Hi Lexa
I am in the same situation exactly as you where I was diagnosed at 86 (month back) and now I m on metmorphin thrice a day (500 mg each) . Been sick a while for months but never noticed its all about blood sugar. I still need to visit my nurse appointment tomorrow so have no idea what she tests further... ! Got my diabetic eye testing done and still waiting for results
Hi Lexa and welcome to the forum.
Cabs are just as much culprits as sugar because they convert to glucose once inside the system, and glucose is what we don't want!
Have a good look round the forum and ask questions. Do get a meter though, it will be your best learning tool.
@Lexa_x
Hello Lexa and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as 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 over 130,000 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
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.
- 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.
Took a while to get the image of bread and honey etc out of my head, but now I've got over the taboo against eating fat I think fondly instead of peanut butter, cream, cheese and other low-carb goodies. If I get a craving at all lately it's for cabbage and babyleaf spinach baked in butter and cream with nutmeg. And cheese. Blimey, me old mum would turn in 'er grave, guv.
Took a while to get the image of bread and honey etc out of my head, but now I've got over the taboo against eating fat I think fondly instead of peanut butter, cream, cheese and other low-carb goodies. If I get a craving at all lately it's for cabbage and babyleaf spinach baked in butter and cream with nutmeg. And cheese. Blimey, me old mum would turn in 'er grave, guv.
Welcome Lexa, and remember you are entitled to eye tests every year instead of every two as you are diabetic. Make sure you explain this to your optician. Take careHa, just told specsavers I was diabetic. Weird coincidence!
Im on 2000 mg of slow release metformin. I have pcos so was given normal metformin for that and it badly disagreed with me.
How are you finding it? Im having a **** day today.
Cheers Eddie. Will do that xWelcome Lexa, and remember you are entitled to eye tests every year instead of every two as you are diabetic. Make sure you explain this to your optician. Take care
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