Newbie diagnosed type 2 a week before Christmas - great timing!

[goonergirl]

Hi guys

I'm a newbie, I should have seen it coming as my sister is diabetic (type 2 also) as was my nan. Straight onto metformin as my sugars are through the roof. Trying to think of the positives - ie I'll HAVE to lose weight = new wardrobe lol and perhaps I'll get stuff done when I'm not falling asleep all the time lol.

I managed to navigate Christmas ok, didn't put any weight on. Not finding diet changes too much of an issue at the moment, so I might need some inspiration to keep on track later.

Look forward to chatting with you all

Lesley 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi guys

I'm a newbie, I should have seen it coming as my sister is diabetic (type 2 also) as was my nan. Straight onto metformin as my sugars are through the roof. Trying to think of the positives - ie I'll HAVE to lose weight = new wardrobe lol and perhaps I'll get stuff done when I'm not falling asleep all the time lol.

I managed to navigate Christmas ok, didn't put any weight on. Not finding diet changes too much of an issue at the moment, so I might need some inspiration to keep on track later.

Look forward to chatting with you all

Lesley 🙂

Not a diagnosis you want to hear but hopefully it will spur you into a healthier way of eating.
Many find a low carb approach successful in reducing blood glucose and losing weight which you say you need to do.
This link may give you some ideas for dietary changes, there are some do's and dont's as well as some menu ideas based on real food.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

You may inspire your sister as well.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis and certainly a difficult time of year to get it, but sounds like you have coped reasonably well with the festive seasons temptations.

What changes to your diet have you made?
If your HbA1c is really high, then it is important to bring your levels down slowly by making small sustainable changes, rather than going too Gung Ho at it. The fine blood vessels, particularly in the eyes, are put under quite a lot of stress if we suddenly and drastically lower our BG levels which can lead to little bleeds in the retina. A low carb way of eating is a very powerful tool in reducing BG levels so it is best to start by looking at your normal diet and reducing the carbs by about a third for a couple of weeks and then by another third for a few more weeks, until you get down to a level that your body can cope with and that level can be different for all of us, but generally under 130g carbs per day is considered low carb. Many of us find about 60-90 works pretty well but some people do need to go a bit lower.

We are here to give you whatever help and support you need and I hope you will soon feel like I do, that my diagnosis was the kick up the pants I needed to be fitter and healthier and in fact, far from being detrimental, I believe that I am now likely to live longer and with a better quality of life. Many other conditions that I have suffered with for years, like migraine and joint pain and digestive upset have resolved as a result of following a low carb diet and once I got over the initial difficulties of completely changing the way I think about food, I actually really enjoy what I eat now. I think the most difficult part for me was learning to eat without bread and potatoes and culturally that has been part of my life. Not saying I don't occasionally have a small portion but certainly not on a daily basis and really don't miss them now at all.

Anyway, good luck and shout up if you have any particular questions or need help.

 

[goonergirl]

Thanks for the replies, it is very much appreciated. Most of the dietary changes I have made are swapping bad snacks for better choices, ie nuts, rice cakes, fruit instead of crisps and chocolate. I am now eating a lot more fruit and veg, like you Barbara bread and potatoes will be my biggest challenge. My HbA1c was 71 when I was diagnosed, I am waiting on the results of a second blood test last Wednesday to see if any progress has been made.

I do have a question, is it worth investing in a blood glucose meter if you are type 2? I know I will have regular blood tests but I imagine it would be good to keep track of it myself?

Thanks for the warm welcome 🙂

 

[harbottle]

I didn't do a single blood test for 3 months and my hba1c went from 83 to 36 (I did have a meter, just decided that I'd change diet and see what happened.) so you don't necessarily need one, or maybe I was just lucky? I did go low carb quite strictly and also did alternate fasting breakfasts but just decided I didn't want the stress of testing and would wait for the next blood test to see what happened. These days I test like mad for a few months, then don't bother for a few months, or might just do it if I've had something 'new' when I'm on holiday (A cheeky Cannelloni in Italy for instance.)

If you look around you can get a Contour Blue meter for free and a pot of strips is about 12 pounds, or cheaper from other places. It connects to a phone app via bluetooth and is a nice piece of hardware.

https://www.diabetes.ascensia.co.uk/products/contour-plus-blue/FB_promo/

I have around 5 meters, but tend to stick to the Contour ones as I like the app and when I did tests on multiple fingers they gave consistent results. (My favourite is the Contour Next One but the strips are very expensive.)

What you can do is test before and after to see what the effect is - I found that a small amount of potato doesn't cause me any problems. For Xmas dinner I had 4 small potatoes and two hours after the meal I was < 7.0 and 3 hours later < 6.0. I've also found that fruit doesn't cause me any issues - berries, tangerines, apples and oranges. Although the mother in law did give me a bowl of baked fruit that I ate, then mentioned she'd poured a sugary almond syrup over it before cooking!

If I've been naughty (i.e. a cake) then I'll do a test 1 hour after eating as I'm interested in the 'peak'.

 

[goonergirl]

That's fantastic Harbottle, thanks so much for the link, ordered a free meter and strips coming from Amazon. I will certainly see how particular foods affect my results, this will give me a really good idea of what does me no harm to eat and what to avoid.

As well as the snack tweaks and increase in fruit and veg I've also stopped drinking fizzy drinks and low cal drinks, and just drink plain water other than a couple of cups of tea or coffee a day. That seems to have helped with the heartburn I was getting. I'll upate more once I get the most recent blood test results.

Thanks for everyones help so far, I feel less bewildered now, hopefully I can get a grip on it pretty quickly.