Hi, I'm new :/

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steffworthington

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Normally when I join forums I'm all "Hiya!"... of course this is different. I was told the other day that my doctor (and subsequent doctor) were convinced I have type2. The bloods are off for comformation. I'm a little worried but was reassured by the pharmacist who gave me Metformin who sat me down and told me more about diabetes (unlike my doc who just gave me leaflets because "[she] can't spend too much time on one patient."

I have an app on my android phone for counting calories which is ok but my main problem is that I was laid off a year ago. I've just blown a weeks food budget for 3 days of lean chicken, wholewheta pasta and other recommended foods. On JSA that is a disastrous thing to do.

Does anyone have any ideas? I know this is supposed to be a mere 'hello' post. Sorry if im drowning you in info.
 
Hi Steff,
welcome to the form.
Having any form of diabetes means you need to be very carb aware. Carbs are make your pancreas go into overdrive :( and raise your blood sugars.

Looking on the bright side though as you have been put on meds you can now apply for free prescriptions 🙂
 
Hi Steff, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis - I hope that joining here will help you to come to terms with it and learn how to manage your diabetes well. There are lots of friendly, knowledgeable and experienced people here, so if you have any questions, please do ask! 🙂

I'm on a pretty limited budget myself, but have found that eating healthily doesn't have to be expensive. Whenever possible I will buy discounted items that can either be cooked immediately in quantity then separated into portions and frozen e.g. chilli con carne, chicken curry, spghetti bolgnese, shepherds pie, sweet and sour chicken etc. Works out much cheaper over time, just needs a bit of planning! I tend to buy tinned fruit rather than fresh as it is cheaper and just as good for you (as long as it is in juice and not syrup! I doubt if I ever spend more than ?1 on a meal that I prepare myself.

I would recommend having a read of the items in our Useful links thread - in particular Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter, and the excellent book Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. These will all help you to understand what it is all about and how to tackle it. Although it's ot great to be diagnosed with diabetes it can help people to become more focussed on their health and prompt them to make the necessary adaptations to their diet and activity levels, leading to them feeling much healthier and happeir than they may have been for some time. I hope that this will be true in your case, and please ask for our help whenever the need arises 🙂
 
Hi Stef a warm welcome to the forum from me
 
Welcome SteffWorthington

As others have said, there are ways of eating healthily on a budget - getting to know when certain shops reduce their food prices helps, then either cooking immediately and freezing portions after preparing a big batch or freezing uncooked food.

As Sue mentioned, make sure you get a medical exemption certificate for free prescriptions due to medication for diabetes which is not dependent of your employment status.

The other big area to consider is physical activity, which doesn't have to cost money, either eg walking / cycling (assuming you have a bike, if not, can often get second hand ones very cheaply or eg through Freecycle) alone, instead of driving / using public transport (I appreciate this depends on your local area), joining free or cheaper options open to you because of JSA etc.
 
Welcome to the forum steffworthington 🙂
 
steffworthington said:
Normally when I join forums I'm all "Hiya!"... of course this is different. I was told the other day that my doctor (and subsequent doctor) were convinced I have type2. The bloods are off for comformation. I'm a little worried but was reassured by the pharmacist who gave me Metformin who sat me down and told me more about diabetes (unlike my doc who just gave me leaflets because "[she] can't spend too much time on one patient."

I have an app on my android phone for counting calories which is ok but my main problem is that I was laid off a year ago. I've just blown a weeks food budget for 3 days of lean chicken, wholewheta pasta and other recommended foods. On JSA that is a disastrous thing to do.

Does anyone have any ideas? I know this is supposed to be a mere 'hello' post. Sorry if im drowning you in info.
Click to expand...

Hi Steff,

I'm new to all this too, just diagnosed 3 weeks ago. I notice you live in Chester same as me - there's a Diabetes UK support group in Chester that I found through the website - they meet every 2 months, with the next meeting @ 7.30pm on 11th September @ Chester Uni - the site that was County Hall, with the entrance in Castle Drive - by the river. I'm thinking they may be helpful with advice and tips etc.

I'm learning that I can't expect fast results - it took a long while for me to get into this state and now I'm learning about all the symptoms, I realise I was undiagnosed for a good few months - it's going to take time to sort and I need to learn to relax a bit (easy to say . . )

There are some good information books out there - Readers Digest "Natural Solutions for Diabetics" helped and I'm just starting "Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year" by Gretchen Becker. Chester libraries have been a good source for me and are free to join if you're not already a member.

You should also be given information about a Diabetes Essentials session - 2hours ish of education at a local venue, which was useful.

Hope it goes OK, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

Lina17
 
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