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What am I doing wrong?

N

nattiecw

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 in Feb this year and was told to try to manage it with diet.

Unfortunately today in my review with nurse my bloods have come back high again and they have now put me on medication. Gutted. I have been trying hard to cut out sugar but it is just getting worse not better.

Also been prescribed Capsicin cream as been having terrible itching in the soles of my feet. Nothing relieved it and it would be so bad that it would wake me up at night. Hopefully cream will work.

What am I doing wrong to mske my diabetes worse? Feel lost and not really sure about where I going wrong.

I am due to go on the Desmond course - will this help me?

Sorry for all the questions.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum, I too was diagnosed in February and with the help of this forum and the many wonderful people here I have come off medication and got my levels down to non diabetic.

I will tag @daisy1 so you can get the invaluable information all new members receive. Please read through it then ask as many questions as you want. For me following a low carb high fat diet has helped.

Please tell us what your hba1c was and if you can give us a brief outline of what you are currently eating that will help.

As for the Desmond course, I have yet to attend so can offer no help there.

Try not to worry, you have made a great start coming here X
 
nattiecw said:
Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 in Feb this year and was told to try to manage it with diet.

Unfortunately today in my review with nurse my bloods have come back high again and they have now put me on medication. Gutted. I have been trying hard to cut out sugar but it is just getting worse not better.

Also been prescribed Capsicin cream as been having terrible itching in the soles of my feet. Nothing relieved it and it would be so bad that it would wake me up at night. Hopefully cream will work.

What am I doing wrong to mske my diabetes worse? Feel lost and not really sure about where I going wrong.

I am due to go on the Desmond course - will this help me?

Sorry for all the questions.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome,

Cutting out sugar is only a small part of diabetes control. Sugar is just one carbohydrate. All carbs turn to glucose once inside the system, so the way to beat this disease is to cut down on all carbs as much as you can. Rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals and flour are the worst culprits. We also need to be very careful with fruit and milk.

I take it you haven't got your own blood glucose meter or you would have known you weren't improving, and would know which foods you need to reduce or eliminate. I strongly advise you to buy a meter and start testing out your food choices. You are just working blind otherwise. Testing before and after meals will show you at a glance what that meal has done to your blood sugar levels, giving you the chance to change things.

The foot itching could well be a result of high blood sugars, so if you can get them down you may see a big improvement.

The Desmond course may be useful in some respects as it may explain how the body works and what diabetes is, but it is unlikely to be at all helpful with dietary matters. Sadly, the NHS is still in the dark ages as regards dietary advice. You will learn much, much more about food and every single aspect of diabetes from this forum.

Read round and ask as many questions as you like - never apologise for asking questions - people on here are knowledgeable and helpful and friendly.
 
Hi @nattiecw,

Welcome. You will find that there are loads of knowledgeable people with really helpful advice on this forum.

I am so sorry to hear that your diet in the first few months after diagnosis hasn't helped and that you were now put on medication.

You write that you cut out sugar. Did you also remove other carbs from you diet? You will find that not only sugar but all carbs raise your blood sugar levels. What do you typically eat in a day?

I went on a low carb diet soon after I was diagnosed and found sufficient information on this. It has helped my blood sugar levels come down to non-diabetic levels. This might work for you too.

I'll tag @daisy1 and @AM1874 for you, who will provide some super helpful info for newcomers.
 
Hi,

Thank you for your replies. When diagnosed I was just told to cut out sugar by looking for the green symbol on food. Obviously also cutting out sweet things, fruit etc. Wasn't told about carbs although I am Gluten free so that should help shouldn't it? I also have MS (had for over 5 years) and was told follwing a stay in hospital due to a CDiff infection that I have IBS too. Food is such a nightmare right now. Feel very overwhelmed and confused.
 
Yes I have a monitor and been testing on and off following me feeling very ill one day which came on suddenly and I nearly oassed out. Got a monitor since then but only check when I am feeling faint or very tired and fatigued. Don't really know what is a good reading and not so good reading. Read online that it should be between 5 and 7. Have had two in the low 3's when I was feeling light headed and some in the 10.8 region when feeling very tired. Assuming these are ok ish but don't really kniw tp be honest as I read that everyone is different.
 
@nattiecw

Please ignore the traffic light system on food packaging. It isn't applicable to diabetics. You need to look for the full nutrition label on which it will tell you the total carbohydrate content per 100g . You can ignore the "of which sugars" amount. Being gluten free will definitely be helpful because wheat (and all other grains) are particularly bad for us.

You now need to start using your meter to test your meals.
Test immediately before you eat
Test again 2 hours after your first bite
Look at the rise from before to after
If it is more than 2mmol/l there are too many carbs in that meal. It is preferable to keep the rise under 1.5mmol/l. The lower the better.
Keep a food diary including all ingredients of the meal and portion sizes.
Record your before and after levels alongside the food
Before long you will see patterns and be able to pinpoint which foods in which quantities are causing your levels to rise.

A good target to aim for is between 4 and 7, although up to 7.8 after a meal isn't too bad sometimes. The higher it is, the more damage you are doing. Once in the swing of things you can try testing at other times after eating, such as after an hour, after 90 minutes, after 2.5hrs or 3 hours. This will all add to your knowledge of what food does to us and will help.

Reading round this forum will also help, and also the main website, which has everything there is to know about diabetes management, what the numbers mean, and many things. This website is also excellent https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds (Just follow the links)
 
Hi @nattiecw,

You definitely have a lot on your plate with diabetes and MS.

Readings of 10.8 aren't too bad, but could be better. Do you remember when you observed the 10.8? Blood sugars in the low 3's are a bit low. No wonder you felt light-headed.

What is the medication, you were prescribed? Some drugs might induce hypos if combined with a diet that is very low in carbs, so you might have to be careful. Metformin usually isn't a problem, though.

Eliminating gluten from the diet should definitely be helpful. This probably means that you don't eat wheat and many other grains. Grains are probably the worst culprits -- many even believe grains are worse than pure sugar. Other carbs that may be problem for you will probably include rice, oats and maybe even legumes.

The good news, however, that most of us can have some berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries) without too much of an impact on our blood sugar levels. I even do okay with an apricot. So, not all fruits are out -- only high sugar fruits, such as bananas, pineapple, grapes and other tropical fruit.

I know all this might sound overwhelming for you right now. There isn't any hurry -- take your time, read around and ease your way into this if you decide going the low carb route.
 
Cannot help about Desmond.

Gluten free may not be as still can have high carbs as can have for example bread substitutes can well have rice flour which is high carb.

Green symbol can mislead for example cheese is fine for low carb but will have red symbol because high in fat and salt. Another issue is that and the sugar traffic light red / green only looks at sugars not carbs so a green sugar could have no sugar but be really high in carbs . So if you could have been eating high carb by following the Green logo.

I have gone down the low carb route and I know that it may not suit all but has worked for me may be something you might want to consider . I am sure others will be along with their views.

My experience way of going low carb is avoiding grains , rice, potatoes and most below ground vegetables but eating moderate protein (meat/ cheese / nuts (I guess with IBS you might want to skip nuts) If you are vegetarian there are protein rich vegetables which are low carb . Fish is good but not for me as I have an allergy. I am trying to lose weight so am aiming at 0.8 gm of protein of the weight I want to be and for fats olives, olive oil, butter, coconut oil and cream and for fruits only berries in moderation with an apple as a treat. A couple of pieces of Dark chocolate ( in excess of 85%) is also lowish carb. I drink at least 1.5 litres a day of fluid mainly water and I never have milk as cannot tolerate . I aim to have finished eating before 6 pm . A meter helps me identify things which might disagree with me for example I can eat peas but I know others find that this spikes their blood sugars. Yes I have gone astray but i try and not get too worried as most of the time I feel very happy with this as a diet which I can live with . Others will be much low carb than me ( I aim at about 60) but everyone has their own target with which they feel comfortable so can be a bit trial and error.

I have Ulcerative colitis and find that this diet does not aggravate my sensitive Bowel and have brought down my blood sugar (using the meter to check ) and helped me lose in excess of 4 stone .

Hope this helps
 
nattiecw said:
Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 in Feb this year and was told to try to manage it with diet.

Unfortunately today in my review with nurse my bloods have come back high again and they have now put me on medication. Gutted. I have been trying hard to cut out sugar but it is just getting worse not better.

Also been prescribed Capsicin cream as been having terrible itching in the soles of my feet. Nothing relieved it and it would be so bad that it would wake me up at night. Hopefully cream will work.

What am I doing wrong to mske my diabetes worse? Feel lost and not really sure about where I going wrong.

I am due to go on the Desmond course - will this help me?


Sorry for all the questions.
Click to expand...

you need to cut down on all carbs

if one can not do a lot of exercises , it seems to help people lower blood glucose if they at least raise from their chair once or twice for every hour they sit down, it seems to be important for the body to be upraised most part of the day except from the 7 hours at night... so just changing ones sitting pattern to moving more every hour will also help people forced to a more sedentary lifestyle

by the way, LIDLs protein rolls are a great substitute for normal high carb bread
 
Last edited:
Hello there and welcome to the forum. I will not add any advice at this point, I remember being completely overwhelmed when I was diagnosed a few months ago. All I will say is that you are in the right place and the people here are all in it to share knowledge and to support each other with every aspect of attaining better health and a brighter outlook. Now, take a deep breath and read, read, read.
 
Hi @nattiecw .. and welcome
I agree with what has been said above .. and you have certainly made a good move coming here. Since joining this forum, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need. It can all seem uphill to start with but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly.

You will come across a lot of confusing and (sometimes) conflicting information but the key point to take on board is that managing and controlling your T2 diabetes (or pre-diabetes) through exercise, diet and testing your Blood Glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..

I see that @ziggy_w has already tagged @ daisy1 for you suggest that you read up on the Low Carb Program in the information that she will soon be sending you. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. together with the following Diet Doctor websites, which will give you all the info that you need on what and what not to eat ...
Low Carb Intro and Information and Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

It's good that you are testing your blood sugar levels and I recommend that you test before meals and then again two hours after you started to eat .. some folk also take a fasting blood glucose reading first thing in the morning. This testing pattern will enable you to monitor trends over time and to spot any foods that cause your blood sugar to "spike" or fall ouside the normal ranges. The ranges that you are looking for are ..
# Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
# 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
I've been testing 3-5 times a day since I was diagnosed in February, which means that I now know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them

Hope this helps
 
@nattiecw

Hello Nattie and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you want and someone will be able to help.


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 250,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
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