Newly Diagnosed

Hi Ben and welcome! That’s shocking that you’ve just been left, have you no instruction at all to return for review, further blood tests or a check up with the practice nurse? If not maybe you should make a GP appt, a different GP perhaps? Most Drs won’t diagnose on one blood test, so you should be having a second one really.
In the meantime have a read of @daisy1 ’s info post which she will post on this thread now I’ve tagged her.
Headaches can be a symptom of high blood sugar which if you haven’t modified your diet yet, you’ll no doubt be suffering from. Many of us Type 2s here reduce our blood sugars by reducing carbohydrate intake.

Ben1984 said:

Hi rachox thanks for the reply I had one previous test by another doctor which came back 48 they said that’s pre diabetes all I got was a call to say yes 51 so have diabetes and to have another test in 3 months

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Ok so that’s not so bad. The HbA1c test is a clever test which looks at excess glucose stuck to your red blood cells over about 12 weeks, so a three month retest is fine. Here’s some more info:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-test.html
However in the meantime, you should be getting appts for the following, feet check up, eye check up and the offer of an education session, if you don’t, please chase up your surgery to arrange these for you.
Have you looked into changing your diet at all? The NHS ‘healthy’ eating advice unfortunately isn’t that healthy for Type 2s. I’m working on the assumption you are Type 2 as your HbA1c isn’t that high. As I’ve already said low carbohydrate diets are helpful to loads of us.

Ben1984 said:

Hi rachox thanks for the reply again not sure if type 1 or 2 I booked and had an eye test at opticians and they said eyes seem fine as was worried as they ache trying to start eating healthy as am overweight just don’t have a clue where to start was just looking on here

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Did you just have a regular eye test? The test I was referring to is a retinal scan, they put drops in your eyes and photograph the back of your eye to check for any damage. Low carb eating would definitely suit you if you are overweight, as it helps with weight loss as well as blood sugar control. Have a look here:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
As an idea of how effective it is have a look at my stats in my signature

Hi and welcome, @Rachox has given you good advice as a starting point, hopefully your surgery will follow up and provide you with a proper diagnosis.
It is a little bit of a minefield to start with, best advice I can offer is don’t try to change everything at once, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming and often People see it as an impossible thing to change, it’s not. Take things slowly, come to terms with the changes that you should make to get your blood sugars under control and then things should begin to fall into place.
Lowering your carb intake is a great place to start, it has worked for many people here, myself included.
Ask questions as they come to you. People will be more than willing to offer advice and support, we have all been the newbie and understand how these early days can seem daunting.
You are now among friends who are here to help, good luck.

Ben1984 said:

Hi Jayney thank you for your reply I’m going to have to start looking at ideas for what I can eat and not eat and what’s low in carbs just don’t know where to start it’s all of a mind blow really and a shock when he called to say had diabetes it’s got me scared and worried it’s nice to know there’s this forum where can chat to others x

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I think most of us were shocked in the beginning, I know I was!
you have already been directed to the website DietDoctor this is a great site for information on what food is lower in carbs and recipe ideas, another place you might find helpful is a thread that myself, @Rachox and many others post into, we share our menus for the day and have a bit of general chit chat about our days, it’s very friendly, supportive and a great place for inspiration, you will be made welcome and I’m sure @ianpspurs will welcome another male,
here is the link https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/posts/1858290/ take a look and when you are ready you can join in by sharing your food choices, I’m sure some of us won’t mind providing you with feedback on your menus to help guide you, if you think that might help? When you are ready and post a menu ask for our thoughts.

So you could have got advice on how to turn things around when you were prediabetic and never got to diabetes - sheesh - that is pretty dismal service.
At least you are not all that high and it should not be too difficult to stop any further increase - but I suspect that it might be a bit of a shock to find that all the supposedly healthy carbs we are supposed to eat are not good for us at all - but then neither are the sugary foods, the sweets and desserts - even sweet fruit can be too much if you are sensitive to carbs.
It isn't too late - never too late to start to sort out how you should be eating. You'll get the starter message from Daisy 1 soon, and the jaw dropping news that bacon egg and sausage is a good way to start the day.

Ben1984 said:

Aww great many thanks shall be looking on there for ideas I suppose shouldn’t have taken diabetes to get my **** in gear to eat healthier but guess too late now appreciate the replies

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Being diagnosed certainly gave me the kick I needed, obviously I would much rather not be diabetic but because of it I am now fitter and healthier, I’ve lost weight, have more energy and enjoy good food. Ok it takes a bit of thinking about sometimes but the rewards are worth the effort

Welcome @Ben1984 the other part of changing your diet is getting yourself a bg meter. Before you buy check the price of repeat strips - they work out the most expensive part of the meter and you need a lot if it is going to give you useful information. You need to check your blood on waking, before meals and then 2 hours after first bite. Take things one step at a time and the changes that you need to make are likely to last longer. The good news is that it can be done and there is a lot of support on here to help you.

@Ben1984

Hello Ben and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you need to 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.
  

Hi All - apologies for long post. I’m new to all this.

Thanks for that useful info Daisy1. I’m newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I anticipated the diagnosis when I was called into my gp for a repeat blood test so started reading up on the subject and trying to get control of my diet. Went in for my first diabetes appointment with the practice nurse this morning. She gave me loads of info, including how to enrol on the expert patient course, diet etc.,made an appointment for retina photography and another for a foot care check. The surgery seems really supportive. The good news was that I’ve lost half a stone, so I must carry on what I’m doing. I’ve roped my husband in for moral support and for his job is to remind me to go for my daily walk. We tested out a half hour walk and that’s my target for the first month.

Looking forward to meeting folk on here and to learning more about diabetes.

Lesley

Taueret said:

Hi All - apologies for long post. I’m new to all this.

Thanks for that useful info Daisy1. I’m newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I anticipated the diagnosis when I was called into my gp for a repeat blood test so started reading up on the subject and trying to get control of my diet. Went in for my first diabetes appointment with the practice nurse this morning. She gave me loads of info, including how to enrol on the expert patient course, diet etc.,made an appointment for retina photography and another for a foot care check. The surgery seems really supportive. The good news was that I’ve lost half a stone, so I must carry on what I’m doing. I’ve roped my husband in for moral support and for his job is to remind me to go for my daily walk. We tested out a half hour walk and that’s my target for the first month.

Looking forward to meeting folk on here and to learning more about diabetes.

Lesley

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Welcome Lesley to the forum. As you have noticed there are a lot of very nice helpful people on here, that are always willing to help with advise you with any problems. You look like you doing well so far with your weight loss. Are you doing a low carb diet like a lot of people on here? Have you got a meter to check what foods spike you. We test at the start of a meal and then 2 hours after first bite to see if our bodies liked what we ate. there is information on here as which meters are the best and have the cheaper test strips and where to buy them. Good luck

hi, I litte bit info form me
Type I diabetes
Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes usually starts in childhood or adolescence, although there are cases of disease of all ages.

It is an autoimmune disease, it involves the destruction of pancreatic cells producing insulin. From the beginning of the disease there is a deficiency.

The symptoms are not overlooked - frequent urination, increased thirst, weight loss despite a big appetite, drowsiness, weakness, nausea. Sometimes it goes so fast that it comes to a diabetic coma.

Treatment from the beginning consists in administering insulin. Parents and a child are taught to calculate its dose depending on the amount and quality of food. The special tables for carbohydrate, protein and fat exchanges are helpful.

The patient basically can eat anything, only he needs to adjust the right amount of medicine. Unfortunately, this requires a lot of discipline, several measurements of sugar during the day.

If you are given too much insulin, you may experience a drop in sugar or hypoglycaemia, which manifests itself in sweating, tremor, dizziness, hunger, anxiety, sudden changes in behavior, pallor, fainting. That's why sick people always carry sugar or a sweet drink so that they can quickly provide sugar to the body in case of such symptoms.

At present, most children have insulin pumps at their disposal that make life easier for them, the latest models can measure blood glucose and precisely dose the medicine depending on its level.

Type II diabetes
Type II diabetes occurs mainly in adults, although in recent years, an increasing concern among children is becoming more and more disturbing.

The cause of the disease are genetic and environmental factors, very often associated with obesity. The essence of the disease is not the lack of insulin but its improper functioning in tissues (this is the so-called insulin resistance), which leads to an increased level of glucose in the blood.

The pancreas thus begins to produce insulin in excess, which after many years of the disease leads to its "exhaustion". For many years, the treatment is based on proper nutrition and taking oral medicines that improve the action of insulin and those that stimulate the pancreas for its production. Only when the ability of the pancreas does not cover the need for insulin is it introduced into treatment.

The beginnings of type II diabetes are very easy to overlook. For many years, the glucose level may be at a slightly elevated level and only a blood test may show abnormalities. Increased urination, increased thirst, tiredness and drowsiness occur when the sugar level exceeds 200 mg / dl.

Unfortunately, during this asymptomatic period, changes in the blood vessels that promote atherosclerosis are slowly taking place. Sometimes complications precede the diagnosis of diabetes, it is not uncommon for a patient going to hospital with a heart attack finding out that he has diabetes.

Dietary treatment (learn about dietary recommendations in type II diabetes) is based on healthy, regular meals containing complex carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, limiting simple sugars and animal fats.

Hi Margarett89

I am not sure if you are trying to tell us something or are asking a question?

There is a lot of information on this site and a lot of well known members who have become experts. A lot of type 2 and pre-diabestes on this site follow the low carb high fat (LCHF) way of eating, so would disagree with your way of eating above. Please look around the site for all the information and also the section for the LCHF recipies and the success stories too.

Hello @margarett89 Can you advise what relationship you have with diabetes ?