Just diagnosed

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JITR said:
What do you eat and drink?

Diverticulitis (Kent NHS):

Low fibre foods?​

Higher fibre foods?​

White bread, white crackers and rice cakesWholemeal, rye, seeded, granary bread, half/half type breads, rye crisp-breads and wholemeal crackers
White rice and pastaWholegrain or brown rice or pasta
Corn or rice based cerealsPorridge, All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit and Fibre and Weetabix
Meat, fish, poultry and eggsNuts and seeds, pulses and Quorn mince
Milk, yogurts and cheeseCheese with added dried fruit and nuts, yogurts with added high fibre cereals, fruit or nuts
Fruit without skin, pith and pips, tinned and stewed fruit, fruit juice and ripe bananasDried fruit, fruit with pith, pips and skin e.g. apples, pears, oranges, berries, kiwi, mango, unripe bananas and rhubarb
Peeled or skinned vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, turnip, pepper, mushrooms, tomato and cucumberJacket potatoes, peas, lentils and beans, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots
Cakes, biscuits, pastries and other treat foods made from white flourCakes and pastries made with wholemeal flour, fruit cakes, malt loaves, health or cereals bars with nuts and fruit, digestives and oat based biscuits
Click to expand...
Good joke @JITR.
But does it help here? Or add to @tomp's confusion?
 
JITR said:
What do you eat and drink?

Diverticulitis (Kent NHS):

Low fibre foods?​

Higher fibre foods?​

White bread, white crackers and rice cakesWholemeal, rye, seeded, granary bread, half/half type breads, rye crisp-breads and wholemeal crackers
White rice and pastaWholegrain or brown rice or pasta
Corn or rice based cerealsPorridge, All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit and Fibre and Weetabix
Meat, fish, poultry and eggsNuts and seeds, pulses and Quorn mince
Milk, yogurts and cheeseCheese with added dried fruit and nuts, yogurts with added high fibre cereals, fruit or nuts
Fruit without skin, pith and pips, tinned and stewed fruit, fruit juice and ripe bananasDried fruit, fruit with pith, pips and skin e.g. apples, pears, oranges, berries, kiwi, mango, unripe bananas and rhubarb
Peeled or skinned vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, turnip, pepper, mushrooms, tomato and cucumberJacket potatoes, peas, lentils and beans, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots
Cakes, biscuits, pastries and other treat foods made from white flourCakes and pastries made with wholemeal flour, fruit cakes, malt loaves, health or cereals bars with nuts and fruit, digestives and oat based biscuits
Click to expand...
Only drink water. Mixture of both lists I have to be careful with high fibre due to having diverticulitis
 
@tomp - unexplained weight loss, constantly tired, raging thirst and needing the loo all the time.
 
Hi @tomp. Just reading through this thread and it occurs to me that your doctor might have been hopelessly wrong, or too hurried in his reporting to you, and left you with a wrong impression of the implications of your blood test result.

If your HbA1c is indeed 42 mmol/mol then you should not be diagnosed as having T2 diabetes. Formally you need two results of over 48 for that.

Also, diabetes does not have an on/off switch. Things do not suddenly become a disaster if you get a result over 48. That has been set as the level at which treatment of some sort might be advised because of the risks of complications developing in the long term. Quite what that treatment might be is dependent on many things - how far above 48 your HbA1c is, your age, your general health and some other things. The objective of treatment is to bring your Hba1c back under 48. A result between 42 and 48 is given an "at risk of diabetes" label and you just come into that range.

The introduction of the concept of assigning an "at risk of diabetes" label to anybody with an HbA1c between 42 and 48 is a bit of a two edged sword in my opinion. The up side is that it can act as a wake up call to many and get them to make lifestyle changes which, if not made, would eventually lead to much higher levels. The down side is that it can create alarm in those for whom an HbA1c in the 40's is quite normal, consistent and acceptable. A single result does not tell you where you fit into this picture.

My final though is that as you head into wrinkly territory (I'm well there) some would say that you can be given a bit more leeway in terms of HbA1c. Mine has strayed in to the 50's and my surgery is quite happy with that. Far better than trying to drive it down and increase the risk of low blood glucose affecting my stability.

Overall, my thought for you is that you focus on getting the best treatment you can for your other conditions. Put the idea of diabetes on the back burner and wait for further HbA1c results to see the direction of travel before worrying about it.
 
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I very much agree with what @Docb said. I would just add: consider asking your Surgery to confirm whether the 42 is what was said or if you misheard. You might find it reassuring to know it was only 42 mmol/L.
 
Docb said:
Hi @tomp. Just reading through this thread and it occurs to me that your doctor might have been hopelessly wrong, or too hurried in his reporting to you, and left you with a wrong impression of the implications of your blood test result.

If your HbA1c is indeed 42 mmol/mol then you should not be diagnosed as having T2 diabetes. Formally you need two results of over 48 for that.

Also, diabetes does not have an on/off switch. Things do not suddenly become a disaster if you get a result over 48. That has been set as the level at which treatment of some sort might be advised because of the risks of complications developing in the long term. Quite what that treatment might be is dependent on many things - how far above 48 your HbA1c is, your age, your general health and some other things. The objective of treatment is to bring your Hba1c back under 48. A result between 42 and 48 is given an "at risk of diabetes" label and you just come into that range.

The introduction of the concept of assigning an "at risk of diabetes" label to anybody with an HbA1c between 42 and 48 is a bit of a two edged sword in my opinion. The up side is that it can act as a wake up call to many and get them to make lifestyle changes which, if not made, would eventually lead to much higher levels. The down side is that it can create alarm in those for whom an HbA1c in the 40's is quite normal, consistent and acceptable. A single result does not tell you where you fit into this picture.

My final though is that as you head into wrinkly territory (I'm well there) some would say that you can be given a bit more leeway in terms of HbA1c. Mine has strayed in to the 50's and my surgery is quite happy with that. Far better than trying to drive it down and increase the risk of low blood glucose affecting my stability.

Overall, my thought for you is that you focus on getting the best treatment you can for your other conditions. Put the idea of diabetes on the back burner and wait for further HbA1c results to see the direction of travel before worrying about it.
Click to expand...
Thank you I will try and stop panicking
 
I have not been told what aim is I have just been referred to some kind of group which will supposedly help
 
Updated table. What I don't eat or drink in bold.

Diverticulitis (Kent NHS):

Low fibre foods?​

Higher fibre foods?​

White bread, white crackers and rice cakesWholemeal, rye, seeded, granary bread, half/half type breads, rye crisp-breads and wholemeal crackers
White rice and pastaWholegrain or brown rice or pasta
Corn or rice based cerealsPorridge, All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit and Fibre and Weetabix
Meat, fish, poultry and eggsNuts and seeds, pulses and Quorn mince
Milk, yogurts and cheeseCheese with added dried fruit and nuts, yogurts with added high fibre cereals, fruit or nuts
Fruit without skin, pith and pips, tinned and stewed fruit, fruit juice and ripe bananasDried fruit, fruit with pith, pips and skin e.g. apples, pears, oranges, berries, kiwi, mango, unripe bananas and rhubarb
Peeled or skinned vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, turnip, pepper, mushrooms, tomato and cucumberJacket potatoes, peas, lentils and beans, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots
Cakes, biscuits, pastries and other treat foods made from white flourCakes and pastries made with wholemeal flour, fruit cakes, malt loaves, health or cereals bars with nuts and fruit, digestives and oat based biscuits
 
Gildersleeve said:
Originally a rare form of kidney disease. Rheumatoid arthritis. Immune system
Still here. The consultant is happy how I survive and after decades my meds are being reduced. But I am only as good as the next bloods that are taken across the year. This sugar test came out of the blue.

One prescription drug I am on can be an issue regarding the onset of diabetes with long term use.

They say that they will test me again a year. Unknown to me I found out I had been tested for my sugar numbers four years ago. Not told or what the results were.
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Would I be right in guessing you are on steroids? If so, you should probably have been having an HbA1c test every year not just 4 years ago and then this year. Steroids are well known for inducing diabetes and it has it's own category on this forum but as you are not officially diagnosed as having diabetes yet and just "at risk" I guess that category is most appropriate for now. That said, you also mention that you have autoimmune conditions and the thing with those is that once you have one, you are more at risk of getting others. Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune, so it is also possible that you might be in the very early stages of developing Type 1, which generally has a much slower onset in mature adults. None of this is anything to worry about at the moment, but you mentioned in one of your other posts that you were feeling really disappointed about not seeing improvement in your results despite your dietary changes and although it is still very early days for you, this may indicate that you are not a straightforward Type 2, especially with your medical history. Just wanted you to know that sometimes despite our best efforts we can't turn things around and it is no failure on our part if that happens, just that it isn't possible for some people. Still well worth trying but don't beat yourself up if you are not successful. i was initially diagnosed Type 2 and really worked very hard to try to manage it with dietary changes and oral meds as my HbA1c was very high, but it turned out that wasn't possible for me because I am Type 1 and needed insulin. I really felt like a failure despite having given it my best shot and it took me a while to get over that feeling, so just want to say that it isn't any reflection on you if that happens to you too, so try not to be too disheartened.
 
tomp said:
I have not been told what aim is I have just been referred to some kind of group which will supposedly help
Click to expand...
In 2008 Professor Taylor showed prediabetes is a simple condition, accumulated fat in the liver. An international panel of experts agreed on HbA1c: 42 as the threshold with the Germans holding out for HbA1c: 39. It can be reversed by diet, with full reversal somwhere around HbA1c: 35. Probably need to lose 8-15kg to get liver and pancreas back to normal.

You could target that. Alternatively decide to take out more carbs out of your diet to get down to HbA1c: 41, leaving any accumulated liver fat, pancreatic fat and insulin resistance as they are.

- Dr David Unwin has a 93% success rate with prediabetics with his diet sheet.
- Dr David Oliver's, Introduction to Prediabetes and T2D, has some good explanatory graphics.
 
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JITR said:
Updated table. What I don't eat or drink in bold.

Diverticulitis (Kent NHS):

Low fibre foods?​

Higher fibre foods?​

White bread, white crackers and rice cakesWholemeal, rye, seeded, granary bread, half/half type breads, rye crisp-breads and wholemeal crackers
White rice and pastaWholegrain or brown rice or pasta
Corn or rice based cerealsPorridge, All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit and Fibre and Weetabix
Meat, fish, poultry and eggsNuts and seeds, pulses and Quorn mince
Milk, yogurts and cheeseCheese with added dried fruit and nuts, yogurts with added high fibre cereals, fruit or nuts
Fruit without skin, pith and pips, tinned and stewed fruit, fruit juice and ripe bananasDried fruit, fruit with pith, pips and skin e.g. apples, pears, oranges, berries, kiwi, mango, unripe bananas and rhubarb
Peeled or skinned vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, turnip, pepper, mushrooms, tomato and cucumberJacket potatoes, peas, lentils and beans, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots
Cakes, biscuits, pastries and other treat foods made from white flourCakes and pastries made with wholemeal flour, fruit cakes, malt loaves, health or cereals bars with nuts and fruit, digestives and oat based biscuits
Click to expand...
I thought all bran and bran flakes were ok.i eat similar to you but eat apples and pears
 
Thank you for all your input I can see the group is really supportive
 
rebrascora said:
Would I be right in guessing you are on steroids? If so, you should probably have been having an HbA1c test every year not just 4 years ago and then this year. Steroids are well known for inducing diabetes and it has it's own category on this forum but as you are not officially diagnosed as having diabetes yet and just "at risk" I guess that category is most appropriate for now. That said, you also mention that you have autoimmune conditions and the thing with those is that once you have one, you are more at risk of getting others. Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune, so it is also possible that you might be in the very early stages of developing Type 1, which generally has a much slower onset in mature adults. None of this is anything to worry about at the moment, but you mentioned in one of your other posts that you were feeling really disappointed about not seeing improvement in your results despite your dietary changes and although it is still very early days for you, this may indicate that you are not a straightforward Type 2, especially with your medical history. Just wanted you to know that sometimes despite our best efforts we can't turn things around and it is no failure on our part if that happens, just that it isn't possible for some people. Still well worth trying but don't beat yourself up if you are not successful. i was initially diagnosed Type 2 and really worked very hard to try to manage it with dietary changes and oral meds as my HbA1c was very high, but it turned out that wasn't possible for me because I am Type 1 and needed insulin. I really felt like a failure despite having given it my best shot and it took me a while to get over that feeling, so just want to say that it isn't any reflection on you if that happens to you too, so try not to be too disheartened.
Click to expand...
No not on steroids usual heart drugs statins etc
 
JITR said:
Updated table. What I don't eat or drink in bold.

Diverticulitis (Kent NHS):

Low fibre foods?​

Higher fibre foods?​

White bread, white crackers and rice cakesWholemeal, rye, seeded, granary bread, half/half type breads, rye crisp-breads and wholemeal crackers
White rice and pastaWholegrain or brown rice or pasta
Corn or rice based cerealsPorridge, All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit and Fibre and Weetabix
Meat, fish, poultry and eggsNuts and seeds, pulses and Quorn mince
Milk, yogurts and cheeseCheese with added dried fruit and nuts, yogurts with added high fibre cereals, fruit or nuts
Fruit without skin, pith and pips, tinned and stewed fruit, fruit juice and ripe bananasDried fruit, fruit with pith, pips and skin e.g. apples, pears, oranges, berries, kiwi, mango, unripe bananas and rhubarb
Peeled or skinned vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, turnip, pepper, mushrooms, tomato and cucumberJacket potatoes, peas, lentils and beans, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots
Cakes, biscuits, pastries and other treat foods made from white flourCakes and pastries made with wholemeal flour, fruit cakes, malt loaves, health or cereals bars with nuts and fruit, digestives and oat based biscuits
Click to expand...
This list is really helpful as I'm balancing T2, coeliac disease and diverticulitis at the moment and find it hard to know what to eat. Think I'll concentrate on your list for a while. Thank you.
 
tomp said:
No not on steroids usual heart drugs statins etc
Click to expand...
Apologies for any confusion, but my post about steroids and autoimmune conditions was directed at @Gildersleeve whose post I quoted.... and rather off topic from your original post so my bad, but it was the first time I seen her mention about Rheumatoid Arthritis and I knew she was a bit disillusioned with a test result she got last night.

As regards your diverticulitis, there are different types of Fibre and you would benefit from more soluble fibre in your diet to help with your bowel issues. I am not sure if you have been prescribed Fibogel to help with the diverticulitis but if not, psyllium husk is the main ingredient of Fibogel and I use it together with chia seeds which are both high in soluble fibre and therefore helpful for the condition. I have a dessert spoonful of each in a glass of flavoured water and give it a good stir and give it a few minutes to absorb some of the water and then drink it down and it really helps my whole digestive tract, but the soluble fibre is also beneficial for lowering cholesterol I believe plus fibre is beneficial for helping you to feel full when you lower your carb intake to help diabetes. Chia seeds also provide Omega 3 fatty acids which are the same beneficial ones that are in oily fish, so another benefit to them. You can sprinkle chia seeds and psyllium husk in soups and stews (instead of flour which is high carb) where they will help to thicken them without adding carbs or any flavour as they don't really taste of anything, so lots of benefits and no obvious drawbacks. The chia seeds are tiny like poppy seeds but they absorb water and swell to make a sort of soft gel which gently moves through your digestive system sort of gently cleansing it without any abrasive action, like the more harsh insoluble fibre in many other types of seeds.
 
rebrascora said:
Apologies for any confusion, but my post about steroids and autoimmune conditions was directed at @Gildersleeve whose post I quoted.... and rather off topic from your original post so my bad, but it was the first time I seen her mention about Rheumatoid Arthritis and I knew she was a bit disillusioned with a test result she got last night.

As regards your diverticulitis, there are different types of Fibre and you would benefit from more soluble fibre in your diet to help with your bowel issues. I am not sure if you have been prescribed Fibogel to help with the diverticulitis but if not, psyllium husk is the main ingredient of Fibogel and I use it together with chia seeds which are both high in soluble fibre and therefore helpful for the condition. I have a dessert spoonful of each in a glass of flavoured water and give it a good stir and give it a few minutes to absorb some of the water and then drink it down and it really helps my whole digestive tract, but the soluble fibre is also beneficial for lowering cholesterol I believe plus fibre is beneficial for helping you to feel full when you lower your carb intake to help diabetes. Chia seeds also provide Omega 3 fatty acids which are the same beneficial ones that are in oily fish, so another benefit to them. You can sprinkle chia seeds and psyllium husk in soups and stews (instead of flour which is high carb) where they will help to thicken them without adding carbs or any flavour as they don't really taste of anything, so lots of benefits and no obvious drawbacks. The chia seeds are tiny like poppy seeds but they absorb water and swell to make a sort of soft gel which gently moves through your digestive system sort of gently cleansing it without any abrasive action, like the more harsh insoluble fibre in many other types of seeds.
Click to expand...
Do you have to soak chia seeds first.i tried p husk before but it effected my stomach badly
 
tomp said:
Do you have to soak chia seeds first.i tried p husk before but it effected my stomach badly
Click to expand...
How did you take the psyllium husk?
It is important to take plenty of fluids with both psyllium and chia because they absorb it and swell and otherwise they can absorb fluid further down your digestive system and cause a blockage, which is why I always take them in a drink or sprinkle them in something which has plenty of liquid like stews to thicken them.
 
tomp said:
Don’t we need carbohydrates for our muscles
Click to expand...
We don't need carbohydrate for anything - though they do provide texture, colour and variety in our diet.
Muscles are made from and repaired with protein, and can be fuelled by fat or protein.
 
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