Recently diagnosed

Firstly welcome to the Diabetes Forum. Daisy will be along shortly with the basic advise that she gives to all new member on this forum.
It might take a short while before things start to 'KICK IN' and your Blood Glucose levels show signs of significant improvement, you might have to wait a few more days and see if things turn around and head in the right direction. It's also worth while looking into the Low Carb High Fat diet (LCHF) as this is proving particularly beneficial to Type 2 diabetes control.
As for a high reading first thing in the mornings, it might be looking into a characteristic known as 'Liver Dump' or 'Dawn Phenomenon'. This is also a common effect that is well documented and known about and is something that we humans all inherited from our 'Stone Age' ancestors where our B/G levels were raised automatically in the morning so that when we arose we were fuelled up and ready to go out Dinosaur hunting or what ever.
You've found the right place to start from her on this website.

Hi and welcome Gwen....you must have been diagnosed around the same time as me. You will find all the help you need here....some great people that have so much knowledge and advice that will help you no end

Have you read the information that @daisy1 provides?

I have tagged her.

Gwen58 said:

seems like a low carb diet is the way to go. I've been lucky, no side effects with the meds. i really need to investigate further as I would sooner go down the natural route,then rely on medication

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I would agree with that Gwen. I used to eat lots of carbs and ended up putting on weight and feeling lethargic and tired all the time. Since I was diagnosed I have cut my carb intake to way less than 50g a day and I feel amazing....so much energy and have lost quite a bit of weight in a very short time.

Gwen58 said:

I eat a lot of carbs, seems like my body is going to have to make another adjustment. I had terrible withdrawal symptoms the first week I cut the sugar, the lethargy ceased almost immediately. I gave up the cigs yesterday too. Why is it everything I enjoy is bad for me?

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Awww I know how you feel Gwen.....I love bread with a passion but it had to go....along with pasta, potatoes, sweets, cakes and pretty much everything else I ever enjoyed but it had to be done. I felt so much better after just one week. Maybe cutting it down slowly would make it a little easier for you to accept. I did it all at once and was surprised how quickly I accepted it. I gave up smoking 8 months ago so that is one thing out of the way for me. I hope you can give it up...that also is hard but worthwhile. I actually thought I was desperate for a slice of bread so this morning I toasted one slice of Burgen Soya and Linseed which is lower carb and couldn't wait to eat it.......guess what?......I didn't enjoy it at all.....so maybe the craving was just in my head ane I can do without it easily now. I tested how it affected my BG and it went up more for that one slice of bread than it does for whole meals!! It isn't easy making the changes but take it steady and it won't be so hard to do. There are many recipes of yummy food that can replace the carby meals you maybe had before. One step at a time and it will all come together

Dear Gwen58,
Thanks for the quick reply. The LCHF diet does indeed at first sight appear wrong as to why anyone would want to revise their diet by cutting back on their Carbohydrate food intake and boosting this by eating high fat content in their diet.
Well ALL fats aren't the problem, only some of them are. Eating the recommended types of High fats is actually beneficial as it supplies the body with energy in a slow controlled manor. Studying the guidance on the LFCH diet will show you what type of Fats to avoid and what to eat plentifully. Many dairy products, full fat milk, hard cheeses, specific types of oils being actually beneficial and having little effect on CHOLESTEROL levels, which seem to be concerning you.
Following the LCHF diet can have many benefits, and advice from this site from many here will back this up. The dietary advice provided by the NHS dieticians is simply flawed and in time I'm sure that the LCHF diet will be recommended to us Type 2's.

Hi and welcome. Can you let us know your BMI, age and whether you have lost weight unexpectedly recently as sometimes these factors can point to an incorrect diagnosis of T2 when it's actually late onset T1. If you have excess weight then T2 would normally be right.

Hiya & welcome. I didn't sacrifice things, I got rid of them. My cholesterol is a bit high but I've come off statins and eat few carbs and a load of good fat. Feel great. Hope you will too.

@Gwen58

Hello Gwen and welcome to the forum

I'm glad you have had so much advice already. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful, especially with reference to diet and carbs in particular. Ask as many questions as you want 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 over 140,000 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.

Hi and welcome to the forum. There is some great advice and support from the members. Good luck giving up smoking, sure you will feel better in the long run.

Hi and welcome.

was recently diagnosed with type 2 in April 2015,

i am on day 6 of the Newcastle diet, It been hard someday , but will stick at it

welcome to here I am sure you will enjoy reading all the info on this forum