Hi,
I was just diagnosed November 20th and everything seems to be so confusing to me. My Doctor has me testing my blood twice a day and I am totally confused about what the blood results mean. I test at 7:00a.m. and then again at 4:00p.m. My count really fluxuates. I am on Metformin. I’m sure that my Doctor wants to see how I do on the Metformin. I take two pills a day before meals. I am overweight so I’ve been put on a 1600 calorie a day diet . I’m getting more used to the amount of carbs, protein and fat that I can have a day. I’m not a young chick either. I’m 65. I need all the suggestions that I can get and also some good recipes.
I have a husband and children who are very supportive of me. I’ve made it through Christmas pretty good. I’ve only had about 3 Christmas cookies. My husband had to go help today with building a handicap ramp for a young man who was recently paralized, so I made him take all the cookies with him so I wouldn’t be tempted.
I’m really exited that I have this website to go to.
The attached picture is of me with my husband and five children taken on Christmas.
a diagnosis can be very overwhelming, but you’ve definitely come to the right place. If you have any specific questions we will be more than happy to answer them or you can have a look in the forum.
Sounds like you are on the right track, Sharon. It is going to take some time to get your numbers down. Holidays are always rough on us T2’s. So many good things to eat, so little carbs that we can eat. The weight will come off and the numbers come down, if you just listen to your doctor.
Did your doctor suggest any diabetic training? That was the BEST thing that I did after my diagnosis in July of 2007. Really learned a lot about this disease that I have, but doesn’t have me. Taught me a lot about what to do with my life and diet to help get my numbers down. Talk to your doctor about that if you haven’t already done it. Insurance paid for all of mine, other than my co-pay. Most hospitals will have some sort of this training.
Sharon, one of our members (Jenny Ruhl) created the website Blood Sugar 101 to answer a lot of these questions. I recommend you check it out.
I hope you find all the answers you’re looking for. Our members are great and will always offer advice and support!
A basic rule of thumb is that you should bring your blood sugars into a healthy target range between 70 and 100, with after meal blood sugars never going above 140. This will take time as your blood sugars are probably higher than that right now with your new diagnosis. But this is your eventual goal. You will want to avoid the spikes - high or low - that wear and tear on your poor body. This means eating a more balanced diet and adding in exercise so that your body fuels itself more efficiently. How often to test is a point of contention - with some doctors saying once or twice a day and some of us saying “are you kidding - do it way more often than that.” I am a type 1, so I have more extreme fluctuation than you will and have to test many many times a day, but you may find that four times a day is better for your control until you find your norm.
I agree with Big Al that a diabetes educator is an invaluable tool. Don’t know what I’d do without mine. They are the detail people that can deal with those individual actions, dosages, and glucose levels and make sense of the whole picture in a way your doctor does not.
The two major issues with T2/non-insulin testing are (1) people not being taught what the numbers mean and (2) there is no immediate fix for a high. The answer to the first is education, and the answer to the second is, if you have a food-and-medication log, you can adjust your intake to avoid spikey foods (or spikey serving sizes) and adjust your medications to better cover your meals. This requires testing much more frequently than once or twice a day, especially at the beginning, or if there are new/different foods in the mix, or if your schedule changes (or if you have a day or two off-schedule due to parties, travel, etc.).
The best care one can get for a chronic condition is that of being proactive and learning as much as one can about that condition and how one is affected by it.
