Type 2 new diagnosis: confused??

EllieM · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
I love a nice red, too much in fact . I also enjoy lots of greek yogurt with blueberries or raspberries. Plenty of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, chilli peppers etc. I guess it's about redesigning my diet to create recipes without the less desirable (or appropriate) food stuff. I eat loads of fish too, hope that's ok still?? Bu the way, thanks for all the advice and help

All those things are low carb so you should be good to go (with the exception of the alcohol if your liver is compromised which hopefully it isn't). If you need to lose weight (I can't tell from your photo but many T2s do) then there is a good chance that reducing carbs will also help with that, as weight gain is a side effect of T2.

But really, I strongly recommend getting a meter, as different people have widely different tolerances to both carbs and the types of food containing those carbs.

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

JoKalsbeek said:
You're going to be fine. Just a gut feeling I've got.

thanks

Jayne1983 · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
thanks

Hi I was 54mm in March and fatty liver was 159 then in June it was 36mm and fatty liver 22 all in 3 months it took me I done low carb and exercise no medication I’ve lost 3st7lb I’ve got another 9lb to lose my next test is December I’m hoping my hbc1a is lower then the 36mm. It should be my diets still the same and I’m still losing weight.

Jayne1983 · Oct 7, 2021

Jayne1983 said:
Hi I was 54mm in March and fatty liver was 159 then in June it was 36mm and fatty liver 22 all in 3 months it took me I done low carb and exercise no medication I’ve lost 3st7lb I’ve got another 9lb to lose my next test is December I’m hoping my hbc1a is lower then the 36mm. It should be my diets still the same and I’m still losing weight.

For alcohol I didn’t drink for the first 6 weeks.: now I drink twice a week vodka and Pepsi max or gin and sprite maybe the odd coorslight to

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
thanks

Jayne1983 said:
Hi I was 54mm in March and fatty liver was 159 then in June it was 36mm and fatty liver 22 all in 3 months it took me I done low carb and exercise no medication I’ve lost 3st7lb I’ve got another 9lb to lose my next test is December I’m hoping my hbc1a is lower then the 36mm. It should be my diets still the same and I’m still losing weight.

Thanks for sharing that with me, I am inspired by your story! You have a lot of determination and will power. I usually get all geared up and then the wheels fall off !! Hopefully, this time, I can refer to your dedication and keep going, just like you. Well done by the way, and thank you

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

Jayne1983 said:
For alcohol I didn’t drink for the first 6 weeks.: now I drink twice a week vodka and Pepsi max or gin and sprite maybe the odd coorslight to

I need to put the glass down for a few months dont I? You are doing great, thanks for the advice and support

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

EllieM said:
All those things are low carb so you should be good to go (with the exception of the alcohol if your liver is compromised which hopefully it isn't). If you need to lose weight (I can't tell from your photo but many T2s do) then there is a good chance that reducing carbs will also help with that, as weight gain is a side effect of T2.

But really, I strongly recommend getting a meter, as different people have widely different tolerances to both carbs and the types of food containing those carbs.

Do you think I would need a monitor for type2? Do you reccomend any?

zand · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
Thanks for sharing that with me, I am inspired by your story! You have a lot of determination and will power. I usually get all geared up and then the wheels fall off !! Hopefully, this time, I can refer to your dedication and keep going, just like you. Well done by the way, and thank you

The wheels are less likely to come off when you get results and you can see that what you are doing is working.

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

zand said:
The wheels are less likely to come off when you get results and you can see that what you are doing is working.

That's very true, the motivation is different this time. Thanks to all the responses and shared experiences, I feel very enthused and ready to go. I am ex Army and have lost a bit of that determination and will power over the years, However, this time I can feel that, " I must, I can and I (expletive) well will" returning. Thanks for your response

Jo_the_boat · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
My diet is generally ok, plenty of fruit and veg, low sugar/salt. I love to cook and particularly Mediterranean foods....... to be honest, its more the alcohol that's the problem, though I'm new to the diabetes thing so I may well be wrong on the food side (unfortunately im pretty sure I wont be wrong about the alcohol side ☹. )

Like one or two others I'm a red wine specialist. Drinker that is. I have a particular penchant for red boxed wine, often stuff that comes in at around 75p a gallon.
Actually, I'm currently on an alcoholiday, 3 1/2 weeks into a dry month.
To be honest, I often drink most of a bottle, too frequently to be honest, but depite that, historically my HbA1c has been in the mid / low 40s.
I'm going to see if I can get a test before I go back on the booze, see if a month dry (or however long it turns out to be) makes a difference.
It makes some difference to the waistline, but 'moderate' alcohol, excepting the high carb drinks, I don't think is too bad.
The only problem with coming off the sauce for a while is that I rediscover who I really am for a month, which is a worrying state of affairs! Makes me want a glass or two in fact!
Good luck.

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

Jo_the_boat said:
Like one or two others I'm a red wine specialist. Drinker that is. I have a particular penchant for red boxed wine, often stuff that comes in at around 75p a gallon.
Actually, I'm currently on an alcoholiday, 3 1/2 weeks into a dry month.
To be honest, I often drink most of a bottle, too frequently to be honest, but depite that, historically my HbA1c has been in the mid / low 40s.
I'm going to see if I can get a test before I go back on the booze, see if a month dry (or however long it turns out to be) makes a difference.
It makes some difference to the waistline, but 'moderate' alcohol, excepting the high carb drinks, I don't think is too bad.
The only problem with coming off the sauce for a while is that I rediscover who I really am for a month, which is a worrying state of affairs! Makes me want a glass or two in fact!
Good luck.

I think you have just described me to a tee

JoKalsbeek · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
I think you have just described me to a tee

Speaking of tee's... Alice Cooper traded his relationship with alcohol for a golf addiction. If it IS a case of having an addictive personality... (Like I do, too...) It might help to find something else to get hooked on that isn't damaging. Rather than smoke up a storm, lighting one cigarette with another like I did until august 2004, I photograph for all I'm worth. Which has really helped with a bunch of things, actually. In my dreams, I still smoke. Awake, I never give it another thought. Weird, really.

Rachox · Oct 7, 2021

Thanks for the tag @xfieldok and welcome to the forum @Eddie65

Here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.

HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews, links to the strips and the meter:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively.

Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

Discount codes for the Code Free strips

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833

SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793

with the strips found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097

Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:

Phone number 0800 8815423

With more expensive strips is their Caresens Dual, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual

If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.

Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

ianf0ster · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
Thanks for sharing that with me, I am inspired by your story! You have a lot of determination and will power. I usually get all geared up and then the wheels fall off !! Hopefully, this time, I can refer to your dedication and keep going, just like you. Well done by the way, and thank you

The whole point of Low carb is that it mimics fasting or a crash diet, but without having to restrict calories and so the actual willpower is much less than required for either of those.

Jayne1983 · Oct 7, 2021

Jo_the_boat said:
Like one or two others I'm a red wine specialist. Drinker that is. I have a particular penchant for red boxed wine, often stuff that comes in at around 75p a gallon.
Actually, I'm currently on an alcoholiday, 3 1/2 weeks into a dry month.
To be honest, I often drink most of a bottle, too frequently to be honest, but depite that, historically my HbA1c has been in the mid / low 40s.
I'm going to see if I can get a test before I go back on the booze, see if a month dry (or however long it turns out to be) makes a difference.
It makes some difference to the waistline, but 'moderate' alcohol, excepting the high carb drinks, I don't think is too bad.
The only problem with coming off the sauce for a while is that I rediscover who I really am for a month, which is a worrying state of affairs! Makes me want a glass or two in fact!
Good luck.

hi so is it ok to drink alcohol as much as u like as long as it’s low carbs I like a drink on a Saturday I probabhave about 8 single vodka and maybe a few on a Thursday and to I hope it doesn’t effect my next hbc1a it shouldn’t do.: I’m still losing weight

Jayne1983 · Oct 7, 2021

Jayne1983 said:
hi so is it ok to drink alcohol as much as u like as long as it’s low carbs I like a drink on a Saturday I probabhave about 8 single vodka and maybe a few on a Thursday and to I hope it doesn’t effect my next hbc1a it shouldn’t do.: I’m still losing weight

Probably*

Daibell · Oct 7, 2021

Hi and welcome. Don't forget it's not just sugar that needs to be kept down as sugar is just another carb so watch all your carbs. Do get yourself added to your surgeries online system so you can access your test results. You can then see what all your test results are and whether your HBa1C shows you are 'officially' diabetic

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

JoKalsbeek said:
Speaking of tee's... Alice Cooper traded his relationship with alcohol for a golf addiction. If it IS a case of having an addictive personality... (Like I do, too...) It might help to find something else to get hooked on that isn't damaging. Rather than smoke up a storm, lighting one cigarette with another like I did until august 2004, I photograph for all I'm worth. Which has really helped with a bunch of things, actually. In my dreams, I still smoke. Awake, I never give it another thought. Weird, really.

That's cool! I love Alice Cooper! I have started to make old British Railway signs, I'm not a train spotter or anything like, I just love the nostalgic element to it. I'll post some pics when I get brave enough, haha.

KennyA · Oct 7, 2021

Eddie65 said:
That's very true, the motivation is different this time. Thanks to all the responses and shared experiences, I feel very enthused and ready to go. I am ex Army and have lost a bit of that determination and will power over the years, However, this time I can feel that, " I must, I can and I (expletive) well will" returning. Thanks for your response

Welcome to the forum. With a bit of luck you'll be sorted quickly. It is all about the carbs. One thing you have to do is to clear your mind about everything you think you know about "healthy eating". All the stuff we get told is good for us - porridge, fruit, that sort of thing - might be OK for non-diabetics (although I have severe doubts about that) but us T2s can't handle it.

Get a meter. It helps you work out what food does what - not all carbs have the same effect, and each of us reacts differently. I can't do potato or pastry at all, but can manage some pulses and legumes, for example. Testing before and after you eat lets you see what your response is. It also lets you know how you're doing, approximately.

Watch out for alcohol. It will lower your blood sugars by making your liver concentrate on processing the alcohol rather than glucose. I can get apparently good blood sugar readings after carby meals if I've had a drink with it. If you take those as gospel you're fooling yourself, but you won't fool an A1c test. Problem is the carbs have still gone in and they will be processed eventually. Beer, cider, lager are all high-carb items in themselves and are a rare treat for me. Red wine not so bad, spirits are zero carb. Mixers etc often have a lot of sugar and are a risk especially if you're not the one adding them.

This link takes you to my "what I wished I knew at the start" list. Might be useful. Best of luck!
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/kennya.517579/

Eddie65 · Oct 7, 2021

KennyA said:
Welcome to the forum. With a bit of luck you'll be sorted quickly. It is all about the carbs. One thing you have to do is to clear your mind about everything you think you know about "healthy eating". All the stuff we get told is good for us - porridge, fruit, that sort of thing - might be OK for non-diabetics (although I have severe doubts about that) but us T2s can't handle it.

Get a meter. It helps you work out what food does what - not all carbs have the same effect, and each of us reacts differently. I can't do potato or pastry at all, but can manage some pulses and legumes, for example. Testing before and after you eat lets you see what your response is. It also lets you know how you're doing, approximately.

Watch out for alcohol. It will lower your blood sugars by making your liver concentrate on processing the alcohol rather than glucose. I can get apparently good blood sugar readings after carby meals if I've had a drink with it. If you take those as gospel you're fooling yourself, but you won't fool an A1c test. Problem is the carbs have still gone in and they will be processed eventually. Beer, cider, lager are all high-carb items in themselves and are a rare treat for me. Red wine not so bad, spirits are zero carb. Mixers etc often have a lot of sugar and are a risk especially if you're not the one adding them.

This link takes you to my "what I wished I knew at the start" list. Might be useful. Best of luck!
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/kennya.517579/

Thanks so much, my passion is cooking, ihave all those preconceived ideas that you mentioned regarding healthy eating. I think a bit (lot) of re-education is in hand for me. Do you reccomend a glucose monitor for type 2? If so, I'll order one now, any recommendations for a decent one? Thanks again, lots to take in but the advice and support has just been amazing.

Type 2 new diagnosis: confused??

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