a bit confused

[Lisa65]

hi all
This is my first post. I found out I had T2 around 2 weeks ago by chance, when I went to get my cholesterol checked. My fasting BG was 14. I got in to see the diabetic nurse within 5 days. She wanted to put me on metformin but I said I would prefer to try diet and exercise first. I also managed to get onto a DESMOND course earlier this week (there was a cancellation).

I have restricted my carb consumption quite severely and started walking a few miles a day as well. I have had no sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cake etc and almost no pasta, rice, bread or potatoes. I have noted that 1/2 hour walking lowers my BG by about 1.5mmol.

Today I was really pleased when my pre-dinner BG was 7.0 This is the lowest it has been since I started checking, but I just took it again around 2 hours after dinner and it's 10!

For dinner I had sausages (the meaty kind with about 4g carbs per 100g), some leeks and courgettes sweated in a bit of olive oil, one small new potato, for afters I had sugar-free jelly with some Greek yogurt.

I don't understand what is going on here. Where is the rise in BG coming from? There's isn't much else I can cut out, as far as I can see.

here are my readings for today

7.30AM 9.1 fasting
12.20PM 7.4 after a long walk
had a small tin of mackerel in tomato sauce and salad for lunch
5.15PM 7.0 before dinner
8.30PM 10.0 2 hours after dinner

Is the instability maybe down to the fact I have probably been "running high" for a few years without knowing? Will my body get used to lower levels and will my liver stop pumping glycogen into my blood every opportunity it gets? (I don't know where all this glycogen is coming from anyway, given that I've eaten almost no carbs for over a week)

I feel I've done OK to get my fasting BG down from 14 to 9 within 2 weeks, but I'm aware it's still too high and if it hasn't improved the DN will want to put me on meds when I see her again in October.

hope I'm making sense. I really want to get on top of these readings but at the moment it seems as if I only have to sniff a carb for my BG to shoot back up

Thank you for any advice you can give me folks.
Lisa

 

[theblokefromstoke]

Hi Lisa,

Its all about testing, testing, testing.

For me, even a single small new potato sends my BG sky high, pasta the other week sent me into orbit. Where as strangely a sweet or chocolate or two has no effect.

different things affect us all in different ways, you have done really well in 2 weeks, it took me ages for mine to come under control.

You are doing all the right things.

My typical days eating is:-

Breakfast - 1 wheatabix (sends some folk sky high but i'm ok with it)
mid morning snack - apple
lunch - 2 slices of burgon soya and linseed bread (yummy) with no butter, small can of tuna in olive oil and salad
afternoon snack - probiotic low fat yoghurt
tea - fish or chicken, salad or veg (no potato), coleslaw is great and a blob of mayo.
evening snack - some nuts or seeds.

most days for me are a variant of the above. It took me about 2 months and loads of tears to find what suited me. My wife and kids eat other things so i do lose the shared experience during meals and it hurts when they eat chips and stuff but hey ho what can you do.

Stick at it Lisa, you are doing really well and your bloods will settle down.

Best wishes

Carl.

PS - I eat loads of those sugar free jellys by Hartleys. The powder mix is about 50p from supermarkets and makes 2 pints of jelly. My fridge is full of tupperware boxes with different flavours, i even take them to work. Mmmmmm - think i'll go andf have one right now.
(lol)

 

[Lisa65]

hey Carl
thanks for your reply, it's encouraging to hear I am roughly on the right track. Maybe I'll try the same meal another day but without the potato, and see what the difference is. Hopefully I can refine my food list over the next couple of months.

Those sugar free jellies are pretty good aren't they? I hadn't tried them before.

 

[Synonym]

I really want to get on top of these readings but at the moment it seems as if I only have to sniff a carb for my BG to shoot back up

Hi Lisa and welcome.

It sounds as if you are going in the right direction and it does take time. There are many of us who cannot tolerate ANY of the starchy carbohydrates and I would certainly not be able to eat either the potato or the sausage.

As Carl says - testing, testing, testing!! :roll:

 

[bedshaped2000]

best sausages i have found are 0.9 grams of carb per 100g. these are the black farmer ones which are in the coop or tescos. because they are higher in fat you may get away with a bit more potato. tonight i had a extra special frozen burger from asda and a 100g jacket potato with salad and i nearly had a heart attack after i did my 1 hour test. it was 5.4 8) but the fat content was colosal. its a fine sword edge that we walk . on one hand we want low carb but most low carb stuff is high in fat or protein

 

[Lisa65]

best sausages i have found are 0.9 grams of carb per 100g. these are the black farmer ones which are in the coop or tescos.

i'll look out for those, cheers

 

[bedshaped2000]

bloke from stoke- check the carbs in that jelly you use watch the difference between the strawberry one and the blackcurrent one i buy the ready made stuff in the small pots because i couldnt trust the carb count with the different flavours in the powder type

 

[Lisa65]

I just had my first "normal" reading since diagnosis - after a run this morning and a treat of bacon and egg for lunch, my 2hr post-meal reading was 6.9

I'm so chuffed, it's hard to make myself do the exercise when I feel tired a lot of the time but seeing results is motivating. i've lost about 9lbs so far from low-carb eating and exercise, I could still do with shifting 2 stone but I hope to get there.

wanted to share my good news

 

[bedshaped2000]

lisa it really does work this time last year i was a 48 inch waist and 19 and a half stone. today i am 34 inch waist and 13 and a half stone. there are up n downs inbetween but if you keep focussed it can be achieved. ps i have been overweight most of my life but being told i was diabetic sort of shocked me into doing something about it. keep it up girl it will be worth it trust me. people who havent seen me for a while walk past me now because they dont recognise me :lol:

 

[daisy1]

Well done for losing 6 stone - what a fantastic loss. No wonder people didn't recognise you :!:

 

[Lisa65]

this time last year i was a 48 inch waist and 19 and a half stone. today i am 34 inch waist and 13 and a half stone

that's amazing