Aa
Advice please
Any advice for me? I was diagnosed with type 2 just last week.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi
Being diagnosed is empowering in a way, though not what anyone wants, because you can be in control of your health. Diabetes can be managed well.
My recommendations:
1. Learn as much as you can about diabetes. Basically though diabetes means that your body can no longer process carbohyrates properly. Protein has less impact on blood sugar and fats typically no impact.
2. Take this opportunity to get physically active. Do something that gets you moving, ideally enough to be sweating every day. Exercise is very beneficial to blood sugar management.
3. Get a blood sugar meter. This meter will become your tool to give you feedback about how you are managing and what you can do better. For eating, the meter will tell you how high you go after eating, and using this feedback you can then choose foods that have less impact on your blood sugars.
4. Diet: I prefer to call this 'way of eating'. Low carb, moderate protein, and enough healthy fats to make up calorie requirements for energy and so you're not hungry. Low carb may mean anything from 30 - 120 g of carbs per day, depending what your meter says. Most of your foods should come from meats, eggs, cheese, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, unsweetened dairy, cold weather fruits, etc. You could look into paleo style eating, or mediteranean (but go very light on the pasta, potato, bread).
5. Use medic ation if required to get your blood sugars normal. Most likely first line medication is metformin / Glucophage. If this doesn't work, there are other meds to consider adding or insulin. Remember there is no shame in using insulin if it is required. What is important is to normalize blood sugars.
6. What are normal blood sugars?
Normal non diabetic fasting blood sugars are typically in the range of 70 - 90.
Normal non diabetic blood sugars (peak) 1 1/2 to 2 hours after eating are typically close to fasting levels, but never higher than about 120 - 140. Ideally target post eating peak to close to 100 or lower.
Hope this helps. This is in your hands, and you can manage well with knowledge and tools.
Please know that diabetes itself doesnt' cause complications. Complications come about from high blood sugars. If you can learn how to managed you won't have high sugars and your risk of complications will be very low.
Being diagnosed is empowering in a way, though not what anyone wants, because you can be in control of your health. Diabetes can be managed well.
My recommendations:
1. Learn as much as you can about diabetes. Basically though diabetes means that your body can no longer process carbohyrates properly. Protein has less impact on blood sugar and fats typically no impact.
2. Take this opportunity to get physically active. Do something that gets you moving, ideally enough to be sweating every day. Exercise is very beneficial to blood sugar management.
3. Get a blood sugar meter. This meter will become your tool to give you feedback about how you are managing and what you can do better. For eating, the meter will tell you how high you go after eating, and using this feedback you can then choose foods that have less impact on your blood sugars.
4. Diet: I prefer to call this 'way of eating'. Low carb, moderate protein, and enough healthy fats to make up calorie requirements for energy and so you're not hungry. Low carb may mean anything from 30 - 120 g of carbs per day, depending what your meter says. Most of your foods should come from meats, eggs, cheese, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, unsweetened dairy, cold weather fruits, etc. You could look into paleo style eating, or mediteranean (but go very light on the pasta, potato, bread).
5. Use medic ation if required to get your blood sugars normal. Most likely first line medication is metformin / Glucophage. If this doesn't work, there are other meds to consider adding or insulin. Remember there is no shame in using insulin if it is required. What is important is to normalize blood sugars.
6. What are normal blood sugars?
Normal non diabetic fasting blood sugars are typically in the range of 70 - 90.
Normal non diabetic blood sugars (peak) 1 1/2 to 2 hours after eating are typically close to fasting levels, but never higher than about 120 - 140. Ideally target post eating peak to close to 100 or lower.
Hope this helps. This is in your hands, and you can manage well with knowledge and tools.
Please know that diabetes itself doesnt' cause complications. Complications come about from high blood sugars. If you can learn how to managed you won't have high sugars and your risk of complications will be very low.
For some people, a Type 2 diagnosis is perceived as a death sentence. For sure, nobody wants to be diagnosed with Type 2 or anything for that matter, but how you go about it makes all of the difference. There is some sound advice mentioned here.
Gaining control revolves around diet, exercise and taking your meds as directed. Your general physician most likely is not a diabetes specialist, so if diet changes, exercise and meds aren't working like they should, I think it would be a great idea to find an endocrinologist. They can get you on the right track but you have to commit to a program of some sorts.
A lot of Type 2 diabetics live healthy, long lives. You can too. Learn all you can and be open to trying new things. I have had great success with intermittent fasting. There are dozens of books on the subject. Like I said, it works for me.
Good luck.
Gaining control revolves around diet, exercise and taking your meds as directed. Your general physician most likely is not a diabetes specialist, so if diet changes, exercise and meds aren't working like they should, I think it would be a great idea to find an endocrinologist. They can get you on the right track but you have to commit to a program of some sorts.
A lot of Type 2 diabetics live healthy, long lives. You can too. Learn all you can and be open to trying new things. I have had great success with intermittent fasting. There are dozens of books on the subject. Like I said, it works for me.
Good luck.
As Super_Sally888 mentioned, getting an affirmative diagnosis is the first step towards getting the care you need, however all the information can be overwhelming at first and it can be tough to know where to start.
Sally already shared lots of great tips, and to piggyback off of that, it's important to work closely with your doctor to not only learn about diabetes but to create a treatment plan that's right for you. Being an empowered patient involves asking lots of questions. At this stage some basic things you might want to cover with your doctor are:
- How will having type 2 diabetes affect my daily life?
- Does having diabetes increase the risk for complications or other diseases? If so, what are the signs of diabetes complications?
- How is type 2 diabetes usually managed?
- What type of treatment do you recommend?
- What are the benefits, risks, and side effects of this treatment?
- What does testing blood sugar levels involve?
- What should my blood glucose level be?
- How often should I test my blood sugar levels?
- What should I do if I experience hyperglycemia? What about if I experience hypoglycemia?
- Will my diabetes treatment require lifestyle changes, such as diet, exercise, and weight loss? What kinds of exercise and how much daily exercise do you recommend?
- Might working with a nutritionist or dietician be helpful?
Also ask your doctor about working with a Certified Diabetes Educator. This is someone you can work with to learn more about how to manage diabetes day-to-day, create a meal plan, teach you how to take your sugar levels etc.
It's a journey but you are on the right track!
Sally already shared lots of great tips, and to piggyback off of that, it's important to work closely with your doctor to not only learn about diabetes but to create a treatment plan that's right for you. Being an empowered patient involves asking lots of questions. At this stage some basic things you might want to cover with your doctor are:
- How will having type 2 diabetes affect my daily life?
- Does having diabetes increase the risk for complications or other diseases? If so, what are the signs of diabetes complications?
- How is type 2 diabetes usually managed?
- What type of treatment do you recommend?
- What are the benefits, risks, and side effects of this treatment?
- What does testing blood sugar levels involve?
- What should my blood glucose level be?
- How often should I test my blood sugar levels?
- What should I do if I experience hyperglycemia? What about if I experience hypoglycemia?
- Will my diabetes treatment require lifestyle changes, such as diet, exercise, and weight loss? What kinds of exercise and how much daily exercise do you recommend?
- Might working with a nutritionist or dietician be helpful?
Also ask your doctor about working with a Certified Diabetes Educator. This is someone you can work with to learn more about how to manage diabetes day-to-day, create a meal plan, teach you how to take your sugar levels etc.
It's a journey but you are on the right track!
2 Comments
We have some great content on diabetes on MedHelp.org. Give it a read to help learn and understand your condition!
http://www.medhelp.org/diabetes?section=articles
http://www.medhelp.org/diabetes?section=articles
I found out I had type 2 about a month ago.
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