# hello



## sueliz (Mar 4, 2009)

just found this site and wanted to say hello and introduce myself
newly diagnosed type 2 and finding it hard to know what to eat etc
any help would be appreciated
practice nurse doesnt seem to be much help, seems to think i should know what questions to ask, rather than giving me the info i need


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## sofaraway (Mar 4, 2009)

welcome to DS 

Have you been made a dietician appointment yet? Hopefully they will be able to give you some advice. Also as someone newly diagnosed you should have an eye test with retinal photograph taken.

It's difficult to give specific diet advice and there isn't a list of foods that you can/can't eat. Different things affect each person with diabetes in different ways. So part of having diabetes is finding out what you personally can/can't eat. 

Most people with type 2 find that cutting down on carbohydrate intake is helpful in controlling blood sugars. Have you been given a meter to test your blood sugars? 

Read some of the posts here and feel free to ask any questions you need.


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## Steff (Mar 4, 2009)

welcome sueliz


same situation as yourself , and only this morning have i been and spoken to my gp , otherwise i'd be sitting here clueless,, this place is really great and always some one is happy to help and answer any questions 

regards steff


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## Vanessa (Mar 4, 2009)

Sueliz - I suspect it is often difficult for the practice nurse to know where to begin.  When I was newly diagnosed I don't think I would have taken much in no matter what was said to me.  This site wasn't around then either but I found the supermarket tour section of Diabetes UK website a good start (although like many Type 2s I now eat fewer carbohydrate foods than they suggest) as were the books "Diabetes for Dummies" and, more recently "Type 2 Diabetes in Adults"


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## JennyL (Mar 4, 2009)

Hi

I was dx 4+ years ago saw a dietician and followed the "advice" for a week or so.

Decided to start testing and manage carbs last July with fantastic results.


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## VBH (Mar 5, 2009)

Try Gretchen Becker's excellent "Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year"  And Jenny Ruhl's "Blood Sugar 101 - What they don't tell you about diabetes"

And have a read of this:
http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/joomla/jennifers-advice

The most helpful info for any new T2 that I've ever seen, frankly.


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## sofaraway (Mar 5, 2009)

VBH said:


> Try Gretchen Becker's excellent "Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year"  And Jenny Ruhl's "Blood Sugar 101 - What they don't tell you about diabetes"
> 
> And have a read of this:
> http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/joomla/jennifers-advice
> ...



thanks for the link, think it's very good


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## Steff (Mar 5, 2009)

very helpful indeed i was writing tips down as i read


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## Vanessa (Mar 5, 2009)

VBH, thanks for the link. Most helpful


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## Northerner (Mar 5, 2009)

VBH said:


> Try Gretchen Becker's excellent "Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year"  And Jenny Ruhl's "Blood Sugar 101 - What they don't tell you about diabetes"
> 
> And have a read of this:
> http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/joomla/jennifers-advice
> ...



Articulate, informative and concise! It should be the first thing you're told after the shock of diagnosis has sunk in - thanks VBH!


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## Corrine (Mar 6, 2009)

Hi Sueliz - I can only echo what those before me have said.  These boards and Diabetes.org were my main 2 sources of info - and still are.  Dont hesitate to ask any questions you may have - and if you're like me - there will be loads


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## sueliz (Mar 6, 2009)

thanks for the welcome and the advice, not had a lot of time to study this yet, but hopefully tomorrow when i'm not at work, i can take my time and investigate the various suggestions by those kind enough to pass them on


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## kojack (Mar 6, 2009)

Hi sueliz and welcome.
I had not seen that link before and it's excellent. 

However, anything diet/medical should be done with reference to a professional. As a diagnosed diabetic your health authority has obligations to you and we all have different metabolisms.


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## VBH (Mar 6, 2009)

Kojack,

I appreciate why you said the above.

However, the majority of medics and nearly all dieticians will advise against any kind of carb management.  If you go ahead and do it anyway, knocking your A1c down to under 6, they will assume you are lying or overmedicated.  If you use carb management to drop your cholesterol numbers , they will assume its all down to their advice working despite your ignoring it.

The standard advice from medics amounts to "carbs raise your bg so you have to be careful about what you eat.  now go and eat a lot of carbs".  I've never seen a suggestion from a dietician for breakfast which does not involve almost ALL carbs, despite the fact that the majority of people have increased insulin resistance in the morning so that carbs hit the BG like a hammer.

Jennifer's advice is geared towards using your meter to demonstrate to yourself what works for you.  Most docs will not believe it.  Dieticians certainly will not believe it.  However since it teaches the individual what works for THEM, it works.

I realise that as a mod you have to use the 'always consult your doctor" disclaimer approach.  However the vast majority of doctors will tell you not to do it, but to follow a high carb diet instead even after demonstrating that it works.

I manage my diabetes.  The medics are there as a support team.  I will listen to what they say, do a little checking and then make up my own mind.  But the important thing is that _*I *_manage my condition, not them.  Its me who has to live with it on a daily basis and me who faces the consequences if I get it wrong.


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