• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Time2Change ..... with your help!

T

Time2Change

Well-Known Member
Messages
63
Its amazing reading some of these threads and posts. The lady who is frustrated with her husbands lack of appreciation and implications of his diabetes and the general symptoms and difficulties .... I can relate to them all.

I was diagnosed with type 2 last October. I had raised blood pressure and some of the classic symptoms tbh I am not sure how long I had been suffering:

Lethary
Headaches
Thrush
Blurred Vision
Low Libido
Itchy Feet


I like many have been in denial about my condition and its taken me a bit of time but now I am here I will throw myself into this 100%.

OK I have a list of questions that you can hopefully help me with:

1) How difficult is it to get

Mortgage Protection
Life Insurance
Travel Insurance

Any info around this is most appreciated and companies you think i should speak to.

Is there a big difference if its Type 1 Vs Type 2 or if its Diet Vs Drug Vs Insulin controlled?


2) After testing I had an education session where the nurse suspected that I may have delayed type 1

What should I do about this. I havent done enough regards the dieting or excersise imho so if there is a test that can be done to determine Type 1 Vs Type 2 should I get on with my diet and excersise first before going for the test.


3) When you test your glucose levels should they be reasonably consistent when fasting. For example I can measure myself each morning but the results can range between 7 to 10. I thought with a fast i.e. 10 hour sleep that it should be roughly the same. Is what you had to eat the night before actually a factor in that it stays in your sysytem far longer than the usual 2 hrs.


4) I am getting a wee bit worried about blurred vision. Is this a standard symptom? It doesnt obstruct my vision, kind of just a haze around bright thing ...... I am just concious of it just now.


5) What is the best way to identify "no no" foods. I usually check the "Carbohydrates of which are sugars". I have convinced myself that Mothers Pride Plain Bread isnt that bad for you. Is it the nature of these food groups that are the killer as opposed to the sugar content?

6) As I had raised blood pressure does that mean some of the damage has already been done?

7) The doctor put me on ramipril and statins and said this is standard practise now .... is that right?
 
Hi. In answer to some of your questions:

1) I can only comment on travel insurance. It will increase you premium but by how much varies. I use Saga for travel with my wife and between us we have various conditions but they are all covered with a larger premium.

2) Late onset T1 (LADA) is tested by means of the GAD and C-peptide tests. Often the NHS are unwilling to pay for these but it is heartening that your nurse even recognised the possibility; quite rare! If you are overweight and not that young then LADA is less likely than having lost weight at diagnosis. Do lose weight down to 'normal' anyway then see how the blood sugar remains.

3) I would avoid fasting tests as they can be affected by overnight liver glucose dumps. Test 2 hours after a main meal.

4) Yes, blurred vision is a symptom if your sugar is very high e.g perhaps over 20'ish mmol.

5) There is a lot of guidance on the forum for good food. The only thing that matters with food labels is the total carbohydrate not the suagrs bit. Low-GI carbs are always the best. Any white plain bread is a no-no as it's high GI. Go for Wholewheat, low-GI flour or Burgen bread.

6) I believe high blood pressure itself may not cause damage for many years? High blood sugar will as it blocks the capillaries.

7) Yes, the NHS is a great believer in statins and controlling blood pressure. I'm on both these drugs. Ramipril in low dose doesn't have many side effects of note. Statins are more contentious and if you take them have the minimum you need to keep your cholesterol down below, say, 5.
 
Hi Time, no doubt Daisy will welcome you to the forum with her post to introduce you to everything, welcome to the forum :wave:
 
Hi Time2Change and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information for new members that Sharon mentioned. If you have any more questions, just ask 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 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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
Thanks for the responses so far. Am I in the best topic for garnering opinions/feedback. I know forums often have high activity in certain areas.

Also I noticed some of you include what look to be test details in your signature:

HbA1c: [no result available]
BP: 141/89 mmHg on 18/06/2012
Total Cholest: 5.7 mmol/L on 10/07/2012
HDL Cholest: 1.10 mmol/L on 10/07/2012
LDL Cholest: [no result available]
Triglyc: 2.4 mmol/L on 10/07/2012
Creati: 56.0 umol/L on 01/11/2011

How do I go about getting these done?
 
Time2Change said:
I like many have been in denial about my condition and its taken me a bit of time but now I am here I will throw myself into this 100%.

OK I have a list of questions that you can hopefully help me with:

2) After testing I had an education session where the nurse suspected that I may have delayed type 1

What should I do about this. I havent done enough regards the dieting or excersise imho so if there is a test that can be done to determine Type 1 Vs Type 2 should I get on with my diet and excersise first before going for the test.


I would suggest that you get on with making changes anyway - which ever you are diagnosed with you'll need to make significant changes if you want to avoid or limit diabetic complications such as retinopathy or neuropathy


3) When you test your glucose levels should they be reasonably consistent when fasting. For example I can measure myself each morning but the results can range between 7 to 10. I thought with a fast i.e. 10 hour sleep that it should be roughly the same. Is what you had to eat the night before actually a factor in that it stays in your sysytem far longer than the usual 2 hrs.

Its more relevant to test 2 hours after a meal - before as well if you can afford it and fasting tests (morning) if you're really rich :lol: although fasting results can be higher than daytime results due possibly to liver download of glucose - so they don't really tell you as much as the other meal related tests - however insulin users need a whole 'nother regime

4) I am getting a wee bit worried about blurred vision. Is this a standard symptom? It doesnt obstruct my vision, kind of just a haze around bright thing ...... I am just concious of it just now.
Could be one of those complications


5) What is the best way to identify "no no" foods. I usually check the "Carbohydrates of which are sugars". I have convinced myself that Mothers Pride Plain Bread isnt that bad for you. Is it the nature of these food groups that are the killer as opposed to the sugar content?

Absolute sugars are a definite no no - but all carbs have the effect of raising blood glucose, so whilst Motherspride might be limited in "of which sugars" the effect will still be huge - which goes to question 3: testing after each meal will give you the information on what you can eat without causing issues for example some people here can eat burgen bread, I can't, some people eat strawberries - I can't and as a basic rule of thumb - I go by "if its sweet its no good"

6) As I had raised blood pressure does that mean some of the damage has already been done?

If you've had high blood pressure for a long time, then perhaps some damage has been done but the sooner you start to lower it - through weight loss etc the better for you but ..What did your Dr say ?


7) The doctor put me on ramipril and statins and said this is standard practise now .... is that right?

pretty much though you might want to educate yourself further by watching $tatin Nation

In respect of your test details, if you've had blood tests etc, contact your surgery and ask them for print outs of them
Click to expand...

good luck with your challenge

Gilly x
 
Time2Change said:
.
1) How difficult is it to get

Mortgage Protection
Life Insurance
Travel Insurance
I don't have any personal experience with these now but unfortunately it seems that
life insurance will be a lot more difficult to get if you have got T1 rather than T2 :(

Any info around this is most appreciated and companies you think i should speak to.

Is there a big difference if its Type 1 Vs Type 2 or if its Diet Vs Drug Vs Insulin controlled?
T1 is dependent upon insulin, they are insulin deficient ;their pancreas produces little or no i insulin.
T2s are relatively insulin deficient. They may make lots but be insulin resistant so they don't have enough to keep glucose levels down. Some people may be able to increase insulin sensitivity by losing weight, adding exercise. They may deal with this insulin resistance by adapting their diet.
These methods may be insufficient and they may need to take medications.
Different drugs to different things eg Some increase sensitivity, some force the pancreas to produce more insulin , some reduce excess glucose produced by the liver.
later on if D progresses that far, A T2 may produce less insulin and need to take insulin (often in addition to other medication)

Diabetes of all types is 'treated' by diet/exercise and if necessary medication.
(the diabetes education room at my hospital has a poster representing these 3 elements as a 3 legged stool; you need to keep all the legs at the right length)

2) After testing I had an education session where the nurse suspected that I may have delayed type 1

What should I do about this. I havent done enough regards the dieting or excersise imho so if there is a test that can be done to determine Type 1 Vs Type 2 should I get on with my diet and excersise first before going for the test.
As has been said there are tests which can indicate LADA, (latent autoimmune diabetes of adults). They aren't always easy to get
This website gives you info about it.
http://www.locallada.swan.ac.uk/faq.html
Yes, you must try to get glucose levels lower, whatever your type of diabetes, they are still causing damage. I

3) When you test your glucose levels should they be reasonably consistent when fasting. For example I can measure myself each morning but the results can range between 7 to 10. I thought with a fast i.e. 10 hour sleep that it should be roughly the same. Is what you had to eat the night before actually a factor in that it stays in your sysytem far longer than the usual 2 hrs.
Your body has a requirement for glucose 24/7. Glucose doesn't just come from the food you've just eaten. Some is manufactured and released by the liver . Insulin resistance mainly in T2 can cause too much glucose to be released from the liver (one of the ways metformin works is to surpress this glucose).
Similarly, if If you haven't enough insulin to suppress this release (as in the case of T1) then levels will also rise between meals. People on insulin need insulin to deal with the glucose from food and also what's called basal insulin which copes with and helps suppress unneeded glucose from the liver


4) I am getting a wee bit worried about blurred vision. Is this a standard symptom? It doesnt obstruct my vision, kind of just a haze around bright thing ...... I am just concious of it just now.
Talk to your diabetes nurse/doctor. Many people have blurred vision as a result of high blood glucose at diagnosis, this goes away when levels are normalised but make take a little time.


5) What is the best way to identify "no no" foods. I usually check the "Carbohydrates of which are sugars". I have convinced myself that Mothers Pride Plain Bread isnt that bad for you. Is it the nature of these food groups that are the killer as opposed to the sugar content?
This is something that you need to research. I have LADA and I use insulin. Personally I use the glycemic index to help me identify the types of foods that are less likely to cause high spikes. I would avoid them or eat very small amounts (I also weigh them and calculate insulin accordingly but that's a different matter) http://www.glycemicindex.com/
Your meter will help you identify foods/amounts that are good for you.

6) As I had raised blood pressure does that mean some of the damage has already been done?
I think that you need to get it down, your doctor may decide to do some tests to find the cause of it. Really depends on how high it is. They normally want people with D to have a lower BP than is quoted for non Ds as high Blood Pressure together with high glucose over a period is not good for eyes, heart and kidneys.

7) The doctor put me on ramipril and statins and said this is standard practise now .... is that right?
Yes.
Statins for cholesterol ; as you will see there is a lot of debate about this on the forum
Ramipril is a blood pressure drug that has been found to be particularly protective of kidneys. Many people with diabetes are put on it, even if they don't have high blood pressure,
Click to expand...
 
Some food for thought ... pardon the expression :crazy:

I have got myself a book and starting to read through it.

What appears to be a frustration is two key elements that are fundamental in controlling this condition have obstacles in our way:

1 - Food labelling is either inadequate or misleading. I mean the lengths it looks like you need to go to just to determine that a bread branded as wholegrain .... actually is whole grain.

2 - We cant get the blood test kits/refills on prescription.
 
Forgive me forum for I have sin'd

Really not addressed my diabetes but I have now made my 2014 resolutions.

I will be getting more involved in this forum and hopefully will start feeding back good results.
 
Back
Top