• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

New diagnosis

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

Calico

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi,

Recently diagnosed with Type 2. Still getting to grips with all the new information.
 
Hi @Calico, welcome to the forum.

Tell us a bit more about yourself and how you came to be diagnosed and we'll be pleased to answer any questions you might have. It's a friendly place, and there are a lot of interesting sections to read, including the food & recipes one to give you some good ideas 🙂
 
Hi,
My HbA1c was about 5.7 and I was put on Metformin 500mg twice daily two months ago. After being in and out of the pre diabetic range.
My symptoms - mainly craving sugars and getting shaky/hot/confused when I hadn't eaten for a while - have improved. I was also very thirsty, but also had hyperparathyroidism which also has thirst as a symptom.
I have been given a glucose monitor recently, and the nurse said I should take readings before and after meals and keep a diary. I have been doing this intermittently (had parathyroid surgery last week, so things are a bit hit and miss). But I am not sure what readings I should be aiming for.
My readings are about 8 in the morning, about 13 after breakfast. Before dinner they seem to range from about 6 - 9.
Now that the surgery is over, I aim to try and get to grips with what I need to do, and change to deal with this new diagnosis, and keep a proper diary.
 
Hello and welcome -I hope the surgery went well.
The reading of 13 after breakfast is rather high - are you eating cereals?
 
Hello @Calico and welcome 🙂

The target ranges for blood sugar if you have Type 2 are as follows - taken from the Diabetes UK site

If you have Type 2 diabetes
  • before meals: 4 to 7mmol/l
  • two hours after meals: less than 8.5mmol/l
It will take a while to start to see sustained in range readings but once you've recovered from the surgery and found what foods you are able to eat without causing blood sugar spikes you'll start to see better results.
Carbohydrates are what we struggle with so pasta, bread, potatoes, rice, pastry, cereals some fruits and starchy vegetables plus all the obviously sugary stuff. A good way to start to see better results is to test before a meal then approx 2 hours after so you can see the effect that meal has on your levels. If you get a spike in levels look at the carbohydrate content of the meal and see what elements you can reduce by either swapping to less carby foods or reducing portion size. Keeping a diary lets you look back at what worked and what didn't and see the progress you make.
 
Thanks @Flower. I guess it's going to be monitor and see for a while. Thanks for the tips.

@Drummer Yes I was having granola which I didn't think was that high in sugar. Tried weetabix and fruit this am and spiked higher. So it's going to take some testing.

Need to find things that don't take much preparing but will keep me full.
 
Do you like eggs, Calico? Scrambled, poached, omelettes, boiled, or with mushrooms, bacon or ham... they can take only a few minutes, have virtually no carbs and should fill you up.
 
Thanks @Flower. I guess it's going to be monitor and see for a while. Thanks for the tips.

@Drummer Yes I was having granola which I didn't think was that high in sugar. Tried weetabix and fruit this am and spiked higher. So it's going to take some testing.

Need to find things that don't take much preparing but will keep me full.
Ah - has someone told you that it is sugar which is the problem?
They were wrong - carbs are sugars and starch - both raise your blood glucose - and my gut takes no heed of whole grain or GI - it mashes and extracts, no problem.
Grains, such as oats wheat barley rye and other cereal crops are all high carb, weetabix has 13 gm of carb per biscuit - and there was fruit on top, plus any milk - I have 10 gm of carbs maximum with my first meal - none of it from cereals.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top