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Hi Keith - welcome tp the club no-one wanted to join!

You could do a lot worse than click on the orange 'Learning Zone' at the top of the page and get reading.
 
Were you given medication? Your Hba1c score? Advice on diet?
It must be rather difficult to contemplate changing your diet just at the moment, but for many type twos that is all they need to do to reduce their blood glucose and their next Hba1c test can be significantly lower. It is so effective that some people need to be careful if they are on glucose reducing drugs, and it can improve blood pressure to the extent that taking the tablets makes them go wobbly when standing up.
You'll find this a really useful forum, for all sorts of things, including cheering upness - and it will give you something to read if you in isolation at the moment.
 
Hello @Keith Archibald So good that you have joined the forum, as you can see. there is plenty of help and support here.

Diagnosis can be a bit of a shock, and there is a lot of confusing information about what to do.
We are all different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ and you need to find what right for you.

There are 3 main things to consider:
Firstly, healthy eating, and the right solution for you to lower your blood sugars, and if you are overweight, loosing weight will help a lot. Secondly increasing exercise, and thirdly medication which may be necessary depending on what your HB1ac readings are.

For me, a new way of eating, and increased exercise, plus some metformin has worked. As well as cutting out all the sugary things, I cut down on the carbs particularly the ‘white’ ones (white bread and flour,rice,pasta,etc ) and mainly eat fresh fish and poultry, some dairy, and have learned to love vegetable. I also try to avoid too much processed food, and to include plenty of fibre some from the veg, plus seeds and pulses. There are many good recipes to make these things really tasty.

I would suggest starting by reading Maggie Davey's letter, which gives a lot of information on how this lady approached the problem.
It does all take time to find what’s right for you and adjust your lifestyle, but please be patient, it will be very worthwhile.
There is also more information on useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes, including information on self-testing which many of us find important and helpful

Hope you will let us know how it goes for you and please ask about anything you are concerned about.
 
Toucan said:
Hello @Keith Archibald So good that you have joined the forum, as you can see. there is plenty of help and support here.

Diagnosis can be a bit of a shock, and there is a lot of confusing information about what to do.
We are all different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ and you need to find what right for you.

There are 3 main things to consider:
Firstly, healthy eating, and the right solution for you to lower your blood sugars, and if you are overweight, loosing weight will help a lot. Secondly increasing exercise, and thirdly medication which may be necessary depending on what your HB1ac readings are.

For me, a new way of eating, and increased exercise, plus some metformin has worked. As well as cutting out all the sugary things, I cut down on the carbs particularly the ‘white’ ones (white bread and flour,rice,pasta,etc ) and mainly eat fresh fish and poultry, some dairy, and have learned to love vegetable. I also try to avoid too much processed food, and to include plenty of fibre some from the veg, plus seeds and pulses. There are many good recipes to make these things really tasty.

I would suggest starting by reading Maggie Davey's letter, which gives a lot of information on how this lady approached the problem.
It does all take time to find what’s right for you and adjust your lifestyle, but please be patient, it will be very worthwhile.
There is also more information on useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes, including information on self-testing which many of us find important and helpful

Hope you will let us know how it goes for you and please ask about anything you are concerned about.
Click to expand...
Thankyou for your email. I only found out last Friday so getting used to different lifestyle etc. I’m prob like everyone else and ate all the wrong foods etc I started the tablets yesterday. One a day at min to increase to two.
 
Welcome to the forum @Keith Archibald

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Try not to be disheartened, many people later reflect that their diagnosis was a sort of catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life. Diabetes is a potentially serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations.

When it comes to managing your diabetes, it’s best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels can actually cause problems with some parts of the body including eyes and nerves.

One of the biggest questions when newly diagnosed is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will be wanting to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.

Many members find using a BG meter, checking before and after meals is a very practical way of tailoring your menu to be more BG friendly. By looking for the ‘meal rise’ - the difference between your BG before eating and then 2hours after your first bite - you can identify any carbs that seem to be causing BG upheaval and try varying or reducing them (sometimes just having things at a different time of day makes a difference). Ideally you would want your meal rise to be a difference of below 3.

If you are interested in using a BG meter to find out how different foods affect you, you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S helpful.

One of the most affordable meters members here have found is from SD, and has been recently updated to the SD Gluco Navii which has test strips at around £8 for 50

Good luck, and keep asking questions!
 
Ditto said:
Hello and welcome to the forum @Keith Archibald 🙂
Click to expand...
Hiya. I got diagnosed type 2 last Thursday. Had an appointment with nurse but was cancelled cos of the situation. She rang me Monday and I’m on one tablet a day. It was a quick call and just said change of lifestyle. No sugar etc but that was it lol. I will be seeing a dietitian I’m sure but god knows when that will be. I will struggle on lol.x
 
Hi Keith

I won’t repeat the fabulous advice that you have been given above,
I will just say welcome to the forum.
Stay in touch and ask any questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly.
 
Keith Archibald said:
Hiya. I got diagnosed type 2 last Thursday. Had an appointment with nurse but was cancelled cos of the situation. She rang me Monday and I’m on one tablet a day. It was a quick call and just said change of lifestyle. No sugar etc but that was it lol. I will be seeing a dietitian I’m sure but god knows when that will be. I will struggle on lol.x
Click to expand...
There is a course many Type 2 offered called Desmond. I have not been on one. I saw it announced on Twitter Wednesday that they have launched a Digital online version. You need to register, you don't need a GP referral, I asked. I have not looked at yet my self.
 
Although it might be difficult at the moment, the best diet for an ordinary type two is to avoid carbohydrate - the sugars and starches which are touted as so healthy these days. Just cutting out bread and potatoes can make a huge difference to the intake for a lot of people, as they are very high carb foods.
 
White things! - flour and anything with flour in it eg pastry, bread, cake, pasta*, or rice or potatoes. (*doesn't matter if that is green or red - still made with durum wheat flour before it's coloured!)

Some fruit has loads of carb - berries have the least generally.

Veg that grows below ground has most, grows on the ground, less, above ground least.

Don't ever think anyone can give carbs up completely cos they can't - even lettuce has carbs - just that you have to eat about a ton to get as much as in a biscuit!
 
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