Hello, new Type II Person Here

[bassplayer]

Hello all. My name is Dave & I've been recently diagnosed with type II diabetes and I've come here looking for any help and information you folks can provide (or link to) to help make diabetes management easier.

I've just gotten a blood tester and I went to a 3 day class put together by the ADA. This taught me about exchanges and carbs and such, but how do you folks remember it all? Are there any tricks to help keep this stuff in my head?

Are there any gotchas I should know about? My wife, bless her heart, is helping me to plan my meals, but now I'm bringing so much food to work with me I forget when I'm supposed to eat what! :D (I know I know, I'll write it down for tomorrow so at least I won't forget when to eat what. :) )

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to say but I wanted to announce my landing here at diabetesforums.com. :cool:

[BeadieJay]

Hi Dave - I gave you a welcome on one of your other posts, but thought I'd say hi again :)

I was diagnosed as Type 2 back in June of this year, and there is an awful lot to take in. I've found that the internet has been a big help in providing information, and I usually ask on this forum for advice or comments on anything I'm not sure about.

One thing I would say, to start you off, is that you are an individual, and you have to find what works for you. I could tell you all the things/food etc that works for me, but the foods especially could react totally differently to how they react with you. So......you need to test constantly, before and after meals especially, so that you can see how any particular meal affects your blood sugar level.

Hope that helps, and you're sure to get loads more advice here.

take care (and congrats again to your wife :) )

[bassplayer]

BeadiJay,

I got your reply on the other thread. :) Thanks again for the congratulations.

So far I've been told to test my sugar when I first wake up and 2 hours after my largest meal. My fasting sugar was was in the 130's this morning (side note, you mean the USA even has a different scale for measuring blood sugar then the rest of the world? Here I thought the only measuring differences were between English (ironic eh?) and metric), which was a little lower than 2 days ago, where it was in the 140's.

You test before meals as well? If I tested before eating, what sugar range should I target? I know I don't want to be < 60 ever, but is there a high end as well?

Thank you for any answers you can give.

[TvBabe]

Hi Dave

I'm also a recently diagnosed type 2 :) I got the "word" on April 1st and no it wasn't a joke :)

Pre meals your looking for 4.0 - 7.0 or in the american term 72 - 126.

A Handy website helped me convert that for you :

http://diabeticgourmet.com/Tools_and_Calculators/convert-sugar-readings.shtml

Now with regards to remembering everything I can fully understand why you are overwhelmed :) I had the same problem and actually bought a 2nd hand PDA off Ebay and put alot of stuff in there. That really helped me so I thought I'd offer that solution as a possibility to you :)

Secondly don't be worried about asking even what you might think are dumb questions :) Everyone was a newbie to all of this once and we've all walked a mile in your shoes :)

[bassplayer]

TvBabe,

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

Speaking of shoes, looks like I have to buy some new ones. My Dr. said I should never walk barefoot again. :(

[archimeech]

Welcome! The shoes are just the beginning, Bass. Take care of yourself and learn as much as you can. keep yourself as healthy as possible so you can avoid graduating to shots. Are you on any meds or just diet?

[bassplayer]

I had a blood test last month because I was getting a physical exam. Fasting blood sugar was 151 so my (new) Dr. sent me straight to classes.

For the next 3 months I'm supposed to work on diet & exercise. Then I see the Dr. again and if my numbers are going in the right direction then no medications (which is what I hope to achieve).

I guess I'm still partially in shock being diagnosed with an incurable disease. I should've known though, since my dad has it, his mom had it, my uncle has to take pills after he eats, etc.

In all honesty I probably should've seen this coming. I've been overweight for about 10 years now. I've made halfhearted attempts in the past to lose weight but I only go the exercise part right, not the diet. So when I didn't lose weight after a few months of serious regular exercise (6 minute elliptical warmup, 40 minutes weightlifting, 30 minutes elliptical 3-4x per week) I slowly got away from it.

Now I have to start up again. This morning I dragged my butt out of bed early so I could get 20 minutes on the bike before going to work. I have a membership to the gym located in the building where I work so I plan on weightlifting / elliptical sessions 3x per week.

My wife is helping me with my diet. This is my second day sticking to the exchange program. I have my first meeting with my dietitian the day before Thanksgiving :D so maybe she can give me some pointers on how to not pig out on the wonderful food my extended family makes when I do my once a year 9 hour trek to see them all. Still, I know now that I have to do it. No more excuses for me.

One thing I'd like to know, how do you folks handle alcohol intake? I like to drink beer when I watch football on Sundays. The people running the meetings I went to over the last 3 days said I can have a maximum of 2 drinks (beers for me) but I have to have them with food, and I have to keep consumption to a minimum. How am I going to get any of the effects?

So far, my 2 hours after largest meal sugar readings have been < 160, but my morning sugar levels are between 130 - 150 and I was told it needs to be below 120. Any ideas on how I can lower my fasting sugar?

Until this week, a high sugar level when I woke up wasn't the "dawn phenomenon" I've been used to. ;)

[Dewey]

Hi Dave, Nice to meet ya! :D

There's a wealth of informative and friendly folks here, so feel free to jump in and ask away! Just wanted to welcome you to the forums family, and we look forward to hearing more from you...:)
(I'll leave the beer question to someone with experience, but I've heard Light beer is better for Diabetics...)

[Shalyndria]

Welcome (belated lol :rolleyes: ) to the forums, Dave! As you've seen by the wonderful greetings that everyone has given you, we're a friendly and approachable group so feel free to continue posting any questions, concerns, or comments you may have :)

I wouldn't advise a cold shower for your current "dawn phenomenon" although the solution for one may indeed supress the other ;) :- :whistling

I myself am a Type 1, so I have no personal experience with your condition and hesitate to offer you much advice :) . There are many helpful Type 2's here though (as you've already seen) who will aide you in answering any of your questions.

Happy posting :D
Shy

[HeatherP]

Welcome Dave. I haven't been around for a couple of days, but all those before me have given excellent advice. I hope you'll visit with us often and make some new friends!

Nice to meet you,
HeatherP

[Brent44a]

Hello Dave.

Welcome aboard. I am new here as well and have found the people here friendly and helpful. As with many things, a new diagnosis can be a bit overwhelming, but I am confident that given time you will come to control this condition. Again, a heartfelt welcome.

Brent

[debaroo]

Hi Dave im new here to im type one but i know quite a few of type 2's...and i gotta say this site rocks the people are soo friendly and so much info wish i had this years ago....look forward to seeing your posts

[Belinda]

WELCOME Dave...I am T1 so for your Thanksgiving advice sorry I can't help since I am on the pump and pig out on this day!!:D



NO you can't walk barefoot anymore unless you are in your house and you know there is nothing to stick in your feet.

I take it by the ya'll and the barefoot comment you are from a warm climate as some of our friends here already have snow!!!:( (sorry all you northern ppl).

Welcome and happy posting

[bassplayer]

Thanks all for the warm welcome! You certainly know how to make someone feel comfortable. I'm looking forward to my time here on these forums. :D


Belinda,

I can't even walk barefoot at home right now because we're in the process of replacing our carpet so we're living on the subfloor. Already I've removed one splinter (before I was told not to go barefoot ;) ) so I don't want to take chances.