Diabetes advice

mardycow

Thanks again everyone, I have emptied (mainly) my freezer and cupboards of the bad stuff, I have started eating some fruit, and have mostly been having chicken breast fillets and frozen mix veg, I cannot have much green veg due to being on Warfarin. Have dusted off the WiiFit and excercise rider. Hopefully when i do get to see the specialist nurse I will have a head start. ! thanks again,

pmduk

The book I felt most helpful when first diagnosed was "Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year - An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (Patient-expert Guides)" By Gretchen Becker

If you buy it, make sure you buy the UK edition rather that the US original. But it's likely your library can get you a copy.

Minrich

mardycow wrote: »

I have been losing weight without even trying so am within 'normal' parameters thank you

Thats diabetes for you , the food you have been eating has been raising your blood sugar and not your waist size , you need to change your eating habits asap

Don't eat too much fruit either , its high in natural sugar . What was you original blood test reading (not the fasting one , you must have had the result back now ?) . Mine was 22 ! . Fasting blood test was 25 , fortunately i have got it to around 6-7 on my last 4/5 hba1c's .

If your doctor is like mine they think Diabetics eat cake for every meal and give you metformin and talk down to you for several months , refer you dietician etc . I rarely ate sweet things or fried or rich foods , i like vegetables too . Eventually after making a big fuss they gave me gliclazide and had no issues since . I put mine down to doing shifts for 25 years and sometimes eating sometimes not , gorging when i could and starving alot of the time .

mardycow

Minrich wrote: »

Thats diabetes for you , the food you have been eating has been raising your blood sugar and not your waist size , you need to change your eating habits asap

Don't eat too much fruit either , its high in natural sugar . What was you original blood test reading (not the fasting one , you must have had the result back now ?) . Mine was 22 ! . Fasting blood test was 25 , fortunately i have got it to around 6-7 on my last 4/5 hba1c's .

If your doctor is like mine they think Diabetics eat cake for every meal and give you metformin and talk down to you for several months , refer you dietician etc . I rarely ate sweet things or fried or rich foods , i like vegetables too . Eventually after making a big fuss they gave me gliclazide and had no issues since . I put mine down to doing shifts for 25 years and sometimes eating sometimes not , gorging when i could and starving alot of the time .

I don't know yet what my levels are or were, I d on't see the diabetes nurse for couple weeks as she is on holiday. Typically ech time iwent to gp in last 2 years i told them was losing weight whilst eating lots of cake and nothing was done, Have got a good book from library called 'Beating Diabetes' as so much stuff on t'interweb is confusing or conflicting, Let's just say the frozen chicken fillets and frozen veg are now the main staple of my current menu whilst family and friends are receiving the contenets of freezer and cupboards, Thanks again

Mojisola

mardycow wrote: »

I don't know yet what my levels are or were, I d on't see the diabetes nurse for couple weeks as she is on holiday.

You can get a monitor yourself and then you'll be able to check after meals and see what effect your change in diet is having on your blood sugar levels.

patchwork_cat

If you are type 2 then I SERIOUSLY recommend you trying the Newcastle diet. My DH did it after a blood test in diabetic range and his HBa1c has been no more than 35 for over a year with no medication or watching what he eats beyond ensuring that he doesn't gain the weight back. Now personally we don't think he is cured as if he regains the weight we think he will go back and possibly as he ages he will too, but for the time being he is in remission, and can eat the occasional cake and not see a spike. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm ( Asda shakes with no added sugar soya milk and a vegetable soup). We have bought a monitor and strips (not too bad on ebay) and he tests his fasting bloods every morning consistently 5.2 and he has an HBa1c every 3 to 6 months. As for the monitor - codefree strips are cheap. We didn't find them very accurate, but lots of people are very happy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/dp/B0068JAJFS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408963484&sr=8-2&keywords=glucose+monitor. Someone above mentions Hba1c at 6/7 - please be aware that since 2011 they changed the units and you are looking at wanting readings of 41-48 mmol/mol. If you decide not to do the Newcastle, then look at your glycaemic load for each meal (as horseunderwater does) and I have found diabetes UK to be an excellent resource http://www.diabetes.co.uk/

iglimpse

http://www.diabetes.org.uk

This site is the gold standard for info. All the info on here is NHS approved. You will get more specific advice as well but the site above will give you all the info you need in the meantime. Ask them a question, if not.

Obese people are more at risk of diabetes but on the flip side, 50% of obese people don't become diabetic. I also know lots of normal weight people who have type 2 diabetes.

It is all overwhelming at first but things will soon settle, with new eating and drinking habits. Some people want to change their diet and then see what their Hba1c level is. YOU should find out what your level was before you started medication If it is still high then you definitely need medication.

The sad reality is, a lot of people make no changes to their diet, their glucose level stays high and there are NO symptoms until maybe 5ys later when they develop one of the many complications. E.g. Feet or eye problems, then it is too late. The clock cannot be turned back.

I note that you are not obese (normal BMI). If you were, then losing weight is always a good idea, amazingly that will lower your glucose and yes, sometimes to a normal level but some people still require medication to get the glucose in the normal limits. Changes to diet don't need a fancy name / invention. Please do not consider some of the advice given here, until you have had your own individual assessment from an expert.

You are on a journey you did not want, you will learn a lot over the next few weeks but go with it, don't panic. If you can keep your levels good, you are very unlikely to develop any of the complications that people fear.

Minrich

patchwork_cat wrote: »

If you are type 2 then I SERIOUSLY recommend you trying the Newcastle diet. My DH did it after a blood test in diabetic range and his HBa1c has been no more than 35 for over a year with no medication or watching what he eats beyond ensuring that he doesn't gain the weight back. Now personally we don't think he is cured as if he regains the weight we think he will go back and possibly as he ages he will too, but for the time being he is in remission, and can eat the occasional cake and not see a spike. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm ( Asda shakes with no added sugar soya milk and a vegetable soup). We have bought a monitor and strips (not too bad on ebay) and he tests his fasting bloods every morning consistently 5.2 and he has an HBa1c every 3 to 6 months. As for the monitor - codefree strips are cheap. We didn't find them very accurate, but lots of people are very happy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/dp/B0068JAJFS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408963484&sr=8-2&keywords=glucose+monitor. Someone above mentions Hba1c at 6/7 - please be aware that since 2011 they changed the units and you are looking at wanting readings of 41-48 mmol/mol. If you decide not to do the Newcastle, then look at your glycaemic load for each meal (as horseunderwater does) and I have found diabetes UK to be an excellent resource http://www.diabetes.co.uk/

Having just had my hba1c done at the doctors they informed me it was 6.2 , so not using the mmol/mol reading ??

A.Penny.Saved

It might be worth getting yourself a blood glucose meter so that you can check your blood sugars yourself. I don't think that they give them OR prescribe the test strips to type 2's now and if that is true then you will have to buy one if you want to test.

A fairly inexpensive meter with low priced strips is the GlucoRX. The test strips are much cheaper at about half the price than the brand leaders.

I might be worth getting something to keep your Blood Sugars as low as you can until you can be seen by a professional to help keep things as close to normal as you can. However you should stop any that you are taking several days before you see the health professional so that when they test you, they get an accurate picture of how things are without assistance. You might be able to go back on them if you want to if the health professional agrees. If you have some blood test results showing that the herbs are helping then this might show some evidence of their effects.

Green Tea can improve BS levels, it does contain caffeine so do not overdo it.
http://www.all-about-beating-diabetes.com/green-tea-and-diabetes.html
Gymnema Sylvestre
http://www.all-about-beating-diabetes.com/gymnema-sylvestre-for-diabetes.html
Bitter Melon
http://www.all-about-beating-diabetes.com/bitter-melon-diabetes.html

pmduk

You need to be very careful about any advice you receive. Much of it may be US-based. They have different ideas on treatment. Additionally many web-sites have a hidden agenda, seeking to promote certain treatments/diets that may not be safe.