Hello and some questions

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beejeezus

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Type 2
Hello all, 4 weeks ago I was diagnosed with type 2, blood test was 7.2, whatever that means as I've not yet had much explained.
I was started on 500 metformin once a day and I've been on sale self imposed strict weight loss regime as I'm overweight. I use a calorie counter app and bulk out my diet with fruit instead of desserts. Is this OK? Is there too much fruit?

Also, self monitoring, my doctor said nothing about this znd once a year checks seem a bit underkill to me so I'd like to buy something to test myself occasionally as I'm hoping with diet and exercise I can stop taking metformin.

I'm scared and feel I've been given very little information so any advice most welcome.
 
Hello Betty and welcome to the forum.
What you need to do is watch the amount and type of carbs you eat. If you cut back on the carbs your blood sugars will go down as will your weight. Exercise is also very important so well done on thinking about that as well.
 
Fruits are not that great, quite a lot of sugar in the form of fructose in them..so please limit fruit to 1 or 2 per day your calorie counter app should be able to tell you how much in each type etc, for instance a large apple can have over 15g of sugar in it, to put that into perspective that's over 3 x sugar cubes.
As regards BG meters many manufacturers offer free meters but then the test strips are expensive the 2 meters that are mostly recommended here are the Codefree Meter and the Tee2 meter as both have test strips under £8 per 50
The codefree meter is relatively cheap and the Tee2 is free from manufacturers.
As people above have said watch carbohydrates that's both the simple sugars and starches found in rice, bread, wheat,potatoes pastas etc...
Your blood test was called HbA1c which you can read about by searching previous posts here but it's basically a measure of your blood glucose levels over the last 2-3 months see link below
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

Hope this helps Regards..M
 
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Betty Grant said:
Hello all, 4 weeks ago I was diagnosed with type 2, blood test was 7.2, whatever that means as I've not yet had much explained.
I was started on 500 metformin once a day and I've been on sale self imposed strict weight loss regime as I'm overweight. I use a calorie counter app and bulk out my diet with fruit instead of desserts. Is this OK? Is there too much fruit?

Also, self monitoring, my doctor said nothing about this znd once a year checks seem a bit underkill to me so I'd like to buy something to test myself occasionally as I'm hoping with diet and exercise I can stop taking metformin.

I'm scared and feel I've been given very little information so any advice most welcome.
Click to expand...
Hi Betty that's a disappointing response from your GP but not a surprising one...many of us here...myself included have started our diabetes journey the same way...I believe one of the best things you can do is try & get a copy of Type 2 Diabetes The First Year by Gretchen Becker...she is type 2 diabetic who writes about her first year from diagnosis onwards month by month...she explains how/why type 2 develops...the effect of different foods on our blood sugars...the importance of testing our BG's...what benefit we derive from that...it will answer all the questions you have asked above & most importantly she dispels many of the myths surrounding type 2...the book as available to preview on Amazon before deciding whether to buy it or borrow it from your library...it's well written & easy to follow...if you do decide to test (and I believe that has been essential for me) then the codefree meter is about the best value meter to use...it is available on amazon or directly from Home Health...good luck
 
I thought if you were diabetic you had an hba1c every 3 months. I was pre-diabetic, got out of it, gone up again and cannot have another test for a year.

I was told by GP to have max 3 fruit a day but the diabetes prevention programme said 2. As has already been said, pasta, bread, rice potatoes, keep to a minimum or cut out. I don't miss them now. I like bread so make my own. There are some nice recipes on here. I found some others on dietdoctor.com.

When I go out for a meal I ask for no potatoes and extra veg. Most places do it without extra charge; if they charge me extra I don't mind but most don't. Sometimes I have a dessert as my GP said it is a good thing to have a treat sometimes but I don't do it all the time. I like cauliflower rice and courgetti spaghetti so don't miss pasta and rice. I fortunately like cooking and, being retired, have time to do it.
 
Hi Betty, welcome to the group 😉 as the others have already said you need too watch the carbs and testing is the best way to work out what your body can or can’t tolerate. Like you I used to eat up to 6 pieces of fruit a day, I followed slimming world diet at the time. I cut out all fruit to get my levels down then tried two small apples, again my blood glucose shot up, I cut back to one small apple every other day and that seems to work for me, others can and do manage more but that’s why the testing is key :D
 
Hi Betty. You're in the right place so welcome. Cut the carbs, made a very quick and big difference with me. Step up the exercise but to levels you can maintain and are comfortable with. I now eat a piece of fruit a day, no more than that. 5 years ago I was lucky if I ate one a week! 😱 🙄
 
Thank you all so much for your advice, feel like I've been thrown to the wolves with this!
 
I've just ordered the codefree setup from amazon, I'll probably be back with more questions when it arrives
 
No more than three times a week I have a tiny teacup sized bowl of berries, with double cream, and they are counted into the 40 gm of carbs a day I set as a maximum.
I have normal readings of BG and Hba1c, but I certainly would be nowhere even close to that if I had taken the advice of the diabetes education pair I saw at the start of 2017.
I set a limit of 10 percent carbs, except for some small amounts of high cocoa chocolate, and in addition to no trouble from diabetes I am losing both weight and size, so I have had to buy all new clothes several times since diagnosis almost 19 months ago.
 
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