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Newly diagnosed
- Thread starter jude m P
- Start Date
I was diagnosed about 3 months ago with type 2 but only just, bloods came back 49 and 50 , not on any medication, not testing my blood sugar, doctor wants me to control it with diet and exercise, I have been trying to cut down carbs, I work in a busy café for 16 hours a week and exercise for around 40 mins a day, the last week I have been feeling really tired, achy all over just generally feeling rubbish, and my wee smells like tcp!!! ( sorry too much detail maybe) really confused as to what I should be doing!!
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brdavies
Active Member
- Messages
- 40
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
I kind of echo Andrew's question, but I think more detail is needed. What kind of diet have you been eating? How much carbs, fat and protein? If you are going low carb, have you increased the fat intake, and added protein? Are you drinking enough water (you have to drink heaps doing that). Are you going very low overall calorie? And how long have you been doing it? Any recent changes in what you eat?
The strange smelling wee could be a result of the body switching over to burning fats by splitting them and turning them into ketones. The name for this state is ketosis. This can make your urine and breath smell strange (sometimes described as an acetone smell - think nail polish remover). Ketosis is not a bad state necessarily; I try to stay there most of the time with my diet.
But the aches could be the body breaking down protein from muscle for energy, due to not having enough available energy from carbs or fats, or not enough protein in your diet. This is undesirable. If that's happening, it may indicate you need to modify your eating plan.
It could also be something else, and in that case might be worth seeing your GP.
The strange smelling wee could be a result of the body switching over to burning fats by splitting them and turning them into ketones. The name for this state is ketosis. This can make your urine and breath smell strange (sometimes described as an acetone smell - think nail polish remover). Ketosis is not a bad state necessarily; I try to stay there most of the time with my diet.
But the aches could be the body breaking down protein from muscle for energy, due to not having enough available energy from carbs or fats, or not enough protein in your diet. This is undesirable. If that's happening, it may indicate you need to modify your eating plan.
It could also be something else, and in that case might be worth seeing your GP.
jack412
Expert
I'd go to the chemist that does the free blood glucose check, or drop into the Dr just to make sure you haven't progressed, just to be sure. As has been said starting low carb can mess you for a week or 2
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Location
- Switzerland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
Hi Jude and welcome to the forum 
In addition to the useful advice you have received from members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful.
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 over 100,000 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 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-and-whole-grains.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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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 bloodglucose 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.
In addition to the useful advice you have received from members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful.
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 over 100,000 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-and-whole-grains.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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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 bloodglucose 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.
I've not done anything too drastic with my diet , just cut down on potatos, eat brown bread 2 slices a day , wholemeal pasta if I have pasta, and wholemeal rice , drink lots of water a day anyway , don't eat high fat under 5g in 100g, trying to lose weight , also just given up smoking when I was diagnosed 3 months ago after being a smoker for 30 years,!! is it normal for type 2s to be offered a way of testing yourself after eating something , should I ask my doctor for test strips or something? Just don't know what I'm supposed to be doing , all very confusing and daunting, thanx for everybody's comments , very helpful to a newbie!!
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Bluetit1802
Legend
Sadly you are highly unlikely to get a prescription for testing strips. Most of us type 2's buy our own, and it is essential you have one in order for you to work out a suitable diet. You can then test before and 2 hours after eating to see what happens to your levels and learn how many carbs you can cope with.
Potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, plus pastry and batter are the worst things to eat. All carbs break down into sugar once inside the body so should be eaten in moderation only. If you reduce your carb intake you need to make up the calorie (energy) and nutrient deficit by increasing fat and protein plus loads of veggies. We are all different and cope in different ways with carbs. Personally I can manage 2 new potatoes or 3 roasted in duck fat, or 6 chips, but if I eat more than those quantities my blood sugar levels go far too high. I can also cope with 1 slice of granary bread - but not 2 slices. I can't cope well with pastry at all. Some people can't cope with bread or potatoes at all. The only way you can work out what you can cope with is by testing.
Fats do not affect sugar levels at all, and in fact help the carbs to absorb more slowly. Protein does partially break down into sugar over a period of time.
It is all very confusing, but if you browse around this forum and ask a lot of questions things will start to make sense. I promise.
Potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, plus pastry and batter are the worst things to eat. All carbs break down into sugar once inside the body so should be eaten in moderation only. If you reduce your carb intake you need to make up the calorie (energy) and nutrient deficit by increasing fat and protein plus loads of veggies. We are all different and cope in different ways with carbs. Personally I can manage 2 new potatoes or 3 roasted in duck fat, or 6 chips, but if I eat more than those quantities my blood sugar levels go far too high. I can also cope with 1 slice of granary bread - but not 2 slices. I can't cope well with pastry at all. Some people can't cope with bread or potatoes at all. The only way you can work out what you can cope with is by testing.
Fats do not affect sugar levels at all, and in fact help the carbs to absorb more slowly. Protein does partially break down into sugar over a period of time.
It is all very confusing, but if you browse around this forum and ask a lot of questions things will start to make sense. I promise.
Thankyou,... ill buy something to test myself before and after meals and go from there, trial and error I guess !!
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Bluetit1802
Legend
Exactly! trial and error - and be prepared for lots of errors at the beginning. 
