Please lead me light

We are forum members and not doctors. Personally I haven't a clue what you can do to help and I understand from doctors on the Internet that it is unethical to give advice to individuals on line. I wish you good luck and advise you to take it to a doctor.

Pipp said:

Hello and welcome to the forum @madhu65

Sorry you are feeling ill, but agree with @Squire Fulwood, you need to get advice from doctor.

Do keep posting in forum, though. It is a great source of support.
As you have posted for the first time, , any time now you will get a post from @daisy1 with information for new members.

Hope you feel better soon.

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@madhu65

Hello Madhu and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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

• 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.

Welcome to the forum.
happy christmas.

Hi. The pain is probably not connected with diabetes other than some possible neuropathy, but only the GP can investigate. The Glitazone family of drugs can occaionally have noticeable side-effects so you may want to discuss this with the GP; I believe Voglibose can also have a few side effects so a review of your drugs etc is worth having with the GP or even a good pharmacist

Hi and welcome!

Don't worry, it isn't unethical to ask, it is just that we can't diagnose, and we would all hate to give you advice that turned out to be wrong, or caused you more problems.

The thing that we can all do is make dietary and lifestyle suggestions, if you like.

If your hand pain is anything to do with neuropathy caused by raised blood sugars from diabetes, then getting control of you blood glucose via diet, exercise and lifestyle, may prevent diabetic complications from getting worse.

Good to have you join the forum!

Have you had tests for carpal tunnel?

donnellysdogs said:

Have you had tests for carpal tunnel?

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You could go to a chemist and ask for a splint for your hand. Its a special splint. If it is carpal tunnel it will give you some relief at night....

May not be this at all though but worth finding a chemist to discuss.

As said we can't really say more...

It is a pleasure!
Although I'm not really familiar with the exact veg and varieties you will be able to find, here is how I would do it:

Firstly, do you have a good food blender? You will need one powerful enough to blend the fruit and veg down to a smooth liquid.

Secondly, you are in one of the most fantastically rich and productive farming areas on the planet, so I am sure you can find plenty for your green smoothies.

Always start with a good handful of a leafy green vegetable. I often use spinach or a mild tasting cabbage, like kale. Then you can use okra, courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber.
you can use any non root veg so long as it is mild tasting and not starchy.
You want 60% (six tenths) veg

Then add 40% fruit. ( 4 tenths)
Try to choose fruits that are not too sweet. Can you get berries? Apples? Pears? Cherries? Of not, don't worry, use less ripe pineapple, less ripe mango, less ripe mangosteen, lemons, limes, oranges, etc.
the sweeter the fruit, the higher your blood glucose will rise

Adding a little ginger, mint or cinnamon would be delicious too.
To add protein, you could put in a few nuts or a nice creamy yogurt (this will give the smoothie a lovely creamy texture).

Then add water, blend till smooth, and enjoy!

The colder the ingredients, the more refreshing the drink.

So, this is a typical smoothie for me:
60% spinach, cucumber, courgette, cauliflower
40% less ripe pineapple, cherries, half a lime and a chunk of ginger
A few cashew nuts
Enough water to come half way up the fruit.
A few ice cubes (or I use chopped up frozen pieces of fruit)
Drink when still cold.
Enjoy!

to start with, it is very important to find out what the fruit and veg mixture does to your body.
so test your blood glucose before and 1 and 2 hours later. you will find that the veg slows down the bg rise, and keeps it much lower than if you had eaten just the fruit.

you are looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmol/l (i think that is 36 in your units)

if your bg rises too high, just use less sweet fruit, or slightly smaller amounts of fruit.

the fantastic thing about green smoothies is that you can tailor make them exactly to your tastes and prferences.

i hope this helps.