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Newbie to this site...

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Jules0660

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi There. I was diagnosed Type 2 diabetic a few years ago now and have to say that I live largely in ignorance in relation to it - head in sand if I possibly can. However, I do get scares from time to time that make me reassess that position! Currently my home recorded levels are high and the last doctors recording was high - despite being on medication. Plus side is that blood pressure and cholesterol are both well under control now - so it's just this one to get sorted! I have managed to lose a reasonable amount of weight over the past year and am aware that I need to do more in that area - though I am not huge by any stretch - Size 14 up top but I'm a shrinking 5'2" and getting older every day. I had a look on the forums as a guest the other night which is what has made me join up - you seem a friendly, non judgemental informative lot!
 
Hi Jules - we do try to be how you describe us but sometimes our sense of humour gets the better of some of us - ie me. Hence if I ever tell you you're a daft old bat it isn't personal!

Now the questions. How did you manage to lose the weight? Cos I'm wondering whether, if you've already made dietary and exercise changes, you'll need to do an awful lot more or not? However without knowing what your diet currently consists of we can't suggest what might help.

What meds are you currently on? What testing regime do you follow?
 
Hello and welcome.
I was diagnosed over three years ago and have concentrated on my blood glucose levels, eating a low carb diet. I feel so much better for it - even in these strange times I am planning on joining in the 'lone morris festival' tomorrow, as we cannot dance together or attend festivals around the county we are going to be dancing outside out houses.
I think trophywench was right to warn you that we can be a bit batty at times....
 
Welcome to the forum Jules from a fellow T2
 
Welcome to the forum @Jules0660

Congrats on your weight loss! And great that your BP and cholesterol are on target.

When it comes to giving your diabetes mangement strategies an overhaul, 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 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 right back on, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, bread, pastry, grains, cereals including ‘healthy wholegrain’ ones, along with many fruits.

The tricky thing is that blood glucose responses to food are highly individual, and it can be impossible to say which forms and amounts of carbohydrate will ‘spike’ your BG without checking for yourself with a BG meter.

You can check before and 2hours after meals, noting what the differences are. That way you can identify any carbs that rapidly or significantly increase your BG levels. Then you can experiment with varying the type or reducing the amount (sometimes just having things at a different time of day makes a difference).

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

For a bit more background information, the ‘useful links’ thread is a mine of helpful information - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book, as very helpful starting points.
 
Wish I lived in the same street as you so I could walk along and enjoy the Morris dancing, Drummer!
 
It will soon be Mayday - there are various teams and sides who are dancing in their gardens, all singly, and as dawn will be by its very nature - early, so the advice is to leave off the bells and to clash the sticks quietly, keep the volume down if there is music. You might be able to find video online of these solitary dance outs, to bring up the sun for the Summer.
 
It’s great having someone on the forum who upholds the pagan traditions. Needs to be done. Keep up the good work, Drummer.

And welcome to the forum, Jules. Lots of great advice hereabouts, and even the pagans are tame and knowledgeable 🙂
 
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