Just diagnosed with diabetes? Read this article for all you need to know.

Just diagnosed with diabetes? I’ve been there, it’s so hard… Here’s what you need to know right now – and nothing more.

I know that right now everything feels confusing and difficult. It gets better! The first step is taking a deep breath. The second step is understanding your condition.

Just diagnosed with diabetes: the essentials

There are a million articles out there about diabetes, and no doubt you’ve already read too many of them. So we’re going to keep this as simple as possible. Here’s what you need to know about diabetes: what it is, how to manage it, and who to ask for help.

Step 1: What is diabetes?

The more you understand about your condition, the more sense it will make, and the easier it will be to live with.

What is diabetes? The ultimate guide to understanding diabetes: Read this to understand what diabetes is, a broad overview of the different types, and some basics of living with diabetes.

What are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes? Read this for a detailed understanding of the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 (lots of people are going to ask you!)

What is normal blood sugar? A simple explanation of what numbers you should be aiming for.

Step 2: How to manage diabetes

When you’re just diagnosed with diabetes, figuring out how to manage it can seem completely exhausting! That’s why we’ve outlined the basics: all you have to remember is TEEL:

Take your medication
Eat healthy food
Exercise, a little every day
Lose weight, if you need to

Let’s take a look at each of those in more detail. These articles will tell you all you need to know if you’re just diagnosed with diabetes:

Take your diabetes medication: All the most helpful medication tips from the experts.

Eat healthy for diabetes: The one article you need to read about diabetes and diet.

Exercise, a little every day: Your ultimate guide to exercise with diabetes.

Lose weight, if you need to: All the most helpful weight loss tips for diabetics.

Step 3: Who to ask for help

Support is really, really important when you’re just diagnosed with diabetes – and when you’ve been living with diabetes for a long time!

The best diabetes specialists in South Africa: This is a list of the doctors and diabetes educators our community trusts the most.

South Africans with Diabetes: Our Facebook community – South Africa’s largest online diabetes community. Please join us for daily updates, advice, tips and a space to share what it’s like to live with diabetes.

Questions about diabetes?

If you have any questions about living with diabetes that these articles haven’t answered, please let us know. We can ask our Diabetes Experts to answer your questions so that the next person doesn’t have to ask! Email us your question, and we’ll get an answer.

When you’re just diagnosed with diabetes, it feels like your life is over – we know. We’ve been there. But once you get used to the new normal, you’ll see that there’s nothing diabetes will stop you from doing. It’s completely possible to live a perfectly normal, happy, healthy life with diabetes. We’re all in this together!

What to read next?

What is diabetes? Do you know exactly what diabetes is, and the different types? We outline it so you have all the facts.

What is normal blood sugar? Here are the numbers to aim for if you have diabetes – and what normal blood sugar looks like.

Eat healthy for diabetes: The one article you need to read about diabetes and diet.

Photo by Aron Van de Pol on Unsplash