checks by the nurse at the GP, that then got changed to yearly testing. I didn't need to lose weight, but was told to increase exercise and eat a healthier diet. I kind-of followed Stage 2 of the South Beach Diet, which like Atkins is a low carb diet. My numbers stayed steady, no worse, no better, for years until pregnancy and pregnancy loss threw everything emotionally and eating-wise totally off balance (packs of biscuits disappeared at alarming rates), so much so that my GP intervened. My last visit was the first time I've had a full diabetes review, complete with checking my feet.

Sillybillynana said:

Numbers are confusing me as I have seen smaller numbers and letters and not just a number like my given 47 but am sure I will learn all about that in time. .

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The letters and numbers I think you are referring to is the HbA1c. This is a test used to diagnose diabetes and on all subsequent reviews to check on your control. It is a test that measures your average blood glucose over the previous 2 to 3 months. Your 47 puts you at the very top of pre-diabetic. This is the guide to the HbA1c http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

Learning what all the numbers mean is important, but very confusing. There are several different ways of measuring blood glucose, and even more measurement units. There are mmol/mol units, percentage units, mmol/l units, and in some other countries notably America, it is mg/dl units. They confuse us all, but you will get your head round them. Anything you don't understand all you have to do is ask.

@Sillybillynana

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting. Ask questions when you need to and someone will try 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 259,000 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 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. Most of these are 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.

Well done for finding this forum, there is a lot of great support from a wide range of people with different conditions, situations and experience.

I think the lower numbers you see on the forum are mmol/l which is the unit used for a fasting blood tests and home meters in the UK. I would encourage you to think about purchasing a blood glucose meter. Self testing blood glucose can give you immediate feedback on how your meals affect you. Helping you adapt your diet for better control. If you need any help with this just ask.

I am sure you will be able tailor things to suit your personal circumstances. Keep reading and feel free to ask questions.

If you have problems with your kidneys then you should not change to a high protein diet, but you are not diabetic yet - and with luck you will be able to turn things around by the choices in the carb type foods you eat.
It might mean that you have to make all your own baked goods, avoid all sugary drinks and foods, but on the upside it might mean that your weight drops. My own weightloss in the last year was over 40 lb without trying - I have just about nothing that fits me - I thought about wearing a dress for a Christmas 'do' and found that they are all too big by a long way. It is on Thursday - should have thought about it before.If you can get a blood gluccose meter - there is one with cheap strips you can get mail order, it will help to show you why your Hba1c is so high - the foods which spike blood glucose are the ones to avoid, as keeping levels low seems to be the way to manage things.

Hi,
There are diabetes cook books, some great recipes. Dark chocolate may be an alternative.
Have healthy snacks such as nuts and cheese.
Ask your dr about specefic diets because of your kidney disease.
Take care

Sillybillynana said:

How would baking my own baked goods help .or do you mean using special recipes ??
Sorry hope I'm not being thick I just don't know a thing about all of this.
I don't drink sugary drinks . Only drink tea ( no sugar and tiny drop of fat free milk) or green tea or water .or the occasional celebratory Bacardi and come about 3 or 4 times a year.
I do however eat sweets and cakes etc. Plenty of them so they have to go .

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I meant that if you want a biscuit that you'd need to bake them yourself so that you could exclude the higher carb ingredients - use lower carb flours for instance - you can still indulge in things such as trifles if you make it with sugar free jelly, low carb home made almond biscuits, real custard made with eggs and cream - there are lots of things you could use to lower your intake of carbs without being at all deprived.

Sillybillynana said:

How would baking my own baked goods help .or do you mean using special recipes ??
Sorry hope I'm not being thick I just don't know a thing about all of this.
I don't drink sugary drinks . Only drink tea ( no sugar and tiny drop of fat free milk) or green tea or water .or the occasional celebratory Bacardi and come about 3 or 4 times a year.
I do however eat sweets and cakes etc. Plenty of them so they have to go .

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Hi @Sillybillynana,

A big welcome to the forum.

Yes, when baking your own bread, most of us use lower carb ingredients such as nut flowers. Normal bread has about 70g of carbs per 100g -- which usually spikes blood sugars for diabetics and prediabetics. Some of the homemade breads have 5g of carbs per 100g (or less). Personally, having this low-carb version of bread doesn't raise my blood sugars at all.

Here is a recipe that works for me: https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/the-keto-bread. The website dietdoctor.com has a lot of great information and a lot of low-carb recipes. You can sign up for the website ($9 per month) if you want, but you really don't need to (I haven't). A lot of the information can be accessed for free.