Hi Type2, 2weeks ago

[scaredycat]

Hi everyone, was diagnosed 2 weeks ago by my doctor. It didnt really sink in for a few days, as the gp just gave me a prescription for pills and told to make a appointment to see the nurse, and that that was enough info I needed for the time being. Ok, couldnt get an appointment for the nurse till middle of next month, ...fine!
I knew and know very little about diabeties, so didnt really think about it, came out told my partner, who had a bit of a panic - right that's it ,you are on a diet, no more cider,(WHAT!!), chocolate, etc blah blah - still didnt sink in!! I suffered the embaressment of going food shopping with my daughter, picture the scene....happily trundling up and down the food aisles happily picking up all my regular items, to be told NO mum, you cant have that its got sugar in it, ect ect . No chocolate, crisps, biscuits, cider.....ok I'll get rice cakes, they are healthy, yes you probably guessed' NO mum sugar', but everything has sugar in it duh. I tell you I left the store feeling like c**p and very upset. Life will never be the same again.....okey starting to sink in.

Yes, I am overweight, but I dont fry anything in oil, I eat wholemeal bread and no butter, buy low fat, low calory items of food so am totally fed up, angry, feeling down and sorry for myself probably what everyone else has/is feeling.
Now, I've bought one of those bg monitors and strips, but could someone please help me, by telling me what numbers are 'normal' and not please?!!!! Thank you

 

[Ljc]

Hello, Welcome to the Forum. You will find a lot of help and support here from people who know what it's like.
It's good you have joined here as there are many mis-conceptions about diabetes one of them is about sugar ie if it's in food we can't eat it, also that lots of fruit is good for us, both are wrong.

It might be a good idea if your Husband and Daughter joined here or at least read these forums, as they will have a good supprise and learn a lot.

It's the total number of carbohydrates we type 2s (I am assuming you are type 2) that we need to cut down on rather than just the sugar content.
Sugar is just another form of carbohydrate, which our body turns into sugar often quite rapidly.
To get you BG (blood glucose) under control you need to cut down on the total carbohydrates in food/snacks. it will also aid in you in losing weight without really trying 🙂🙂
The starchy carbs are the worst , potatoes, rice and pasta, I'm not saying you can't have any but cut down on them quite a lot.
Rice plays havoc with my BG(blood glucose) so I only have two dessert spoons of cooked rice.
We're also going to give you a bit of a supprise about fats and low fat food too 🙂 but I'll leave that up to others here as I think I've given you a lot to digest for the time being.
Feel free to ask question we will do our best to help.
Oh before I forget you may find this book helpful
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...p=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1841198048

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome from a T2. Be careful, low fat is not popular round these parts.

 

[Northerner]

Hi everyone, was diagnosed 2 weeks ago by my doctor. It didnt really sink in for a few days, as the gp just gave me a prescription for pills and told to make a appointment to see the nurse, and that that was enough info I needed for the time being. Ok, couldnt get an appointment for the nurse till middle of next month, ...fine!
I knew and know very little about diabeties, so didnt really think about it, came out told my partner, who had a bit of a panic - right that's it ,you are on a diet, no more cider,(WHAT!!), chocolate, etc blah blah - still didnt sink in!! I suffered the embaressment of going food shopping with my daughter, picture the scene....happily trundling up and down the food aisles happily picking up all my regular items, to be told NO mum, you cant have that its got f osugar in it, ect ect . No chocolate, crisps, biscuits, cider.....ok I'll get rice cakes, they are healthy, yes you probably guessed' NO mum sugar', but everything has sugar in it duh. I tell you I left the store feeling like c**p and very upset. Life will never be the same again.....okey starting to sink in.

Yes, I am overweight, but I dont fry anything in oil, I eat wholemeal bread and no butter, buy low fat, low calory items of food so am totally fed up, angry, feeling down and sorry for myself probably what everyone else has/is feeling.
Now, I've bought one of those bg monitors and strips, but could someone please help me, by telling me what numbers are 'normal' and not please?!!!! Thank you

Hi scaredycat, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your diagnosis However, it's important to understand what it all means, and how to tell the truth from the myths and misunderstandings. Your family mean well, but they are employing their own limited knowledge, usually what you read in the papers and hear on the telly, that you instantly need to restrict your diet, lose weight and avoid fat whenever possible. In fact, it is carbohydrates that you need to be much more careful about - things like potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, as well as the more obvious sugary items (sugar is just a form of carbohydrate) like sweets, cakes and biscuits. Carbohydrates are what will raise your blood sugar levels, so these are what you need to concentrate on.

I would suggest starting by writing a food diary, noting down the amount, in grams, of carbohydrate in everything you eat and drink. Do this for a couple of weeks. Don't panic! Nothing horrible is going to happen to you overnight, you need to avoid getting overwhelmed by everything and take things one step at a time 🙂 As well as writing your diary, have a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter and get yourself a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. These will give you a much better understanding of Type 2 diabetes. I'd recommend getting your family to read them too, so they understand things better, and it will put them in a better position to help you 🙂

Once you have your diary, you will be able to assess your overall carbohydrate consumption and start looking for areas where you might reduce or replace the carby items with more diabetes-friendly items. A good eating plan to follow is the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet, which will help you choose food items that have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels - The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction 🙂

Now, using your meter you will be in a position to assess and fine-tune your meals so that you are eating things that your body can tolerate well. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how the process works. At first, your numbers will probably be nowhere near ideal, but don't let this alarm you - this is a gradual process of working out an enjoyable, sustainable and flexible diet that is, at the same time, good for your blood sugar levels 🙂 Don't focus on weight for now, the important thing is to understand and establish a diet that you tolerate well. It is more than likely that improving your blood sugar control will result in weight loss naturally, without having to follow any extreme or faddy diets 🙂

Also, if you can get some regular exercise in - a half hour walk a day, or more if you can manage, no need to join a gym or anything that you don't enjoy, just try and build something into your daily routine - this will help enormously 🙂

Please let us know if you have any questions and please don't become overwhelmed by everything. Take your time to read and absorb the information above, and if anything is unclear, let us know. Diabetes is a serious condition, but it can be managed well and often leads to people feeling much happier and healthier than they did prior to diagnosis 🙂

 

[Stitch147]

Hi and welcome to the forum. This is a great place for help and advice. It can be very scarey and daunting when you get diagnosed, but you'll get there.

 

[Pine Marten]

Hi scaredycat, welcome. Lots of good advice to be getting on with, so I'll just say don't panic! you'll be fine 🙂

 

[Martin Canty]

Hi Scaredycat, welcome to the forum..... Sounds like your daughter is going to be your "jiminy cricket"..... Good on her, it's an adjustment!!!!

Regarding the fat thing..... With this current craze of reducing the fat in foods to next to nothing manufacturers have had to do something to make food palatable, to this end they started increasing the carb content (remember, sugar is just one type of carb). In doing so they can use their marketing hype to brand foods as "Heart Healthy" or "Weight Loss" or whatever other label they like to put on the food... Of course if you look at the population now compared to, say 30 years ago, it's clearly not working.

Our problem is processing of Carbs, the extra load of carbs in these so called healthy foods is overtaxing our systems... Hence the current T2 diabetes pandemic.

Again, look at what we ate before the 80's... a more balanced diet with fat being an important constituent

Myself, my diet is low in carbs, high in saturated fats, monounsaturated fats.... The only significant source of poly-unsaturated fats is from fatty fish

Another big issue is the quality of the food, I know it gets a little expensive (but you & your family will actually start to eat less with a higher fat diet. Made from scratch meals (organic food if possible), extra virgin oils etc.

The take-away is that when you reduce the carbs your BG number & weight improve.

 

[trophywench]

Incidentally - cos no-one actually said! - a non-D's fingerprick level normally will be anything between 4ish and 7.

 

[scaredycat]

Thank you to everyone here, your advise is helping . I now have 4 days to another blood test and 12 days to finally see the diabetic nurse, looking forward to that....🙄 Since I last posted I have had a diabetic eye screening test and got the results yesterday, it seems I have some background retinopathy, but not bad enough to need treatment...YAY. Finding cutting carbs kinda hard seeing I'm mostly vegetarian and eat a lot of pasta and rice, potatoes but am trying hard 😉 but am at pres suffering from a bad cold and cough so apart from feeling like**** am really craving these foods (my comfort foods lol)

 

[bilbie]

I think sugars and starches are biochemistry addictive. I would cut the Sugars including fruit/juice and Starches, including breads, pasta, rice, potato etc

This gives a simple overview to how it works for me. The more carbs I eat the more carbs I want. They don’t give up easy and it’s biochemical

an introduction to low carb, no need to pay to see more, there is enough on the net.
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

what to expect the first week, besides being hungry for the first 36 hours, then it stops
https://www.verywell.com/getting-through-the-first-week-2242037

 

[scaredycat]

Thank you to everyone here, your advise is helping . I now have 4 days to another blood test and 12 days to finally see the diabetic nurse, looking forward to that....🙄 Since I last posted I have had a diabetic eye screening test and got the results yesterday, it seems I have some background retinopathy, but not bad enough to need treatment...YAY. Finding cutting carbs kinda hard seeing I'm mostly vegetarian and eat a lot of pasta and rice, potatoes but am trying hard 😉 but am at pres suffering from a bad cold and cough so apart from feeling like**** am really craving these foods (my comfort foods lol)

Hi again, just a quick update....forgive me please if boring you all!! Today I recieved a letter from my gp enclosing a prescription for Atorvastatin 20mg tablets once a day, seems my cholesterol levels are rising hmmm ok, now it seems that instead of trying the lchf diet which i was considering, i now cant :/
Was rather naughty today...went to burger king as a treat...had the chicken filet burger (no mayo), small fries, vanilla milkshake and a ice-cream....Well, I now know not to have that again, my sugar levels went to 12.5
All this before I see my diabetic nurse on Tuesday

 

[Mark Parrott]

I know it's a hard thing to get your head around, but LCHF does not increase cholesterol. The majority of the cholesterol is produced by our liver, not the fat we eat. Since l went LCHF my cholesterol has dropped from 7.3 to 6.2. Work in progress but it's going in the right direction. And I'm not on statins.

 

[AngelaY9847]

Hi Scaredycat.

I totally know how you feel. When I was first diagnosed with T2, I was terrified of everything I was eating for the first couple of weeks! Now I am more aware about what I am putting into my body, and I have learned to read labels and such, but I won't deny myself a treat every now and again! Don't let it control you 🙂

 

[scaredycat]

Well, saw my nurse, finally, yesterday. Interesting conversation 😉 will see her again in October. Told that I dont need to check my sugars, just need to eat healthily, so no meter. Seems the med proffession are steering away from self testing and providing meters. Didnt tell her I have bought one lol

 

[Martin Canty]

My Triglycerides were through the roof last year at DX, after only 2 months of LCHF my cholesterol looked great in February of this year with only slightly elevated LDL.....

 

[grovesy]

Well, saw my nurse, finally, yesterday. Interesting conversation 😉 will see her again in October. Told that I dont need to check my sugars, just need to eat healthily, so no meter. Seems the med proffession are steering away from self testing and providing meters. Didnt tell her I have bought one lol

Some have never seen the need for testing!

 

[Ralph-YK]

Well, saw my nurse, finally, yesterday. Interesting conversation 😉 will see her again in October. Told that I dont need to check my sugars, just need to eat healthily, so no meter. Seems the med proffession are steering away from self testing and providing meters. Didnt tell her I have bought one lol

You were told more than me.

Some have never seen the need for testing!

How do you know which foods are affected you'ur bg and by how much? How do you know what effect any changes have? With no self testing we are in the dark, there is no way for us to sort our diet out.

 

[AJLang]

Welcome to the forum. You're doing a great job at learning to understand diabetes. Well done🙂