Hello

[Damien]

Hello everyone, I have been diagnosed with Type II diabetes after being pre-diabetic for a couple of years. I tried my best with a course on education to lose weight but it never happened.

I have had my blood test results back and they have come in at 89. My diet before diagnosis was horrendous and was out of control. I would probably say it was classed as binge eating.

I plan to lose weight and hopefully get my HbA1c number as low as possible. I don’t think I will be able to get to be pre-diabetic or lower, but who knows.

I think like everyone who was newly diagnosed, I am going to struggle with what foods I can eat and what to avoid.

I’m looking forward to losing weight and being healthier so that I can enjoy playing with my 17 month old son and my two stepdaughters.

 

[mashedupmatt]

Hi @Damien and welcome to the forum - whilst I'm not the best qualified to give advice, what I do know it's a combination of diet, exercise, and weight loss that will bring the numbers down - the thing that all Diabetics (regardless of type) need to consider is the amount of carbohydrates in your food (this is not just sugars - bread, pastry, rice, pasta etc.) - If I remember rightly, it's recommended to try and keep the amount of carbs down to 130g per day or less - I'm sure someone else will come along and give you more specific and qualified advice - this link from Diabetes UK is worth looking at

I have type 2 diabetes – what can I eat?

If you've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, one of the first things you might be worried about is food. You’re likely to be faced with what seems like an endless list of new tasks. Medical appointments, taking medication, stopping smoking, being more active and eating a healthy, balanced...

www.diabetes.org.uk

Glad you have found us and all the best of luck with your journey

 

[Leadinglights]

Hello everyone, I have been diagnosed with Type II diabetes after being pre-diabetic for a couple of years. I tried my best with a course on education to lose weight but it never happened.

I have had my blood test results back and they have come in at 89. My diet before diagnosis was horrendous and was out of control. I would probably say it was classed as binge eating.

I plan to lose weight and hopefully get my HbA1c number as low as possible. I don’t think I will be able to get to be pre-diabetic or lower, but who knows.

I think like everyone who was newly diagnosed, I am going to struggle with what foods I can eat and what to avoid.

I’m looking forward to losing weight and being healthier so that I can enjoy playing with my 17 month old son and my two stepdaughters.

Welcome to the forum
It is very possible to get down to normal range from where you are, several people here have done so by a combination of dietary changes and medication which they have been able to come off when their level was down. I would expect that you will be prescribed some medication with an HbA1C where it is now but diet is also going to be important if not more so.
This link should be able to point you in the right direction for a low carb approach with many have found successful in both losing weight and reducing blood glucose, it is based on the suggested no more than 130g carb not just sugar per day and you will see there is plenty you can eat even reducing your carb down to this amount.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com

 

[Ieva DUK]

Hi @Damien and welcome to the forum from me too!
I'm sorry about your diagnosis but I'm glad to see you're wanting to turn things around for yourself and your family! Some people have gone completely 180 with their lifestyle - making immediate drastic changes that have helped them reduce those levels. Others have noted that slow, perpetual, one-day-at-a-time type of changes were something that had helped them stick to it and see the numbers drop. What I'm trying to say is that you need to find something that works for you, something that is manageable, doesn't feel like torture, is long-lasting and something that you'll stick to. It needs to become your 'new normal'. Don't worry however as you're amongst those who have understand and have been through it all themselves. Any questions, worries, rants or personal victories - please share them whenever you're comfortable as we're always curious to here how our 'newbies' are getting along!

 

[saffron15]

@Damien welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed last July having put on weight from 40 onwards with an early menopause. I reached almost 90 kg but had the willpower to keep under that figure. When diagnosed I was shocked into cutting fattening things I ate. At first I was responding to creeping cholestral but then 1st blood test was 69 and I realised I was diabetic. I've had a greedy gene since childhood. I can eat sensibly then I will buy chocolate or some biscuits and eat them all! I have to not buy them or sometimes put them in my car boot so I have to go outside if I want a biscuit etc. It didn't help that I grew up with a slim sister who has the ability to eat small portions and a brother who enjoyed his food but usually refused second helpings. However within a few weeks of cutting out sweet things and pastry I started losing weight then once diabetes confirmed I cut rice, pasta fruit not able to be grown in England and cut back on potato and bread. My jeans fell down and this was before I was put on medication. I had previously tried calorie counting but discovered reducing carbs reduced my weight. A couple of months later I was put on an SGLT2 which needed some carbs to work and I haven't organised myself sufficient,y since then but have lost 2 stone and my hba1c is 44, You have your age and young family to benefit you. You need to watch portion size, less carbs more veg and move more eg a short walk or play with the children. People tell you fruit is healthy but tropical fruit is sweet. Eat berries and occasional apples and pears. The freshwell site already referenced has some really good diagrams as to items which have carbs. Basically veg below ground has carbs above not so much.Keep a food diary. I usually have full fat Greek style yoghurt and berries with nuts orseeds for breakfast or a mushroom omlette. Best to cut out added sugar eg in drinks or on cereal. Otherwise just reduce portion size. You could try a keto diet but I lost weight between 100 and 120 carbs. I decided to cut pasta and bought a substitute I've also bought some cauliflower rice but with other carbs I've just reduced portion size. You are likely to be offered medication which will help your body to lower the reading. Many people have reduced with lifesty,d changes.
Look at the remission threads. Don't panic into doing it as quickly as possible take it steadily.
If you are checking packages for carbs it is often on the bottom under nutrition. The traffic light system doesn't include carbs.
I have previously posted links to a GP site in the New Forest which has links to a lot of info plus you have here Diabetes UK

Good luck.

 

[harbottle]

That 130g figure is fictitious and based on some guidelines by a US organisation called the Institute of Medicine. It was pretty much just a ‘guess’ at how much glucose the brain needs during a day and ignored gluconeogenesis.

The best thing to do is buy a meter and use it to adapt your diet until the numbers are good, either with or without the help of medication.

 

[Damien]

Hi everyone. Absolutely blown away from the replies!

I have been quite upset as even the thought of my son not having a dad, if I can’t change my diet seems to be not enough to spur me on.

I know it’s not a sprint but I’ve been checking bloods, I’m on metaformin 1000G, massively cut down on food and fizzy drinks and my bloods seem to be all over the place.

I’m hoping that my body needs to settle on meds and I need to work out foods still.

I had in my eyes a healthy lunch and bs was 12.7.

Thanks for the support/links and help. Probably just saved a life 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi everyone. Absolutely blown away from the replies!

I have been quite upset as even the thought of my son not having a dad, if I can’t change my diet seems to be not enough to spur me on.

I know it’s not a sprint but I’ve been checking bloods, I’m on metaformin 1000G, massively cut down on food and fizzy drinks and my bloods seem to be all over the place.

I’m hoping that my body needs to settle on meds and I need to work out foods still.

I had in my eyes a healthy lunch and bs was 12.7.

Thanks for the support/links and help. Probably just saved a life 🙂

It may well have been a 'healthy' lunch but unless you tested before you ate as well you can't tell. The meal may have been OK as within the guide of an increase of 2-3mmol/l but if you were starting off high then you will end up high. That is why paired readings are more useful.
For example if your before meal is 7mmol/l and 2 hours after is more than 10mmol/l then the meal is too carb heavy, but if your starting level is already 10mmol/l then anything less than 13mmol/l after 2 hours means the meal is OK. Keeping meal increases to below 3mmol/l should start to bring overall levels down but it will take time so people need to be patient.

 

[Damien]

It may well have been a 'healthy' lunch but unless you tested before you ate as well you can't tell. The meal may have been OK as within the guide of an increase of 2-3mmol/l but if you were starting off high then you will end up high. That is why paired readings are more useful.
For example if your before meal is 7mmol/l and 2 hours after is more than 10mmol/l then the meal is too carb heavy, but if your starting level is already 10mmol/l then anything less than 13mmol/l after 2 hours means the meal is OK. Keeping meal increases to below 3mmol/l should start to bring overall levels down but it will take time so people need to be patient.

Hi. So last night I had chicken kebab from the takeaway. I had chicken that was grilled, cucumber and lettuce. I had 3 bites of the pita bread and a small amount of chilli sauce. I also had 4 tiny potato wages. I went from 7.0 to 10.00 so even the small amount of carbs, could still be too much?

The only thing that confuses me is surely if my HBA1C number is 89, then surely my natural resting blooding sugar has to be higher. In 3 months time if I can reduce my HBA1C, then doesn’t that mean my resting blood sugar will be lower? Because it’s all on averages ?

I’ve got a lot to learn and I know the above seems stupid that I had a takeaway. My family ate dominos, wedges, sweets and chocolate. My option wasn’t 100% perfect but it’s a massive change. I’d have done a medium pizza, wedges, cookies, sweets and chocolate. Then before bed a hot cross bun and some other stuff.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi. So last night I had chicken kebab from the takeaway. I had chicken that was grilled, cucumber and lettuce. I had 3 bites of the pita bread and a small amount of chilli sauce. I also had 4 tiny potato wages. I went from 7.0 to 10.00 so even the small amount of carbs, could still be too much?

The only thing that confuses me is surely if my HBA1C number is 89, then surely my natural resting blooding sugar has to be higher. In 3 months time if I can reduce my HBA1C, then doesn’t that mean my resting blood sugar will be lower? Because it’s all on averages ?

I’ve got a lot to learn and I know the above seems stupid that I had a takeaway. My family ate dominos, wedges, sweets and chocolate. My option wasn’t 100% perfect but it’s a massive change. I’d have done a medium pizza, wedges, cookies, sweets and chocolate. Then before bed a hot cross bun and some other stuff.

It is early days for you at the moment and that looks like a perfect choice, certainly better than all the other stuff.
As you say it is all about averages and that can be misleading but just keeping those meal increases to below 3mmol/l should gradually start to bring levels down, you may find that as levels come down your body handles the same sort of meal better. It is better and kinder on your eyes and nerves to bring down your level gradually.
I would be happy with that result at this stage.
The guidance suggests the IF you finger prick tests are in the range 4-7 before meals and fasting/morning and no more than 8-8.5 mol/l 2 hours post meal consistently for the three months prior to your HbA1C it will be normal so below 42. Obviously this will not be the case for everybody and may not happen in the short term and will depend on your staring HbA1C and medication if any but gives a guide of what to aim at.

 

[harbottle]

It may well have been a 'healthy' lunch but unless you tested before you ate as well you can't tell. The meal may have been OK as within the guide of an increase of 2-3mmol/l but if you were starting off high then you will end up high. That is why paired readings are more useful.
For example if your before meal is 7mmol/l and 2 hours after is more than 10mmol/l then the meal is too carb heavy, but if your starting level is already 10mmol/l then anything less than 13mmol/l after 2 hours means the meal is OK. Keeping meal increases to below 3mmol/l should start to bring overall levels down but it will take time so people need to be patient.

This is a misinterpretation of the intention of those guidelines - they are designed to minimise large fluctuations in blood glucose before and after a meal to prevent complications and to keep levels (Pre-meal and post meal) in a healthy range, which is pretty much < 10 post meal and between 4 and 7 pre-meal.

A rise of 2.9 (< 3) from a baseline of 10 is going from an unhealthy level to an even more damaging level which means it's completely out of control and potentially risking damage to organs. Clinically, this is not an good situation, especially it remains elevated over 10 for a long period of time, which it most likely does with T2, and would be reflected in a sky high hba1c result.

If it's staying at that level before meals, lifestyle + medication changes are probably required to get it down!

 

[harbottle]

Hi everyone. Absolutely blown away from the replies!

I have been quite upset as even the thought of my son not having a dad, if I can’t change my diet seems to be not enough to spur me on.

I know it’s not a sprint but I’ve been checking bloods, I’m on metaformin 1000G, massively cut down on food and fizzy drinks and my bloods seem to be all over the place.

I’m hoping that my body needs to settle on meds and I need to work out foods still.

I had in my eyes a healthy lunch and bs was 12.7.

Thanks for the support/links and help. Probably just saved a life 🙂

Well, my hba1c at diagnosis was 83, not far from yours, but 3 months later it was 36 (It's been between 36 and 39 during the last 3 years)

I changed lifestyle - I didn't got 'keto', as I eat a lot of fruit (Berries, Apples, Oranges) and vegetables, but just stopped the bulk carbs like bread, rice, potato, pasta and bags of Haribo. (And crisps.) Meals are mainly meat/fish and veg, in various forms. Curries, baked salmon, sea bass, chicken, etc. Plenty of olive oil and white wine sauces. A nice daal.

Upon diagnosis I felt awful, and had done for a few months, but it literally took a matter of weeks before I felt back to my old self again. I suspect levels came down quite quickly.

I also lost a lot of weight during this period, which probably helped (I was overweight.)

I didn't check levels and ignored all those dubious guidelines about 'allowances' of carbs during that period, but probably was doing < 50g a day (With the odd occasion where I might do more.)

 

[Damien]

Well, my hba1c at diagnosis was 83, not far from yours, but 3 months later it was 36 (It's been between 36 and 39 during the last 3 years)

I changed lifestyle - I didn't got 'keto', as I eat a lot of fruit (Berries, Apples, Oranges) and vegetables, but just stopped the bulk carbs like bread, rice, potato, pasta and bags of Haribo. (And crisps.) Meals are mainly meat/fish and veg, in various forms. Curries, baked salmon, sea bass, chicken, etc. Plenty of olive oil and white wine sauces. A nice daal.

Upon diagnosis I felt awful, and had done for a few months, but it literally took a matter of weeks before I felt back to my old self again. I suspect levels came down quite quickly.

I also lost a lot of weight during this period, which probably helped (I was overweight.)

I didn't check levels and ignored all those dubious guidelines about 'allowances' of carbs during that period, but probably was doing < 50g a day (With the odd occasion where I might do more.)

When you say felt awful? What sort of symptoms?

I’m tired, catching every cold and cough possible. Thirsty and going to the loo lots.

Since Wednesday I’m going to the loo much less, not had a single nap and feel a bit less brain foggy.

 

[harbottle]

Hi. So last night I had chicken kebab from the takeaway. I had chicken that was grilled, cucumber and lettuce. I had 3 bites of the pita bread and a small amount of chilli sauce. I also had 4 tiny potato wages. I went from 7.0 to 10.00 so even the small amount of carbs, could still be too much?

The only thing that confuses me is surely if my HBA1C number is 89, then surely my natural resting blooding sugar has to be higher. In 3 months time if I can reduce my HBA1C, then doesn’t that mean my resting blood sugar will be lower? Because it’s all on averages ?

I’ve got a lot to learn and I know the above seems stupid that I had a takeaway. My family ate dominos, wedges, sweets and chocolate. My option wasn’t 100% perfect but it’s a massive change. I’d have done a medium pizza, wedges, cookies, sweets and chocolate. Then before bed a hot cross bun and some other stuff.

It only takes a small amount of carbs to raise blood sugar by 2-3. Something like 10g? Potato and bread are quickly absorbed, so they might hit the bloodstream quickly (Although I'd hope the chicken would slow down digestion!) and T2 diabetes is characterised by a slow response to rises above normal plus excess glucose production by the liver which is why fasting levels can be high in T2D.

A hba1c really represents a range of levels - the same hba1c could mean totally different graphs of blood sugar (i.e. someone who keeps it flat around the 9 mark might have the same hba1c as someone who sees it fluctuate wildly between 5 and 16)

When I was diagnosted with 83, I did some fingerprick tests and saw results of 6 and 7 before meals. But I suspect post-meal rises were high and staying high for a while, which is why my hba1c was so high.

It's kind of an average, a 'loaded' average, as the last few weeks contribute more to the result.

That result doesn't look too bad, though. If you keep it like that, the hba1c may have dropped for the next test!

 

[harbottle]

When you say felt awful? What sort of symptoms?

I’m tired, catching every cold and cough possible. Thirsty and going to the loo lots.

Since Wednesday I’m going to the loo much less, not had a single nap and feel a bit less brain foggy.

I had blurred vision (Which I just thought was my eyes needed testing for new glasses.)
I was tired, falling asleep at work.
I didn't get the thirst + loo, but I had horrendous pains in my legs, especially the right thigh.
This all went away in around two weeks.

Sounds like the changes you've made may be having a positive effect! 🙂

 

[Damien]

Vision has been ok it was more thirst and needing the loo lots. I’ve done a prostate test and that was good/clear.

Last year when it was hot I was constantly needing to drink. I remember being on holiday and drinking probably 10 pints of Diet Coke a day. The joys of all inclusive I guess. Didn’t matter what I did I couldn’t quench the thirst. Obviously I know why now!

 

[silver minion]

Vision has been ok it was more thirst and needing the loo lots. I’ve done a prostate test and that was good/clear.

Last year when it was hot I was constantly needing to drink. I remember being on holiday and drinking probably 10 pints of Diet Coke a day. The joys of all inclusive I guess. Didn’t matter what I did I couldn’t quench the thirst. Obviously I know why now!

I had similar symptoms to you prior to diagnosis and wrongly attributed it to a combination of stress due to moving house and the hot weather. Now I know better!
Thankfully changes to my diet and regular exercise together with prescribed medication have reduced by HbA1c substantially. It's bliss not having to worry about being near a toilet every time I go out.
Read up on the information on this site and recommended links. Try out the suggestions and see what works for you. It is very much a marathon not a sprint, but managing your diabetes and enjoying life with your family is very doable.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

This is a misinterpretation of the intention of those guidelines… A rise of 2.9 (< 3) from a baseline of 10 is going from an unhealthy level to an even more damaging level which means it's completely out of control and potentially risking damage to organs.

I’m not so sure the damage is so immediately caused as your reply might suggest. I agree that it is problematic in the long term, and lots of time in double figures would most likely result in a higher HbA1c than if 10s were much more rare, but I wouldn’t want the OP to have the impression that every single drift over 10 is frying their eyeballs.

In newly diagnosed T1 clinics often start people on fairly conservative doses of insulin deliberately so that the reduction in glucose levels happens over a longer time. Because this is gentler on the fine blood vessels in eyes and supplying nerve endings than dramatically dropping from consistently high levels (mid-teens) to straight down to 4-7. There are recognised conditions of insulin-induced neuropathy and retinopathy which can be avoided by allowing levels to reduce over a slightly longer time frame (without significantly increasing risk of long term complications).

Personally it would be a rare week for me where my BG levels did not exceed 10.something at least some of the time (albeit hopefully not for long periods of time, but up to a few hours last night as it happens).

I’ve been juggling my levels for 30+ years, and do not currently have evidence of either retinopathy or neuropathy.

Obviously, I try to keep levels in single figures as much of the time as I can, but I have to accept a few excursions into double figures happen from time to time, and have not (apparently, so far) resulted in permanent damage.

 

[JimmyBlue]

Hi @Damien firstly and most importantly welcome to the forum, sad that you are here but the reason why you are means that you will hopefully get a lot of information and potentially good advice. Having been diagnosed at start of October last year with an HbA1c of 86, and out the blue, I joined the forums and based on the advice and information provided found the following works for me:

• Remove potatoes, pasta, bread and rice from the diet, this includes everything wholegrain.
• Ensure you eat more protein and fats (especially healthy fats) and keep the carb count to around 130g per day
• Make sure to exercise even it it is just a 20 mins walk over slightly hilly land
• Drink around 2-3 litres of water rather than juices or fizzy drinks (tea and coffee also work) and enjoy the odd glass of wine with an evening meal
• Look for and an enjoy learning to make 'substitutes' like low carb breads and Keto shortbread or using swede or celeriac mash to replace the spud version.
• Use the testing system to see how different foods impact on your blood glucose and don't get hung up on the odd peak.

For me the result was a fall in my HbA1c to 47 from 86 after three months despite Christmas.

The above may not be the right approach for you but elements of it may help, particularly the exercise bit as that improves glucose absorption. At this stage, you are on a learning curve and because we are all different the things that work may also be very different. The important thing is to make some changes and see how you respond to them. You might also want to see if you can bring the family along on the journey. My wife and daughters have all joined in with my dietary changes to an extent (mainly our evening meal) and while there are complaints (red lentil pasta is not something everyone likes) they to have had some benefit from the changes.

After four months I am much more comfortable with where I am on my journey and when I visited a cousin yesterday, I even had a little bit of mashed potato as I knew that while I would peak about 8.5 mmol/mol which is the level I have set myself, it would not hurt my position overall.

Hope the above provides some ideas and support to you on your journey.

 

[harbottle]

I’m not so sure the damage is so immediately caused as your reply might suggest. I agree that it is problematic in the long term, and lots of time in double figures would most likely result in a higher HbA1c than if 10s were much more rare, but I wouldn’t want the OP to have the impression that every single drift over 10 is frying their eyeballs.

In newly diagnosed T1 clinics often start people on fairly conservative doses of insulin deliberately so that the reduction in glucose levels happens over a longer time. Because this is gentler on the fine blood vessels in eyes and supplying nerve endings than dramatically dropping from consistently high levels (mid-teens) to straight down to 4-7. There are recognised conditions of insulin-induced neuropathy and retinopathy which can be avoided by allowing levels to reduce over a slightly longer time frame (without significantly increasing risk of long term complications).

Personally it would be a rare week for me where my BG levels did not exceed 10.something at least some of the time (albeit hopefully not for long periods of time, but up to a few hours last night as it happens).

I’ve been juggling my levels for 30+ years, and do not currently have evidence of either retinopathy or neuropathy.

Obviously, I try to keep levels in single figures as much of the time as I can, but I have to accept a few excursions into double figures happen from time to time, and have not (apparently, so far) resulted in permanent damage

I never said anything about immediate damage. The guidelines are there to minimise risk.

However, regular spikes can cause damage the blood vessels:

How Do Blood Sugar Spikes Affect Heart Health?

Over time, large spikes in blood sugar after eating may increase the risk of heart disease. But how? Here, we break down the science.

zoe.com

Having a fasting level of 10 means levels are chronically high and the effect is cumulative. So it’s not good to be at that level for long periods of times, and it’s not good to eat so it goes up to 13 and stays there for hours - which i is what happens with T2D due to the poor insulin response. Most of us with it don’t have insulin to inject and get it down.