Juliefoxall
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi everyone my name is Julie. I've just been diagnosed type 2 diabetes. My head is all over the place so just wanted to join a group to help guide me and give advice x
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Newbie
- Thread starter Juliefoxall
- Start date
- Status
- Relationship to Diabetes
- At risk of diabetes
Hello @Juliefoxall ,
Thank you so much for joining the Diabetes UK community forum. I'm incredibly sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis and can only imagine how difficult this must be for you. How are you coping?
You may find it useful and comforting to read other newbie posts who have been recently diagnosed.
Juliefoxall
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
The nurse rang me today. Due to corona virus they will see me in a month to help with medication weight loss diet etc. I'm feeling lost at moment shed a few tears x
Juliefoxall
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi Martin only been told over phone today so I know nothing nurse is going to be in touch in a month due to Coronavirus there limited in what they can do. Told me to watch my diet for know x
Ditto
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hello and welcome to the forum @Juliefoxall 🙂
Juliefoxall
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Martin thankyou so much x
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and welcome from me too.
I was also diagnosed just over a year ago and entirely understand how emotional you are feeling. It is very overwhelming, but the good news is that with the support of this forum, the future is bright and in fact I feel better now and have a healthier diet than I have for years and whilst it is sometimes challenging, I do enjoy my new way of eating and I love that I am now in control and that I have shed some weight and my partner now calls me "Slim" as my pet name.
The members of this forum have been fantastic in answering my questions and steering me in the right direction both with diet and medication.
Many people assume Diabetes is all about sugar, but it is actually carbohydrates in general which cause us problems which means both sugars and starches. That means not just cutting right back on the cakes biscuits and sweets/chocolate and fruit but also reducing portion size of bread, pasta, rice, noodles, couscous, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. That may seem like it doesn't leave much that we can eat but actually there are plenty of good things like eggs, meat, fish, cheese, nuts and lots of fresh veg. Many of us increase the amount of fat we eat to make up for the lack of carbs and this helps to keep us fuller for longer, so we don't feel hungry, makes food taste great so we don't feel deprived and provides slow release energy as oppose to the fast release of glucose from carbs which causes us problems.
Many of us find that a Blood Glucose meter is an invaluable tool in managing our diabetes as it enables us to see which foods spike our BG the most and enables us to tailor our diet to our specific body's intolerance, so some people can manage a small portion of pasta whereas other people find it spikes them too high, but they can manage a few small potatoes. It can also vary with the time of day, so some people find that porridge will spike their levels too high if they have it on a morning but can get away with a little on an evening. It can be very individual. Unfortunately the NHS no longer provide home testing kits for most Type 2 diabetics but the good news is that they can be self funded and are relatively inexpensive to buy at approx. £15 for a meter and £8 for a pot of 50 test strips for the cheapest ones.... for this reason we recommend the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Health Tee2 models as other meters have much more expensive test strips, which makes the cost of using them much more of a financial drain. Being able to test how our body responds to food is a huge benefit in enabling us to "watch our diet" as your nurse put it.
It really helps to keep a food diary along side our BG readings so that we can see patterns and hopefully see a steady decrease in readings as we adjust our diet and that can be really motivating to keep at it. Quite a number of members of the forum have lost weight and pushed their diabetes into remission by following a low carb diet and some have done it without the aid of medication or have managed to come off medication and manage their diabetes through diet and exercise alone. I hope you are able to get inspiration from reading some of their stories here on the forum.
Good luck with your diabetes journey. We are here to support you with it in any way we can.
I was also diagnosed just over a year ago and entirely understand how emotional you are feeling. It is very overwhelming, but the good news is that with the support of this forum, the future is bright and in fact I feel better now and have a healthier diet than I have for years and whilst it is sometimes challenging, I do enjoy my new way of eating and I love that I am now in control and that I have shed some weight and my partner now calls me "Slim" as my pet name.
The members of this forum have been fantastic in answering my questions and steering me in the right direction both with diet and medication.
Many people assume Diabetes is all about sugar, but it is actually carbohydrates in general which cause us problems which means both sugars and starches. That means not just cutting right back on the cakes biscuits and sweets/chocolate and fruit but also reducing portion size of bread, pasta, rice, noodles, couscous, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. That may seem like it doesn't leave much that we can eat but actually there are plenty of good things like eggs, meat, fish, cheese, nuts and lots of fresh veg. Many of us increase the amount of fat we eat to make up for the lack of carbs and this helps to keep us fuller for longer, so we don't feel hungry, makes food taste great so we don't feel deprived and provides slow release energy as oppose to the fast release of glucose from carbs which causes us problems.
Many of us find that a Blood Glucose meter is an invaluable tool in managing our diabetes as it enables us to see which foods spike our BG the most and enables us to tailor our diet to our specific body's intolerance, so some people can manage a small portion of pasta whereas other people find it spikes them too high, but they can manage a few small potatoes. It can also vary with the time of day, so some people find that porridge will spike their levels too high if they have it on a morning but can get away with a little on an evening. It can be very individual. Unfortunately the NHS no longer provide home testing kits for most Type 2 diabetics but the good news is that they can be self funded and are relatively inexpensive to buy at approx. £15 for a meter and £8 for a pot of 50 test strips for the cheapest ones.... for this reason we recommend the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Health Tee2 models as other meters have much more expensive test strips, which makes the cost of using them much more of a financial drain. Being able to test how our body responds to food is a huge benefit in enabling us to "watch our diet" as your nurse put it.
It really helps to keep a food diary along side our BG readings so that we can see patterns and hopefully see a steady decrease in readings as we adjust our diet and that can be really motivating to keep at it. Quite a number of members of the forum have lost weight and pushed their diabetes into remission by following a low carb diet and some have done it without the aid of medication or have managed to come off medication and manage their diabetes through diet and exercise alone. I hope you are able to get inspiration from reading some of their stories here on the forum.
Good luck with your diabetes journey. We are here to support you with it in any way we can.
Hi Julie
I had exactly the same just 2 weeks ago, a phone call and no follow up.
But I'm not letting that stop me taking what control I can.
I've done the courses in the Learning centre but find forums best of all. With their help I've bought a bg monitor on line (cost about £50 with enough strips for a couple of months) and am already seeing results. I've changed what I eat to low carb and am loving the weight loss and I don't feel hungry!
It's not all doom and gloom. Another positive I'm finding is doing the tests while locked down as I have plenty of time and few distractions.
You are not alone
Xx
I had exactly the same just 2 weeks ago, a phone call and no follow up.
But I'm not letting that stop me taking what control I can.
I've done the courses in the Learning centre but find forums best of all. With their help I've bought a bg monitor on line (cost about £50 with enough strips for a couple of months) and am already seeing results. I've changed what I eat to low carb and am loving the weight loss and I don't feel hungry!
It's not all doom and gloom. Another positive I'm finding is doing the tests while locked down as I have plenty of time and few distractions.
You are not alone
Xx
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @Juliefoxall
Welcome to the forum. It is always a shock to be diagnosed with diabetes, but you have come to the right place. You have already been given a lot of advice, but I will just encourage you to ask any questions that come up. However silly they may seem to you, we don’t mind. Just ask.
Welcome to the forum. It is always a shock to be diagnosed with diabetes, but you have come to the right place. You have already been given a lot of advice, but I will just encourage you to ask any questions that come up. However silly they may seem to you, we don’t mind. Just ask.
Toucan
Forum Host
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hello @Juliefoxall and welcome from me as well.
I can't add any more to the really good advice that other members have already given you. So I will just add a few links of where to get some more information if you wish.
Firstly there is the Diabetes UK Learning Zone, and there is a link to this at the top of the page.
If you want to know more about the Low-Carb way of eating then Maggie Davey's letter, shows how this lady approached the problem.
If you are considering getting a glucose meter then SD Gluco Navii is one that many people use, and test-review-adjust gives information on how to go about testing.
Please keep posting and ask any questions, and we would be interested to hear how it goes for you
I can't add any more to the really good advice that other members have already given you. So I will just add a few links of where to get some more information if you wish.
Firstly there is the Diabetes UK Learning Zone, and there is a link to this at the top of the page.
If you want to know more about the Low-Carb way of eating then Maggie Davey's letter, shows how this lady approached the problem.
If you are considering getting a glucose meter then SD Gluco Navii is one that many people use, and test-review-adjust gives information on how to go about testing.
Please keep posting and ask any questions, and we would be interested to hear how it goes for you
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Juliefoxall
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It can be quite an emotional and overwhelming time, so allow yourself time to adjust - and be kind to yourself.
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. Some say that after a few months, they’ve not felt so well and full of energy for years. Sometimes we don’t realise how we’ve been gradually feeling more tired, lethargic and generally ‘not right’ as symptoms have developed over months or years.
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - It's something that you can learn to live well with, and shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
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.
Keep an eye on those carbs, some people find it helps to start keeping a food diary.
And keep asking questions! 🙂
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It can be quite an emotional and overwhelming time, so allow yourself time to adjust - and be kind to yourself.
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. Some say that after a few months, they’ve not felt so well and full of energy for years. Sometimes we don’t realise how we’ve been gradually feeling more tired, lethargic and generally ‘not right’ as symptoms have developed over months or years.
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - It's something that you can learn to live well with, and shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
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.
Keep an eye on those carbs, some people find it helps to start keeping a food diary.
And keep asking questions! 🙂
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