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Witches walk

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Hi my name is Stacey. I havnt been diagnosed officially with diabetes yet but am going for through the process. I had a blood test with a level of 56 which I understand to be higher than it should be but I don't understand anything more about. I have to have a repeat test tomorrow morning to re test my levels. I have also been told my vitamin d levels are low. Feelingot pretty rotten. I have bought myself a fitbit to help me increase my physical movement. I have a hypnotherapy session booked next week to help me to adjust my mindset and make healthier choices. I have also made an appointment with a health tracker through the nhs next week. Xxx
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. You'll get lots of great help and advise on here.
 
Welcome to the forum, looks like you are already making a big effort! Let us know how you get on with the second blood test.
 
Witches walk said:
Hi my name is Stacey. I havnt been diagnosed officially with diabetes yet but am going for through the process. I had a blood test with a level of 56 which I understand to be higher than it should be but I don't understand anything more about. I have to have a repeat test tomorrow morning to re test my levels. I have also been told my vitamin d levels are low. Feelingot pretty rotten. I have bought myself a fitbit to help me increase my physical movement. I have a hypnotherapy session booked next week to help me to adjust my mindset and make healthier choices. I have also made an appointment with a health tracker through the nhs next week. Xxx
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Personally, I'd invest my time and money not with a hypnotherapist, who science shows are not very effective at all for anything - but in some reading and a Blood Glucose monitor.

There's very little mindset to be adjusted and I doubt a hypnotherapist will have experience with the particular version of 'healthy' that diabetics need - it's not just a case of eating fewer calories for us, it's about the right number of carbohydrates - all types of which turn to blood glucose. If you're overweight then losing weight and getting fit will definitely help in the longer term, but eating very few carbs will get your blood sugar down more or less immediately - you have a relatively low HbA1c of 56 and can probably get dramatic effects from this. People talk about reversing diabetes - I'm not convinced that's an accurate description, but it's certainly possible to live a long and healthy life with it and suffer no complications.

A great book I used was the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet by Michael Moseley - it's very good at explaining what and why you need to rethink your diet. I only stuck to it for about 3 weeks in fact, but then kept up the dietary guidelines, but stopped trying to count the calories and still continued to lose weight. I basically ate what I wanted, but without pasta, bread, cake, potatoes, rice and cereals. It's hard at first as you've probably been conditioned to think that in something like bread and butter, butter is the problem, but for diabetics it's really the bread.

Just look at the HbA1c levels of people on here in their signatures to see how dramatically you can improve in a short time - the NHS wants to keep below 48, but below 42 is normal / non-diabetic. Mine went down from 66 to 38 in 3 months for instance. Everyone's different of course, but that's not unusual for people lowering their carb intake and measuring themselves to get feedback.
 
Hi Stacey, Welcome . I'm afraid I agree with ChrisSamsdad. In that it's unlikely though not impossible that a Hypnotherapist would know what is good for a diabetic to eat.
You see it's not just about avoiding sugar and eating what is at the moment considered to be a healthy diet.
We turn Carbohydrates into glucose , which our bodied need for fuel.
The trouble is our body no longer handles carbs very well. Sugar is just another carb.

Some of the best things you can do are.
Ask lots of questions , on here and at your gp practice, when you see the nurse or gp.
Have a read of the info in the pinned area of the newbies section called , useful links for people new to diabetes.
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/
In the meantime, cut down a bit on potatoes, rice , pasta and bread esp
White.
We need to be careful with fruit , berries are often tolerated better, grapes are little sugar bombs and fruit juice is packed full of sugar.
The only we can learn how well our bodies handle certain foods is by testing our blood glucose before eating and 2 hours afterwards , if you are dx as T2 diabetic then unless you are put on medication that can cause hypo's (Metformin doesn't, then you are most unlikely to be given a meter.
If you can afford to self fund the ongoing cost of testing strips for a glucose meter, the SD Codefree meter from Amazon or directly from Homehealth
have the cheapest test strips we know of costing around £8 for 50, other high street brands are between £15 to £25
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
We use the mmol/L measurement in the Uk
 
Hi witches walk and welcome. 🙂
 
Welcome!

If hypno helps you face up to your responsibilities - let me know and I'll give it a go too.

Keep in touch, ask lots of questions. There are wonderfull informed people on here.

Most of all - remeber we are all different - what works for me may well not be for you. However, please DO post anything that works (or not) for you - we should all be very interested in others experiances be they newly diagnosed or old hands. Only an ignorant egotist would tell you they don't want to know.

L
 
Update time. I am type 2 diabetic. Test no 2 confirmed it but I have already managed to lower the result to 52 since the first test. Hypnosis is something that works for me. Motivation and will power are massive issues. I consider myself a sugar and food in general addict. I needed help with adjusting the way I see food. Stopping eating when full etc. Smaller. Portions. The hypnosis wasn't about what food I can or can't have. It was about how I use food in my life. Adjusting some of that will help me to look at the right foods for me as the next step. I have a question regarding testing. The nurse said we don't need to look at that yet or go on any meds but I feel maybe I would have more control if I was testing? Do I need to? Would it be beneficial? Xx
 
Witches walk said:
Update time. I am type 2 diabetic. Test no 2 confirmed it but I have already managed to lower the result to 52 since the first test. Hypnosis is something that works for me. Motivation and will power are massive issues. I consider myself a sugar and food in general addict. I needed help with adjusting the way I see food. Stopping eating when full etc. Smaller. Portions. The hypnosis wasn't about what food I can or can't have. It was about how I use food in my life. Adjusting some of that will help me to look at the right foods for me as the next step. I have a question regarding testing. The nurse said we don't need to look at that yet or go on any meds but I feel maybe I would have more control if I was testing? Do I need to? Would it be beneficial? Xx
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Welcome. Great name.

If you know your diet is'nt so good now then you know how you can improve this once your up to it. If the nurse is saying you don't need to test then shes probably right. If you can get your results down quickly without testing and you feel alright then you might be okay without. If you go on meds you might need to test. Id say if she doesnt think meds are needed then you must have options iwth your diet and health you can look at first.

Good luck.
 
While your levels are low I personally would still test just so you know your diet and exercise are keeping your Diabetes under control. Even just testing first and last thing would give you an idea of how well you are managing your diabetes.

I'm T2 and I was given a meter by my GP surgery and I've embraced testing. Wouldn't say I enjoy but it's given me the opportunity to manage my own health.
 
Testing yourself can be a massive help in understanding how food affects you. A lot of members here use the CodeFree meter from home health or Amazon. It has the cheapest testing strips available 🙂
When I was first diagnosed several years ago, and before starting in any mess, testing was hugely beneficial. I found, for example that I couldn't tolerate porridge, but could tolerate a jacket potato, which is the opposite to what the nutritionist had told me. Everyone is individual, and our bodies tolerate different things to different degrees 🙂
There's lots of T2s here that test, and find it helps.
 
I advocate testing. I wouldn't be in the position I am now without knowing what foods affect me & which one's dont.
 
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