Newly diagnosed

Hi 1fkyboy and welcome to the forum

If you look after yourself properly you can minimise the effects of diabetes as far as possible. I presume your appointment with your nurse is about now so you can ask her about your feelings in your legs and feet then. Waiting for an appointment is quite normal. Some members may be able to share their experiences with you. Here is some information which should help you to look after your diabetes. Ask all the questions you like as someone will be able to give you an answer.


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 30,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

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

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.

T2 diagnosis is serious, you cannot afford to ignore it.

You are not going to die soon, probably not later, but make no mistake, unless you get to grips with it it can prove to be a debilitating and progressive condition.

Now, I hope I have scared you a bit but not to much!

T2 is something that you have to learn to deal with yourself. Yes, the doctor and/or diabetic nurse will be able to offer advice and medication, but unless you play your part (a major part) it is difficult to see how your T2 can be brought under control.

Sorry to be so hard on you, but you really cannot afford to be in denial, it is not easy, but you do need to read the excellent advice above and act upon it. Most of us don't find it easy, but most of us do it and achieve some spectacular results.

I hope you will feel able to share some test results with us when you get some, ask you doc. for a print out of results, let us know how you get on, we really do want to help.

H

Hi just a quick post to say hi, and welcome to the forum. We've all been through the mill, just as you are. I is very important to take Daibetes seriously, and to bring it under control. you are in the best place to do that.
Best of luck . cheers

In some ways I would have to say that being diagnosed with diabetes was the wake up call I needed to take charge of my health.

It's now 8 months later, I've lost all the excess weight (about 34 lbs), am eating real food instead of processed junk and I feel better at 61yo of age than I can ever recall feeling before. I'm consistently exercising and loving it - my daily walks in the sun and nature are better than any anti-depressant drug I ever took at the heights of my almost life-long depression. Quitting wheat and other grains has made me feel more alert and with less aches and pains, my foot neuropathy has almost gone, plus my reflux and IBS issues are a thing of the past.

A blessing in disguise, I reckon :thumbup:

I got diagnosed 6 months ago and refused to take my insulin until 10 days ago. I was in total denial and decided to hide in south mexico in the sun and surf to feel better! Even though I had gone into a coma and lost my vision I did not want to accept it. After time I felt better and was told I was in a honeymoon period. 10 days ago I felt very strange and took my BM's, it just said HI and I went to the walk in centre and it said HI too so I was sent to A&E with BM's of 33.6 - madness! With exceptional pancreatic pain. I then suffered an epileptic seizure and am now on epilepsy drugs and insulin 4 times a day, 1 long acting and 3 rapid with food. It sucks, and I hate it but the pain and suffering that it can cause is mad. We have to be strong and say F you! Or it will win, and I refuse to lose. Especially to this.
Chin up it will be a long road but you will never be alone x

As a fellow newbie getting to grips with it all I wish you all the best, the people on here know what they are talking about, in time you will be given your own maintenance guidance, if you are not up for changing everything at once (I believe I will need to make some big changes) why not try and change one thing a day or every few days? Each day may then just become a bit better than the last and before you know it you will be in control rather than it controlling you.

I am on that very road myself and feel better for leaving certain things out of my diet already, but I know it wont be easy, there will be days when I slip and the people on here will (I hope) support me at those times and give me ideas to make life easier.

As I say good luck, stick with it.

Hi. The important things are to obtain a meter such as the SD Codefree from Amazon etc (it has low-cost strips) together with this and adjusting your carbs downwards to meet NICE guideline figures as far as you can e.g. below 8.5'ish in old mmol money. If you are young and not overweight then late onset T1 (LADA or 1.5) is always a possibility. So if you have suffered a lot of unexplained weight loss before diagnosis you may want to ask your GP about LADA as a possibility. Be aware however that many GPs will not consider that possibility, won't do the two tests needed or will say the treament is the same anyway. In many ways the treatment for T2 or LADA is the same but LADA will progress more rapidly towards insulin. Pins and needles is certainly something to get checked by your GP/nurse. At your diabetes appointment you will have your feet checked for nerve decay. An annual retinopathy should also be booked for you. Your nurse may say don't bother to test your blood with a meter and to have a normal healthy diet. Neither of these things would be good advice. As diabetics we need to keep our carbs down to a level that the meter says is OK according to NICE guidelines. The meter helps you find which foods affect you most.

Ask yourself if you want to feel better than you've felt for years.

If the answer to that is 'yes'then stop ignoring your diabetes and hoping it will go away, because it won't and you'll continue to feel ******.

Instead, focus on the factthat with just a minimal amount of effort from you where your eating habits are concerned, it's highly probable that you'll feel much improved in as little as 2 weeks.

I was diagnosed just over 3 months ago and feeling better wasn't something I believed was possible so quickly. Feeling much improved wasn't anything I expected at all in exchange for a bit of effort to leave some things out of my diet. Feeling much improved and enjoying my food far more than I ever havejust wasn't on my radar ... so I've been pleasantly surprised by the whole thing and I am thankful for my diagnosis and the changes it's brought about in my life.