Recently diagnosed and very confused!

[Ginagirl]

I recently had what I thought was a routine blood test, as I am on medication for High blood pressure, and was told I needed a blood test every year. The next thing I knew I was phoned about two weeks agao by the doctor's receptionist (or one of them) to tell me I had Diabetes and I needed to make an appointment with the Diabetic Nurse, which I did. I went to the appointment, and instead of listening to anything I had to say, like 'how come I am diabetic?', 'what does this mean?' The nurse just told me I was a serious risk of heart disease, and then started to tell me to wash my feet properly, to always wear new shoes in at home. That I would be called for an eye test. She gave me some leaflets on what food to eat. Weighed me, and when she had her back to me - I think she was getting some leaflets, asked me if I was depressed. She also had noted that I had another appointment with the doctor, later that day, and asked if it was to discuss my cholestrol levels. It was'nt, it was to do with something unrelated. I asked for my results which she wrote down for me. She then said, diabetes can be reversed, but not in your case!!
I was very preoccupied with an unrelated incident, so it all did not really sink in until a couple of days later. I read the leaflets on food, and I must admit I thought I ate quite healthily, lots of fruit and veg. The leaflets seem to suggest that I should eat loads more carbohydrates than I normally do, such as bread and potatoes every meal, which is why I am confused.
All I have been asked to do, is go along to a Diabetes Information Programmes ( where the nurse said I would meet lots of people like you - I think she meant me!)and to return for a blood text in three months.
I still do not know what to eat, what is ok for me now and what is not. Any help appreciated.
Gina

 

[pav]

Hi, it is confusing to start with and I have been type 2 for 13 years which I assume that's what you have been diagnosed with. I am back at the starting point relearning what I can and can't eat. Looking at the forum there are a lot of people doing the low carb method, which could very well be different to the leaflets that you have been given.

I would suggest that you look at the various meter provider websites to see which meter you like the look of, like of bayer, abbott medisense, lifescan, etc and ring one up to enquire if they will send you one free (most will). The next hurdle will be to convince your GP to give you a prescription for the test strips and lancets (most cost around £25+ for 50 strips if you had to buy them. There are a couple of low cost test strip / meter options in the SD code free or the supercheck2 system.

The reason I say to get a meter is that you need to find which foods affect you the most, for example with me bread. If I have white bread it will cause my sugar levels to rocket up, while wholemeal is acceptable to me.

Daisy will be along shortly to post some useful information for you, and the people experienced in low carb foods would be able to advise you a lot better than me on this. I thought I had my food intake roughly sorted up until xmas when every thing went wrong.

Regarding fruit, some fruit has lots of natural sugars in them to different degrees, while fruit is good for you the sugar content is not (one of my weaknesses as I like fruit and unfortunately some that have very high sugar content).

Sorry can't be more specific on what to eat due to my relearning, for example the other day I had backed spud, fried bacon and tinned carrots, checked my BS 2 hours later and it was 4.4. When I have a omelette with any form of meat in it I will need to eat a slice of wholemeal bread (or similar) to maintain a reasonable sugar level. The other night instead of a meal I had corn flakes & rice crispes never even thought they would be a problem and 2 hours later my BS was nearly 12.0 .

 

[Trunin]

Hi!

I too was diagnosed, but for pre-diabetes, two months ago. It was a real shock, because I have always been careful with what I eat and I thought I was not at risk at all. Well... things have changed. When I was diagnosed, I was very angry and at first I saw food as the enemy. Fortunately my doctor (an endocrinologist) made an appointment for me with his dietician. I was able to discuss my diet, what I like to eat, and she made a few changes, reducing the carbs (only 1 carb in the morning, 2 for lunch and 2 for dinner), and recommended I always eat proteins with my carbs (very important), even when I have a fruit for snack (a piece of cheese will do it). She insisted on the need to eat more vegetables and fiber, and I was happy with these simple changes. Ever since my blood sugar is well under control (I'm taking Metformin 500 mg) and I'm looking forward to my next A1C test, which should be much lower. I was quite sedentary when I was diagnosed, but now I take a brisk walk daily for about 30 minutes and I believe it helps me a lot to keep my blood sugar under control.
So... the intake of carbs is not the same for every person. In the literature I've read, I saw that for a woman, the intake should be about 45-60 gr of carbs per meal. I can only eat between 15 and 30 grs because of my size. I believe that it would help you a lot to go to a diabetes class, or even have your doctor send you to a dietician who could elaborate a personal eating plan. Once we understand HOW MUCH we can eat, more than WHAT we can eat, things become a lot more easy.
My best wishes to you.

 

[daisy1]

Hi Gina and welcome to the forum

The best thing you can do is to read the advice on this forum, weigh it up against the advice given to you in your leaflet, and see which you think is best. For a lot of people on this forum, reducing carbs is the way to go. Here is the information we give to new members and hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions as you like 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 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.

 

[elaine77]

Hi gina and welcome,

Diet is a funny thing and you will see a million different personal diets on here! Some people just cut their carbs practically out altogether, some don't, some do the Atkins diet, some don't it really is a minefield. I'm newly diagnosed myself (type 1.5) and I, personally, haven't cut out carbs altogether as its important to take on board what medical professionals tell you to do regarding diet and none of them tell you to cut out carbs.

What I have done is that I have switched all of my normal carbs to low GI carbs... I don't eat bread often but when I do it's granary. I don't eat chips because they push my levels through the roof so I changed to new potatoes (much better). On the search engines there are lots of websites that tell you the low GI alternative for a certain type of food.

With regard to cereals cornflakes, rice crispies...any of those things are likely to push your levels right up as they are high GI and also sugary too. I was a total cereal person prior to diagnosis and so I've switched cereals to Weetabix and Cheerios respectively as they are wholegrain and much lower GI than the others. This is all personal to what effects me.

The trick is to find out what effects yourself and so definitely getting a meter and testing before and after you eat certain foods will give you a good indicator of what agrees with you and what your body can't handle....good luck!


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

 

[Ginagirl]

Hello
And Thank you for your replies. Obviously I am into a whole new 'life-experience' What with Carbs, Low Carbs and testing. As I have to have another Blood test in three months I think I might look into the Low Carbs option, as a sort of eating plan at the moment. It is funny because I always thought my diet was quite good and I do exercise regularly. I will be attending the education sessions that they have in my area, and see what I can find out there.
I just wish the nurse I had seen was a bit more understanding, as I do not feel like seeing her again, especially if I have any problems.
Thank you all again
Gina

 

[Trunin]

Well Ginagirl, I too thought my diet was excellent, I'm rather slim and still fit, but my body suddenly decided it needed a change, less carbs and more proteins, (the two make a wonderful combination, the proteins slow down the release of sugar in the blood), fresh fruits and vegetables. I check my blood sugar twice a day to make sure I don't get overboard with the carbs. It works! No more white rice, white bread, cookies (never been fan anyway), and I concentrate on whole grain instead. You will see, it's easier than it looks and you will still be able to enjoy food. Good luck