Newly diagnosed

Hello and welcome @lrostron Tagging @daisy1 for the new members information which is useful. Lots of members here who can help support you on your journey so feel free to look round the forum and ask away

lrostron said:

I'm a recently diagnosed Type 2 diabetic with a Hba1c of 89, I'm a stone overweight and only found out when I went for a pre-op assessment. I was really active until a hip problem a year ago and the doctor thinks my diagnosis is because I've had to stop exercising. I need to get my Hba1c down to under 60 in order to get my operation. I haven't been told to change my diet apart from cutting out the excess sugar but after looking on this forum that isn't the case. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x

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Hello and welcome,

I doubt your doctor was right about your diagnosis being because of stopping exercising. However, whatever the cause, you have the diagnosis and can now start to deal with it. You have taken a major step towards doing this by finding this forum. It is the best place to be for help and support, and a bit of friendly banter. Bad news about your op being cancelled, but hopefully you can get the HbA1c right down.

I see you are taking Metformin. This is a mild drug, and won't be a lot of help so you can't rely on it to get your blood sugars down. It will help a little, but diet is the key.

I suggest your first job should be to buy a blood glucose meter and plenty of testing strips. We can help you with this if you ask, and help you use it to your best advantage. These are pretty essential to help us control this condition, and to guide us with our food choices. Without one you would be working blind.

You will learn that all carbs turn to sugar once inside the system, so it isn't just sugar that you need to cut down/avoid, it is carbs. When looking at food labels for the nutrition details, you need to look at the total carb amount and ignore the sugar amounts. (Sugar is a carb so is included in the carb total) Anything with over 10g per 100g (10%) is high unless you will only eat a very small amount of it.

Have a good read round, and ask as many questions as you like.

Hello Irostron and welcome to the best little corner of the internet for us Type 2s. I was diagnosed with an HbA1c of 70 last May just as I’d been referred for a foot operation for a problem that was stopping me exercising, not that I was ever big on exercise! However I came here for advice and immediately cut my carbohydrate intake down to 100g/day, then after 6 weeks I dropped it further to between 50-70g/day. These days I eat between 40-60g/day. I was prescribed Metformin as well. I also invested in a blood sugar meter to assess which foods I could tolerate and which I couldn’t. By the time I attended my pre op in the autumn I had non diabetic levels. So that was achieved with virtually no exercise. I had my operation in December and everything healed up nicely and I now go for a brisk walk every day. I also lost shed loads of weight without really having to try. My recommendation is you embarking on a low carb way of eating to get your sugars down and lose your extra stone.

@Bluetit1802 beat me to posting but I’ll post what I was typing too, even though some of the advice is duplicated!

Nurses and Drs won’t advise to use meters because the NHS can’t afford to prescribe them. They do come with instructions but if you decide to get one and you have questions we can help. Here are some meters that are popular on the forum:

Taken from a post by @Bluetit1802 as she wrote it so nicely:


The most popular meters for self funding T2's are the Codefree and the Tee2 because the strips are much cheaper than other meters, and you need a lot of strips. You can't buy them in pharmacies.


Try here for the Codefree meter

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/


and here for the extra strips

http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/


There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833p


The Tee2 is here and the meter is free.

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product-category/shop/tee2/


Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for either meter)

There’s lots of low carb alternatives, if you want to snack, but try not to graze, it’ll give your pancreas a break if you leave as long gaps as you can manage between eating.
Anyway here’s a few suggestions:
Hartleys 10 cal jellies which happen to be virtually carb free too.
PhD or Adonis high protein bars.
Berries and cream.
Pork scratchings.
Babybels.
Take a look at this thread too, loads of us post what we’ve eaten each day:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/

lrostron said:

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. My nurse told me that the metformin should bring my levels down by themselves. I don't know what to believe anymore???? I do have a sweet tooth, which is probably why I'm here but any suggestions to stop cravings. Also what is the best meter to get? I was also told not to bother getting one and if I do, do they come with instructions?

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Metformin really won't help significantly. You probably don't know yet, but our livers can produce some glucose and secrete it to our blood stream without any food being eaten. (This happens in times of fasting such as when we get up, and also at other times). Metformin helps reduce the amount of glucose the liver produces to a small extent. It can also help to a limited extent with insulin resistance, which you will also learn about in due course. It is also an appetite suppressant. However, it is known as a safe drug, although it can cause tummy upsets initially and a few people react badly to it. Time will tell with you, but most people manage very well. What it will not due is reduce the amount of glucose in the blood stream caused by the food you eat. Only insulin and some of the stronger drugs can do that.

The good news is that fats do not affect blood glucose, so you can eat those happily. Main staples are any meat and fish (plain and uncoated), bacon, oily fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel etc., eggs, green leafy vegetables and salads, mushrooms, tomatoes, all dairy food except milk, very high cocoa content dark chocolate, full fat yogurts, seeds, and so on. The foods that cause problems are potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, things made with flour, and fruit. Have a look at this website for some ideas https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds .There are also lists of good and not so good foods.

lrostron said:

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. My nurse told me that the metformin should bring my levels down by themselves. I don't know what to believe anymore???? I do have a sweet tooth, which is probably why I'm here but any suggestions to stop cravings. Also what is the best meter to get? I was also told not to bother getting one and if I do, do they come with instructions?

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All bad advice - Metformin might make you feel so ill that you simply lose the will to live, never mind eat - which is what happened to me, but eventually I threw the tablets in the bin and as I ate low carb from the moment of diagnosis I was down to a Hba1c of 47 in 80 days.
Low carb and the natural fat which comes with meat and fish etc seems to do the trick.
I eat salads and veges but nothing much over 10 percent carbs. I now find that things such as peas and beetroot tastes sweet - it is simply a matter of lowering the level of overall sweetness - I now have to be careful even with recipes intended to be low carb as they add two shovelfuls of granulated artificial sweetener and it is far too much for someone not having sweet foods.
I really enjoy eating low carb meals - as I have been doing low carb for decades, whenever I could get away with it, and it was such a relief to be able to ditch the 'cholesterol lowering' diet.

@Irostron

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 as many questions as you like 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 235,000 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.