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I Need Help With My Diabetes

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One of the most common signs of diabetes is excessive thirst. You may also feel more hungry and pee more than usual. Its important to check your blood sugar as soon as you start to notice these symptoms. If your blood sugar drops below 70 mg/dL, you should immediately eat 15 grams of carbohydrates. Then, check it again fifteen minutes later. If you cant eat that much carbohydrate at once, you can try oral glucose.

Despite the many complications of type 1 diabetes, you can still find ways to manage it. By reading about diabetes, youll be better prepared to live a healthy and happy life. You can avoid diabetes by making healthy choices. In fact, there are many treatments available for type 1 diabetes. In some cases, a patient may even experience an improvement in their overall health after the transplant. In some cases, you can even reverse your diabetes through a simple procedure.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type. Most people with type 1 diabetes have type 2 diabetes. They both require insulin to regulate their blood sugar. If youre overweight, you may have type 2 diabetes. If youre concerned about diabetes, its important to learn about it. Your doctor can provide you with more information on your condition, including tips on how to cope with it. You should never be afraid to ask questions. Just remember, youll have to answer them. Youre not alone.

Attend A Diabetes Support Group With Them

Whether your loved one is newly diagnosed or has lived with diabetes for years, the disease can be frustrating and overwhelming. Sometimes, people with diabetes need an outlet to express themselves and vent. Encourage the person to attend a diabetes support group, and offer to go along. Both of you can receive support and learn strategies to cope with your feelings and the disease.

Be specific when making yourself available to help someone with diabetes. Statements such as Let me know how I can help are too broad and most people wont take you up on the offer. But if youre specific with the type of help you can offer, they may welcome the support.

For example, offer to drive them to their next doctors appointment, or offer to pick up their medication from the pharmacy. If you go to a doctors appointment, offer to take notes. This may help them recall important information later on. Also, dont be afraid to ask the doctor questions. The more you understand about type 2 diabetes, the more quality support you can provide. Pick up a few pamphlets while in the office and educate yourself on how the disease affects people.

Eat More Fruit And Veg

We know eating fruit and veg is good for you. Its always a good thing aim to eat more at meal times and have them as snacks if youre hungry. This can help you get the vitamins, minerals and fibre your body needs every day to help keep you healthy.

You might be wondering about fruit and if you should avoid it because its sugary? The answer is no. Whole fruit is good for everyone and if you have diabetes, its no different. Fruits do contain sugar, but its natural sugar. This is different to the added sugar that are in things like chocolate, biscuits and cakes.

Products like fruit juices also count as added sugar, so go for whole fruit instead. This can be fresh, frozen, dried or tinned . And its best to eat it throughout the day instead of one bigger portion in one go.

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Why Take Care Of Your Diabetes

Taking care of yourself and your diabetes can help you feel good today and in the future. When your blood sugar is close to normal, you are likely to:

  • have more energy
  • Ask your health care team what type of diabetes you have.

  • Learn where you can go for support.

  • Learn how caring for your diabetes helps you feel good today and in the future.

Diabetes Help When You Need It

My Diabetes My Way reaches more patients with diabetes in ...

DSMES services can help you stay healthy and thrive with diabetes.

Receiving support and education when you have diabetes is critical. Diabetes self-management education and support services can help you stay healthy and thrive with diabetes. Speak with your doctor about a referral for DSMES.

When you find out you have diabetes, you may have questions about what you can eat or how to check your blood sugar. You may worry about how it will impact your life.

When you have diabetes, managing blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol are all equally important to live a healthy life. Also essential are key lifestyle choices including the foods you eat, your physical activity, and taking care of your mental health.

Do you wish you had someone who could answer all your questions? Even someone who could help you manage the day-to-day challenges of living with a chronic health condition? Could you use some extra encouragement when it comes to making changes in your life? Working with a diabetes educator trained in DSMES can be a big help.

You can learn everything you need to know to take care of yourself and your diabetes with DSMES.

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How Is Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosed

The following blood tests help your healthcare provider diagnose diabetes:

  • Fasting plasma glucose test: checks your blood glucose level. This test is best done in the office in the morning after an eight hour fast .
  • Random plasma glucose test: This lab test can be done any time without the need to fast.
  • Glycolated hemoglobin testing measures your average blood sugar levels over three months.
  • Oral glucose tolerance testing checks your blood sugar levels before and after you drink a sugary beverage. The test evaluates how your body handles glucose.
Type of test

Ask Your Physician For Samples

If you are struggling to afford insulin, be sure to tell your health care provider. Your primary care provider or endocrinologist may have insulin samples available in their office. They also can help you find ways to reduce your costs by writing a larger quantity prescription, changing brands or formulas or documenting your medical needs for other assistance programs.

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The Encouragement You Need

Through DSMES, youll get to work one-on-one with a diabetes care and education specialist, a certified professional who is specially trained in diabetes care and management. Your diabetes care and education specialist can:

  • Help you learn how to manage your blood sugar.
  • Explain how diabetes medicines work.
  • Help you figure out the best type of blood sugar monitoring device for you and your situation.
  • Suggest tools to help you track your progress.
  • Help you reduce your risks for complications.

There is more to diabetes than medical management. Your diabetes care and education specialist can help you plan healthy meals that fit your life, your budget, and your familys taste buds. They also can help you plan physical activity around your familys schedule and with your family!

Diabetes care and education specialists know the challenges of day-to-day life with diabetes. And they know how you can navigate them. Their expert support can help you thrive while living with diabetes.

What If I Take Tablets To Control My Diabetes

HELP! Calling all Diabetics with Knowledge to Help Me! I Need Your Help to Get my Blood Sugar Down
  • You should TAKE YOUR TABLETS AS USUAL but make sure you keep up with food and fluids.
  • If you usually check your blood sugar levels at home then check the levels more often. Contact your GP straightaway if your glucose levels stay high .
  • If you don’t usually check your glucose at home and you feel unwell, contact your GP or practice nurse for advice. A practice nurse or district nurse will be able to check your blood glucose level.
  • If you take metformin and you become very lacking in fluid in the body , you should stop taking metformin and contact your GP for advice.

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You Need A Care Team Including Diabetes Nurse Educators Nutritionists And Possibly Other Specialists

Just receiving a diagnosis and learning about diabetes often is not enough to help you manage your disease. Seeing a specialist will connect you with an entire diabetes care team whose membersnurse practitioner, dietician, pharmacist, educator, and exercise physiologistbring unique areas of expertise to help individualize your care according to your specific needs.

While primary care doctors provide good treatment for people with diabetes, if managing your condition feels complicated and unmanageable, you might want to see a specialist. Endocrinologists and diabetes care teams can provide you with their expertise, tools, and resources specific to your individual symptoms and condition. Exploring all your options will help you determine the best management plan and achieve the highest quality of life.

What Is A Diabetes Specialist

A diabetes specialist is called an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists specialize in the glands of the endocrine system. The pancreas is the gland involved in diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin, and problems with insulin are what managing your diabetes is about.

Endocrinologists often work as a team with other diabetes specialistsnurse practitioners, dieticians, pharmacists, educators, and exercise physiologistswho help address every aspect of diabetes, which can be a very complicated problem to manage.

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What Causes Low Blood Sugar

Low blood sugar has many causes, including missing a meal, taking too much insulin, taking other diabetes medicines, exercising more than normal, and drinking alcohol. Blood sugar below 70 mg/dL is considered low.

Signs of low blood sugar are different for everyone. Common symptoms include:

  • Shaking.
  • Dizziness.
  • Hunger.

Know what your individual symptoms are so you can catch low blood sugar early and treat it. If you think you may have low blood sugar, check it even if you dont have symptoms. Low blood sugar can be dangerous and should be treated as soon as possible.

How To Use The Record

Why We Need to Treat Diabetes (Is high blood sugar that bad?)

First read the shaded bar across the page. This tells you:

  • the name of the test or check-up
  • how often to get the test or check-up
  • what your personal goal is

Then, write down the date and results for each test or check-up you get. Take this card with you on your health carevisits. Show it to your health care team. Talk about your goals and how you are doing.

A1C At least twice each year My goal: ______

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Whats The Best Diet For Diabetes

Whether youre trying to prevent or control diabetes, your nutritional needs are virtually the same as everyone else, so no special foods are necessary. But you do need to pay attention to some of your food choicesmost notably the carbohydrates you eat. While following a Mediterranean or other heart-healthy diet can help with this, the most important thing you can do is to lose a little weight.

Losing just 5% to 10% of your total weight can help you lower your blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Losing weight and eating healthier can also have a profound effect on your mood, energy, and sense of wellbeing. People with diabetes have nearly double the risk of heart disease and are at a greater risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression.

But most cases of type 2 diabetes are preventable and some can even be reversed. Even if youve already developed diabetes, its not too late to make a positive change. By eating healthier, being more physically active, and losing weight, you can reduce your symptoms. Taking steps to prevent or control diabetes doesnt mean living in deprivation it means eating a tasty, balanced diet that will also boost your energy and improve your mood. You dont have to give up sweets entirely or resign yourself to a lifetime of bland food.

What Are Treatments For Type 2 Diabetes

Unless its absolutely necessary, insulin should not be used to treat type 2 diabetes. Dr. Bergquist explains, Injecting insulin improves blood sugar but worsens underlying insulin resistance. Insulin is a fat-storage hormone. Higher insulin leads to more fat storage in organs where its toxic, making them more insulin resistant.

Insulin should only be used when the pancreas fails and the B cells cannot be regenerated, says Dr. Apovian. When type 2 diabetes is caught early enough, you can reverse it with lifestyle, medication, and bariatric surgery. In certain cases, when a person is severely overweight, bariatric surgery is a successful treatment for type 2 diabetes, because it effectively decreases a persons body weight set point and can reverse hormonal imbalances that underlie obesity and fuel type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, new type 2 diabetes medications have been approved by the FDA, including a class of drugs known as glucagon-like-peptides , which aid the pancreas in producing more insulin by decreasing glucose production in the liver. Researchers are also working to understand the role that inflammation and hormonal imbalances have in the development of T2D.

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Learn How To Live With Diabetes

It is common to feel overwhelmed, sad, or angry when you are living with diabetes. You may know the steps you should taketo stay healthy, but have trouble sticking with your plan over time. This section has tips on how to cope with your diabetes,eat well, and be active.

Cope with your diabetes.

  • Stress can raise your blood sugar. Learn ways to lower your stress. Try deep breathing, gardening, taking a walk, meditating, working on your hobby, or listening to your favorite music.
  • Ask for help if you feel down. A mental health counselor, support group, member of the clergy, friend, or family member who will listen to your concerns may help you feel better.

Eat well.

  • Make a diabetes meal plan with help from your health care team.
  • Choose foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt.
  • Eat foods with more fiber, such as whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta.
  • Choose foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, bread and cereals, and low-fat or skim milk and cheese.
  • Drink water instead of juice and regular soda.
  • When eating a meal, fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, one quarter with a lean protein, such as beans, or chicken or turkey without the skin, and one quarter with a whole grain, such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

Be active.

Know what to do every day.

Talk to your health care team.

  • Ask your doctor if you have any questions about your diabetes.
  • Report any changes in your health.

Tips For Healthy Eating With Diabetes

Finding Diabetes Support

There are different types of diabetes, and no two people with diabetes are the same. So there isnt a one-size-fits-all ‘diabetes diet’ for everyone with diabetes. But weve come up with tips that you can use to help you make healthier food choices.

These healthy eating tips are general and can help you manage your blood glucose , blood pressure and cholesterol levels. They can also help you manage your weight and reduce the risk of diabetes complications, such as heart problems and strokes, and other health conditions including certain types of cancers.

Making healthier food choices is important to manage your diabetes and to reduce your risk of diabetes complications. We know that not everyone agrees on what is the best diet.

This is why weve reviewed all the evidence to put these tips together. Weve focused on specific foods, to make it easier for you to put these tips into practice and to complement whatever diet you decide to follow.

– Douglas Twenefour, Specialist Dietitian and Deputy Head of Care

We’ve based our tips on research involving people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. If you have a different type of diabetes, like gestational, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes or MODY, some of these tips are relevant to you. Its important, whatever kind of diabetes you have, to see your dietitian for specific advice.

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How Can I Check My Blood Sugar

Use a blood sugar meter or a continuous glucose monitor to check your blood sugar. A blood sugar meter measures the amount of sugar in a small sample of blood, usually from your fingertip. A CGM uses a sensor inserted under the skin to measure your blood sugar every few minutes. If you use a CGM, youll still need to test daily with a blood sugar meter to make sure your CGM readings are accurate.

Be Smart About Sweets

Eating a diabetic diet doesnt mean eliminating sugar altogether, but like most of us, chances are you consume more sugar than is healthy. If you have diabetes, you can still enjoy a small serving of your favorite dessert now and then. The key is moderation.

Reduce your cravings for sweets by slowly reduce the sugar in your diet a little at a time to give your taste buds time to adjust.

Hold the bread if you want dessert. Eating sweets at a meal adds extra carbohydrates so cut back on the other carb-heavy foods at the same meal.

Add some healthy fat to your dessert. Fat slows down the digestive process, meaning blood sugar levels dont spike as quickly. That doesnt mean you should reach for the donuts, though. Think healthy fats, such as peanut butter, ricotta cheese, yogurt, or nuts.

Eat sweets with a meal, rather than as a stand-alone snack. When eaten on their own, sweets cause your blood sugar to spike. But if you eat them along with other healthy foods as part of your meal, your blood sugar wont rise as rapidly.

When you eat dessert, truly savor each bite. How many times have you mindlessly eaten your way through a bag of cookies or a huge piece of cake? Can you really say that you enjoyed each bite? Make your indulgence count by eating slowly and paying attention to the flavors and textures. Youll enjoy it more, plus youre less likely to overeat.

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