Type 2 Diabetes

Managing your Type 2 diabetes in order to live a long and healthy life involves looking closely at your lifestyle. And making changes if needed.

Food and Type 2 diabetes

Making healthy food choices is the cornerstone of managing Type 2 diabetes (along with staying physically active). The guidelines for eating well for those with Type 2 diabetes are the same as the healthy eating guidelines recommended for everybody.

Our relationship to food is complex. Because of this, changing our eating habits can be a big challenge. BUT there are lots of strategies that can help. The amount and type of foods we need depend on our age, our gender, our metabolic rate, our level of activity, and our existing body weight. It is best to see a registered dietitian to work out a food strategy that works for you.

Physical activity

Physical activity (exercise) is very good for all people and especially those with diabetes. Moderate exercise done most days of the week is best.

You don’t have to do a huge amount of exercise to improve your health - the equivalent of 30 minutes walking each day. Getting started is sometimes hard. It all comes down to starting slowly and building up with help and support from your diabetes health team.

Medication

There is a range of medications available to help you manage your diabetes. Because there is a lot of research going into diabetes, this range is expanding all the time.

It is often helpful to look on diabetes medications as a valuable tool you can use in your quest to successfully live with diabetes. Just as sugar or glucose is useful when your blood glucose levels are low, medication is useful when you come to need it.

Other medication that may affect blood glucose levels (link to other med page)
Sometimes you may need medications for other things besides your diabetes. Some medications can affect your blood glucose levels. It pays to know what these medications are.

Sometimes there is an alternative medication available that will not have the same effect. Sometimes you may need the medication anyway. But if you can anticipate the effect they may have on your blood glucose levels it will allow you to plan to manage this.

What is a low blood glucose level?

You are only at risk of low blood glucose levels (also called ‘hypos’) if you are taking specific diabetes medications (insulin or pills from the 'sulphonylurea' class). Not all diabetes medications cause low blood glucose levels.

People with Type 2 diabetes tend to be less prone to having low blood glucose levels than those with Type 1. However you should still know what a low blood glucose level is and how to both treat it, and avoid it in the first place.

What is a high blood glucose level?

High glucose levels or hyperglycaemia happens from time to time to all people who have diabetes. Hyperglycaemia is a major cause of many of the complications that happen to people who have diabetes. For this reason, it's important to know what hyperglycaemia is, what its symptoms are, and how to treat it.

Home blood glucose testing

Home blood glucose testing enables you to see what your blood glucose levels are, whether you are too high or too low and whether you need to seek help with managing your blood glucose levels.

It also lets you know how different foods affect your blood glucose levels and if your medication needs are changing (if you are either consistently too high or consistently too low).

Establishing a good testing pattern is very important and can be worked out with you practice nurse, doctor or diabetes nurse.

Understanding your laboratory tests

Many of the tests you have done at the laboratory can help you to understand where things are at with your diabetes. They can also help you see changes over time and whether the strategies you are using in your diabetes management are working or not.

Laboratories in New Zealand operate under strict quality control. This means that the tests you have done at the laboratory are likely to be very reliable and accurate.

Smoking

The best-known effect of smoking is that it causes cancer. But smoking can also aggravate many of the problems that people with diabetes already face, such as heart and blood vessel disease.

Managing stress

Stress is a part of our daily lives but becomes unhealthy when it begins to make us less able to manage our physical or psychological health, or other factors in our lives such as our work and relationships. You will inevitably experience ups and downs in your journey with diabetes. Learning what skills and resources you have to help you manage stress (and your response to stress) can help you effectively deal with the difficult times.

Sexual health

Diabetes may have an affect on the sexual health and function of reproductive organs. There are greater consequences for men than women but there are various options to treat conditions. The best idea is to talk about the problem and seek medical help.

Pregnancy

Having a baby is a very important time in your life. It involves going through many changes as you and your body prepare for the coming baby. Managing your diabetes is very demanding during pregnancy while there is so much else going on. But it is very important for both you and your baby that you put extra effort into your diabetes at this time. Support for this intensive effort is available from your specialist diabetes service.

Driving

If you have diabetes, you need to be aware of the risks involved when you are driving. If you know the risks, you can take steps to manage them.

Travelling

When you have Type 2 diabetes you can usually do everything you want to do when you travel. But it does take planning ahead to handle your diabetes.

How you prepare depends on where you're going and for how long. Two weeks backpacking through Europe takes different planning than a week at the beach. Will you be crossing time zones? What kind of food will you eat and when? Will you be more active or less active than usual?