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Questions far too many questions!

davesheen38

davesheen38

Newbie
Messages
4
Location
Middlewich Cheshire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
The cat across the way
Hi newbie Dave here, hope you all had a good weekend and Happy Mothers Day for yesterday.

Told the family about the recent diagnosis:( big sis brought her meter with her, she was 19.9 I was 9.8, she felt fine I felt like death warmed up.

Okay physically I feel very lethargic and tired, (lunch was soup and toast followed by a hour's nap!!!) when rested my legs have a mind of their own constantly twitching and trembling the right thumb is also manic at times. Muscles feel like dead weights hanging the washing out is laborious. Sweating is becoming embarrassing and night sweats wow! I struggle to breathe when doing the most menial of tasks. And as for little Dave forget it you men know what I mean!
On the plus side I don't suffer with frequent loo trips or thirst but are the other things 'normal' and can I get over them or are they here to stay?

The GP has brushed the problems aside and am now waiting for a meet with a dietician and an eye test. Do I get myself one of these meters?

Bird watch update, the goldfinches are loving the sunflower hearts, starlings are squabbling and the blackbirds are looking for nest material.

Any advice on the above most welcome.
Thank you, Dave
 
OK, it's normal to not feel normal when newly diagnosed :-)
You will feel very tired, blurred vision possibly and Little Dave may feel the same :-(
As you start to get control of your diabetes, you should start to feel better. This may take a couple of weeks, depending on treatment. I would strongly advise getting a meter if you can as this will be a way for you to test your progress. Try to take some regular exercise, even walking helps. Reduce intake of sugars and carbs. Hopefully Daisy will see this and post some more great advice. Take care, Mo


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It's literally early days yet Dave. Don't worry, those symptoms will shift now you are getting treatment. Definitely get a meter so you can take control of your own destiny. Luckily if the doctor is not willing you have a relative who can help you.

The reason you feel knackered at 9.0 is because your body has been that way for long, long time, it's been taking a beating day in, day out. Now you are going to look after your body, and it's going to return the favour and look after you.

Are you on any medication? You will feel better, faster, if you can keep the carbs to a minimum. See if you can go a week without chips, bread, rice, potatoes, and puddings. Or just less of them. You will feel miles better. Cheer yourself up with a steak and salad. The good news is that this is the point your life changed for the better. Including for little Dave.

Good luck mate and hang in there!
 
hi, welcome (both you and lil dave)

you may be lucky and get a bg meter but many have to buy them, either way they are essential, i reckon lots of whats wrong will get better as your blood numbers improve

best of luck


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Hi Dave and welcome to the forum:)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions as you think of them and someone will 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 well over 70,000 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.
 
Thank you all for your answers and views. I get the impression this is not a straight forward illness like a common cold :mad:. Not sure if my by pass op last year has anything to do with this, but BP is excellent and cholesterol is getting to normal following the use of statins.

Bought a meter today is it me or are the strips a little bit on the expensive side? Are they on prescription, not worked this year so far, didn't really want to fall asleep in lane 1 of the M6.......

Weird night sleep 2 very vivid dreams one about a nuclear warhead and the other about a truck, anybody out there analyse dreams?

Bird watch not much at the mo lovely day so only blackbird been down for a bath. Hedgehog prefers mealworm to special hog food and not seen the wood mouse for couple days might be something else's breakfast.

Later fellow sufferers, will let you know the result of first prick :D
 
Hi Dave ..welcome to the forum i am recently diagnosed as well and have recieved great help and advice from the guys on here.....i can relate to your symptoms as well blurred vision ...feeling tired ..night sweats there is hope though i take metformin and my eyesight has dramatically improved ...sweating also improved..and feeling a whole lot better..testing your bg is a must as you can work out what foods are good and what are bad ...i go for low carbs which means i can have a handfull of chips with my dinner if i have counted right ..if my blood sugar is high my old symptoms return .I also exercise at least every other day at the gym to help get to a healthy weight..although im not bad ..hope this helps just read as much as you can on here its all good stuff
Jim

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Hi Dave,
another newbie here and still trying to get to grips with everything. Lots and lots of very interesting information on the forum, really glad I found it even if I am staying rather quiet at the moment.

I love your Bird Watch info, really makes me smile, any sign of the hedgehog?

You mentioned your BG Monitor earlier and mentioned how expensive the test strips are. I found a great little monitor at a very reasonable price along with inexpensive lancets and test strips (and if you really want to keep a close eye on things then buy the communication cable to connect it to your PC to offload your readings and view them as graphs).
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm should take you to the right page for the SD Codefree BG Monitor and if you scroll down the page you will find lancets and test strips and at the bottom the communication cable (and software).

I have just found the myLifestyle part to this site and am having a great time filling in my information. Go have a look and see if you think it will be of benefit to you as a monitor to your BG levels and general lifestyle.

Big Hugs to you and I hope you have good BG levels

Dee
 
Thank you Dee-licious and another 'newbie' such a cruel illness.
Well pricked myself and if I said I cried out would that make me a big wuss :arghh: results so far are 6.3 before t (5.00pm) then 11.6 at 7pm. T consisted of a shepherds pie using turkey mince and loaded with pulses and beans and 3 little Yorkshire puds, no dessert. What exactly does these figures mean? This morning before breakie the value was 8.9? breakie was porridge semi skimmed milk and a tspoon of honey.

To answer Dee didn't see my hog last night but he has been for his mealworm supper during the night.
Birdwatch fairly quiet today 2 collared doves on the seed tray they look so much in lurve and Jack & Jill have been on the sunflower seeds they are the goldfinches btw.

Might try and cut the grass later if it doesn't rain. XX
 
davesheen38 said:
Thank you Dee-licious and another 'newbie' such a cruel illness.
Well pricked myself and if I said I cried out would that make me a big wuss :arghh: results so far are 6.3 before t (5.00pm) then 11.6 at 7pm. T consisted of a shepherds pie using turkey mince and loaded with pulses and beans and 3 little Yorkshire puds, no dessert. What exactly does these figures mean? This morning before breakie the value was 8.9? breakie was porridge semi skimmed milk and a tspoon of honey.

To answer Dee didn't see my hog last night but he has been for his mealworm supper during the night.
Birdwatch fairly quiet today 2 collared doves on the seed tray they look so much in lurve and Jack & Jill have been on the sunflower seeds they are the goldfinches btw.

Might try and cut the grass later if it doesn't rain. XX
Click to expand...
I've highlighted in red the foods that could be giving you issues. I'd also suggest testing the "loaded with pulses and beans" as they can give some people BG issues. All of these foods are carbohydrates and will raise your BG levels.

I think you might have had a big surprise if you'd tested 1-2 hours after that breakfast - porridge was one of the most problematic foods for my BG control and I know I'm not the only one here. Also full fat milk is lower in carbs than the light/skimmed varieties, so for BG control you're better of with full cream milk.

Good luck with your testing and adjusting.
 
Oops, also meant to say that a piece of advice I was given in my early days was that if your pre-meal reading was already high, then it is probably best to eat minimal carbs in the following meal - try to stick with protein/fat and non-starchy vegetables. This is especially true for breakfast as many people are also more insulin resistant in the morning - so carbs can be even less tolerated in the morning.

You'll get there!
 
Hi Dave love your birdwatch if you get bored or not much going on in your garden try the RSPB website and watch the ospreys at Loch Garten they have just returned to their nest and are preparing for a new brood of chicks
CAROL
 
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