Another newbie!

[Flakie]

Hi. I was diagnosed last week and am waiting for results of a blood test called HB something. I see the nurse this Thursday. I'm 61 and have just about got my head round what is to come. I've loads of questions so will head over to the general board to get started. Looking forward to making your acquaintances.

 

[Northerner]

Hi. I was diagnosed last week and am waiting for results of a blood test called HB something. I see the nurse this Thursday. I'm 61 and have just about got my head round what is to come. I've loads of questions so will head over to the general board to get started. Looking forward to making your acquaintances.

Hi Flakie, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, how did it come about? Please go ahead and feel free to ask any questions you may have, we've not been stumped by one yet! Well, not completely! 😉

 

[Radders]

Hi Flakie and welcome to this lovely forum.

I'm intrigued as to how you were diagnosed as well if you've not had your HBA1c yet, I assume you had a high random blood test result?

 

[Flakie]

Hello to you both. I went to see the nurse practitioner as my gp was away as I had been having recurrent female problems (!) and also has really been craving sweet things - not just a fancy but I'll kill something if I don't get sort of cravings! She saw by my records that the last time I had been tested for glucose was 2012 so sorted a fasting glucose blood test. This showed a reading of 10.4 so when I went to see the GP and he saw that he said it was definitely diabetes. I then saw a nurse at the practice who specialises in diabetes and she said she agreed, and then did the other blood test. The results of that are not back yet. I've also got what I now recognise as some minor neuropathy in one of my toes, though the nurse said the pulse in both feet were good and they looked ok. So hopefully more answers when I see her this week. Northener, thanks for,thenlinks in my other post - very helpful and insightful. Much appreciated.

 

[Radders]

Hello to you both. I went to see the nurse practitioner as my gp was away as I had been having recurrent female problems (!) and also has really been craving sweet things - not just a fancy but I'll kill something if I don't get sort of cravings! She saw by my records that the last time I had been tested for glucose was 2012 so sorted a fasting glucose blood test. This showed a reading of 10.4 so when I went to see the GP and he saw that he said it was definitely diabetes. I then saw a nurse at the practice who specialises in diabetes and she said she agreed, and then did the other blood test. The results of that are not back yet. I've also got what I now recognise as some minor neuropathy in one of my toes, though the nurse said the pulse in both feet were good and they looked ok. So hopefully more answers when I see her this week. Northener, thanks for,thenlinks in my other post - very helpful and insightful. Much appreciated.

I hope you get the support you need. I believe that neuropathy can go into remission if good control is achieved so hopefully this will improve. Have you found that the cravings have lessened since you started the metformin, or is it too soon?

 

[Flakie]

Thanks Radders
The cravings have gone now but I don't know if it's the Metformin or not. I think I may just be paranoid about eating anything I shouldn't but then I don't yet fully understand what I should eat or avoid! I think the diagnosis really freaked me out and a fortnight in I'm just beginning to realise what changes I will have to make. I immediately cut out sugar in my tea and on the cornflakes ( do I have to give those up?!!) and stopped snacking on Jaffa cakes and so on but thee is a long way to go. The nurse has referred me for a four hour course for newly diagnosed which will,hopefully put me on the right track and I have a couple of reputable books coming, plus of course the best avenue which is this forum, and first hand experiences and good advice! I'll be asking lots of questions over the coming weeks and thank you all for your warm welcome. 😉

 

[Northerner]

Thanks Radders
The cravings have gone now but I don't know if it's the Metformin or not. I think I may just be paranoid about eating anything I shouldn't but then I don't yet fully understand what I should eat or avoid! I think the diagnosis really freaked me out and a fortnight in I'm just beginning to realise what changes I will have to make. I immediately cut out sugar in my tea and on the cornflakes ( do I have to give those up?!!) and stopped snacking on Jaffa cakes and so on but thee is a long way to go. The nurse has referred me for a four hour course for newly diagnosed which will,hopefully put me on the right track and I have a couple of reputable books coming, plus of course the best avenue which is this forum, and first hand experiences and good advice! I'll be asking lots of questions over the coming weeks and thank you all for your warm welcome. 😉

I'd ditch the cornflakes Most cereals will significantly raise blood sugar levels, particularly in the mornings when they tend to be eaten because insulin resistance tends to be higher at that time of day. Try some scrambled eggs, and if you want toast with it, do try Burgen Soya and Linseed bread - it's lower carb than most bread (due to some of the flour being replaced with soya flour), and the seeds help slow the digestion. Believe it or not, bacon and egg is also a good choice - no carbs! 🙂

When you have had elevated blood sugar levels for a while a common side effect is something called polyphagia - basically 'eat everything'! - your brain thinks it is being deprived of glucose because your body isn't processing your food efficiently, so it prompts the hunger 🙄 Brains eh? Who'd 'ave 'em? 🙄 😉

 

[Flakie]

Bother! Love my cornflakes as well! Ok will try that bread. What about eggs? How many in a week? My life just got very confusing!

 

[Northerner]

Bother! Love my cornflakes as well! Ok will try that bread. What about eggs? How many in a week? My life just got very confusing!

Eggs are fine 🙂 One thing that you'll probably find surprising is that fat is not the enemy you might have been led to believe either - fat slows the digestion of your food meaning it has a slower and steadier impact on your blood sugar levels. Generally, people who reduce their carbs are the people who lose weight, not the people cutting out the fat. Look carefully at 'low-fat' products - most of them replace the fat with sugars 😱

I'd recommend looking into the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet - not a weight loss diet, but a method of selectingand combining food so that it has a steadier release of glucose into the system, avoiding the blood sugar spikes that some combinations offer. The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction 🙂

 

[Ditto]

Hello Flakie and welcome to the forum. 🙂

You need to measure and see what foods you can get away with. I just had chicken with tinned peas and carrots. Felt quite saintly and now I'm in a bad mood because bg measured over 9.0 grrrrrrr...I'm thinking the tinned veg? Surely can't have been the chicken although I did nearly have a full one bar a leg and a bit of breast for Mum...

 

[Flakie]

I can see there's a lot to learn but I'm sure with time I'll get there. With me I just need lists of generally safe foods so I can sort out what I can eat at different times of the day and I'm sure that will become clear. Fancy the idea of bacon and eggs for brekkie every day but it won't do my waistline any good!

 

[Ljc]

I can see there's a lot to learn but I'm sure with time I'll get there. With me I just need lists of generally safe foods so I can sort out what I can eat at different times of the day and I'm sure that will become clear. Fancy the idea of bacon and eggs for brekkie every day but it won't do my waistline any good!

THis should give you a good start.
Its carbohydrates that we can’t handle .

Ignore the traffic lights on the front of packs. It’s the total number of carbohydrates on the label at the back you need to watch, sugar is just another carb this is included in the total carbs, so you needn’t check the sugar content
If you eat meat, it’s fine as are high meat content sausages (I love Black farmer sausages) and burgers, cheese, mushrooms veg that grows above ground. Eggs , some nuts are low in carbohydrates , fish, diet drinks, cheese,
Berries (not grapes) are often tolerated better than other fruits, rich tea biscuits are lower carb than other biscuits.

 

[Flakie]

Thanks Lin
That doesn't sound too bad then! And I love rich tea biscuits! Thanks for the info. 🙂

 

[Ditto]

I can see there's a lot to learn but I'm sure with time I'll get there. With me I just need lists of generally safe foods so I can sort out what I can eat at different times of the day and I'm sure that will become clear. Fancy the idea of bacon and eggs for brekkie every day but it won't do my waistline any good!

You can have bacon and eggs every day and lose weight! Just don't have any toast, hash browns, baked beans or ketchup with it. You could have mushrooms, tomatoes too, which are very good for you. Also fried onions but not too much as onions are higher carb, also garlic. Crumbs, I've made myself hungry, I think I'll have this for breakfast.