i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 4weeks ago. I'm on 2000mg metformin and 40mg gliclazide. My blood sugar levels though under 20 now don't seem to be dropping very fast. I've also put myself on a strict diet to help but on a few occasions my levels have been higher in the morning then they were the night before. How does that work?
Recently diagnosed
- Thread starter Gwen58
- Start Date
Lazybones
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- Messages
- 397
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Firstly welcome to the Diabetes Forum. Daisy will be along shortly with the basic advise that she gives to all new member on this forum.
It might take a short while before things start to 'KICK IN' and your Blood Glucose levels show signs of significant improvement, you might have to wait a few more days and see if things turn around and head in the right direction. It's also worth while looking into the Low Carb High Fat diet (LCHF) as this is proving particularly beneficial to Type 2 diabetes control.
As for a high reading first thing in the mornings, it might be looking into a characteristic known as 'Liver Dump' or 'Dawn Phenomenon'. This is also a common effect that is well documented and known about and is something that we humans all inherited from our 'Stone Age' ancestors where our B/G levels were raised automatically in the morning so that when we arose we were fuelled up and ready to go out Dinosaur hunting or what ever.
You've found the right place to start from her on this website.
It might take a short while before things start to 'KICK IN' and your Blood Glucose levels show signs of significant improvement, you might have to wait a few more days and see if things turn around and head in the right direction. It's also worth while looking into the Low Carb High Fat diet (LCHF) as this is proving particularly beneficial to Type 2 diabetes control.
As for a high reading first thing in the mornings, it might be looking into a characteristic known as 'Liver Dump' or 'Dawn Phenomenon'. This is also a common effect that is well documented and known about and is something that we humans all inherited from our 'Stone Age' ancestors where our B/G levels were raised automatically in the morning so that when we arose we were fuelled up and ready to go out Dinosaur hunting or what ever.
You've found the right place to start from her on this website.
Thanks for the information, very much appreciated. I can do the low carbs but the high fat is a "no,no" as I have high cholesterol too, so on a no added sugar, low fat diet.
Gezzabelle
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- 1,280
- Type of diabetes
- Prediabetes
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- Diet only
Hi and welcome Gwen....you must have been diagnosed around the same time as me. You will find all the help you need here....some great people that have so much knowledge and advice that will help you no end
Gezzabelle
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- Prediabetes
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I would agree with that Gwen. I used to eat lots of carbs and ended up putting on weight and feeling lethargic and tired all the time. Since I was diagnosed I have cut my carb intake to way less than 50g a day and I feel amazing....so much energy and have lost quite a bit of weight in a very short time.
Gezzabelle
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- Prediabetes
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Awww I know how you feel Gwen.....I love bread with a passion but it had to go....along with pasta, potatoes, sweets, cakes and pretty much everything else I ever enjoyed but it had to be done. I felt so much better after just one week. Maybe cutting it down slowly would make it a little easier for you to accept. I did it all at once and was surprised how quickly I accepted it. I gave up smoking 8 months ago so that is one thing out of the way for me. I hope you can give it up...that also is hard but worthwhile. I actually thought I was desperate for a slice of bread so this morning I toasted one slice of Burgen Soya and Linseed which is lower carb and couldn't wait to eat it.......guess what?......I didn't enjoy it at all.....so maybe the craving was just in my head ane I can do without it easily now. I tested how it affected my BG and it went up more for that one slice of bread than it does for whole meals!! It isn't easy making the changes but take it steady and it won't be so hard to do. There are many recipes of yummy food that can replace the carby meals you maybe had before. One step at a time and it will all come together
Lazybones
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 397
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Dear Gwen58,
Thanks for the quick reply. The LCHF diet does indeed at first sight appear wrong as to why anyone would want to revise their diet by cutting back on their Carbohydrate food intake and boosting this by eating high fat content in their diet.
Well ALL fats aren't the problem, only some of them are. Eating the recommended types of High fats is actually beneficial as it supplies the body with energy in a slow controlled manor. Studying the guidance on the LFCH diet will show you what type of Fats to avoid and what to eat plentifully. Many dairy products, full fat milk, hard cheeses, specific types of oils being actually beneficial and having little effect on CHOLESTEROL levels, which seem to be concerning you.
Following the LCHF diet can have many benefits, and advice from this site from many here will back this up. The dietary advice provided by the NHS dieticians is simply flawed and in time I'm sure that the LCHF diet will be recommended to us Type 2's.
Thanks for the quick reply. The LCHF diet does indeed at first sight appear wrong as to why anyone would want to revise their diet by cutting back on their Carbohydrate food intake and boosting this by eating high fat content in their diet.
Well ALL fats aren't the problem, only some of them are. Eating the recommended types of High fats is actually beneficial as it supplies the body with energy in a slow controlled manor. Studying the guidance on the LFCH diet will show you what type of Fats to avoid and what to eat plentifully. Many dairy products, full fat milk, hard cheeses, specific types of oils being actually beneficial and having little effect on CHOLESTEROL levels, which seem to be concerning you.
Following the LCHF diet can have many benefits, and advice from this site from many here will back this up. The dietary advice provided by the NHS dieticians is simply flawed and in time I'm sure that the LCHF diet will be recommended to us Type 2's.
Hi and welcome. Can you let us know your BMI, age and whether you have lost weight unexpectedly recently as sometimes these factors can point to an incorrect diagnosis of T2 when it's actually late onset T1. If you have excess weight then T2 would normally be right.
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I have lost over 22kilos, I don't know my BMI, I weigh 70 kilos and am 5'8 if that's any help. I'm 57.
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daisy1
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@Gwen58
Hello Gwen and welcome to the forum
I'm glad you have had so much advice already. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful, especially with reference to diet and carbs in particular. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.
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 140,000 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 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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
Hello Gwen and welcome to the forum
I'm glad you have had so much advice already. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful, especially with reference to diet and carbs in particular. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.
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 140,000 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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
Hi and welcome to the forum. There is some great advice and support from the members. Good luck giving up smoking, sure you will feel better in the long run.
Patricia21
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