[mrbojangles]

I just found out this morning after going to the DR's Office that I have type 2 diabetes. I was shocked considering I've never had an health problems other then high blood pressure. I only went to the DR's Office because I had to urinate 2-3 times per hour for the past week. I knew something was wrong. My blood sugar level was 550. I didn't even know what that meant until the Dr explained to me what was going on. I have high blood sugar. All those cokes and Gatorades and not eating right . Plus being 40-45 pounds over weight.
I admit I feel strange. Problem I have now is I'm not sure what kind of foods I can eat and what not to eat. I was wondering if anyone would be so kind to direct me to the right path I should take. I have to take the meds twice per day with food. I can't believe this has happened to me. I was told I can't drink cokes but diet cokes. I'm more worried about what foods I can eat and not eat. If anyone could help it sure would be so much appreciated.
I also have to purchase something that can monitor my blood sugar. I was given a free one called Ascensia Contour but the strips are 94.00 for 100 and to me that's nuts! Any suggestions on this and what else I could use would be helpful as well. I don't mind eating healthy I just need to get on a diet and eat right. I love vegetables - chicken - fish. Any snack foods like nuts ?
Thank you,
Mr. Bojangles

[princesslinda]

Welcome Mr. B. So great that you found the forum so quickly after your diagnosis. I had about 4 months of sheer terror before I found it...it has been a lifesaver for me. Diabetes is scary, esp. at first, but it can be successfully managed by making some modifications in your day to day life.

First things first, let's talk about food. Foods such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta are best avoided, esp. at first until you are able to bring your blood sugar under control. Many of us T2s have problems with these foods, as they tend to make your blood sugar rise. A lower carb diet helps stabilize your blood sugar. I eat lots of green veggies, salad, chicken, seafood and lean beef. I rarely eat bread, if I do, it's whole grain and low carb. I'd definitely avoid sugared beverages...there are many s/f choices and you'll find something you like. I love Diet Mtn Dew and Diet Dr. Pepper and any of the crystal light mixes.

The best way to know what how certain foods will affect your blood sugar is to check 2 hrs after the first bite of your meal. Your after meal blood sugar goal should be around 140 or less....if a food pushes you to 180, that's a food you will want to avoid. I can have grilled chicken, green beans and salad and have no noticeable rise in blood sugar, but if I have a burger on regular bun, I can easily go to 160. Everyone is different, testing will show what works for you.

Walmart has cheaper, generic-type monitors and reasonably priced strips. It doesn't really matter which monitor you use, just that you use one and test regularly, esp. at first. When first diagnosed, I kept a food journal, writing down all I ate and what my 2 hr after meal level was.

Exercise is also very important. Every little bit helps. Make it a habit, start slow and gradually add more every few days.

Right now, realize you're not alone. All of us received that scary diagnosis and have been just where you are now. You can live a very happy and healthy life with diabetes and you owe it to yourself and your family to do all you can to keep healthy and avoid complications.

A good book i'd recommend: "Type II Diabetes, The First Year" by Gretchen Becker...the author is diabetic and it is well-written and easy to understand.

Hang in there, you'll be fine. Keep reading, learn all you can from the forum.

Again, welcome. Glad you're here.

Linda

[princesslinda]

Mr. B: Something else I forgot to mention. It would be good if your doctor could recommend a diabetes education class for you...many of the local hospitals in your area probably offer them and they teach you about diabetes, testing and nutrition. You might even give some of the hospitals a call to see what's available class-wise.

[hannahanne]

mrbojangles,

Princesslina gave you a lot of excellent advice. I'd like to emphasize that at least for me any drink with sugar in it sends my blood sugar through the roof. If you have health insurance, it will cover your test supplies and medicine. If you don't as princesslinda pointed out, you can get a lot of diabetic supplies and medicine at Walmart for much lower prices than other places.

It's a shock to be diagnosed with diabetes, but what's important is you know what's wrong and can start to deal with it. Diabetes isn't a disease that you doctor takes care of; it's a disease that you take care of. All your doctor can do is give you some prescriptions and information, but you have to do the real work. As another post says, diabetes sucks. It can't be cured, but the good news is that it can be controlled.

P.S. In my opinion, testing is essential for controlling diabetes. If you don't know what your blood sugar is, you don't know if you are controlling your diabetes.

[slipperyelm]

Glad you came here for help. Let me just say, that as you get your blood sugar level down over the next weeks and months, you are going to find out how much better a human being can feel. Type 2 Diabetes often creeps up on you so slowly, that you don't notice that you aren't quite feeling normal anymore. It is nice finding out how much better you feel over time when you do the necessary stuff. And I find it actually gets easier to do the healthy things as I get to feeling better.

If you have health insurance, it might be that your insurance will pay for some or all of your blood glucose (sugar) testing supplies. Mine paid for a meter and pays for about 75% of my test strip expenses. My previous insurance paid for 94% of my test strip costs.

I found that a traditional weight loss diet brought my blood sugar levels down, and the same will probably happen for you. However, I was never able to get excellent control of blood sugar levels until I started severely limiting my carbohydrate eating. I do recommend limiting carbohydrates (like PrincessLinda said) even if you do not do it as severely as I do. You see, the body turns carbohydrates into sugar. Eating a sandwich, or fries, or cookie, or or banana etc, loads your system with carbohydrates which means you will be loading your blood stream with sugar. And as diabetics, sugar in the bloodstream is the issue. That sugar does all kinds of damage.

[Kubilee]

Hi MrB, and welcome here. I can't say I have any helpful advice for you that these fine people haven't already given you since I just got diagnosed a little over a month ago myself.

What I will tell you is that you have done a few right things, you have seen your Dr, you are taking an immediate action to try and manage it and you came here.

Coming here was the single best thing I have done, period. These people here are so supportive and so helpful and I can't say enough good about them and how much they have helped me, so that was a definite move in the right direction for you.

And don't worry, that will only make it worse. Mine started at 379 on May 11th and I have it down to a safe level already. Once you get it down, you will be shocked at how much better you feel, it's almost a blessing to me, simply because I know what I have and know I can manage it. I was sick for many many months before they found my problem and I feel better than I have felt in several months now.

It's not hopeless unless you make it that way.

[ladytaz]

Hi MrBojangles, they've covered all the bases I think but just wanted to welcome you to DF! You won't regret finding us here!! This is the BEST place to learn all you can about Diabetes!!

[Worldcrzr]

Check with your insurance company to see if they cover your strips. I have my doctor write a prescription for 300 strips a month and my insurance company covers them as a prescription item with no co-pay. You may have to use a different monitor if your insurance covers a different brand of strips. Many times your insurance company will provide the monitor free of charge. You just need to check it out. Most of us don't pay for our strips out of pocket.

[Larry H.]

Mr. B..

Welcome home. Its going to be your support system if you let it.. My doctor suggested I check out the "Medline" site on the internet. It has information from all the major Diabetes groups including suggested diets and carb intake. Lots of good basic suggestions. Although many might find some of the foods they recommend to still be too high in carbs to suit them.. My guess is that if your numbers are as you say then a dramatic drop in carbs will no doubt show some results pretty quickly.. Get quickly in the habit of reading every label you get on food and determine the carb content. Then don't purchase things that say like 60 carbs a half cup serving.. too many.. Most meals should stay under 70 for the total carbs. (again some think it too high). So add up what your eating and then walk or push the lawn mower, what ever to get moving.. Loose that extra weight and you should at least be in a healther position than your in now.
Check out the internet for recipes for diabetics and choose some that have low carbs per serving.. Even some good low carb deserts out there as well as here under our recipe section. You don't have to give up everything. But you do want to make the best of the situation..
And as to those test strips.. yes they are expensive.. I tired the cheaper ones but wasn't satisfied with the results. I haven't tried the Walmart version as yet and some have had good results with them it seems. But its very important to see whats going on.. If ever you can cut back at the beginning is not a good time for that. You need to see how the food is effecting you and what your fasting rates are.

[shockme]

hi mr. b and welcome to df!sorry you're now a member of the club noone wants to join.you've gotten great advice so far.i would just add that you should see a dietician to work out the best number of carbs per meal for you.hope to wee you around.take care,trish

[toyota1964]

Welcome, Mr. B. This is an amazing forum! I've only been here a short time but have learned so much from all of these wonderful people!

When you see the dietician or diabetes educator, they'll teach you about carb counting - which is how I'm still handling my diet for now (not ready to go low low carbs yet). Every 15 grams of carbs are considered one Carb choice. They'll tell you how many carb choices to have each meal and for snacks. The hardest thing for me is that my milk counts as a carb! I love drinking milk and one 8-oz glass = 1 carb choice. I currently have 3 carb choices per meal (45 grams) and two or three snacks with 1 carb choice each. Good luck!

[ant hill]

Originally Posted by mrbojangles

I love vegetables - chicken - fish. Any snack foods like nuts ?
Thank you,
Mr. Bojangles

Hello Mr Bojangles, And welcome to the forum. since that you like your veggies then that's half of your battle of controling your diabeties. And the coke and gaterade is now not good for you. But most of all is that you now know so better times are ahead, ((hugs)) to you.

[mrbojangles]

WOW! Didn't expect to get such a warm welcome. Thank you all! The Dr started me on Metformin 500 mg 2 x daily. Today I eat half of a canalope and half a can of tuna this afternoon since I last posted. I wasn't sure what I could eat. Now that I have read up on all the post you all have made I can start a daily food project.

I guess what you all are telling me is to stay away from sugar ? But what if you don't get enough sugar can this be dangerous as well?

This is a real shock for me considering I've never had health issues other then high blook pressure and now at least I know whats been wrong. I haven't felt that great in the past few months. The Dr advised me that she thought I have had this for sometime now.

I'll go out and purchase that book you advised me about and start the reading process. Looks like I have found a new home to hang out in. I guess I will lose some weight during this process but eating habits are going to be hard to change. I will do it of course.

THANK YOU all again for posting back. I didn't expect such a fast response.

Mr Bojangles

[ladytaz]

Well it's way more than just sugar! It's carbohydrates (carbs). Carbs are in many, if not most of our favorite foods [OF COURSE!!! LOL] Bread, rice, potatoes, corn, pasta, ANYTHING made with flour or dredged in flour, so cakes, cookies, doughnuts, fried chicken, batter dipped fish, breaded fish, chicken fried steaks and gravy too. Yep, ALL the good stuffs!! SUX I know!! These are the things you need to cut back on.

Until you see a dietician, a good average for carbs [for a male] is 60g per meal-3 meals a day and 25g for snacks-2 or 3 snacks a day if needed/wanted.

You WILL have to start reading the nutrition labels of the foods you buy at the store! Read what one serving size is, and how many grams of carbs there are per serving.

Some good "free" [from carbs] foods are lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, celery, lean meats. Altho with meats, and fatty foods, you may have to watch the protien and fat amount as it also has an affect on the Blood Glucose [BG] levels over a longer period of time, for some people.

This all will take time to sink in and learn, try not to become overwhelmed! You will become frustrated at times, it's perfectly normal. Come her and VENT VENT VENT!! It DOES help!! Any questions you have, ASK ASK ASK, no matter how "dumb/stupid" YOU may think it is!! There is no such a thing as a dumb/stupid question! That's how we all learn!!

Don't forget what princesslinda said about testing. Check your blood when you get up (fasting blood glucose or FBG as we all say here), right before you start to eat a meal and then 2 hours after the first bite of that meal and before bed. Your FBG should be at least 8 hours after you have last consumed any food! Also, your morning test, would most probably be right before your morning meal, so consider that your "before breakfast" test!
OH, watch out for fruits!! They ALL have carbs in them too (fructose), and for a LOT of people they raise their BGL so you may have to really limit them too! but you'll only know with testing, and by testing with different fruits.


You MUST have will power to stay away from the naughty foods like cookies, candies and cakes!! I'm one that can't even have it in my home, cuz if it's sitting there in the pantry, it doesn't just call my name, no, it flat out HOLLERS it!! LOL I have issues with stopping at just a little with that stuff!! So if you're the same way and you feel you can't resist the temptation of those naughty foods, then just don't have them in your home.

I know, SO much to take in and learn!! But before ya know it, it'll all be old hat to ya!!

[barko]

MrBojangles...

Welcome...

This is a good place to learn and as one post said, your Dr. is not going to take care of this one - he/she will be a guide at times, but it is really up to you. The best place to start is with a Diabetes education class. If your Dr. didn't recommend this, then you can already see what we mean about "you are in the driver's seat". Be sure to get to a class. Then, spend time on the forums and researching online resources. The rest will come to you as you learn.

A few good links to start...

David Mendosa: A Writer on the Web
American Diabetes Association Home Page