Hi Chris, welcome to the forum
🙂 How did the diagnosis come about? It can be a big shock, and there is a lot to take in to begin with. I'd recommend reading
Jennifer's Advice and
Maggie Davey's letter to begin with - these are very informative and useful explanations of what it all entails - plus a very good book,
Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, is worth investing in. The more you understand, the easier it will be to gain good control and start to feel better about things. Diabetes is a serious condition, no doubt, but it is also a largely manageable one if you put in a bit of work and determination
🙂 Many people find that they actually end up feeling much happier and healthier because of the adaptations they make to their diet and activity levels
🙂
I'd suggest starting a food diary, recording the amount of carbohydrate in everything you eat and drink. Diabetes is largely concerned with carbs, as these are what will raise your blood glucose levels the most. Using a food diary, you can get a true picture of your carb consumption, and look for areas where you might reduce or replace them with more 'diabetes-friendly' items
🙂
If you can manage to get some regular daily exercise, that would be great. Exercise makes your body more sensitive to the insulin you are producing, so helps maintain better blood sugar levels. As others have suggested, the other main tool available is a blood glucose meter and test strips. People can have quite different tolerances for the same things, so it's important to discover what your own are so you can tailor your diet to optimise your control. Ask your nurse or GP to give you a meter and strips, so that you can do this - some are reluctant, as they see it as an unnecessary expense, but it is the only way you can know if something you just ate was kind to your levels or quite the opposite. Have a read of
Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand the process
🙂 If they refuse to issue the strips, it's worth funding them yourself. The cheapest option we have come across is the
SD Codefree Meter which has
test strips at around £8 for 50 (cheaper if bought in bulk direct from Home Health). Often, when a GP has seen the usefulness of how you use the results to improve your diet they will agree to prescribe some.
Please let us know if you have any questions, there are lots of friendly, experienced people here who will be very happy to help
🙂
