# Newbie with Type 2



## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Hi everyone, i have just been diagnosed and feeling shell shocked . I have been ill for around 18 months and now i know why . Been given tablets to take and awaiting eye test and feet check ... I have been searching for info on what to eat and what not to eat and im totally nervous about eating the wrong thing . Everything seems so full on at the moment !


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## Copepod (Sep 28, 2016)

Welcome to the forum, wolfcub83. What tablets were you given? What advice, if any, have you ben given about diet, exercise and testing your own blood glucose levels?


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Copepod said:


> Welcome to the forum, wolfcub83. What tablets were you given? What advice, if any, have you ben given about diet, exercise and testing your own blood glucose levels?


I was told by the nurse there was no need to test myself as yet , why not im not sure . I have been taking Metformin for 3 days , only 1 in the morning with breakfast then after 10 days to add 1 with dinner . Been told to walk the dog longer as im allready on my feet working 7 hours a day . Diet ... was told to eat normally but smaller portions and avoid white bread and soft carbs . to be honest im very confused


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## stephknits (Sep 28, 2016)

welcome to the forum, glad you found us.  Everything is very overwhelming at first, but you have come to a great place.


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## Martin Canty (Sep 28, 2016)

Welcome to the group WolfCub, yes it's very overwhelming at first but with the help of this group you will become more informed & understand our disease.

A couple of things to start out with:

Cut or reduce carbohydrate sources such as bread, pasta, rice, cereals & starchy vegetables.... Replacing them with green leafy vegetables (you will start to learn what we tend to tolerate & what we don't very quickly in reading this forum)
Exercise.... Helps with the BG & general wellbeing
Start testing BG (perhaps not a good idea to tell your Diabetes Team as, for some strange reason, they think that we cannot interpret the results). You will likely not have been issued meter so it will have to be self-funded, the SD CodeFree from Amazon appears to be the cheapest.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

thanks everyone and so glad to have found the forum . Yes everything is so confusing and im sure i will get the hang of things  . I meter is going to be bought for sure lol .


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## grovesy (Sep 28, 2016)

Welcome!


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## Strongbow (Sep 28, 2016)

Welcome Wolf cub, definitely nothing to panic about. Your in the right place on this forum. I was where you are about 4 months ago but I have been given some great advice on here and everyone is really kind and helpful.  Definitely get yourself a monitor it's invaluable in finding out what food you can tolerate and what you can't. Good luck.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Strongbow said:


> Welcome Wolf cub, definitely nothing to panic about. Your in the right place on this forum. I was where you are about 4 months ago but I have been given some great advice on here and everyone is really kind and helpful.  Definitely get yourself a monitor it's invaluable in finding out what food you can tolerate and what you can't. Good luck.


Thank you  just finding out what to eat would be a start ... so much to take in :/


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## Strongbow (Sep 28, 2016)

Things to cut down on are the likes of white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and biscuits. Cereals are another thing to watch out for. Everyone has different tolerances but you'll get there by testing.


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## Marsbartoastie (Sep 28, 2016)

Hello lovely.  Other people have already given you great 'starter' tips.  I just wanted to say that when you've settled down a bit and made a few dietary changes you're going to feel a whole lot better.


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## Matt Cycle (Sep 28, 2016)

Hello and welcome to the forum.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Marsbartoastie said:


> Hello lovely.  Other people have already given you great 'starter' tips.  I just wanted to say that when you've settled down a bit and made a few dietary changes you're going to feel a whole lot better.


Thank you  I'm looking forward to the feeling better part


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Strongbow said:


> Things to cut down on are the likes of white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and biscuits. Cereals are another thing to watch out for. Everyone has different tolerances but you'll get there by testing.


All my fave things ugghhh .... I'm sure I can do it


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## Martin Canty (Sep 28, 2016)

wolfcub83 said:


> I'm looking forward to the feeling better part


Work hard at it & that'll be sooner than you think..... Just remember to reduce the carbs (a lot) & BG will drop rapidly


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## Strongbow (Sep 28, 2016)

By the way Wolf cub, I don't know whether you've been advised about the metformin but once you start your second tablet you may experience upset tummy and a lot of going to the toilet. Hope your one of the lucky ones and it doesn't affect you. Sorry if I alarmed you, it lasted about 2 to 3 weeks with me and I've been fine since.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Yes 


Strongbow said:


> By the way Wolf cub, I don't know whether you've been advised about the metformin but once you start your second tablet you may experience upset tummy and a lot of going to the toilet. Hope your one of the lucky ones and it doesn't affect you. Sorry if I alarmed you, it lasted about 2 to 3 weeks with me and I've been fine since.


the nurse said it may happen and fingers crossed it won't be to bad ,I'm on the loo most of the day anyways with the constant full bladder ugghhh glad when my levels go down a bit


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## Martin Canty (Sep 28, 2016)

wolfcub83 said:


> I'm on the loo most of the day


Sometimes you just have what I term "Metformin Days" lucky I work from home & the bathroom is in the next room...... Biggest problem is when I take the dogs out at lunchtime, had to come waddling home with my butt cheeks clenched for dear life hoping that I make it!!!!


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Martin Canty said:


> Sometimes you just have what I term "Metformin Days" lucky I work from home & the bathroom is in the next room...... Biggest problem is when I take the dogs out at lunchtime, had to come waddling home with my butt cheeks clenched for dear life hoping that I make it!!!!


Ohh dear something to look forward to then next week whem I start the second dose


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## weecee (Sep 28, 2016)

Welcome to the best place for help and info Wolfcub.  You will learn a lot by reading all the various posts here. Everyone is very helpful and generous with info and experience


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## Martin Canty (Sep 28, 2016)

weecee said:


> generous with info and experience


Perhaps my sharing was a little TMI......

In all seriousness, I can generally feel if I'm going to have a Metformin Day & it usually lasts until lunch (my first meal of the day).... Take the Metformin with food & most people are OK


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Martin Canty said:


> Perhaps my sharing was a little TMI......
> 
> In all seriousness, I can generally feel if I'm going to have a Metformin Day & it usually lasts until lunch (my first meal of the day).... Take the Metformin with food & most people are OK


That's ok I was fully informed of side affects  at the end of the day of it helps in the long run them it will be worth a few days of discomfort


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## Lindarose (Sep 28, 2016)

Hi wolfcub and welcome from another type 2 on metformin. Only one slow release a day and I'm lucky no bad effects. Hope you find the extra one doesn't cause problems.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 28, 2016)

Lindarose said:


> Hi wolfcub and welcome from another type 2 on metformin. Only one slow release a day and I'm lucky no bad effects. Hope you find the extra one doesn't cause problems.


Thank you


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## bilbie (Sep 29, 2016)

When you start metformin, it's never only wind 
This is what I would have liked to have known from day 1. I would cut the Sugars including fruit/juice and Starches, including breads, pasta, rice, potato etc

This gives a simple overview to how it works for me. The more carbs I eat, the more carbs I want. They don’t give up easy and it’s biochemical
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEayi6IBjZw&list=PLCD72F4109EDC4BD8&index=6

 introduction to low carb
www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

What to expect the first week, besides being hungry for the first 2 days, then it stops
https://www.verywell.com/getting-through-the-first-week-2242037


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## Owen (Sep 29, 2016)

I would take things a little less extreme, make changes gradually to allow your body to adjust. Any sudden change in diet will make you feel as unwell as no change.


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## bilbie (Sep 29, 2016)

I would suggest extreme is the current high carb diet for T2s. Perhaps if your read the links, you will find that it isn't extreme?
https://www.verywell.com/how-much-carbohydrate-is-right-for-you-2242035


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## Owen (Sep 29, 2016)

bilbie said:


> I would suggest extreme is the current high carb diet for T2s


No one had ever told me to go on a high carb diet for diabetes. Switching any regime should be done in a way that the body can adapt. Not attacking the lchf, just saying take things one step at a time. This also gives people a chance to figure out of it is for them.


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## bilbie (Sep 29, 2016)

From the quoted site, it does go into great depth, There are no hard and fast rules.
*Getting to the Goal*
Atkins and Agatston both require a highly restricted initial phase of their diets. It is these phases that have drawn the most criticism. It is legitimate to ask whether it is necessary to cut carbs this much, even for a short time.  However, others, notably the American Diabetes Association, recommend cutting back more gradually on carbohydrate to find the best amount.  There are pros and cons to each approach.


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## KookyCat (Sep 29, 2016)

Hi Wolfcub
Welcome aboard   This is a really overwhelming time, diagnosis is usually a bit of a shocker and it takes a while to get your head around it, so give yourself a minute to process.  Food wise everyone is different and can tolerate different types and amounts of carbohydrate so you have some experimenting to do.  A meter is a great idea because it lets you know how you're reacting to food.  How restrictive you decide to be with your diet is your choice, have a read about low carb high fat diets (LCHF) and the other options and then you can decide which approach would be useful for you, lots of people reduce carbs significantly because it helps with control, but you'll probably find it more sustainable if you reduce the foods you don't tolerate well rather than a blanket reduction of everything all at once.  You'll probably find that you can tolerate some foods at some times of the day but not others as well, very confusing when you first start with all this, who knew all this was going on quietly in the background  so I can eat a bowl of cornflakes at night without so much as a flicker from my blood sugar (with insulin because I take insulin for food) but I tried it once at lunchtime and you'd have thought I'd fed my body it's own weight in orange juice, it was very exciting as experiments go but not one I'll repeat.  Anyway I'll stop rambling now and finish with, it's your body and your diabetes, you have to work out how best to manage it for you which means a bit of experimenting so whip out your test tubes and lab book, and feel free to give some results here, there's always people willing to help


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## Bubbsie (Sep 29, 2016)

wolfcub83 said:


> I was told by the nurse there was no need to test myself as yet , why not im not sure . I have been taking Metformin for 3 days , only 1 in the morning with breakfast then after 10 days to add 1 with dinner . Been told to walk the dog longer as im allready on my feet working 7 hours a day . Diet ... was told to eat normally but smaller portions and avoid white bread and soft carbs . to be honest im very confused


I was given the same advice twice...not to test BG...nonsense...been testing regularly...learning so much from it...would echo the advice above...get a meter and start testing...


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## Mark Parrott (Sep 29, 2016)

Welcome, Wolf cub.


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## Stitch147 (Sep 29, 2016)

Hi Wolfcub and welcome to the forum. I was one of the lucky ones, when I was on metformin I had no side effects really, just a bit of bloating for a few days, nothing else. I personally dont follow a really low carb diet, but I have significantly reduced the amount that I was eating and have cut certain things out all together, like white bread. It is a steep learning curve but you will get there in the end and learn what works for you. Ive been diagnosed for just over 1 year now and still struggle to get my levels down some days, but Im a bit of an oddball when it come to diabetes.


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## grovesy (Sep 29, 2016)

You have to find what works for you and can maintain long term! It is also sometimes how much of some things you eat!


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## Puskas (Sep 29, 2016)

Hi Wolfcub, I'm in the same situation as you. It's all a bit daunting, I felt ill for about a year and a half with no apparent reason. Now I know why. I love my food but it seems like time to change.

There seems to be loads of nice people giving advice here. Basically I've starved for 2 days as I'm scared to eat anything now and the fridge is full of nice cr*p.

Nice to know that we are not alone in this.


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## Ralph-YK (Sep 29, 2016)

Welcome Wolf Cub from a fellow T2, almost 22 months in.  Interesting name.  I didn't know there were supposed to be side effects from metformin till I read it on these forums.


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 29, 2016)

Thanks everyone I don't feel so alone now . 3 days in and the tablets are fine but I am having some headaches ... is this normal ?  Guess my body is in shock changing my diet . I'm such a junk foodie


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## wolfcub83 (Sep 29, 2016)

Puskas said:


> Hi Wolfcub, I'm in the same situation as you. It's all a bit daunting, I felt ill for about a year and a half with no apparent reason. Now I know why. I love my food but it seems like time to change.
> 
> There seems to be loads of nice people giving advice here. Basically I've starved for 2 days as I'm scared to eat anything now and the fridge is full of nice cr*p.
> 
> Nice to know that we are not alone in this.


Scary isn't it ? I'm afraid to eat the wrong thing ...


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## Owen (Sep 29, 2016)

wolfcub83 said:


> Scary isn't it ? I'm afraid to eat the wrong thing ...


Don't be afraid, try and get a stock of food that won't effect your bg, this will give you an armoury of snacks. Eggs, cheese, bacon, pate, chicken, tomatoes, olives.

You will find your own tolerances for trial and error. 

Good luck


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## Redkite (Sep 30, 2016)

wolfcub83 said:


> I never thought of the salt part , wow this is such a learning curve . Thanks for the input



Eek no I don't agree with that advice about salt!  Please don't start adding an extra teaspoon of salt a day, that's a huge amount.  We need sodium as a trace element but we all have far more than we need in our diets, and it leads to an increased risk of kidney damage and of hypertension (high BP).  Adults should be having no more than 6g salt maximum per day.  It is surprisingly hard to stick to this, even when you add no salt to any cooking.  There is around 0.5g of salt in a slice of bread for example.


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## Redkite (Sep 30, 2016)

What is a LCFF diet?  Sorry, never heard of it! 

I really do think it's wrong to advise people to take in extra salt, without knowing anything about their own circumstances, and when they are just starting out on their diabetes management journey.  My son has microalbuminuria and sees a renal specialist at Gt Ormond St - I have learnt A LOT about the effects of excess salt on the body, and it's a FACT that people with type 2 already have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease e.g. strokes, and that risk is increased significantly by excess salt intake.


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## Owen (Sep 30, 2016)

Redkite said:


> What is a LCFF diet?  Sorry, never heard of it!
> 
> I really do think it's wrong to advise people to take in extra salt, without knowing anything about their own circumstances, and when they are just starting out on their diabetes management journey.  My son has microalbuminuria and sees a renal specialist at Gt Ormond St - I have learnt A LOT about the effects of excess salt on the body, and it's a FACT that people with type 2 already have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease e.g. strokes, and that risk is increased significantly by excess salt intake.


Cannot agree with you more


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## Northerner (Oct 1, 2016)

Hi @wolfcub83, sorry to come a little late to your thread, welcome to the forum  As you may have noticed, I've removed some of the responses because I don't think they are appropriate in your situation and feel you may be becoming overwhelmed and overloaded by conflicting information when there is already a lot you are having to take in!

So, what I would suggest is a little pause so you can take time to absorb everything that you have learned so far. Diabetes is a serious condition, but it is manageable and you don't have to completely change things overnight. Think of it more as a marathon than a sprint - you need to discover what works for you at your own pace so that you fully understand why those changes are necessary, so you can see how they are helping you, and in order to make them sustainable. Radically altering everything may work for some people, but it may be 'too much, too soon' for many others.

It helps to understand what diabetes is all about, and there is an excellent book,  Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which will explain things and guide you through these early months. You may also like to read Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter, which are both well-respected introductions to diabetes and how it can be managed well. Others have suggested testing your levels before and after eating, and it is probably the best method available for working out what foods you tolerate well and what you may need to reduce or replace in your diet. All carbohydrates will raise blood sugar levels, but how much they rise, and how quickly, can be a very individual thing, so it's helpful to know your own particular tolerances so you can retain maximum flexibility in your diet. A good example is porridge - some people find they are fine having this for breakfast, others find it raises their levels far too much, and too quickly! Using a meter helps determine what happens in your own case - the process is explained well in Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S . If you don't currently have a meter then it is worth funding your own whilst you experiment with your diet - he cheapest option we have come across is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50. A useful approach to finding foods that have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels is the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet - The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction which I found very helpful when I was diagnosed.

Please let us know if you have any questions and we will be happy to help. No question is 'silly' - it's a complicated business at times, so if something is confusing or worrying you, please ask


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## wolfcub83 (Oct 1, 2016)

Northerner said:


> Hi @wolfcub83, sorry to come a little late to your thread, welcome to the forum  As you may have noticed, I've removed some of the responses because I don't think they are appropriate in your situation and feel you may be becoming overwhelmed and overloaded by conflicting information when there is already a lot you are having to take in!
> 
> So, what I would suggest is a little pause so you can take time to absorb everything that you have learned so far. Diabetes is a serious condition, but it is manageable and you don't have to completely change things overnight. Think of it more as a marathon than a sprint - you need to discover what works for you at your own pace so that you fully understand why those changes are necessary, so you can see how they are helping you, and in order to make them sustainable. Radically altering everything may work for some people, but it may be 'too much, too soon' for many others.
> 
> ...


Thank you


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## Carolg (Oct 2, 2016)

Hi wolfcub


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## wolfcub83 (Oct 2, 2016)

Carolg said:


> Hi wolfcub


Hi


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