Advice needed for a worried/confused daughter

[Pepperming]

Hey everyone! I'm glad to be able to find a site like this, it really is a nice place to talk to other people and learn about diabetes. However, I am not the one with Type 2 diabetes, my mother has it.

She's currently 51 years old and was recently diagnosed a couple days ago as her glucose tolerance test came out with the results of 11 mmol/l which was literally borderline :( Her doctor hasn't put on record that she is diabetic however wants to treat this agressively and treat her as a diabetic (which is a good thing if you ask me, better safe than sorry!) She doesn't have to take medication yet, but we're going to try control her sugar levels through a good diet and some extra exercise. So now we're armed with a bunch of diabetes pamphlets and a blood sugar meter and to be honest I've got tons of questions as this is something new for me.:T

Diabetes has run through our family unfortunately enough, my grandfather, my uncle and now my mother have it. She has been using topical steroids for her iritis, but I doubt that affected her blood sugars. My question is, would she be considered a diabetic at this point? I mean her test results were pretty much just at the border and we do have relatives with diabetes. And will we be able to bring down her levels into normal levels with exercise + a good diet? Also, what are the chances that she'll experience any of the complications of diabetes(heart disease, blindness) if we keep her sugar levels in check?

Sorry for all the questions :o I have to admit, I'm not even the one with diabetes and my head is in a jumble!! I just feel so bad for her as the past few years have not been very kind to her health wise. First it was sciatica+plantar fasciitis, then iritis(which she still has, it's quite the scary disease as it can cause blindness and it keeps recurring) and now it's diabetes. Any tips/answers would be greatly appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read this!

(P.s. if you have any food/snack ideas you can share with us for her new diet that'd be great! I think I'll try surprise her with a yummy snack or lunch that'll be good for her as I know she'll miss her sweets)

[bryan42]

Welcome Pepper!! How thoughtful for you to try to learn and help your mother. The main thing is to take it slow,and do not believe everything you read in newspapers or magazines. You will get a HUGE amount of great info from everybody here.
VERY accurate information I might add. Go back thru the posts,and you will find more info than you can handle.Have your mother read as well. You can control your diabetes with diet and exercise,as long as your borderline, but I would caution to make sure she visits the doctor regulary.

2512

[shockme]

hi pepper and welcome to df! you're a great daughter! it's best to avoid "white" foods-sugar,rice,bead,pasta and potatoes...for now.once your mom's bgs are in better control,she can eat ,for example,a serving of pasta and test her bgs 2 hours later to see how the pasta affected her bgs...she can do this :test" with many foods. different foods affect us diabetics differently.... it's great the dr. is treating her right away.... maybe your mom would join us,too? take care,trish

[Dawn]

Hello and Welcome. This is a great place to come for information and support. I am a Type 2 and I am controlling my diabetes with diet and exercise. The only way to know if this is working for your mom is for her to test, test, test. She will not be able to know what is working for her if she is not testing. Inititally this will be many times througout the day. It is difficult to know about complications but as long as she can manage her numbers it will hopefully minimize the possibility. Bryan had good advice about not believing everything you read...check it out and ask questions.

I am eating a restricted carb diet to manage the diabetes. Since I'm pretty restrictive I might not be the best person to tell you about snacks :) since I mainly eat peanuts or pudding (made out of very low carb yogurt). Exercise is what will help insulin resistance naturally so absolutely increase the exercise!!

Good luck and I hope we get to meet your mom on here soon.

Dawn

One of my favorite books upon diagnosis was by Gretchen Becker called The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes.

[volleyball]

I'm with shockme as to what to eat. As far as desserts goes, if you mother goes very good on her new eating habits (diet) and increases her exercise,it is a very good chance that in the near future, a little dessert may be safe. I' d say a moth of doing good deserves a treat, but that's only a guess.
As far as being a diabetic, my philosophy is that if your BG goes high, you are a diabetic whether you do diet, med, insulin or any combination. But complications may never appear if you start treating it early enough.

[Trinifar]

I'm the same age as your mom and was recently diagnosed. The diet really works and so does exercise. Remember that exercise can be going for a walk -- doesn't have to be a burden.

[Pepperming]

Thanks for all the tips guys I'll definitely read around and hopefully get my mom to look up more info on diabetes. I have to admit, all the talk about different medications, pumps, sugar levels does confuse me a bit, but one thing I do know is that we'll try the diet + exercise route first. Most of the exercise will be through walking as her back can't really take strenuous activity. Haha me and my family will probably end up eating her veggie food(I like to call it her rabbit food:)) with her as I know it must be tough to eat healthy while you watch everyone around you gobble up cheeseburgers.

[volleyball]

. Haha me and my family will probably end up eating her veggie food(I like to call it her rabbit food:)) with her as I know it must be tough to eat healthy while you watch everyone around you gobble up cheeseburgers.
Lucky for her cheeseburgers are on the good list. The bun and ketchup are not. the list of items to limit is small. the problem is that they are in so many products. But it will be good for the whole family to adopt this method of eating because it is good for most people and unless you are adopted, you've got her genes.

[MJB]

Hi and welcome!

Have your mom learn how to count carbs. Limiting carb intake should help, how much to limit will vary with the person. I keep to 150 to 200g daily but many consume less than 30g daily.

If she is overweight, then losing weight, even if only 10 lbs., should help.

A daily exercise should help, even just a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood or on a treadmill.

Complications arise from elevated blood sugars over time. Keeping blood sugar under control is key.

[Pepperming]

Even if it's almost winter here, she'll try to do some daily exercise (yay for treadmills!) today her sugars were looking pretty good 5.4mmol I believe, my only question is how often should she be tested? Her doctor told her only once a day (one day fasting, one day 2 hours after lunch, one day 2 hours after dinner, fasting etc..) yet as I read around I see many type 2's who test up to 3 times a day?

[princesslinda]

Hi Pepper, welcome. Yes, many of us T2s check more than once daily. My doc only recommended once daily testing as well.

It's esp. important to test 2 hrs after the first bite of a meal...that's how she'll know how different foods affect her blood sugars. I kept a food journal when first diagnosed, where I listed EVERYTHING I put in my mouth and the corresponding blood sugars. If something ran my blood sugar over 140 (140 was the goal my doc set for after meal readings), I didn't eat that food very often.

There's a great book you and your mom might want to get and read "Type II Diabetes, The First Year," by Gretchen Becker...full of great easy to understand information.

Your mom is lucky to have such a great daughter! She might enjoy getting on the forum and looking around. It's encouraging to see so many people of all ages successfully managing their diabetes and the forum has helped me a great deal. I think it would her as well.

[sweetcheeks]

When I was first diagnosed, i was testing up to 8 times per day....

fasting, after breakfast, before/after lunch, before/after dinner, before bed and one random number.

Now since being a year into diagnosis and numbers under control i can get by with as little as a couple times a week to once per day. just depends on the situation.

Everyones will power concerning carbs/sweets etc is different. you will see many people that will never eat sweets because they cannot control themselves to even eat just one sweet a week, where as others can limit themselves to the 3 times per week they are allowed according to the food guidlines. Only your mother can determine that.

There is so many people on here that cannot eat just half of their french fries and throw the rest away or give to a friend/family member. I however can limit myself to just a few, becuase I never had a bad habit of eating all my fries anyway even before diagnosis.

You will soon find out that every diabetic is different and everything is a trial and error type thing, we give suggestions, you try them and if they dont work you know what not to do the next time.

[xMenace]

Welcome.

I sense a curious mind. Here's some more reading.
David Mendosa: A Writer on the Web (http://www.mendosa.com/)
Dr. Ian Blumer's Practical Guide to Diabetes: home page (http://www.ianblumer.com/)

[kgm0612]

Hi & Welcome to the forum. The other members have given you great advice. I just want to add the following:

her glucose tolerance test came out with the results of 11 mmol/l which was literally borderline

A reading of 11 mmol (198) is NOT borderline..... it's diabetic! My brother-in-law was dx'd a type 2 with a 182 and put on medication. He cut back on the carbs and started eating healthier. He's lost over 65 lbs and has been taken off the Metformin.

Karen

[MJB]

Hi & Welcome to the forum. The other members have given you great advice. I just want to add the following:



A reading of 11 mmol (198) is NOT borderline..... it's diabetic! My brother-in-law was dx'd a type 2 with a 182 and put on medication. He cut back on the carbs and started eating healthier. He's lost over 65 lbs and has been taken off the Metformin.

Karen

Karen, I think 2hrs after an OGTT they consider 200mg/dl as the diagnosis point.