Diabetic....now what?

I've just been told I'm full blown diabetic, and the doctor wants me to moniter my blood for 1-2 week so he can figure out which is the best meds for me.

Besides knowing that my blood *should* be under 6.5-7, I don't know anything. I've checked some diabetic sites but it seems pretty general.

So, I'm hopoing someone here can help me.

1. What happens if my blood sugar is too high? heck what is TOO hight? When should I be worried? What are the symptoms of it being too high?

2. Is the a amount of sugar (digesting ) that I should be under per day? what about per serving?
I ate a orange the other day and it shot up.....

3. What CAN'T I eat?

I am new to the diabetic board but not new to diabetes.  Each doctor has there own set of guild lines as to what they consider normal and what they consider abnormal.  I see a family practice doctor and his goals are higher than my endo.  He says that anything under 150 is good for a fasting and anything under 180 is good for 2 hours.  I personally disagree with him.  I want my fasting under 100 and my two hour not to be over 130 at the most.  I went off my insulin the day after I had lap band surgery on August 7, 2008, then three weeks ago I went off my blood pressure meds and this past Wednesday I was taken off my pill I take for diabetes.  I have only lost 30 lbs and 19.5 inches, but it has done wonders for my heath.  Here is what I eat.

70 grams of protein a day
27-33 grams of fat, no more than that.
less than 100 grams of carbs

I am not as happy with my weight loss as I thought I would be by this time, but I was excited about the number of inches I had lost and going off all the medications I am going off of, is also exciting.  So over all I am pleased. 

Got any questions PM me and I will help if I can. 

Jacqueline

This part of OH is very slow. I highly recomend you go ask your questions at www.diabetesforums.com. That is a very active board with lots of helpful people..

As for numbers, I use the US system for measurement, so all I can say is that as a goal, your glucose readings should all be under 140 (not sure what the conversion is).

Have you had WLS or are you heading for WLS? If you haven't yet had WLS and are researshing it, the DS (duodenal switch) has the best possible chance of curing your type 2 diabetes.

I was diagnosed diabetic just over 3 years ago. My understanding of what my endro told me is that every time your sugars get too high, you're doing damage to your internal organs. I was told that my blood sugars should stay between 4.0 and 7.0 at the checking times. The symptoms vary by person but when mine are high I get a massive headache and feel confused... like I can't think properly. Checking the sugar content of the foods you eat is very important but fruit is very high in natural sugars (especially bananas and grapes). I was told to only eat fruit in small amounts for that reason.

Have you been to a diabetes education centre? They're usually through your local hospital and you spend part of your appointment with a diabetes nurse (going over your blood sugars and information) and the other part with a nutritionist (going over what you should and shouldn't be eating).

Hope that helps.

Steph

Diabetics (type 1 and 2) need to check their bgs more than once or twice a week. They need to be checked several times a day; before meals, 2 hours after meals, before bed. The more you log these numbers, the better they are able to develope a plan of action for you. good luck.

I attended the diabetic clinic at the local hospital but I didn't get ANYTHING from it! I couldn't beleive how horrible it was.

I'm going to contact my EAP through work and ask to speak to a nutritionist.

Thanks for your help

I was recently diagnosed with type2 diabetes.  Super scared!   Any advice for someone new to this?

hi! I was diagnosed w ith type 2 diabetes 7 years ago and have arun the gamit of emotions. Check your blood sugars often, comply with an exercise plan and change your eating habits. It has taken me many years to do this but now I am on insu;in , exercise and feel much better and also will be having gastric bypass surgery here soon.

Are you looking into WLS? If so, please be sure to research the DS.

Other than that, try to eat lower in carbs. Most find that the "precribed" low fat diet does NOT work. After diagnosis, I ate low carb and HIGHER in fat, and my triglycerides were cut in half within 3 months, and my sugars stabilized.

Are you on any medications?

I've been diabetic for over 25 years and am still struggling with it.  The Canadian standards have recently changed and the "norm" is to be between 4 and 6 (multiply by 18 for the American equivalent).

A lot of hospitals have educational classes for diabetics and I would highly recommend taking those classes (usually about 2 or 3 days).

Everything that you don't use will convert to glucose in your blood.  So EXERCISE is very important.

The Good Health Eating Guide available from the Canadian Diabetes Association will give you a very good guideline on what you can eat.  It is more a matter of portion control and timing (I never snack) as to what you CAN eat.

If you are thinking about surgery, do your research well.

Best of luck,
L.