newbie in distress

[mally]

thanks Alison at least i have a better clue than when i first came on here thanks to everyone, means a lot, iv felt alone and bewildered at times, i will take your advice and read the boards and check other webpages

 

[Martin Canty]

iv felt alone and bewildered at times

We have all been there, it's the nature of the beast...... This is a great forum, out of the few I have been on this is the least judgmental & most supportive (and we have fun)

 

[mally]

thank you Martin

 

[Alison Carr]

Even learning takes time Mally; reading the books and articles help but it still takes some time to get one's head round it. The fact that health 'professionals' have had it wrong for past 40 years isn't exactly encouraging either; seems they have a lot to re-learn to catch up on what diet changes really do work and stay working when one stays with them! I was recommended the Gretchen Becker book and am still only about half way through at this time. Keep fighting back. Rgds Alison

 

[Matt Cycle]

(remember just one bag of crisps is about 55 carbs)

😱 I presume you mean the giant bags as a normal sized bag only weighs 25g in total and has about 13g CHO.

 

[Alison Carr]

yep - but even at 13g I would choose something better to use 13g of my 55g daily carbs on than 1 bag of crisps!!! The Diabetes.co.uk websight has good 365 Recipe cookbook to peruse (read at leisure), plus is another forum to follow (if I am allowed to suggest that?). Lots of information there too. Rgds Alison

 

[Northerner]

Hi mally, welcome to the forum 🙂 It sounds very much to me like you have been left floundering. Rather than picking up bits and pieces of information here and there, I'd suggest having a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter for starters. Get yourself a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, and you will be in a much better informed position about what it is all about 🙂 As has been suggested, testing to discover how different things affect your levels is the best and most efficient method of tailoring your diet so that you can enjoy maximum flexibility in what you eat, but also eat things that you can tolerate well. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand what this entails. If you have to buy your own meter and test strips, then the cheapest option we have come across is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50 (most High St brands will charge £25-£30 for 50 test strips 😱). To help with making your food choices, I would recommend looking at the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet - this is an approach to selecting and combining foods so that they have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels. The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction 🙂

Diabetes can be a very individual condition, so it's important to learn the basics and then, by testing, determine your own tolerances to things. The good thing about diabetes is that it can be controlled well with the right knowledge and effort. It can take time and patience, so don't expect to turn things around overnight, but stick with it, ask questions, and you will get there! 🙂

 

[mally]

thank you Northerner i am learning something new all the time so will check out what you have recommended, thank you to everyone for being so helpful and nice

 

[Stitch147]

Hi Mally and welcome to the forum.

 

[mally]

hello Stitch and thank you

 

[Stitch147]

I'm 11 months in now and still learning something every day. I have found this forum to be a great help with lots of very knowledgable people on here with years of experience. Not sure I could do it without them

 

[mally]

iv only been diagnosed since last week, im on metformin 500mg and feel sick as a dog all day, on and off , every day, i am having bouts of diarrhoea and i cant even look at food, im getting pins and needles in my hands and i feel generally awful,

 

[Stitch147]

Definately ask your dr about the slow release version of metformin. I was lucky, I only had bloating for a couple of weeks when I first started taking it, even though it didnt do anything for me as I'm a bit of an oddball diabetic. Hope you start to feel better soon.

 

[mally]

thank you Stitch its so comforting to know there are people to chat to that can throw some light on things

 

[Stitch147]

Definately. Unless your family and friends have first hand knowledge of diabetes they dont really fully understand what you are going through (thats my experience anyway). My other half has been a great help since I was diagnosed. He says he wont offer me any advice as he hasnt got any idea about diabetes and what I am going through, but he supports me 100% of the way. He even started keeping glucose tablets and shots in the car in case I have a hypo (one of the tablets I am on can cause hypo's). He takes the mickey out of things and thats how I know he understands what I am going through as thats the way that he is. It can be a huge thing to deal with and having support, whether its from people in real life or on this forum, it makes the journey that little bit easier. You are not alone in this struggle.

 

[mally]

thats the thing i did feel at first i was alone and had no one to talk to, i searched the net but every site gave different answers not telling you that people react to things differently and eat differently, theres me thinking everyone eats the same food so could set me a diet plan lol, dumb huh, i have no idea what a hypo is all i know is your hands shake so i eat a strawberry or a sweet then it stops but like i said in my first post im clueless my dr just gave me my prescription and i had to get on with it, iv just called him and he is going to call me back with luck and maybe change my meds, fingers crossed

 

[Mark Parrott]

A hypo can occur when your BG goes below 4.0mmol. If your body is used to high BG levels, then a false hypo can occur when your BG starts coming down. Eventually your body will get used to lower BG levels & false hypos won't happen. Welcome to the forum, BTW.🙂

 

[Stitch147]

Fingers crossed they can change your meds.
Everyone is definatley different when it comes to diabetes, especially when it comes to diet. I can tolerate porridge for breakfast, others cant. Some can tolerate certain fruits and others cant. Thats why testing should be encouraged as it will show you what foods your body can tolerate and what foods will send your levels soaring. Ive been surprised with some of the things that I can and cant eat. A hypo is when your blood glucose level drops below 4. But if you have high readings you can suffer from a false or high hypo. Your body gets used to running on high numbers (for me my finger prick test was 26 when I was diagnosed) the first time my levels went into the 5's I certainly felt it.

 

[mally]

thanks for the welcome Mark, ahh so im not having a hypo im just shaking because my bg is dropping, will have to get used to that

 

[mally]

after being on metformin for 2 weeks and having to cut down to 1 tab a day because of the diarrhoea i found taking 1 paracetamol, or 1 tablet with paracetamol in it stops the diarrhoea, worked for me hope it helps someone else.