Overwhelmed Newbie Here

[VickyA91]

Hello all,

Just thought I would share my story, I have been lurking for about a month so thought it was time haha.

The middle of April I went to the doctors over something completely unrelated and was sent for a blood test. When I went back for the results the whirlwind began. It came back that I have high cholesterol, low vitamin D and iron and (of course otherwise I wouldn't be here) T2 Diabetes. I was given a blood glucose meter and put on 500mg of Metformin twice a day (after a week of once a day to start) and told to make an appointment with the Diabetes nurse. When I went to see the nurse she went through all the things I would need to change regarding diet and exercise and then took my blood pressure which came back high. So within the space of a week I went from nothing to 1000mg Metformin a day, 10mg Atorvastatin (cholesterol), 5mg Ramipril (blood pressure), 500mcg Vitamin D and 5mg Folic Acid.

To say the least I was extremely overwhelmed and still am. Since being diagnosed I have had appointments come through for an eye screening (27/7), Endocrinologist (30/7) and been sent on the Diabetes course/class (21/8).

On a positive note my doctors surgery have been great (for once) and let me get prescriptions for lancets and test strips when I request them so that is one less thing to worry about.

I guess the whole point of me posting this is to get it out of my brain and ask you lovely people if you have any tips or advice on how to deal with the whirlwind. I have read various things regarding diet and exercise but am still unclear on what to do or what to look for when buying food.


Hope you all are well and are having a good day

 

[catinahat]

@daisy1
Hello vickyA91, welcome
The best thing you can do is put in some time educating yourself about how your body works and what is in the food you eat. There is no pill or medication that will give you normal blood sugars without this effort. You need to learn What foods your body can handle
The simple technique you'll find here: How to Get Your Blood Sugar Under Control has helped thousands of people regain their health, and it will work for you, too. Try it for a week and you'll end up with a much better idea of what foods make up an ideal diet for your own unique metabolism.
I have tagged daisy1for you, she will be along soon with her new members information pack.

 

[4ratbags]

Hi and welcome to the forum. As stated above it takes time to get your head around everything. A lot of us here follow LCHF which is great for helping bring your BS down and for many of us it also means being able to come off meds but everyone is different. The best thing you can do when going shopping is to stop buying all the processed foods. Make sure to read the labels well on anything marketed diet as these products usually have more sugar in. Just try to make your meals from sc ratch with lots of above ground veg, try to at least cut down on or if you are able to cut out potatoes, bread, pasta and rice. Even if you start to make small changes it will all help. It took me almost a year to wean myself off potatoes.

 

[daisy1]

@VickyA91

Hello Vicky and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will come along and 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 150,000 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

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 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.