# I'm a newbie



## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi there,

I was diagnosed T2 about 3 months ago and I still have quite a lot to learn about it.  I'm happy I found here !  I'll post my questions / happy thoughts / sad thoughts/ even moaning !  

See you soon!


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

*It's me again*

I'm replying to my own post!

The diagnosis came as a shock: this is partly because the timing was spot on.  My dh had a mini stroke and was admitted to the hospital.  He was stopped for a week and then discharged.  On the very next day of his coming home, I was waken up by tel call from my doctor that said I was diabetic so I needed to go to the local surgery urgently. (I did have a blood test on the previous day but I thought that was just a periodical one and wasn't worried about it at all.) I just couldn't believe what he said. 

I was first told it's type 1 so I was on insulin.  Then the doctors said the characteristics of type 1 were disappearing: I was put on medication, Metformin, and then Gliclazide too.  The medication seemed working, so now I'm told it's type 2 and I'm using tablets only.  

I'm cooking for my dh and myself, which I found is quite a challenge.  He needs low fat, low salt diet.(actually no salt is allowed to use while cooking or on the table)  I need low sugar, low carb diet.  We are having low everthing diet !

Since the diagnosis, I've had good days and bad days. I just can't shake off the feeling that this disease is my fault.  I keep thinking that because I didn't take care of myself properly, now I've got this.  I know it's no use thinking like this.  The good thing is, however, I've been controlling my SB quite all right and my BMI is now 20.9 down from 23.7. My doctor said there is nothing I have to give up because of this disease, so I will believe him.

Thanks for reading!


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## Copepod (Jul 18, 2010)

Welcome Kay. I guess you'll get more replies when people wake up. Several people have had similar diagnosis confusion stories to yourself. Even without confusion over which type of D, many people find adjusting to diagnosis is difficult, but it does get easier with time. Selecting food and cooking for yourself and DH does sound a challenge - lots of veggies, I guess?


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## Steff (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi there Kay and welcome to the forum im a typ2e2 diagnosed in feb 09 on metformin and byetta which is a type of injedtion, i had tests done as i thought i was type 1  turned out i was type 2 in the end though,like you i cook for myself my oh and son and can sometimes find it quite hard as they have some of the foods i wish i could still have lol but i grin and bare it.

Anyway any questions you have ask away ok x


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## Emmal31 (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Kay

Welcome to the forum  x


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## Pigeon (Jul 18, 2010)

Just dropping in to say welcome, Kay! And well done on the weight loss, that's a bit improvement and I'm sure it will help with your diabetes control too. Feel free to ask any questions!


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## Andy HB (Jul 18, 2010)

Welcome to the forum Kay.

I've never put salt in any of my food (but occassionally wonder whether I should have some times!).

Andy


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Copepod,

Yes, we are having lots of veggies.  We love them and eat like a horse.
But we DO need more variety in cooking...


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Steffie,

I think I'm allowed to eat foods which my dh is completely banned from, such as hams, bacon and sausage.  (DM people can still eat them in moderation??)  But I'm trying not to buy them for me because that'll make my dh feel jelous!  Protein wise, we only have chicken breasts and fish, which is getting boring...


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thank you Emma,

I suppose you're the lady in the picture, not the baby on her lap?


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Pigeon,

I put a question on Diet page and I've already had a reply from a nice lady.
This site is great!


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## shirl (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Kay,

welcome to the forum.
Look forward to getting to know you more, take care, shirl x


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Andy,

Wow it's good for you!  I still miss my salt...
My weakness is not choc or other sweets, but slightly salted rice cakes, which are high in GI.


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Shirl,

Thank you for your reply.  It's great that I can talk about DM and my condition freely here!


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## Northerner (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi KayC welcome to the forum  Any questions you have, we'll try and answer them for you!


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## shirl (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Kay, yeah is good to have somewhere to go to an have ppl understand where your comin from! 
Take it easy, lv shirl


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## PhilT (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Kay, welcome to the forum.


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Northerner,

I'm happy I've found here!  I'm a northerner, too!


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks PhilT,

I'll enjoy myself here!


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## Vicsetter (Jul 18, 2010)

KayC said:


> Thanks Steffie,
> 
> But I'm trying not to buy them for me because that'll make my dh feel jelous!  Protein wise, we only have chicken breasts and fish, which is getting boring...



You could try making chicken more interesting with spices, Stir fry cooked chicken strips with soy sauce  or Balti spice mix, great on salad.


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Vic,
I've got reduced salt soy sauce in the cupboard but have never used Balti spice mix.  I'll have a look at Morrison's!


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## Vicsetter (Jul 18, 2010)

I was going to suggest my favorite which is chopped up cold chicken, some curry powder (balti is my favorite, but there are lots of different ones and you can make your own - no carbs) and salad cream(light) on toast.  The salad cream is the naughty bit, but it's not too much sugar.  The idea is to make the food interesting and satisfy you that way.


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## KayC (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi Vicsetter,
Stupidly enough, I had to google what you said:My question was 'What is the cold chicken??'  Now I know that you cook (grill/boil) the chicken first and cool it down.  So you can use it for salad or sandwiches !!
I've been almost vegetarian all my life, that was because I don't really like meat and fish. (excluding prawn and salmon)  When my hub was eating his steak, I was having carb, carb and more carbohidrate! (It's obvious how I got DM) Since the diagnosis on April, I've been trying to have more balanced diet and cooking meat, porlty and fish for myself. So I'm still a beginner......


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## Vicsetter (Jul 19, 2010)

I have a very nice Panasonic microwave (oven, grill, microwave in one)  It auto cooks a 1.5kg chicken in about 27 minutes.  Cook about 1 a week and that does my lunches.  No reason why you should eat meat though, there are other sources of protein.


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## KayC (Jul 19, 2010)

So you can cook ahead in bulk.  It's a great idea!  I started eating meat reluctantly, but I found meat and fish very very filling.  Now I don't have to eat so much carb.  So it's sort of working for me.


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## Copepod (Jul 20, 2010)

KayC said:


> When my hub was eating his steak, I was having carb, carb and more carbohidrate! (It's obvious how I got DM) Since the diagnosis on April, I've been trying to have more balanced diet and cooking meat, porlty and fish for myself. So I'm still a beginner......



Don't blame yourself, KayC - eating carbohydrate or sugars doesn't give you diabetes (of any type), although there is an association with being overweight and developing type 2 diabetes. Association means some specific in epidemiology (study of patterns of health & ill-health) - factors that are found together, without knowing which caused which. As an example, there is a relationship between numbers of churches and pubs in towns within a country / region, but neither churches nor pubs "cause" each other; both are a result of the population size. There is some evidence that small amounts of fat, as in fish and meat, help you to feel full up, which means you eat less overall. Veggies are also good for filling up eg we're currently getting lots of garden produce eg broad beans, runner beans, peas, tomatoes, beetroots, sweetcorn (soon!) We had home made potato salad with low calorie mayonnaise and garden chives last night, with burger. As well as controlling slugs & snails in veg patch, our ducks also lay eggs, which make lovely omelettes, with whatever veg, plus sometimes cheese and / or bacon or ham for low carbohydrate meals.


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## KayC (Jul 21, 2010)

Copepod said:


> Don't blame yourself, KayC - eating carbohydrate or sugars doesn't give you diabetes (of any type), although there is an association with being overweight and developing type 2 diabetes.



Hi Copepod
Thanks for saying so.  As I put above, I keep blaming myself for having DM.  I wasn't even so big at the time of diagnosis, my BMI was within OK range.  I guess (not an educational guess but wild one) that my body had a tendency not to manage my sugar level very well.  About 5-6 years before diagnosis, I often had hypo which I now guess it was.  After carb rich lunch, I often had symptoms of hypo (shaky hands, cold sweat etc) at 4.00pm.  Having a piece of choc always helped.  I switched to low carb lunch, such as green salad, then they symptoms stopped appearing.  Could've seen my doctor at that time, but I didn't think it was serious.
My doctor says I'm unlucky because DM is in my gene.  So I will stop blaming myself and think about future, which is dependant on how I control myself from now.
Moaning apart, you seem to live in the excellent environment....I do a little gardening myself, but it's not always successful....This year, I've done several pots of herbs and that's it.  They are (so far) growing OK.

All the best to you


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## Andy HB (Jul 21, 2010)

KayC said:


> After carb rich lunch, I often had symptoms of hypo (shaky hands, cold sweat etc) at 4.00pm.  Having a piece of choc always helped.



That's quite interesting because it runs counter to what one would normally expect. That is, excess carbs in a diabetic = hyper rather than hypo.

However, I wonder whether it was because your body was starting to not regulate itself very well and the pancreas over compensating for the high blood glucose levels by dumping a larger amount of insulin than was required (or something like that!).

Andy


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## KayC (Jul 21, 2010)

Andy HB said:


> That's quite interesting because it runs counter to what one would normally expect. That is, excess carbs in a diabetic = hyper rather than hypo.



I vaguely remember of reading something like this in an American book years ago:  Insulin is not a very CLEVER hormone so if there is a sugar surge in the blood, it might mop up the sugar too much too quickly and cause low blood sugar level.
But I can be totally wrong!


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## Northerner (Jul 21, 2010)

KayC said:


> I vaguely remember of reading something like this in an American book years ago:  Insulin is not a very CLEVER hormone so if there is a sugar surge in the blood, it might mop up the sugar too much too quickly and cause low blood sugar level.
> But I can be totally wrong!



There is something called reactive hypoglycaemia, which occurs for the reason you have suggested KayC.


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## Copepod (Jul 21, 2010)

*gardening tips*

KayC - thanks, life is good, apart from lack of nearby mountains or sea, but spent last night combining punting, running and map reading, cycling to & from start, which is my idea of a good night out! 
But, I have great difficulty keeping plants in pots alive. Currently, though have 4 pepper plants that I grew from seed on the windowsill with cut plastic bottles as mini greenhouses, plus a ginger lily my mum gave me, explaining that with its fleshy root, even I was unlikely to kill it - it's in the garden, to get any rain it can. With herbs, our problem is stopping ducks eating / sitting on them - they don't like the taste of chives, but sitting on them isn't very helpful! Perhaps they're objecting to us taking their eggs for omelettes involving chives! Good health to you and your herbs! If you have any soil, and like garlic, then that's very easy to grow - just stick a few cloves, from bulb from supermarket, pointed end upwards, into soil, either November or March, for harvest the following summer. 
You're right that genetics play a part in getting diabetes, but you have a lot of control about what happens next. At least, that's my philosophy. I think that my type 1 diabetes might have appeared quicker and / or younger (30 at diagnosis) if I hadn't been active, normal weight, with a decent diet etc. No idea if that's true, but it helps me.


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## KayC (Jul 21, 2010)

Northerner said:


> There is something called reactive hypoglycaemia, which occurs for the reason you have suggested KayC.



Ah, I got this one right !  Thanks, Northerner!


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## KayC (Jul 21, 2010)

Copepod said:


> KayC - thanks, life is good, apart from lack of nearby mountains or sea, but spent last night combining punting, running and map reading, cycling to & from start, which is my idea of a good night out!
> But, I have great difficulty keeping plants in pots alive. Currently, though have 4 pepper plants that I grew from seed on the windowsill with cut plastic bottles as mini greenhouses, plus a ginger lily my mum gave me, explaining that with its fleshy root, even I was unlikely to kill it - it's in the garden, to get any rain it can. With herbs, our problem is stopping ducks eating / sitting on them - they don't like the taste of chives, but sitting on them isn't very helpful! Perhaps they're objecting to us taking their eggs for omelettes involving chives! Good health to you and your herbs! If you have any soil, and like garlic, then that's very easy to grow - just stick a few cloves, from bulb from supermarket, pointed end upwards, into soil, either November or March, for harvest the following summer.
> You're right that genetics play a part in getting diabetes, but you have a lot of control about what happens next. At least, that's my philosophy. I think that my type 1 diabetes might have appeared quicker and / or younger (30 at diagnosis) if I hadn't been active, normal weight, with a decent diet etc. No idea if that's true, but it helps me.



Duck's protest: YOU MIGHT GET MY EGGS FOR OMELETTES BUT YOU WON'T GET CHIVES FOR THEM!
How cute!!!
I've been a couchpotato (my normal self) due to long lasting lightheadedness, it's about time I should get out and do something...


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## Copepod (Jul 21, 2010)

Hope you're enjoying less lightheadness now and getting out and doing more. Exercise and vitamin D from sunlight (but not getting sunburned) is a good combination for anyone, especially people with diabetes.

We've had to surround our chives with a wire mesh colllar to prevent the ducks sitting on them. The male has no excuse for his attacks on chives (or me), though, but he's an Aylesbury, a breed known for an aggressive streak. The females are Muscovies, and also live up to their breed stereotype of being adventurous, searching for food, climbing etc, despite clipped wings.


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## Andy HB (Jul 22, 2010)

Moderators and Admins had gone seriously off-topic! I've moved the posts about ducks to the Off Subject forum.

Now back to you KayC 

Andy


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