Food and other questions

Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Ladies and gents, I'm quite newly diagnosed, around a month ago where my blood sugar was around 22.

I'm controlling it in moderation now with medication and diet and have been told the priority is obviously to get my blood sugar down.

I've never been a big breakfast eater, but due to my condition (T2 by the way) i've started to have one shredded wheat for breakfast so i can take my tablets, over the last few days just before lunchtime i have been experiencing Hypo's which, i must admit scared the life out of me at first as i had 'get this blood sugar down' drummed into me without much discussion as to what do do if it dropped too low.

I've managed to control them through a couple of rich tea biscuits followed by a sandwich.

My question really is am i having the right thing for breakfast if, a few hours later my BS is causing me a problem, I don't have a lot of time to prepare breakfast so a suggestion of an alternative cereal or another quick and easy fix would be appreciated.

My next question is in relation to my work, i am a football photographer, and sometimes can be at the ground all day, the usual fayre of pies, burgers etc is not the best choice, and usually just take a few sandwiches ( on burgen bread) and there is no real option of having anything warm.

I know i can't be the only one out there who has these issues so was just wondering what anyone else takes to eat for a full day away from home.

I've armed myself with a few packets of dextrasol now for away games in case a hypo should hit again.

Sorry to have bored the pants off you all.

Dave.
 

DeejayR

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,375
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hiya from another T2. To start with the second bit, your job is so demanding on your diet I think you need to plan everything beforehand and take it with you. I often go to similar events where fast food is the only option and scraping the egg and bacon off a bap isn't for you if you're handling camera kit!
In warmer weather I take salad, all low carb, some protein and plenty of fat. If it's cold I take home-made soup. I don't eat any kind of bought breads atm but I can make something like olive bread using alternative flour. Bottom line, there's plenty of good advice about that on here.
Likewise advice about breakfast -- just to say the higher your food spikes you the lower your BS may rebound. Wheat will usually do that but the effect does vary.
Stick around.
 
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Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello and welcome.

I see from your profile you are on Metformin, no insulin or other insulin promoting meds, so I am wondering why you think you are getting hypos? This is highly unusual on Metformin alone. Are you sure they are hypos and not hypers? Sometimes when we start to control our blood sugars and levels drop generally, although not actually low, we can sense a sort of false hypo,, but these disappear once our bodies are used to lower levels generally. Are you self testing, and do you test when you think you have a hypo, and if so, how low are you?

Breakfast cereals of any sort are not generally a wise choice. They are full of carbs. How about a full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries added? Or bacon and eggs, or eggs cooked any which way? You can hard boil eggs the previous night.

I often have days out, and I take a packed lunch consisting of a tin of mashed salmon, cherry toms, lots of cubes of cheese, a pickled onion, a boiled egg, and some real mayonnaise in a separate container. Other times instead of salmon I have a 2 egg-mayo mash. Other ideas are cold meats, chicken drum sticks etc. Burgen has 12g carbs per slice, so 2 slices maybe too much.
 
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DeejayR

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,375
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Forgot to add you can get a wide-mouth vacuum flask for home-made stew. Any bought processed meal is suspect.
 
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Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
thank you so much for your replies, Deejay, i hadn't even given soup a thought, thanks so much for that.

Bluetit i've has BS levels around 4.2 when i start feeling shaky and light headed, its usually around 8-9, was just a worry as something that hadn't happened before, and also thank you for your food advise.

I'm absolutely loving this forum.
 
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Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. A bs level of 4.2 might well start to show hypo symptoms; it does with me. As others have said, it's very unusual with just Metformin but it sounds like you are taking the right steps to avoid going too low. A few people do have unusual bs swings without being on insulin or sulfonylurea tablets.
 

neverforever

Well-Known Member
Messages
140
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Hi
When I was first balancing meals and being out I had shaking, and feeling very strange, whilst my BS where coming down from being very high. On the three occasions this happened it was because I had left it too long between meals, soon as I bought my meal times more into line (for me) it stopped. All trial and error I think at first, now I always have something in my bag in case I get caught out. I think as the others have said you have to be prepared that's the only way. I was so used to not bothering and grabbing something to eat when I could. Now im planned out lol. Then you can forget it and get on with everything else. Ive learned a lot from Bluetit1802 always has good food ideas. good luck
 
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carty

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,379
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
If you make a good soup with a base of onion chilli and garlic then throw in any veg you fancy (not root ) add a stock cube ,cook and then whizz or mash well .Then you will be warm ,feel full,and the smell will have all around you wanting some!
CAROL
 
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Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
With a job like that I can't see you ever having a regular routine, so I would suggest that slow release foods (as suggested above) are definitely your best option.

I think I would also be tempted to have something like a 9 bar or a small bag of nuts in my pocket at all times. Ideally eat them before the symptoms of a low start, because they won't bring you up sharply. They will just smoothly stop you dropping in the first place.

Another option would be a flask of good coffee with cream, or bulletproof coffee. It makes me feel fairly indestructible. :)