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Newly diagnosed - and confused !
- Thread starter Ellesspe
- Start date
- Status
Martin.A
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi, and welcome to the Forum. Fire away with your questions - we're here to help.
Admiral Benbow
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- At risk of diabetes
What are your stats? Height,weight, A1C, BP, Fasting glucose, trigs, waist size, BMI etc?
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I really don't know what the NHS is up to - were you not given any advice when prediabetic?
Honestly it is almost criminal the way HCPs play fast and loose with the wellbeing of their patients.
Still - you know now that there are changes to be made, and hopefully you are an uncomplicated case and can return to normal numbers by altering what you eat.
By reducing the intake of carbohydrates many type 2s can lower blood glucose levels, get into normal HbA1c numbers and restore a more balanced metabolism.
For long term use a simple glucose meter is useful for checking more unusual foods eaten from time to time.
Hi all thanks for replying
I was given a leaflet and told new bloods would be done in January.....I think my level was 56 . the monitor is helpful showing how obvious carbs like bread effect immediate blood sugar so am trying to keep within 4-8 but then sometimes I get huge spikes in the morning up to 9.5 when I haven't eaten anything and at night have got below 3.5 so very low. Are spikes normal after eating anyway for anyone without diabetes ? What am I meant to aim for i.e. no spikes or how quickly the spikes reduce ?
I also have "symptoms" which I had been excusing as menopause but reading online think they could have been diabetes related all along i.e. brain fog, horrible sweats, sudden awakeness at night and nightmares, shaky and achey neck, tiredness in the afternoon, dry swollen longue and issues swallowing ?
Thanks everyone - have a feeling this forum is going to much more help and informative than the nurse appt
I was given a leaflet and told new bloods would be done in January.....I think my level was 56 . the monitor is helpful showing how obvious carbs like bread effect immediate blood sugar so am trying to keep within 4-8 but then sometimes I get huge spikes in the morning up to 9.5 when I haven't eaten anything and at night have got below 3.5 so very low. Are spikes normal after eating anyway for anyone without diabetes ? What am I meant to aim for i.e. no spikes or how quickly the spikes reduce ?
I also have "symptoms" which I had been excusing as menopause but reading online think they could have been diabetes related all along i.e. brain fog, horrible sweats, sudden awakeness at night and nightmares, shaky and achey neck, tiredness in the afternoon, dry swollen longue and issues swallowing ?
Thanks everyone - have a feeling this forum is going to much more help and informative than the nurse appt
Martin.A
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
You're right, everyone's BG goes up after eating but if you have diabetes it takes longer to come back down. The target range for a fasting or pre-meal test is between 4 and 7, and for a post-meal test below 8.5 and no more than 2 or 3 above the pre-meal reading.
I didn't experience any of those symptoms, apart from the tiredness.
I didn't experience any of those symptoms, apart from the tiredness.
That's so helpful - thankyou 🙂
Hi @Ellesspe and welcome to the forum.
You have now discovered the Dawn Phenomenon which is your liver giving you a boost (pre-breakfast) in the morning.
Back in cave dweller days it did this so we could go hunt/gather our breakfast, but our liver doesn't know we have food readily at hand and so still continues. As your blood glucose levels get to be more normal, the Dawn Phenomenon wll get smaller and smaller as our body realises that we don't need such high BG levels.
To help in other ways, here is a link to the blog post which set me on the path to remission from Type 2 :
josekalsbeek.blogspot.com
You have now discovered the Dawn Phenomenon which is your liver giving you a boost (pre-breakfast) in the morning.
Back in cave dweller days it did this so we could go hunt/gather our breakfast, but our liver doesn't know we have food readily at hand and so still continues. As your blood glucose levels get to be more normal, the Dawn Phenomenon wll get smaller and smaller as our body realises that we don't need such high BG levels.
To help in other ways, here is a link to the blog post which set me on the path to remission from Type 2 :
The Nutritional Thingy
There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...
josekalsbeek.blogspot.com
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
A better way of looking at it is that you are making dietary changes for the long term so finding a regime which is enjoyable and sustainable rather than something for a quick fix. It really has to become a new way of eating for the long term.
I hope you are finding the data you are getting from the Libre useful, it can be something which almost gives too much information and causes people to panic over what are normal ups and downs in blood glucose.
Making use of it to check out what are good meals should help you move forward but having a blood glucose monitor so you can finger prick would still be useful.
Have a look at this link for some ideas for a low carb approach which should be sufficient to bring your blood glucose down to normal range. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Losing some weight should help as well.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
42-47mmol/mol usually indicated being at risk of diabetes, with a couple of readings 48 or higher giving a diagnosis with T2. So it looks like your metabolism has been beginning to struggle with your menu, but that a few tweaks and changes could help out enormously.
Is it the free trial of the Libre you are using? Variation overnight is common (3am being the time when levels of cortisol are often lowest and BG can dip). But Libre has an added complication in the way it works, because if you lean heavily on it while sleeping the tissues around the sensor can be compressed and sensor glucose can read lower than actual blood glucose values - a “compression low”.
In the early hours, or just after waking the body ‘fires up the burners’ to get ready for the day. It’s part of the circadian rhythm and everyone gets it, but the glucose released from the liver can cause a bump in glucose levels for people with diabetes. Either before rising or just after getting out of bed. These are sometimes called Dawn Phenomenon, or Foot on the Floor.
No one has a completely flat line. Glucose levels rise in people without diabetes after meals, often only to around 8, but sometimes briefly up to 10 or so. The aim is to reduce the wider glucose excursions to reducd the stress on your system. You may occasionally get a virtually flat response after a meal, but it’s not necessary to aim for one. Reducing the range (highest to lowest) and instability (how wobbly you are between the two) are the ideal.
Good luck, and let us know how things go 🙂
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