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Confused newbie

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trisha53

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Type 2
Hello. I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago wih type 2 diabetes and am taking Metformin twice a day.
HbA1c 71. I am having regular dizzy spells and confused as to what I should be doing.
I am finding it hard contolling my diet when I am at work as I usually only take a sandwich.
Do any members have any tips on what I can take for lunch that is quick and easy.
 
trisha53 said:
Hello. I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago wih type 2 diabetes and am taking Metformin twice a day.
HbA1c 71. I am having regular dizzy spells and confused as to what I should be doing.
I am finding it hard contolling my diet when I am at work as I usually only take a sandwich.
Do any members have any tips on what I can take for lunch that is quick and easy.
Click to expand...
Hi trisha, welcome to the forum 🙂 Are you using a blood glucose meter to test your blood glucose levels? It might be especially useful to be able to test when you are feeling dizzy, so you could tell whether it is likely to be related to your diabetes or not. Sometimes, when people are recently diagnosed and they start making changes to their diet and activity levels, their blood glucose levels can fall lower than they have become accustomed to prior to diagnosis and this can make you feel a bit light-headed or dizzy. If your nurse or GP didn't give you a meter, I would suggest asking for one. Often, they will say that you don't need to test, but as many, many of our members will confirm it is the best way to determine whether you are making good food choices or if you are not tolerating things well. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand what I mean by this 🙂 If your nurse/GP won't give you a meter and test strips it can be worth getting them yourself whilst you work out what things you tolerate well and what you ought to reduce or remove from your diet. The cheapest option we have come across is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50.

Also, I'd recommend having a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter, and getting a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker - these will really help you understand your diabetes and how best to tackle it.

Phew! I think that's it - you can relax now! 🙂 Oh, if the dizzy spells persist I would ask your GP or nurse about them - have they only started recently?
 
Welcome Trisha. There are lots of very helpful people on here who are able to give excellent advice. Just keep asking questions.
 
Welcome to the forum, Trisha.🙂
 
Hi and welcome Trisha - lots of helpful and very knowledgeable folks round here 😉
 
Thank you for your advice. I will ask for a meter but my nurse has said I can get all the information I need from this website and I am not due to see her again for another 3 months. I may buy one in the meantime if you think it would help. Just a bit confused as to what I sould or should not be eating. I will definately look at reading the books suggested.
 
I found a test meter invaluable in letting me know what was happening to my BG.

Keep your food simple. Sort of back to basics with whole, natural foods. Keep your carbs low by eliminating white fooda ie White bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cake! Anything that's made from flour or sugar is off the menu for now. There is plenty of time to experiment once you've got your BG under control.

I forgot to say. On shopping day my fridge looks like a rain forest!
 
Hi just had a look at the Codemetre tester and some of the reviews are saying readings are vastly different even though taken within minutes. My GP will not give me a metre and want to understand what's happening to me with the extreme tiredness etc. Are GP's refusing to give then to type 2 because of finance I wonder?
 
trisha53 said:
Thank you for your advice. I will ask for a meter but my nurse has said I can get all the information I need from this website and I am not due to see her again for another 3 months. I may buy one in the meantime if you think it would help. Just a bit confused as to what I sould or should not be eating. I will definately look at reading the books suggested.
Click to expand...
Hi Trisha, regarding what to eat - the main thing to be aware of are foods that are high in carbohydrates. Sugary foods are obvious ones, but sugar is just one type of carbohydrate - others are bread, potatoes, pasta, rice. Some fruit is higher in fruit sugar than others so again something to watch out for. I would recommend starting a food diary, recording the amount of carbohydrate in everything you eat and drink. It may sound a bit tedious, but it will really help you to identify where you might be able to substitute other things e.g. less potato, more veg. There are some great ideas/recipes in the Food section - using things like cauliflower mash or rice, or courguetti spaghetti, for example. Using a meter you can determine how well you tolerate your chosen meals and whether they might need changing. It takes a little while to get used to and to build up experience, but once it's done you don't need to test so often and you will begin to learn what is good and bad for you as an individual - diabetes can affect people differently, some people may be fine with porridge for breakfast whereas others aren't, for example.

Some general principles about what food to eat can be found in the GL Diet - The GL Diet for Dummies is a good introduction 🙂
 
Misty said:
Hi just had a look at the Codemetre tester and some of the reviews are saying readings are vastly different even though taken within minutes. My GP will not give me a metre and want to understand what's happening to me with the extreme tiredness etc. Are GP's refusing to give then to type 2 because of finance I wonder?
Click to expand...
I use a Codefree as a spare, and find it as reliable as my more expensive regular meter. In tests it fared as well as any other. I find I can get different readings just moments apart on either of my meters, either because of the allowed tolerances, or if my bloods are changing fast. Since getting the libre, which gives you a trace of your readings over the previous 8 hours, I've been amazed just how fast my bloods do change sometimes.
 
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