Hi all, I have just been diagnosed with diabetes

[KARNAK]

Hi Yan, welcome to the forum 🙂. First of all you have come to the right place and the knowledge and care of this forum is second to none. We don`t do death from diabetes it`s normally something else that knocks us off so don`t be over concerned. Lots of good advice already given and you will have the full support of this forum. It`s early days yet but there is no reason why you can`t live a normal and healthy life with the right care and advice. So we wish you well and keep us informed of your progress, take care kindest regards.

 

[Yan]

Hi Yan, welcome to the forum 🙂. First of all you have come to the right place and the knowledge and care of this forum is second to none. We don`t do death from diabetes it`s normally something else that knocks us off so don`t be over concerned. Lots of good advice already given and you will have the full support of this forum. It`s early days yet but there is no reason why you can`t live a normal and healthy life with the right care and advice. So we wish you well and keep us informed of your progress, take care kindest regards.

thank you for your kind words.
Did anyone get referred to see a Dietitian? I still dont understand how much I can and cannot eat and my GP is telling me to see the HCA!

 

[Yan]

Did anyone get referred to see a Dietitian? I still dont understand how much I can and cannot eat and my GP is telling me to see the HCA!

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

I think the problem may partly be that you don't know yet whether you're type 1 or type 2, and whether you're going to need tablets or insulin long term - what and how much you can eat will depend on that, so there is probably little point seeing a dietician until you get your test results back and they know which type of diabetes you have. But after that, one might be able to help you go through the things you normally eat and see whether you need to change anything. Until then, as you're on insulin, I'd be inclined to eat normally for a type 1 if I were you - that will be more or less what you ate before you got your diagnosis (unless you need to lose weight, in which case cutting down on carbs a bit might be a good idea anyway).

If you have type 1 you will be able to eat most things so long as you inject enough insulin to cover the food, but you will have to be careful with those carbs which make your blood sugar go up quickly, like white bread/rice/pasta, dried fruit, exotic fruit, and honey, and you'll have to avoid fruit juice unless your blood sugar goes down too low.

If you have type 2 you will have to avoid all the things I've mentioned above, and also be careful with other carbs like brown bread/rice/pasta, potatoes, and other fruit as well.

How much you can eat probably depends on how much you weigh and whether you want to lose any weight!

Most of us have seen a dietician at some point, there's a recent thread about them somewhere, I'll have a look for it for you in a minute. Their helpfulness varies, but if you are feeling really confused seeing one might be a good idea. What does HCA stand for?

 

[Yan]

@TheClockworkDodo thank you Juliet,

HCA means - health care assistant, that is who the GP referred me to as I have also requested to check my eyes, foot and diet. (as advised by the 15 health check)

Since Monday, I have 23g of porridge with some blueberries, lunch is scramble egg, ham, mushroom and veg (about a handful), then a piece of fruit ie. orange, and dinner have been plain chicken with veg, or tinned tinned mackerel with a salad, but tonight I added a small sweet potato. However, for the past two days since the change in diet, I've not been feeling as energies and a bit sleepy, so I added a bit of extra carb from the sweet potato this evening and it seems to helped.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Oh, I see - I'm now wondering what a HCA has to do with diabetes though - seems to me it would be more useful if your GP would refer you to a diabetes specialist nurse (DSN) at the hospital, as they are usually the most knowledgeable people in helping us manage our diabetes from day to day. The DSN might refer you on to a dietician as well, or be able to answer your questions about diet themselves. A general health assistant might be able to check your feet, but will not be much use in advising you about a diet suitable for someone with diabetes, and will not be able to check your eyes (you should have annual eye photos done by a specialist).

This is the thread about dieticians - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/dietitians.74543/

Your diet sounds very healthy, but at the same time it sounds to me as though you have overdone it a bit in the cutting down on carbs, given that you're on insulin - also you're not having any fat, and you do really need one or the other, so it's not surprising you've been feeling lacking in energy. At the very least, if your blood sugar is still high and you don't want to risk much more in the way of carbs at the moment, I'd add in some full-fat cheese and couple of savoury biscuits (TUC biscuits, for instance, have less than 3g carbs each), a handful or two of nuts, maybe a yogurt. There are probably type 2s reading this who will have other ideas.

For comparison (bearing in mind I'm type 1 and can pretty much eat what I like; also I'm fairly slim and don't put on weight) I think I have about 80g porridge oats in the morning, with a few raisins (not recommended, especially if you're type 2: blueberries are much better!), and plain yogurt; for lunch I might have 80g granary bread with marmite or cashew butter and salad, followed by a piece of fruit; for dinner I might have a small jacket potato with salmon and a large helping of brocoli, followed by a fruit yogurt. And I often snack on nuts, small pieces of licorice, dark (85% cocoa) chocolate, or TUC biscuits and cheese in between meals too!

 

[Yan]

thank you @TheClockworkDodo
your comparison is very helpful.
I think some help on how much I can eat will be an advantage. i,e, I just had 1 piece of brown toast with a little mature cheese and ham. (I have no idea if that is ok to have)

 

[Deleted member 18634]

Hi Yan and welcome- lots of great advice from lots of people already 🙂

Going in to the doctors for one thing and coming out with another is never fun so it's understandable that this is all a big shock to you at the moment. You've come to the right place! Over the next few weeks/months you're going to be bombarded with information and loads of questions will come up but we're always here to help if we can.

Depending on what type you are you can ask to go on an diabetes education course (DAFNE for type 1, DESMOND for type 2) which is a great foundation to start from. They are normally run by a dietitian and diabetes specialist and are a great opportunity to meet and talk with other long term and newly diagnosed diabetics.

As for having a family, it's perfectly normal to have these concerns, but diabetes doesn't stop you from living a full life with all the things you have planned. I've had type 1 for 14 years and had terrible control for most of it, but despite all of that I'm 5 months pregnant and managing my complications well with the help of my diabetes team. Yes, it takes a bit more planning with diabetes, but we do get a lot of extra care and some extra scans during pregnancy which I'm sure a lot of non-diabetic mothers would appreciate!

Let us know how things are going for you on your journey 🙂

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

I think things will get a lot easier once you know which type of diabetes you have, but either way I'd ask your GP to refer you to a hospital Diabetes Specialist Nurse to help answer all your questions (and don't be fobbed off with a surgery diabetes nurse - a surgery nurse might be able to help in the longer term if you turn out to have type 2, but they won't be a specialist the way a DSN is, so you could do with seeing a DSN initially at least, and if you have type 1 you should see a DSN in the longer term too).