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Officially diagnosed this morning

S

steve451

Member
Messages
12
Seasons greetings!

I'm now officially a type 2 as of an hour ago, after being diagnosed glucose intolerant last January.

I had noticed a sudden rise in my BG levels over the last 2 weeks, which hit a high of 30.1 mmol on Saturday.

Here's to a fresh start!!

Steve.
 
Re: Officially diagnised this morning

Hi Steve and welcome to the D club, you'll find lots of helpful ideas here along with a few mad ones occasionally too :lol:

Have a good look around and ant questions you have just ask :thumbup:
 
Re: Officially diagnised this morning

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum :) I expect there are a lot of things you want to know and this information, written for new members, should answer some of your questions. Ask as many questions as you need as there are lots of members to help you.

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.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks all. I'ver been using a meter since I was diagnosed Glucose Intolerant - luckily my GP is happy to bend the rules a bit regarding putting strips on prescription as long as he can see you're trying to help yourself.

I think I shall be heading down the low carb route on this. One thing I've noticed over the last couple of months is that eating carbs to me is like trying to put out a fire with petrol. Maybe that will change a bit once the Metformin starts to work, however long that takes.
 
I wouldn't expect o metformin alone to make too much of a difference. As you are testing and already know hatyou have a low tolearance of carbs ,maybe think of cutting down a little too. Gradually is always the best way.

I am ssuming you mean sarchy carbs.
 
Hi, yes the starchy variety. I haven't eaten white bread for years as I'm not overkeen, except for the odd fresh crusty with a burnt bit on top a couple of times a year. I used to be ok with basmati rice, but that sends me skywards now too. I tried swapping potatoes for sweet potatoes which was ok at first, but again it began to wear off and up I went again. I dont eat sweets, rarely eat chocolate but if I do it's usually dark chocolate with a high cocoa content.

I lost a lot of weight on a low carb diet about 10 years ago, around 50 Lbs, so I am pretty familiar with the do's and dont's, it's just that I will have to chuck in a few fingers pricks here and there now to see what is happening.

Bit of a learning curve I suppose. What seems a bit daunting now will be second nature before long.
 
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