Hiya my name is John and im new to the forum

[John Spartan]

Hey there just introducing myself my name is John and I'm 28yro and I'm new to the site. Ive been a diagnosed type 2 Diabetic for coming on 3 years now and I've always been on 2x Metformin 500mg Twice a day and 10mg Ramipril, 5mg Amlodipine Once a day to treat my hypertension which was diagnosed at the same time. My last h1bac test was around 5.6 I think. I believe I was undiagnosed for some time because I've also have retinopathy which has been treated with laser eye treatment. Alot of the symptoms I'd put now to my erratic shift patterns as I work in a 24hr store as a sales assistant. The doctors have always been dum fonded that I developed type 2 as its not in the family and I'm 28 which is very unusual they tell me. I've browsed through the forum before but today I finally decided to register after I had a bad turn at work last night when I was on my own serving customers and began getting very bad shakes and feeling extremely cold with quite a buzz about me. When I finished I got home and jumped into a hot bath to stop my shakes. :cry:

 

[daisy1]

Hi John and welcome to the forum Did you feel better after your hot bath? Have you had these shakes before? Was it a long time since you had eaten?

I see you have had diabetes for 3 years now but you still may find some information about looking after yourself useful. Here is some information we give to new members. Ask as many questions as you like on here and someone will always be here to answer you.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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 blood glucose 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.

 

[John Spartan]

Hi there thanks for the quick response. The bath helped carm be down as I couldn't control the violent shaking. I did test my blood after getting out of the bath and it was 9.9. I jumped into bed under a ton of covers and just past out. It was 1am at this point. I woke up at 6 and began shaking again too. I felt so ill. The only thing I can think of besides I guess a sudden dip in blood sugar is the flu jab I had in the morning which maybe have affected me. I've had shakes before about half a dozen times over the last few years. Can I ask how much exercise I should be doing a week and if daily then how much a day? Whats too little and whats too much? Also I am confused about weather its a good or bad idea to eat carbs before bedtime and how much time is best to leave between meals? Oh forgot to mention last time I went to the doctors my BP was 139 over 80. Also any lunch ideas for work would be appreciated as I struggle to come up with things besides like a tuna or cheese and ham sandwich and a bit of fruit every single day he he. Sorry I'm just full of questions.

 

[Grazer]

Without being a medical expert, I'd say the flu jab was far more likely to give you the symptons you describe than the sugar levels. 9.9 is quite high, but not so high as to make you ill I would have thought. Your HbA1c sounds great. Over-exercise can make your sugar levels go too low, which CAN then result in a liver dump of glycogen making them too high again. Exercise is a personal thing depending on your physical abilities, but personally I try to keep generally active, play 18 holes of golf once a week (weather permitting!) and do just 10 minutes of hard exercise on a strider (walker) type of machine about 45 minutes after each main meal. About then my blood sugars will be peaking, and this seems to help in bringing them down quickly without overdoing it.
I NEVER eat carbs before bed. I know people on insulin and other sugar lowering drugs do, but on diet only or metformin it's not normally necessary to avoid night hypos. I find that if I eat any carbs within 2 hours of bed, I get high bed time sugar levels which result in high fasting levels the next morning. You may be different - the thing to do is test with and without eating at night to see the difference. Do it a few times to get a safe comparison
Snacks at lunch - a boiled egg is always a good bet I find, and a bit of side salad with it. If you're away from home, invest in a cooler bag to take it in. Any fish with salad is good. I have some nuts as well, (instead of crisps), low in carbs and low GI m(glycaemic index), although beware cashews - they're not really nuts but the seeds from the cashew tree (or part of) and higher in carbs. With sandwiches, go easy on the bread. Brown wholegrain of course, not white, or I use Burgen soya and linseed, a low GI bread. Fruit is ok in moderation, but avoid bananas (high in carbs and high GI)
Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know!
Good luck, and if the shakes continue after the flu jab has run it's time ( a few days), see the doc.

 

[John Spartan]

Thank you for the response and the information. I've felt ok since but I was thinking about my metformin. As I was working on my own over a 8 hour period without beening given a break I tried to eat a sandwich to take my metformin which was probably spread over 30mins by the time I'd finished it while serving customers in the store I work in. Can metformin cause you do have a dip in your BG if you dont take em with a proper adequate meal?

 

[daisy1]

Hi John
The reason for taking your Metformin with a meal is that if you don't take it with a meal you are likely to get stomach cramps and diarrhea. I don't think taking it outside a meal will give you a dip in your BGs.