One week on and still struggling

[kingshussar]

Hi,

Was diagnosed a week ago, on Saturday my codefree meter arrived, yesterday Sunday I started to test. Morning pre meal reading was 7.3 (Breakfast: bacon, mushrooms, 2 medium eggs and 1 slice of the small Burgen loaf.) post meal 2 hrs later 7.6
Skipped lunch?
Sunday dinner was Roast pork (crackling Mmmm) roasted med vegetables and 2 roasted potatoes pre meal 7.1
post meal 8.1 (I suspect spuds?)

This morning pre meal 7.6 Breakfast same as above.

On Saturday when I first received the meter, I tested and my reading was 6.1, so it is rising- could it be stress? I know it is early days but I am not the most patient of people and I am finding it very difficult to eat just high fat (I will persevere) I tried a cake with whipped cream and strawberry using a recipe with almond flour, the fruit and cream were great, the cake mixture was pretty tasteless and I miss bread, toast etc, slightly off piste, I think I am rambling...................

Really, Really hard and depressing. If anyone knows a decent bread recipe? Also tried Cauliflower mash YUK!

Is there hope????

Going for a lie down

 

[ally1]

those readings are not too bad
they will get lower

 

[AndBreathe]

Reading your profile page, I see your HbA1c has increased to 61 from 43 (that’s a 44% increase, so somewhat significant, if I may say so) in the space of 4 months. What happened in that time that might have facilitated the increase?

Moving on from there, the numbers you are reporting aren’t catastrophic, but could do with some work. That you have a rise of 1.0 after your lunch is good, so getting the underlying “before” and “fasting” levels down will help enormously. Whatever we eat, and drink, our levels will rise and fall; it’s a case of how much and how sharply that’s of interest.

You have done the right thing by restricting your carbs. For most of us, that has transpired to be the key. I know it’s painful to be potentially giving up bread and other starchy stuff, but your meter will guide you and reinforce whether you do, or don’t need to do that.

Commenting on your original reading of 6.1 versus the others you have posted; our readings vary all the time; throughout the day, from day-to-day and meal-to-meal, so you need more data to be able to come to any conclusions.

If you aren’t already, I suggest that you make a food diary (I use myfitnesspal, but there are loads out there), and also log your blood scores and where possible any exercise you may be taking. That will enable you to look back and review, with the aim of spotting trends and/or hot spots.

A week in, I’m sure it all looks a bit overwhelming, but as someone who is almost literally a year in, I can reassure you that it gets easier with time and application. You have your meter, which I believe to be an invaluable tool, so it’s time to get your head around the recording you need to do in these early days, but you will reap the rewards.

One final thing I can’t tell. Are you carrying any weight?

 

[AnnieC]

Your levels are not to bad at all BG levels can tend to be higher first thing in the morning but yours are not very high. It is called the dawn phenomenon because as we have fasted overnight we are most likely to have a glucose dump...body thinks we are starving...As for fats you can get those from good oils like coconut and olive oil you don't have to just eat loads of saturated meat and dairy fat if you find that difficult Use the oils for cooking and dressings and nuts are a good snack. You are doing really well and certainly on the right track with your food so well done

 

[daisy1]

Hello kingshussar and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions and you will get helpful answers from the members.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 100,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[kingshussar]

Reading your profile page, I see your HbA1c has increased to 61 from 43 (that’s a 44% increase, so somewhat significant, if I may say so) in the space of 4 months. What happened in that time that might have facilitated the increase?

Moving on from there, the numbers you are reporting aren’t catastrophic, but could do with some work. That you have a rise of 1.0 after your lunch is good, so getting the underlying “before” and “fasting” levels down will help enormously. Whatever we eat, and drink, our levels will rise and fall; it’s a case of how much and how sharply that’s of interest.

You have done the right thing by restricting your carbs. For most of us, that has transpired to be the key. I know it’s painful to be potentially giving up bread and other starchy stuff, but your meter will guide you and reinforce whether you do, or don’t need to do that.

Commenting on your original reading of 6.1 versus the others you have posted; our readings vary all the time; throughout the day, from day-to-day and meal-to-meal, so you need more data to be able to come to any conclusions.

If you aren’t already, I suggest that you make a food diary (I use myfitnesspal, but there are loads out there), and also log your blood scores and where possible any exercise you may be taking. That will enable you to look back and review, with the aim of spotting trends and/or hot spots.

A week in, I’m sure it all looks a bit overwhelming, but as someone who is almost literally a year in, I can reassure you that it gets easier with time and application. You have your meter, which I believe to be an invaluable tool, so it’s time to get your head around the recording you need to do in these early days, but you will reap the rewards.

One final thing I can’t tell. Are you carrying any weight?

Hi, thanks for that. As for the 44% increase it may have to do with my knee possibly? I have always been reasonably active i.e walking the dog for a couple of hours a day! that is until about 4 months ago my knee became a massive problem, I was in complete and utter agony with it and had to stop taking him walking (He gets exercise from my wife now) I am booked in for keyhole surgery on the 30th of this month, but there are no guarantees it will solve the problem, I am putting myself through this in hope.
Yes I have put on weight, again "Murphy's Law".
Sometimes you just can not win.

 

[kingshussar]

Your levels are not to bad at all BG levels can tend to be higher first thing in the morning but yours are not very high. It is called the dawn phenomenon because as we have fasted overnight we are most likely to have a glucose dump...body thinks we are starving...As for fats you can get those from good oils like coconut and olive oil you don't have to just eat loads of saturated meat and dairy fat if you find that difficult Use the oils for cooking and dressings and nuts are a good snack. You are doing really well and certainly on the right track with your food so well done

Thanks Annie,
Need a bread fix though

 

[jack412]

it's your call, you can stay on the same diet and take more meds or cut a lot of carbs and get your BG and weight down, by the sounds of it you have put on some weight as well with the crook leg

 

[kingshussar]

those readings are not too bad
they will get lower

 

[kingshussar]

Have just signed up with myfitnesspal, very clever. I am aiming for less than 1800 cal a day, achievable I'd say.

 

[douglas99]

Have just signed up with myfitnesspal, very clever. I am aiming for less than 1800 cal a day, achievable I'd say.

Portion control, upper body exercise, lose a bit of weight, improve upper muscle tone, and you may well find your figures improve.
I don't eat a vast amount of fat. Low GL/low GL works better for me.

 

[kingshussar]

Thanks Annie,
Need a bread fix though

Just found this low carb bread recipehttp://www.thelondoner.me/2014/03/mums-low-carb-bread.html

Anyone tried it, looks OK.

 

[jack412]

there are lots of LC bread recipes and it's a matter of finding one you like, you can get gluten powder, the flour with carbs washed out. that adds structure to the mixes, most recipes don't have gluten powder because the health shop crowd are anti gluten, there are a few that are intolerant.

with the settings in MFP you can set your fat protein and carbs %

these are the sites that helped me
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic or better the rate of ~80% remission, for surgery T2
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html

more diet plans
http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com/low-carb-mediterranean-diet/
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

SD codefree meter
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
if you buy extra boxes of strips there is a discount code
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

 

[kingshussar]

there are lots of LC bread recipes and it's a matter of finding one you like, you can get gluten powder, the flour with carbs washed out. that adds structure to the mixes, most recipes don't have gluten powder because the health shop crowd are anti gluten, there are a few that are intolerant.

with the settings in MFP you can set your fat protein and carbs %

these are the sites that helped me
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic or better the rate of ~80% remission, for surgery T2
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html

more diet plans
http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com/low-carb-mediterranean-diet/
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

SD codefree meter
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
if you buy extra boxes of strips there is a discount code
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

 

[kingshussar]

Thanks Jack.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Those figures aren't too bad so don't worry; many of us don't do much better. Any stress or illness such as your knee problem can increase blood sugar

 

[kingshussar]

Hi. Those figures aren't too bad so don't worry; many of us don't do much better. Any stress or illness such as your knee problem can increase blood sugar

Thanks for your input Daibell

 

[Enclave]

I don't count calls only carbs,.. Also high fat is more ditching the low fat stuff and adding them back as "normal fat' I found it works for me ... 10 months on I have lost 4and a half stone .. My activity has increased with the loss of the weight

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome from me.

 

[alliebee]

Hi welcome to the forum