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Hello from the sunny Wirral

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AdeV

AdeV

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi all,

Freshly diagnosed Type 2 here :(

Went straight from being a bit fat & lazy, to diabetes... Ooops.

So... now I'm doing more exercise, I'm trying to cut anything out of my diet that lists "sugar" as an ingredient (although I accidentally bought a load of breakfast cereals, as recommended by the nurse who gave me the diagnosis, only to discover they've all got sugar listed as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient).

I've also quit smoking (vaping for the moment, I hope to reduce that to nil too, although I've discovered it's actually a great way of hitting the "sweet" tastebuds, without the sugar problem), and I'm having another go at the 5-2 diet which worked really well for me a couple of years ago. So, I sit here writing this, starving hungry.... which I'm going to fix by going to bed 🙂 Early to bed, early to rise and all that jazz. Only it's not for the early worm, it's for the early train.

Anyway... as I only got the diagnosis a couple of weeks ago, and I'm only now getting around to looking at forums etc. I guess the next steps are to find a blood tester that I can work with, start testing myself per the advice I've read here & elsewhere, and start finding out what trips my blood sugars up.

I'm also about to lose an uncle to Type 1 diabetes - in fairness, he managed it for 50 years, but it's all caught up with him now, the gangrene's set in & his heart's not strong enough for surgery. So there's an incentive not to let this thing get any worse.

FWIW, I'm 6ft 4ins in my underpants, mid-40s, 125kg (at time of diagnosis - about 122kg now) in my heels, and married to a fabulous lady 15 year my junior who, when she's finally allowed into the country, will keep me very much on the straight and narrow - so long as we can find lots of diabetic-friendly Chinese food :D

Some people say I'm a narcissist, but that's enough about them...

Cheers!
Ade.

PS: I apologise in advance(ish) for my ribald sense of humour.
 
Welcome Ade, enjoyed your intro..... Sorry to hear about your Uncle though.....
 
Hi there, similar situation to yourself. Only diagnosed a couple of weeks ago ... And just joined this forum myself. So Hello from Me and sorry to hear about your uncle.

Pamela
 
Welcome to the forum @AdeV

Feel free to ask any questions, rant, moan and laugh. No questions are considered too obvious or silly, Diabetes is a lifelong journey of learning.

You might find the ‘what did you eat’ thread in the food section an interesting glimpse into other people’s choices. Your BG meter will be your guide. Hopefully you can find a way of eating that suits your weight, your BG and your tastebuds AND doesn’t leave you feeling hungry 🙂

As others had said, sympathies for your Uncle. Must be difficult for you and your family.
 
I don't know how nurses get away with giving out such dangerous advice. It is criminal. Why are they not being trained? It makes me so mad!

Oh and welcome Ade, you will find lots of good advice on here. Have a good look around.
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome 🙂 It's much appreciated. Hopefully, with a bit of early doors management and weight loss, I might be able to put this thing into remission - or, at least, to the point where I don't really need to think about it much. But that's a way off, I think, and meantime I value all the advice I've received by reading past posts here so far, and all the wisdom I'm bound to receive in answer to questions - both mine and others.

Re my uncle; yeah, it's pretty rough. It also doesn't help that he lives in New Zealand, unfortunately I've not been able to get out to see him, and it's really too late now. Heard last night that they've now stopped all of his medication except the morphine, so it's really into the last few hours now. He'll be missed - like all of our family, he had a wicked sense of humour, and a pretty laissez faire approach to life, and as the only Type 1 in our family (several Type 2s in the past, just me at the moment, but I expect one of my chubbier cousins to develop it in a few years too... unless they heed my warning), he was pretty much on his own in terms of managing it. Especially being in NZ.

Anyway, enough morbid thoughts. As Bob Monkhouse (IIRC) once said, I intend to die peacefully in my sleep like my father*.... not screaming in terror like the passengers on his bus!


* He's not dead yet, he'd like to point out.
 
Hi Ade, welcome! There is a wealth of information here that certainly will help point you in the right direction. I bought the Code Free testing kit as it was a reasonable price and the replacement testing strips are the cheapest I could find, I know many others also use the same device. Testing before and then again 2 hours after a meal helped me to work out what foods I tolerated and what I reacted badly to, gave me so much more confidence and variety in my diet....and brought my average bg levels within normal range 😉 Remember it’s not just sugars, carbs are the sneaky devils that our bodies react to so...read as much as you can and test...test...test :D
 
Hi Ade and welcome 🙂
 
Thank you all, again 🙂

Is there any preference amongst those of you with code free testers, about which one(s) are the best/most reliable/etc.? I see there's quite a choice on eBay for between around £18-£25, all claiming to be code free. I can't find any in my favourite colour (blue, since you asked. Oh, you didn't?), so any recommendations welcome.

Thanks!
 
AdeV said:
Thank you all, again 🙂

Is there any preference amongst those of you with code free testers, about which one(s) are the best/most reliable/etc.? I see there's quite a choice on eBay for between around £18-£25, all claiming to be code free. I can't find any in my favourite colour (blue, since you asked. Oh, you didn't?), so any recommendations welcome.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Ade go to Amazon.
 
My blood tester arrived this morning, yay! First bit of tech I've ever bought that I looked at with fear and loathing.... but let's face it, the prick tester has to be dealt with... (I know, I know, it's really not that bad. I may be exaggerating for effect).

Anyway, pleasantly surprised at the first results: first test (having not eaten, but had a few cups of coffee with Elmlea Single cream substitute in them): 6.6mmol/l. 6.5 a couple of hours after my breakfast (3 sausages, 4 rashers of bacon (all meat was grilled), 2 fried eggs, 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes (microwaved) & a mean portion of brown sauce.

Later, I had a cup of coffee with some Coffeemate in it (I forgot to buy milk for my workshop.... it's all I've got down here)... about 1/2 hour to an hour after that, 7.7 (eek!)
1h 15m later, back down to 6.3. (phew!)

I'm going to try the coffeemate experiment again now... wish me luck! 🙂

Good job I bought extra strips and swords for it... Hmm, I need to set the clock too. It thinks it's 9.30pm already :D
 
I've had my Codefree meter for over 2 years & I've never set the clock.🙄
 
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