Hello! Recently got diagnosed myself and thought I'd give some tips I've found useful in this period.
Also had blurry vision and it has taken about 2 weeks for it to start normalizing.
I noted you say you work night shifts. Is it possible to have a talk with your boss about that? I read a study not too long ago stating that blood sugar levels have a tendency to be a bit more chaotic in night-time workers. Although I am sure some of the veterans here can help work around that.
Around my country (Norway) it seems a lot of diabetics have a tendency to look at "sugar types" and how many grams of those there are in there. Thing is; something can not be classified as a sugar, but still can have a high GI impact. (Cause blood sugar to rise; eg. potatoes or rice) as they are quickly broken down into sugars. Then again, you can have something that's 100% sugar types and it could be a sugar-alcohol, like sorbitol, which is an artificial sweetener that does not impact your sugar levels.
This can all be quite confusing, but from what I have found out there is a lot of vegetable eating involved in the LCHF.
For example, I stay away from: Corns, grains, flours, rice, potatoes, fruits and sweets. Green, sour apples are said to be good in moderation.
I do LOVE eating: Avocadoes, squash, lettuce, feta cheese (my guilty pleasure is sun-dried tomatoes, but the oil/water is loaded with sugar) and wash or avoid canned goods altogether as they are sometimes in sugary water.
I have also started eating some asparagus which is actually pretty good, baked in the oven with butter, salt and pepper.
My partner actually made me a cake yesterday with artificial sweeteners. I used a sugar-alcohol (Erythritol) which is great for baking. I've realized that there are so many work-arounds and I do not really see it as a limitation, except that I miss my occasional beer.
EDIT: about the eyes. I just started working at an eye-policlinic and I've pumpted my doctor for answers. As stated above, it will take time for those eyes to normalize. I still recommend going to the doctor's to have those eyes checked, but do not worry. In most cases it's all about the lens being swollen are shrunk. You'll get near-sighted and short sighted from day-to-day and my refractometer has perscribed me 6 different glasses the last weeks. I've also discovered that having diabetes does not mean you will get retinopathy. With good control it could be avoided entirely, but you have to do good work. Sometimes, though, it can cause retinopathy after some time. The older type 2 diabetics we're seeing at the eye policlinic who have retinopatyhy are often badly regulated and have gotten bad or little advice from their GP about how to control the blood sugar. This forum has taught me loads and in my opinion, knowledge is half the battle, so do keep reading!
