Problem controlling hb1ac

[khalid78]

Hi
i have benn diagnosed with type2 diabetes in 2005 .
since then i have been trying to control it through diets and medicine but never been able to .
its stressing me out , i have also seen a specialist but of no use.
my hb1ac is in the range og 9.1 to 11.
it has never come down below that level.
the highest was tested in start of 2006 and the latest was 9.1 that is couple of weeks back.
i also have underactive thyroid for which i am taking levothroxine 100mcg everyday and the last results were satisfactory.
also i am taking bezalipfibrate slow release for tryglycerides which also not coming down.
can some body help me out. i am stressed because of all this .
also i have been declined insurance so no mortgage for me

 

[sugarless sue]

Welcome to the forum,khalid.Can you tell us a bit about your diet? Also do you have a blood testing meter so that you can tell which foods are making your blood sugar(BS) go up a lot.

 

[khalid78]

thanks...yes i have a blood testing meter.
the break up of my diet is
Breakfast : Two toast(kingsmill white medium), boiled egg and a cup of tea(semi skimmed milk)
generally had breakfast around 10'o clock.
Dinner around 4'o Clock: white flour chapatis either vegetables or lentil curry
Before Final meal : cup of tea with biscuits or bombay mix
final Meal around 10'o clock: white Flour Chapatis and either Lamb Curry or chicken curry( i really eat hot but not oily).
but i don't go to bed straight away .
As i work from home i dont have to rush in the morning but i do feel really hungry around 6 and 7 in the morning.
Also what is the best time to monitor the blood and also to take the medicine
Medicines Break up:
3x 850 metformin
3x 80 Gliclazide
1 x 100 Levothroxine
1 x 400 Bezalip Fibrate slow release
1 x 10 Ramipril.

 

[sugarless sue]

Oh dear,Khalid,you've stumped me!I know next to nothing on Indian cuisine!We usually suggest reducing the portions of anything containing,rice,bread ,potatoes and pasta.In your case though I don't know what to suggest as an alternative!I hope someone will come along with more knowledge of Indian cookery.
Best time to monitor blood is,first thing in the morning before eating.Then ,if you are testing out which foods affect your blood sugar(BS) test just before a meal and 2hours later.This shows you by how much the meal has raised you BS.If your BS is back to post meal time test level then that shows you have got the balance right in that meal.Keep a food diary for a week to show you which foods are fine and which need modifying in terms of either ingredients or amounts.You should be aiming at BS of below 7 for good control to start with.
You should discuss with your doctor the best times to take your medications.Hope that helps a bit.

 

[hanadr]

I know next to nothing about Indian cooking, but one of my fellow volunteers ( we take learning disabled people for walks in the park) is an Indian lady and we were discussing eaing patterns. She told me that she'd been told the people with diabbetes, should "eat less chappatis"
Basically if you can cut your intake of sugars and starches your numbers should improve. that means anything that derives from grains or tastes sweet.. Foods cooked from pea flour are not so problematical.
Since diabetics are being given the advice "eat plenty of complex carbohydrates with every meal" it's become difficult to find recipe books for low carb meals.
One of the exceptions is The Atkins Diet. Is there an Indian food version? that would be most helpful.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Khalid and welcome to the forum,
There is a book called "Good Food For Diabetes" by Tarla Dalal, which is a diabetic's guide to Indian foods. I haven't read it myself so can't give any recomendations, but it might be worth a try. Its not expensive at £4.95.

When you say curry does that include rice or just the meat and sauce? If it includes rice then I am afraid that your diet is an extremely high carbohydrate one. Even without rice it is pretty high carb. As I'm sure you already know, it is carbohydrates that creat blood sugar - the more carbs then the higher the blood sugar. For your toast in the morning you could reduce the carbs a little by trying Nimble or Weightwatchers bread (at 9g carbs per slice) instead of the high carb Kingsmill at 16g+ per slice.

 

[Ozzie]

Hi Khalid. welcome

I see by your diet you eat an awful lot of bread/chapatis. if that's your typical daily diet then that's the problem.

It is only carbohydrates such as in chapatis. bread vegetables rice etc that raise blood sugars. so if ya cut out the majority of the carbohydrates your blood sugars will be lower and ya never know, you might not need any more medication within 3 months or so.

here's just a few recommendations.

scrap the toast for breakfast and have 2 boiled eggs or fish, prefer smoked mackerel myself but any type will do.

i Personally wouldn't eat chapatis or bread or rice with curries, (the odd popodom maybe) but regulary has meat or fish curries just more curry

as for bombay mix, I would give that a wide berth. to many high carbohydrate ingredients. if ya need to snack, try cheese, nuts in moderation, any type of meat, boiled eggs etc.

If you can, even though it's probably not recommended by anyone, What i did was buy a whole load of test strips and test myself every half hour 4 or 5 times after every meal to see what my blood was doing. I now know exactly what raises my blood sugar, how much I can eat of what and i did that for a month. I now rarely test myself, once a week maybe just to make sure things are ok.

as a standard rule these are the things i don't eat;

anything made from grains or cereals. eg bread pasta porridge rice etc
any vegetables that grow in the ground. potatoes, swede, carrots
no fruits, except a few berries, but they're not technically a fruit, and rhubarb is nearly as good as prunes :shock:
vegetable oils just olive oil and butter.
the exception is sauces that contain some of the above, but then most are miniscule amounts