[adimmers]

Just been diagnosed and prescribed 850mg metformin twice daily. No other info from doc about what I an supposed to do now. Only told to come back in two months.

 

[Cadydid]

Just been diagnosed and prescribed 850mg metformin twice daily. No other info from doc about what I an supposed to do now. Only told to come back in two months.

Welcome! You will find alot of great advice and support here.. I have only been a member for a short while, but value eveything I have heard here.

Did they at least give you a meter to test with? If not, I would highly suggest you get one. Walmart seems to have the most reasonably priced one (Relion)

The other thing I would say is that you get a notebook to keep a diary of sorts. Writing down what your blood sugars are during a day and anything that could effect them (stress, exercise, etc...)

 

[Daytona]

Welcome to the forum! It seems to be quite common for a doctor to simply go "you have diabetes" and not follow up with any useful advice.

Getting a blood glucose meter and testing your blood sugar regularly will give you the information you need to bring your blood sugar under control. I recommend that you check out Blood Sugar 101. It is a great resource for how to test, control your blood sugar and tons of other useful information.

A good first diet change is to reduce how much sugar and refined carbohydrates (e.g. bread, pasta, rice) you eat. These kinds of food quickly raise your blood sugar. Beyond that you'll have to experiment (using your blood glucose meter) to figure out which foods work best for you. The site I linked goes into detail on how to do this.

Personally I have had great success with meats (mmm steak!), dairy, nuts and green vegetables (green beans cooked in butter is my favorite).

 

[John.in.France]

Just been diagnosed and prescribed 850mg metformin twice daily. No other info from doc about what I an supposed to do now. Only told to come back in two months.

So it's not just France that leaves their diabetics to fend for themselves!

Rule 1 - has already been said. Get a log aka a Notebook - record Blood Glucose readings in the morning, and one and/or two hours after meals. You'll use a lot of test strips to start with but it's a good long term investment.

Cut back or eliminate sugar (and artificial sweeteners) and high carb items such as bread, pasta, rice potatoes. Track your meals so you know which foods cause you to spike after meals. Don't waste your time with products marketed "specially for diabetics" - they are all high carb and full of artifical ingredients that will do you no good.

Track your weight - I log mine once a week. That way you'll see as you cut your carbs how the weight drops off! (I lost 28 lbs in six months)

Blood Sugar 101 is an absolute gold mine of information - and the book ain't bad either.

Ask this forum for ideas - there's lots of us out here and we all have the same challenge - it's called diabetes. It's not a nice condition but it can be managed as long as you are prepared to discipline yourself to follow your own rules.

It's also a condition that is very individual - whilst there's lots of basic ground rules that apply to us all, some details that work, for instance, with me may be a complete waste of time for you - and vice versa.

Welcome to the club.

John

 

[adimmers]

Thanks for the replies, advice and links. When my doctor called me to give me the results she told me nothing other than take these pills.

I am going to get a meter today and I will start testing today also.

Sadly I love bread, pasta, rice and potatoes ah well such is life

 

[d33na]

hi adimmers and welcome...yeah we all liked bread and rice and pasta and potatos...but there are some excellent alternatives...you can start here and have a read...come back and ask any questions it's a friendly group

 

[jwags]

I do think a lot of us in our previous lives have loved all those carbs. I thought I was doing good because I made the switch to whole grain breads, pastas, rices and cereals. I ate tons of fruits and veggies and very little fat. Well, guess what- all those carbs pushed me into diabetes. Diabetes happens when the pancreas for some reason becomes dysfunctional. It's basic function is to produce enough insulin to push glucose into cells to be used for energy. All carbs turn into glucose when we eat them and we need the pancreas to make insulin. When this doesn't happen our bgs go dangerously high. So many of us have found by limiting carbs at meals we can control the insulin response much better so we don't get that high bg spike. With lots of testing you will find which foods spike you and you can limit or avoid them. I think most of us when we were diagnosed received very little info. Thank heavens for the internet and sites like Blood Sugar 101.