Hello

Status
Not open for further replies.
tomtat

tomtat

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All, I'm a nearly 53, female, overweight Essex girl living in the North of Scotland.
I've just been diagnosed with type 2 & just coming to terms with it. When the doc told me I thought ok, I know a lot of people with varying degrees of diabetes & they cope alright. I've now seen the nurse & it's hit home😱
I'm rather confused about the diet - can I eat potatoes & pasta or not? There seems a lot of conflicting advice.
Anyway, I think i'll be using this site a lot for some common sense & a laugh.
 
Hi Tom tat and a warm welcome to the forum don't worry we were all in your shoes some on here still are being very newly diagnosed etc etc.

Potatoes and pasta plus bread are quite high in carbohydrates which can cause blood sugars to rise abit,but there's plenty of alternatives out there ,there's no need for us to live like rabbits lol x
Stick around here and you will make some great friends
 
Hi tomtat, welcome to the forum 🙂 You're right, there is an awful lot of conflicting advice around. The main thing to remember about managing diabetes is that you need to find out what works best for you as an individual. I would suggest reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter to give you a good idea of what it all entails, and also getting hold of a copy of the excellent and highly recommended Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker.

Don't feel you need to know everything right from the start - it is a learning experience and it will probably take some time before things start to click into place. Please ask any questions you may have - nothing is considered 'silly', and there are lots of friendly, knowledgeable and experienced people here who have been through just what you are going through now - and some almost as recently! 🙂

I look forward to hearing more from you.
 
Hi Tomtat.

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your time here as I have, the people here are fantastic in friendship and help. never be afraid to ask questions, they may sound silly to you, but maybe new to us, and we can all learn from it. Carbs do raise blood sugars, but its a question of trial and error, do you have a metter to check your levels.

John.
 
Welcome to the forum tomtat 🙂
 
welcome from me aswell ...who once lived in Caithness ! 🙂
 
Thanks for all your kind words & greetings. You'll be getting fed up with me asking questions etc.
I haven't got a blood tester, my nurse said I didn't need one but I've noticed a lot of you recommend them.
Since taking the meds (day 4) I've been getting niggly headaches, please tell me they pass when your body gets use to them. I felt well until I started the pills!
 
Hi tomtat. Welcome 🙂

You can never ask too many questions!

It's what keeps the forum alive. I would imagine your headaches may be due to your body/brain adjusting to slightly lower blood sugars. Hoepfully they'll pass soon, but always best to mention any side effects to the nurse/GP.🙂

Rob
 
tomtat said:
Thanks for all your kind words & greetings. You'll be getting fed up with me asking questions etc.
I haven't got a blood tester, my nurse said I didn't need one but I've noticed a lot of you recommend them.
Since taking the meds (day 4) I've been getting niggly headaches, please tell me they pass when your body gets use to them. I felt well until I started the pills!
Click to expand...

A meter is the best way to learn how different foods affect you so that you know what to keep in and what to exclude from your diet. People can have very different reactions to the same food, so rather than just accepting that, for example, porridge is good for you, you need to be able to confirm that for yourself. You wouldn't need to test forever - once you have established how you are affected by the foods you like to eat regularly, you will only need to do the occasional test for them, and just test new food when it appears on your plate! 🙂

Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S for a good description of how to approach testing. If you record your test results and show them to your GP and explain how it is helping you manage your diabetes then he/she is much more likely to prescribe the test strips. You can get a free meter from Abbott at https://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/free-meter-signup 🙂
 
Thanks all, you've been great! I will use the link you sent Northerner & speak to the nurse as well.:D
 
hi tomtat

when i joined this forum a few days ago everyone made me feel so welcome. so i thought i would say a hi to you too. this looks a great place for support and im sure youll get to grips with your diagnosis real soon. hope you are well 🙂

take care, diamond
 
Hi Diamond, thanks for that & I'm fine though can cry for no reason at the moment:confused: I found a great recipe for lentil curry on here, it's now stuck on the fridge door...recipe not the curry lol

Think this is my daily addiction reading this forum.
 
Welcome aboard Tomtat.

If this is going to be your daily addiction then it'll be the healthiest one you can have. 😉

Ma regards to North the borders (home for me)
 
Hello and welcome

Hi Tomtat I am brand new like you I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago and I was devestated and could not stop crying. the best thing I did was speak to people on here. inow have a meter and am recording all my meals and starting to get a good picture of what works for me and what doesnt. there is so much conflicting advice from the NHS who still insist that plenty of carbs is the way forward but on here you will get some great advice and everyone knows how you are feeling i am still feeling the same to be honest but I am starting to have good days and I am now starting to feel more in control and that is all thanks to my meter. I got mine from Amazon it is called codefree and it is the only one where the strips for it are not to expensive only ?6.99 for 50 as opposed to well over ?20 for all the others hereis the link for he initial kit and you can get the extra strips as well.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Gl...AJFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331503006&sr=8-1
 
Hi Tomcat,

Welcome to the boards. It's a great place to be with some very friendly people. I got diagnosed in Oct and so glad I found this board- I've learnt so much from everyone here 🙂

I promise it does get better and less confusing. For me getting a monitor and watching my levels going down made a lot of difference. Knowledge is power as they say and once I started understanding what diff foods did to my BS levels I felt a lot more in control.

Good luck and ask away x

PS- love the pic
 
I'm finding this site so helpful & I think I will get a monitor (thanks for the link).
The nurse here has told me to try & steer clear of carbs, I was told low fat, carbs & sugar but fibre's ok. It's so confusing:confused:

I'm going to take my frustration out on the weeds later:D
 
Belated welcome from me (posting on the first anniversary of joining this forum).

This is a great place to be, and as for any questions you may have, I've been diagnosed nearly 12 years and am still learning. 🙂

Great avatar by the way.
 
Belated welcome to the forum from me too 🙂 x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top