'Mild' diabetes

[rebrascora]

9 sounds like a blood glucose reading usually from a finger prick test, but in order to diagnose you with diabetes they would need to do an HbA1c test. This is usually expressed as a number above 48 for diabetes.... or ..... pre diabetes, which is actually an indication that you are at risk of developing diabetes, is between 42 and 47. HbA1c can sometimes be given as a percentage (this is the older way of expressing it) in which case an HbA1c of 9% would equate to about 75 in the new units which is not what I would describe as "mild" diabetes but more moderate. Without specifically asking what your HbA1c reading is, we would be guessing as to whether that reading was a BG reading of 9 which is just a spot check at any moment in time and as BG will vary depending on what you have last eaten and when and if you have had any exercise etc, it doesn't tell you a great deal on it's own, whereas the HbA1c gives you a sort of average of your BG readings for the past 3 months.... it is a bit more complicated than that but don't really need to baffle you with science at this stage.

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you for explaining. I had a finger prick test which prompted a proper blood test (from my arm) a week later which I think I was told measured the last three months. From that I had a phone call saying I had mild diabetes (totally unexpected shock)and was put on metformin the same day.

 

[Felinia]

The proper blood test measuring the last 3 months is the HbA1c. If the 9 given to you was 9% from the HbA1c, then Metformin would be the usual treatment.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi, I'm not sure if I asked the right question, but the nurse said my number is 9

Hello again @Sparkle

Did you get any units with that number - its hard to know how to understand or interpret it without!

It might be 9% (and old way of recording HbA1c) which is quite high.

Or it might be 9mmol/L which is a slightly high spot-check BG but may not be so concerning.

 

[Sparkle]

Sorry, I just said 'what was my number?'(I assumed it was the result of the full blood test) and that was the response. So I didn't ask the question exactly right. Oops.

 

[SueEK]

Hello @Sparkle, just wanted to say hi and welcome to you. You have been given great advice and all I would add is that take it all in and adapt when you can, you don’t need to do everything straight away but the changes you make, if you follow the advice, will be really beneficial to you and I’m sure will not only lower your bg level but make you feel better too. Ask any questions at all, especially those that you think are ‘silly’ or ‘stupid’ because it is often these little things that we simply don’t know the answer to. We have all been where you are now and more than happy to help. Take care x

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you

 

[Sparkle]

Thanks everyone, I have lots of questions, I won't ask them all at once! 😛. I am not sure if I should start a new thread for each question so I will start here and see what happens, hope that's ok. Firstly, I asked Diabetic Nurse yesterday if it would be ok to eat a small piece of cake made with (quote from maker)
"agave syrup instead of sugar and dried fruit and fresh fruit. They're generally lower carb than normal cakes because I use ground almonds with the flour or only ground almonds. Eg beetroot and avocado cake made with soya yogurt"
The Nurse said,
"in diabetics the pancreas doesn’t recognise sugar substitues so it will respond in the same way as it would with sugar which is not good."
I see there are cake recipes on this site that use sugar substitutes. This is confusing me. What do you lot think? Not that I am trying to find cakes to eat after only just being diagnosed, it popped up on my facebook.

 

[Sparkle]

Also, I was sent some diabetic 'goodies' as a cheer me up gift (not to do with diabetes) and I don't think I should eat them at all. What do you think please?

 

[Two_Hares]

I've just read the open letter, there is a bit in it that says, "I would also decide how I was going to keep track of all this information - it's far too much, especially in the beginning, to remember it all. A notebook of some sort would do. If you have a computer, you can download the Health Diabetes software [see Resources], which makes it easier to keep track of it all and produces graphs of everything and is free." The link doesn't work, does anyone have any suggestions for recording stuff other than physically writing it down please?

Hi @Sparkle, I am T2 as well. I use an app called MySugr which seems pretty straightforward to use. It just records your readings though (and you can add in carb count if you want), so I bought a separate journal from Etsy (I just searched something along the lines of 'diabetes journal') and there it lets me record my food alongside the BG readings. I figured that when I do see a DSN or nutritionist face to face I can take it along and they can have an 'at a glance' view of what I've been doing.

I also have written down a list of carby foods in my phone that I am testing every so often to see how much it affects my BG...so far I've found out that couscous is a no for me, I don't get on with wholemeal wraps but I can use white ones and I seem to be okay with lower carb bread. I'll gradually go through it to see what I can and can't manage so that might be something to try out as well. (Although I am new to this too so might not be the thing to do - I'm sure someone else will let us know if not!)

 

[rebrascora]

Without being able to see the nutritional info on those products it would be difficult to say whether they are OK or not. You need to look at the carbohydrate content usually on the back of the packets/wrappers. I have had people buy me sugar free sweets and they sometimes have as many carbs as other sweets but just not in the form of sugar. The body breaks down all carbs into glucose. It breaks down sugar slightly faster than other carbs but they all still get broken down, so you often don't gain much from the sugar free versions and taste wise they are often not as good.... also some of the artificial sweeteners they use can cause diarrhoea.
Many of us still eat chocolate but we buy high cocoa content chocolate which is 70% or more and only have one square a day. I usually have it with a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter to make it more satisfying and take some of the bitterness off it.

As regards the cakes made with agave syrup. From a quick bit of research, it is something like 77g carbs in 100g product or which 70g is fructose and 7g is glucose. The body will break the fructose down and absorb it with the glucose, so this is not a suitable product. Many of us use Stevia as an alternative sweetener for baking as it has zero carbs. Many people use ground almonds as a part flour replacement and also coconut flour and a bit of spelt flour in baking along with some psyllium husk, but there are some serious environmental issues with almond production so you have to make your own mind up whether to use it or not or in what quantity if you do.
@NotWorriedAtAll is one of our star bakers and had a FB page I believe with many of her low carb baking wonders, so cakes do not necessarily need to be off the menu but you do need to learn to read nutritional info on products to figure out which are a bit of a con when it comes to diabetes.
I got caught out in a pub when I ordered a Slimline tonic but they gave me a FeverTree no added sugar tonic water and my BG inexplicably rose by several points (I was driving and because I am Type 1 and use insulin I need to test before I drive, so I took a reading before I started the engine to drive to the pub and when I left after my "slim line" tonic to drive home and was horrified to find how high it had gone!) Turns out FeverTree contains fructose (like the Agave syrup)

The best way to find out what you can get away with eating and what causes your BG to go too high is to get a BG meter and test before eating it and 2 hours after. Only that will tell YOU what YOUR body will tolerate. We can tell you what our bodies will or will not tolerate.... or should I say, what spikes our BG by more than 3 mmols which is the maximum acceptable rise 2 hours after eating something.

 

[trophywench]

Watch it with lo-sugar sweets - the sweeteners used are often laxative!

 

[Sparkle]

Thanks for the heads up re laxative effects and the app info.

@rebrascora thank you for such a comprehensive answer, I really do appreciate it. I've read it a few times now and it hasn't made much of an inroad into my brain yet! Oh my goodness, I have so much to learn regarding carbs, sugars and labels! I asked nurse about me checking my own blood and she said it isn't necessary so I don't have a machine. Now I'm wondering why she said that when everyone else seems to have one.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Thanks everyone, I have lots of questions, I won't ask them all at once! 😛. I am not sure if I should start a new thread for each question so I will start here and see what happens, hope that's ok. Firstly, I asked Diabetic Nurse yesterday if it would be ok to eat a small piece of cake made with (quote from maker)
"agave syrup instead of sugar and dried fruit and fresh fruit. They're generally lower carb than normal cakes because I use ground almonds with the flour or only ground almonds. Eg beetroot and avocado cake made with soya yogurt"
The Nurse said,
"in diabetics the pancreas doesn’t recognise sugar substitues so it will respond in the same way as it would with sugar which is not good."
I see there are cake recipes on this site that use sugar substitutes. This is confusing me. What do you lot think? Not that I am trying to find cakes to eat after only just being diagnosed, it popped up on my facebook.View attachment 14400

Probably the nurse meant by "sugar substitutes" things like agave syrup, honey, maple syrup rather than sweeteners. Some people think such things are better than sugar because they are "natural". Afraid not, still high carb, as is dried fruit and many fruits. Berries are the lowest carb fruits, so usually OK in moderation.

Some people's bgs are affected by artificial sweeteners, but others find them fine. But do watch out for the laxative effect!

Cakes made with ground almonds, sweetener and maybe a few berries may be fine for you, you need to try and test.

 

[Sparkle]

Crikey, I was eating a lot of fresh fruit and nurse advised me to cut it down which I have, but didn't think of dried fruit when we were talking about fruit intake. I have been having dried apricots and dates on my porridge! Oh boy, I feel stupid!

 

[rebrascora]

Unfortunately Health Care Professionals do not understand how powerful a low carb diet can be on managing diabetes.... in many cases much more powerful than most medication and they worry that that people will get obsessive about checking their BG and there are not enough funds to cover the prescription of meters and test strips for all Type 2s anymore. Most Type 2s here on the forum self fund and we recommend they choose the BG meter with the cheapest test strips because you go through a lot of test strips in the first couple of months of trying to figure out which foods you can get away with and the portion size and which you need to avoid, so it makes financial sense to use a meter which has the cheapest test strips. For this reason, the SD Gluco Navii Blood Glucose Meter or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 are the most used by those who self fund. The meters themselves are relatively inexpensive at approx. £15 for either of those two mentioned and additional test strips are £8 for a pot of 50. I would recommend you purchase a minimum of 2x pots of 50 extra strips with your meter if you decide to buy one as you go through a pot in about a week. This is only until you establish how you respond to foods and work out a new dietary regime and then you will need to test much less often.

Some people liken trying to control your diabetes without a BG meter as similar to driving without a speedometer... You can try to follow the guidelines but you have no real idea of whether you are staying within a safe limit until you get a speeding fine through the door or you get your next HbA1c which might be 3 months or 12 months down the line.

The vast experience and shared knowledge of this forum suggests a BG meter is an invaluable tool in helping you to manage your diabetes through food. I have taken the advice of this forum against the advice of nurses and GPs and found it to be correct for me as have many others and my BG meter and subsequent HbA1c readings and cholesterol readings prove that.

 

[rebrascora]

Crikey, I was eating a lot of fresh fruit and nurse advised me to cut it down which I have, but didn't think of dried fruit when we were talking about fruit intake. I have been having dried apricots and dates on my porridge! Oh boy, I feel stupid!

I too substituted dried fruit for other forms of sugar when I was first diagnosed thinking I was doing the right thing.... until I found this forum and people put me straight.... If you were using a BG meter you would have seen that your glucose levels were rising dramatically after eating a breakfast of porridge and dried fruit..... The porridge alone may be causing you problems. It too is mostly carbs and made from grains and whilst many nurses will recommend it, many diabetics who use a BG meter find their system converts it to glucose too quickly for them to include it in their diet.

 

[Sparkle]

Oh my goodness, really? The Nurse recommended porridge! I also meant to add that I had about 3 days where I was so tired I slept for most of the time - the tiredness came very suddenly and I felt like I had to sleep straight away. Nurse has halved my meformin to once a day for two weeks then she will ring me again to see how I am doing. Does this happen to others?

 

[rebrascora]

The tiredness can often be due to high Blood Glucose levels, particularly when you are newly diagnosed and haven't got them under control, but it can be due to other things too, Getting your diabetes under control might resolve it or rule that out so that you could then ask for further tests. Thyroid problems and anaemia are two other possible causes, but the diabetes would be the most likely culprit since you are newly diagnosed and been eating high carb foods.

 

[rebrascora]

Stress can be another cause. It can cause sleeplessness or extreme tiredness to the point of dropping off when you sit in a comfy chair.