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Recently Diagnosed

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Hello. My name is Sheila. I have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (3 weeks ago). I was very upsett when the doctor told me. My HbA1c is 110, which the doctor said is life-threatening. Both my paternal grandmother and my father had diabetes.

I have taken the diagnosis very seriously. I've stopped drinking anything other than filtered water, sparkling water, tea and coffee. I no longer eat any cakes, desserts, biscuits or chocolate. I make sure I buy lots of fresh vegetables and a variety of fresh fruit.

One thing which I have found extremely helpful is to register for the Diabetes UK Learning Zone. I would thoroughly recommend it. Once you have entered your personal details and completed the introduction and first exercise, it them unlocks twelve different sections. You choose which section to complete and as you progress, your work is saved. If you return to the Dashboard you can see your Profile and where you have got to in each section.

Another thing which I have done is found my nearest Diabetes UK local group. I attended my first meeting last night, "Clinical Panel: Answering Your Questions". It was very helpful to meet other diabetes sufferers, to listen to their questions and to get help and advice myself from the professionals. These includes a podiatrist, a dietician, a specialist diabetic nurse and a GP specialising in diabetes care at a local hospital. I would thoroughly recommend joining a local group for help and support.

This is all very new to me and I am learning fast. I hope my comments will be helpful to anyone else who has been newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum,

First of all, may I point out this forum is not part of DiabetesUK. This forum is part of diabetes.co.uk, which is completely different. You may already be aware of this, of course, but you will find the information on this website is different from the information on the other one, and particularly on this forum. This website has an excellent award winning low carb programme that you may find interesting. You can access it from here. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/

Secondly, it would be useful to everyone if you could complete your profile settings to show your type of diabetes, your treatment, and your medication. Your type of diabetes will then show under your avatar when you post, and other members will be able to look at your medication details. This is very important if you are to receive appropriate information and advice - as this varies depending on the medication.

Please have a good read round the forum, and ask as many questions as you wish. Everyone here is a diabetic of one sort or another, with masses of experience in controlling this disease (and putting it into remission). Meanwhile, this is the basic information we give to the newly diagnosed.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/
 
Hi Sheila,

An HbA1c of 110 is high, but you can tackle it and bring it down relatively easily. Like @Bluetit1802 though, I wonder if you are aware that you're at diabetes.co.uk rather than Diabetes UK. It's fine to make use of both by the way: Knowledge is power and the more you get the better, right? You're quite welcome here, but on this forum a lot of people have tried relatively new methods to treat their diabetes, mainly by going low carb/high fat, whatever the method or name (Anything from Low Carb/High Fat to Mediterranian, Scandinavian, Newcastle, Keto diet etc...). I got my HbA1c down into the normal range that way, and have remained there for 3 years now, complication-free, and without medication (Not for the diabetes, nor my cholesterol. Which may seem surprising given the high fat component of my diet, but hey, whatever works, right?). https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ is basically what works for me, maybe it is something for you to read? I can also recommend Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code and the dietdoctor.com website, besides this forum's own website.

Have a read around, and if you have questions, give a shout!
Again, welcome,
Jo
 
Thank you so much for your reply, Jo and for all your help and suggestions. It is very much appreciated. I didn't know I was on diabetes.co.uk but wondered why it said DCUK. Thanks for telling me! I thought it was part of Diabetes UK.

I have to go out now but I will look at your suggestions later.

Many thanks for your help.

Sheila
 
Good afternoon, Bluetit1802

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me. It is very much appreciated.

I did think I was on the Diabetes UK website. Thanks for pointing this out. Thank you also for details of the award-winning low carb programme and for the link. I shall certainly use that.

Thanks for your advice on completing my Profile information. I filled it in when I joined but somehow it didn't get saved. I am using the App on both my mobile phone and my iPad. I have managed to add my photo but cannot find any way of adding any other information on my Profile.

I shall try later on the Internet using my notebook computer to see if I can update it from there. Struggling!

Many thanks
Sheila
 
Hi. Yes you have found one of the two UK sites; I use both. Diabetes.org.uk has tended to follow a quite rigid and often dated view of diet whereas this site for many years has recommended a low-carb diet as the 1000s of members know it works. So just be careful with diet advice from anyone from the NHS or related organisations. My nurse is up to date and recommends keeping the carbs down so some staff are doing a good job for diabetes. Fat isn't a problem for us and neither are proteins. When looking at food packs ignore the silly traffic light labelling on the front and look for Total Carbs on the back. Good luck and keep coming back with questions.
 
Many thanks for your very helpful advice. Much appreciated. Sheila
 
What fruits @Sheila L ?

Your numbers point to your diet and that suggests it needs some serious attention

What's a normal breakfast for example?
 
Hi, Mike

Thanks for your reply. Yes, you are right - my diet did need some serious attention. I have cut out all the sweet drinks, cake, puddings, pies and pastry and replaced them with additional vegetables and lean meat with smaller portions.

Fruits include strawberries, cherries, banana, nectarines, melon, raspberries, plums, oranges etc. I know some of these fruits are high in sugar so I keep them to small portions.

I used to have fruit and fibre for breakfast, with grapes on the top. My diabetic nurse told me not to have this so I now have porridge with blueberries on top! I have to get my sugar levels down before I go back to see her or she said I will have to go on insulin.

Kind regards
Sheila
 
Sheila L said:
I used to have fruit and fibre for breakfast, with grapes on the top. My diabetic nurse told me not to have this so I now have porridge with blueberries on top!
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To be honest neither of those breakfasts will help much with lowering of blood sugar levels.
You'd do better with eggs and bacon ( as well as being much tastier) which will keep you full for longer too... win win!
 
Sheila L said:
I shall try later on the Internet using my notebook computer to see if I can update it from there. Struggling!
Click to expand...

Hi Sheila,

Whatever you did worked! I can see everything now.


Fruit is very difficult for T2s I'm afraid. It is the fructose. Fructose is dealt with by the liver, which regards it as toxic, a bit like alcohol. The liver turns the fructose into fat, which it stores around itself and leads to fatty liver. Fatty liver is just what we T2s do not need because it is part and parcel of insulin resistance - the reason most of us become T2 in the first place. Strawberries and raspberries are the best fruits to eat, with something fatty such as a full fat Greek yogurt or double cream. Blueberries are higher in sugar, and tropical fruits are very high in sugar. Bananas and grapes are the worst.

Sorry to say, but porridge is also a very difficult food for us because it is very carb heavy. This is especially so if made with milk. Look on the packet at the nutritional information and take note of the total carb amount. Anything above 10% is not a wise choice, and most of us prefer it to be under 5%. This applies to all packaged foods apart from the odd ones you may only have a tiny portion of.

What you need is a blood glucose meter. You can then test immediately before you eat and again one and two hours after first bite. This will show you instantly what that food has done to your levels. If the rise from before eating is 2mmol/l or more at the 2 hour mark there are definitely too many carbs in that meal. It is preferable for the rise to be a lot less than 2mmol/l.
 
I found ordinary porridge spiked my blood sugar so had to give it up. As I don't like eggs or very fatty foods such as bacon first thing, and found chia porridge on its own too gloopy, I developed a mix of milled flaxseed, chia seeds and a little oatbran instead.
Delicious made with a mix of coconut milk and water, then added cinnamon.
I started with 18g oatbran and gradually reduced that, increasing the flaxseed - I'm down to 10g oatbran now and really enjoy it. Especially with a teaspoon of double cream on top.
If you decide to go fully low carb to control diabetes (or even get into remission as I have) then don't be afraid of good fats - if you aren't eating loads of carb and fat mixed then fat is not an issue.
As for fruit, I miss things like mangos and other tropical fruits, but love raspberries so I have a few of those every day instead, with either double cream or full fat real Greek yogurt. I replaced other fruit servings with extra green veg and cauliflower mash/rice.
 
bulkbiker said:
To be honest neither of those breakfasts will help much with lowering of blood sugar levels.
You'd do better with eggs and bacon ( as well as being much tastier) which will keep you full for longer too... win win!
Click to expand...

Sounds like too much of the wrong type of fat plus cholesterol!
 

Thanks for your reply, Tricia. I'm pleased you've managed to find a solution which suits you and which you really enjoy, bringing you into remission. That's great news!

I think it's just going to be a case of trial and error and finding substitutes for things which I used to enjoy. I won't really know how it's all working until I go back to see the diabetic nurse again.

I'm enrolled by my doctor on a course called DESMOND. This is supposed to tell me what I can eat but it's fully-booked until September.

With thanks
Sheila
 
Hi again. Yes as @bulkbiker says, don't worry about the fat. I've read that only 15% of the cholesterol in your blood comes from the fat you eat. The rest is provided by the liver and can originate from glucose and fructose e.g. carbs, fruit and HFCS sweetening. As you may be gathering, much of what we have all been taught over the years very much comes into question. The proof of the (low-sugar) pudding will be in your meter readings, HBa1c and cholesterol checks.
 
Sheila L said:
I think it's just going to be a case of trial and error and finding substitutes for things which I used to enjoy. I won't really know how it's all working until I go back to see the diabetic nurse again.
Click to expand...

Hi Sheila and welcome to our forum

I hope you are not finding all the advice too confusing given that it probably contradicts what you have read in the diabetes UK site and been told in the workshop you have attended.

Basically there are two schools of thought with regards to managing diabetes and bringing glucose levels down.

Both agree that effective treatment is through a combination of lifestyle changes to a healthier diet and more exercise and if necessary medication.

Where the two disagree is on what constitute a healthy diet for a diabetic.

Now all our food consists of a combination of three main macronutrients fats (eg butter, cream, oil), protein (eg meat, fish, poultry) and carbohydrates ( pasta, bread, sugar, rice, potatoes).

It is important to realise that foods high in carbohydrates ( not just sugar) are the ones that cause our blood glucose levels to rise the most. Carbohydrates are the go to substances for our body to obtain a quick source of energy by converting them to glucose which enters our bloodstream following digestion. Glucose is necessary fuel for our body cells but for the glucose to leave our blood and enter the cells insulin, a hormone secreted by the beta cells in our pancreas when high blood glucose levels are detected is needed. In diabetics though this self regulating mechanism does not work properly, either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or insulin is produced but the body is resistant to it and does not use it properly to get the glucose into our cells (type 2 diabetes).

Foods rich in fats and proteins do not get converted to glucose quite as fast or to the same extent.

So in order to control glucose levels it is important to control consumption not just of sugar but of all carbohydrate rich food.

Where the two approaches differ is the extent that this carb restriction should take.

Most doctors ask diabetics to still eat plenty of "healthy" carbohydrates such as brown bread rice etc.

The approach promoted by many on this forum based on their own experiences is that all carbohydrates should be greatly restricted or in some cases almost eliminated from our diet. As the calories one gets from this food group have to be replaced from somewhere in order to have the necessary energy to carry on with the business of living foods high in fat and to a lesser extent protein are substituted for the carb rich food, hence the suggestion for bacon and eggs instead of porridge for breakfast. Your reaction to this was to say that this was too much of the wrong type of fat. A sensible reaction based on what doctors/nutritionists have been telling us. Experience has shown though that this is not the case. Faced with a lack of carbohydrates to provide us with energy the body turns to burning fat for its needs, instead of storing it that it would have done otherwise. The result is a surprising improvement in cholesterol and triglyceride counts following adoption of a low carb diet.

But how much does one need to restrict carb intake to manage his/her levels?

As you correctly pointed out the only way to answer this is through trial and error. But relying on the glucose count carried out by your doctor/nurse will not provide feedback to you that is frequent enough to allow you to do so. As you say if you do not lower your levels by your next visit you may be put on insulin. Why risk it if you do not need it?

The answer has already been suggested to you by another poster.

You need to buy yourself a glucose monitor and self test. Ideally you should test before and two hours after each meal. If the after count is more than 2 mmol more than the before count, then that meal contained too many carbs for you. Next time you have it you should reduce whatever part of the meal was rich in carbs.

Don't worry about how high your counts are at first. Concentrst on consistently getting the 2 mmol rule right and you will soon see a drop in your overall levels.

I hope I was able to help somewhat.

Regards

Pavlos
 
Sheila L said:
Sounds like too much of the wrong type of fat plus cholesterol!
Click to expand...

The wrong type of fats are vegetable and seed oils. These oils are very highly processed, contain too much omega 6 and are inflammatory. These are the oils used to make ready meals, take aways, processed foods etc.. Olive oil is fine. The good fats are the natural ones, found in meat, meat products, fish especially oily fish, dairy products, avocados and eggs. Some people prefer to limit bacon because of the nitrates, but there is no need to avoid it because of the fat content.

As mentioned earlier, our livers make our cholesterol as and when it is needed. When we eat foods that contain cholesterol such as eggs, the liver just makes a bit less. There is no need to be afraid. It is just a matter of realising that we have all been brainwashed since the 1970's (due to bad science) that all fat is bad for us. Science is now telling us differently. You do not need to eat tubs of butter at one go, just enough to balance out the loss of energy from cutting carbs. Discarding all low fat products from skimmed milk to pretend butter spreads and pretend yogurts and everything in between, and replacing these with the natural versions may be enough.
 
Wow! You are very knowledgeable. Thanks so much for sharing all this information.

It's a steep learning curve but I'm sure I will get there. I've got all the comments saved so that I can go back and refer to them.

Many thanks for all your trouble.

Sheila
 

Thanks very much.

Yes, it's true. The proof will be in the readings when I next go back for my appointment with the diabetic nurse. The only problem is that it's not until mid-August.

I am trying to take everything on board and trust I will be doing what's right to lower the HbA1c readings. At least I've lost half a stone in weight since I started my new eating regime!

Many thanks for your help.
Sheila
 
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