Hi Everyone,
I have been recently diagnosed type 2 at 26 and have been really struggling mentally with coming to terms with it all. I have been prescribed metformin and gliclazide which I take daily, I am not great with foods, I have a big sweet tooth (which I am trying to cut out) and was a big fizzy drink lover (I only drink zero sugar drinks now). I am hoping to get advice on how to deal with things mentally? Also is there any good food planners people use? I work in the city long hours in a really stressful job and I find myself really struggling to find the time to make any healthy dinners which often relates to me then ordering a takeaway or just making something quick and unhealthy.
I have been reflecting a lot on how my life on how this changes things, I am not particularly overweight and it runs through my family type 2.
Appreciate any help.
Thanks
J
Hello
@Jhawkins94 ,
Sorry about the diagnosis. It is a kick in the head, and it leaves you reeling for a bit. I know I cried a lot in the first weeks after diagnosis, and felt like I had one foot in the grave. I wish I'd found this place sooner, but alas. All in all there is hope, you're going to be fine, but yeah... You're going to have to change up a few things. Take it from a recovering sugar addict though... It can be done. I used to have 5 scoops of sugar in my espresso. Spoon just about stood upright in that! (Now I'm drinking sparkling water with apple cider
vinegar and enjoying it. Crazy, I know! It's nice with a squirt of lemon juice instead too. No sweetener!)
Okay, so, here's the thing. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. So you cut the carbs, bring your blood sugars down, and go from there. Now, there's a catch here: you're on gliclazide, and combining that with a low carb diet can cause hypo's. So you want to be careful. I'm a very big advocate for testing, but with glic in the mix, you really can't do without a meter. I was told T2's don't get hypo's. Oooh yes, they do, when they're low carbing while on certain medication. (You'd think an endo'd know better!). So if you're going to try anything we suggest on here, make sure you have a meter and sufficient test strips, so you know what's happening. Don't go in blind, whatever you do! (And have a blood glucose of at least 5 if you're going to drive. Lower and your insurance'll possibly not pay up if you get into an accident).
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help little with the basics on food and testing. Just remember you don't have to get everything 100% right in one go. It's a learning process and you'll have to find out what works for you. Dietdoctor.com can help with meals (they have some quick 'n' simple ones on there), but I tend to keep it simple too. Meat, fish, poultry, dairy and eggs are my staples, and you can add in some above-ground veggies for instance. This morning I had scrambled egg with cheese, pepper and salt. Done. Lunch just now was two chunks of salmon with mayo, pepper, salt... This evening I'm tossing chicken into the airfryer, because I can't seem to get them well done without cremating them in a pan. Find out what it workable for you.
You mention working long hours in a stressful job. Stress up blood sugars, did you know that? As do sleepless nights, a cold etc. So try and take good care of your mental well-being. Take a walk in your lunch hour after eating (which will also drop your blood sugars), practice some mindfulness maybe? If you have take away, try Five Guys or something. They do a burger without the bun, wrapped in lettuce, or you can just have a bunch of the trimmings piled on a patty or two (bacon, mushrooms etc) on a plate. As long as you leave the bread off and don't have fries, it's fine. Gyros, shoarma, kebabs, that sort of thing's still on the menu, just be moderate with the sauce. Careful with fish, nothing with batter on, as that'll put your numbers up too. Without batter though, have at it! Basically, you want to build your meals around things that are no to low carb and expand from there.
Couple more things:
- High-ish blood sugars affect our mental health. Feelings of depression or panic/anxiety can be caused or magnified by them. So the way you're feeling now will get better as your blood sugars control improves, more likely than not.
- Diet drinks often contain artificial sugars. Those tend to be toxic to gut bacteria and can create a whole slew of problems when they die off. So careful, don't over-do it. (You don't want to know how bloody and painful things can get...). Stevia, xylitol and erythritol are usually fine, but aspertame and others are not going to do your guts any favours. Keep in mind that if you use xylitol as a sweetener for coffee and such, it is toxic to pets.
Anyway... How to deal with it mentally... By doing what you're doing now: Gathering information, deciding on a
plan de campagne, and going with it. For me it helped to experiment with food and see what they did to my blood sugars, and that I was beating this thing. It's very empowering to see results, as well as quite motivating to stick with it. I took control back of my life, and that alone kept any feelings of desperation at bay.
I can do this. It's the easiest condition I have, actually! I wish they all were this easy to manage. So if I can do it.... No reason why you wouldn't be able to do the same.
You're going to be okay.
Jo
