Hello from a newbie

[TillymintinLondon]

Hello everyone I was diagnosed today with Type 2 and I'm still a bit shell shocked. This seems like a great forum and I look forward to chatting with you-I feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Have a lovely evening!

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @TillymintinLondon and welcome to the forum.
Most newly diagnosed have lots of questions, so don't be shy.
Ask away, but tell us a little about yourself (particularly medical conditions and medicines) so that we can give you the right advice on beating Diabetes. Because we're all different, but that's what we are about - beating diabetes our in own ways.
There is almost certainly something that will work for you, it's just a matter of finding it. Many of us find that a Low Carb way of eating (not a calorie restricted diet) is enough to get us into remission. With no hunger, little or no medication and no additional exercise. It can improve Diabetes, weight, blood pressure , water retention and other problems.

 

[TillymintinLondon]

Hi @TillymintinLondon and welcome to the forum.
Most newly diagnosed have lots of questions, so don't be shy.
Ask away, but tell us a little about yourself (particularly medical conditions and medicines) so that we can give you the right advice on beating Diabetes. Because we're all different, but that's what we are about - beating diabetes our in own ways.
There is almost certainly something that will work for you, it's just a matter of finding it. Many of us find that a Low Carb way of eating (not a calorie restricted diet) is enough to get us into remission. With no hunger, little or no medication and no additional exercise. It can improve Diabetes, weight, blood pressure , water retention and other problems.

Hi Ian thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I have a thrombophilia disorder(recurrent blood clots) so take Fondaparinux injections for that; I have had surgery for hyperparathyroidism this year and am awaiting to see if I need medicines to help correct end time levels post surgery; I was diagnosed with skin cancer two weeks ago and having surgery for that in 3 weeks-I feel like I’m falling apart! I’m really interested in putting yourself into remission on a low carb diet. I think initially I’m going to be prescribed an injectible for my diabetes (waiting for written instructions from my endocrinologist. Super interested in exercising with diabetes if you have any suggestions for me to look at. I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions once I clear my head. You’ve given me lots of positivity and I’m grateful for that

 

[ianf0ster]

@TillymintinLondon An injectible, I can only thinks of 2 categories of injectibles and they are both for seriously high longer term Blood Glucose as shown by a high HbA1C test. Do you know what your HbA1C level was?

Fondaparinux (a blood thinner) doesn't appear to be a problem for a diabetic, though I'm unsure about the accuracy of the HbA1C tests with your condition. It don't see any interactions with diabetes drugs listed for it, though you might ned to avoid eating Avocado (not sure why) unfortunately Avocado is something that a lot of Low Carbers eat as a source of vegetable fats.

So far as eating Low Carb is concerned, it is just cutting down on the food that makes our Blood Glucose spike too high.
Carbohydrates are sugars and starches, so are quite high in many 'so-called healthy' foods such as grains and fruit. Even 'whole grains' and fruits aren't good for most of us - especially tropical fruit like banana, mango, pineapple, grapes etc. But berries - strawberries, blackberries, raspberries are OK for almost all of us though some may have a problem with blueberries (depending upon how ripe they are). So you see the problem is with all sugars, not just added sugars, so you need to look at the back of food packaging to see the total amount of carbohydrates per 100gm rather than just go by the 'traffic lights' on the front.

Fortunately there are 3 types of macro nutrients (carbohydrates, Proteins and fats) and Carbohydrates are the only one that is not required for life - so in theory we could live completely without them. All the vitamins and proteins and fats we need are contained in the fats and protein which don't spike our Blood Glucose. Animal sources of proteins and fats are more 'bio-available' than vegetable ones, meaning they are a richer, denser source than from vegetables.

I eat eggs, fish, meat (with the fat on), hard cheese, butter, full fat yogurt, berries, above ground veg, nuts, olives etc. So I don't feel deprived. I can even eat small quantities of dark 90% Lindt chocolate (up to half a bar is only 7gms of carbs), and drink dry white wine, most red wines (if not too sweet) spirits (with a zero carb mixer) but most beers are too high in carbs for me.

 

[TillymintinLondon]

@TillymintinLondon An injectible, I can only thinks of 2 categories of injectibles and they are both for seriously high longer term Blood Glucose as shown by a high HbA1C test. Do you know what your HbA1C level was?

Fondaparinux (a blood thinner) doesn't appear to be a problem for a diabetic, though I'm unsure about the accuracy of the HbA1C tests with your condition. It don't see any interactions with diabetes drugs listed for it, though you might ned to avoid eating Avocado (not sure why) unfortunately Avocado is something that a lot of Low Carbers eat as a source of vegetable fats.

So far as eating Low Carb is concerned, it is just cutting down on the food that makes our Blood Glucose spike too high.
Carbohydrates are sugars and starches, so are quite high in many 'so-called healthy' foods such as grains and fruit. Even 'whole grains' and fruits aren't good for most of us - especially tropical fruit like banana, mango, pineapple, grapes etc. But berries - strawberries, blackberries, raspberries are OK for almost all of us though some may have a problem with blueberries (depending upon how ripe they are). So you see the problem is with all sugars, not just added sugars, so you need to look at the back of food packaging to see the total amount of carbohydrates per 100gm rather than just go by the 'traffic lights' on the front.

Fortunately there are 3 types of macro nutrients (carbohydrates, Proteins and fats) and Carbohydrates are the only one that is not required for life - so in theory we could live completely without them. All the vitamins and proteins and fats we need are contained in the fats and protein which don't spike our Blood Glucose. Animal sources of proteins and fats are more 'bio-available' than vegetable ones, meaning they are a richer, denser source than from vegetables.

I eat eggs, fish, meat (with the fat on), hard cheese, butter, full fat yogurt, berries, above ground veg, nuts, olives etc. So I don't feel deprived. I can even eat small quantities of dark 90% Lindt chocolate (up to half a bar is only 7gms of carbs), and drink dry white wine, most red wines (if not too sweet) spirits (with a zero carb mixer) but most beers are too high in carbs for me.

I LOVE Lindt dark chocolate (for a little occasional treat). Wow it’s very complex with nutrition and diet. How long have you had diabetes for? Did you go to any patient education classes?
I don’t know what my HbA1c is-I was too shocked to ask. it’s funny when I looked up signs and symptoms yesterday I have nearly them all. I hadn’t even thought about my medication affecting it. Do you exercise much and will it affect blood sugars much? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Leadinglights]

Really a low carb diet isn't complicated, it just means basing your meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, not low fat dairy, nuts, vegetables and salads and fruits like berries with just small portions of the higher carb foods like potatoes, starchy veg, rice, pasta and bread and probably cutting out cakes, biscuits and high carb snacks and any sugary drinks.
Have a look at the thread 'what did you eat yesterday' for some ideas of what Type 2 folk have. Some people will be on meds or insulin but many are just dietary controlled.

 

[ianf0ster]

@TillymintinLondon Exercise isn't any more important for diabetics than for non-diabetics with one exception.

I didn't do any additional exercise at all during putting my T2 diabetes into remission, though some/many do.
All exercise uses up some Blood Glucose (provided it is available, but moderate exercise is probably best because vigorous exercise make the liver dump more glucose into the blood stream (for energy) making your BG go higher instead of lower. The best exercise for a Type 2 who wants to do more than the minimum (the NHS advised 30min brisk walk 5 times per week) is strength training (e.g. weights). This is because it builds muscle (if you eat enough protein) and muscles store glucose from the blood stream.

Some swim or cycle instead of walking, but need to be aware that if they try too hard their BG will be higher at the end of the exercise than it was before it.

 

[Felinia]

Regarding exercise, I went from couch potato to the swimming pool 3+ times a week. Covid has reduced that slightly but I am so much better for it - both mentally and physically.
Today's low carb menu is typical: Poached egg, grilled bacon and tomatoes; Home made tomato vegetable soup; Chicken breast topped with cheese, cauliflower rice, carrots, peas; strawberries and Greek yogurt. Within my daily carb count I also shared a small piece of home made lemon cake. I drink de-caf tea and coffee, mineral and soda water with a dash of lime cordial. So I don't go hungry!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @TillymintinLondon

Feeling slightly knocked for six is perfectly natural with a diagnosis of diabetes, so you are certainly not alone there. Sorry to hear that you are balancing and juggling various other conditions too. Sounds like you have lots on your plate.

Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.

Writing down the questions you think of and taking a list into your appointment is really helpful. Often you go in with a few, but it’s hard to bring them all to mind in the moment, especially when the conversation gets going!

For exercise with diabetes @Northerner always used to recommend the Diabetic Athlete's Handbook which explains how to deal with various types of exercise and describes the physical processes involved.