Another Newbie

[JoKalsbeek]

Yeh , I think it's gonna be a matter of just going it alone ?
What about things like Egg Noodles ?

Egg noodles are usually still carby. Have you looked at shirataki/konjak noodles? You do need to rinse them before use, (weird fishy smell, otherwise) but not carby at all. Or courgette spaghetti (Courgetti), as a replacement. Then there's cauliflower or broccoli rice, which'll do in a pinch just as well. Some people just make a couple of omelettes and cut those up in strips to make "noodles", but I can't be bothered, haha.

 

[Lobsang Tsultim]

Get in the habit of checking the nutritional information on packs of food. If it's less than 5g of carbohydrates per 100g, indulge away. If it's between 5g and 10g of carbohydrates per 100g, then should be okay but in moderation. If it's over 10g of carbohydrates per 100g, then avoid.

So looking at egg noodles: Sharwood egg noodles contain 70g of carbohydrates per 100g, that's 40g per portion! To put that into perspective, when I was first diagnosed, I aimed to eat less than 30g of carbohydrates per day. Some people here aim for 20g or less.

Take a look at Public Health Collaboration, Dr Unwin's website. It has useful infographics showing the equivalent amount of teaspoons of sugar for some common foods. It can be quite an eye opener.

 

[caromia64]

Egg noodles are usually still carby. Have you looked at shirataki/konjak noodles? You do need to rinse them before use, (weird fishy smell, otherwise) but not carby at all. Or courgette spaghetti (Courgetti), as a replacement. Then there's cauliflower or broccoli rice, which'll do in a pinch just as well. Some people just make a couple of omelettes and cut those up in strips to make "noodles", but I can't be bothered, haha.

Oh yeh , I've tried them konjac things , I don't like them, well il just have to go without , thank you for all your help today

 

[niblue]

I've had the Libre2 on for nearly a week now and the results do appear to have stabilised and I've not seen any of the very low readings that were sometimes happening (especially through the night) in the first couple of days.

By default it looks like the Libre2 treats anything between 3.9 and 10 as being "in range" and so far it hasn't recorded any results higher than that (highest was something like an 8.2), which is encouraging given I was sometimes seeing results well over 20 when I first started testing. The highest I've seen with manual testing during that period was also an 8.2 (and it's more than 10 days since I've seen a finger prick test of more than 10) so overall the Libre2 results and the finger prick ones are averaging in the same ball park. The lowest finger prick test I've done in that period was a 5.1 and again that's not a million miles away from the Libre2 results as the lowest (since the results have stabilised) is something like 4.8 or so.

The app also gives a forecast hb1ac result and it's currently suggesting 40 for that - so it'd be nice if that were true as that'd be a big drop from the 106 I was tested at just over a month back!

 

[niblue]

Oh yeh , I've tried them konjac things , I don't like them, well il just have to go without , thank you for all your help today

I've also tried the konjac noodles and didn't like them either. The best option I've had suggested so far as a side with Chinese food etc. is beansprouts. I've also tried cauliflower rice which isn't bad (cauliflower mash is better).

 

[Resurgam]

They don't, quite often. A GP has so much to keep up with, having to know something about just about everything... And as you're finding yourself, there's lots of contradictory information, and most of it goes against what the government officially advises, usually. If they could take a week or two and do a deep-dive into the material, maybe.... But what NHS doc has any time to do anything without it cutting into the time they can care for patients?

My doc told me she didn't know what I was on about, but I was welcome to give it a go and be a guinea pig, as long as I got blood work done to keep on top of things. I'm the only one in the practice who went low carb, and far as I know, the only one who got back to normal numbers in these past 7 years. She was supportive, and I know I got VERY lucky to have her.

A low carb diet to control type 2 has been known about for centuries - why a GP or nurse would be ignorant is a mystery - but even Dr Atkins had to learn about it for himself - though perhaps he was more open minded as he was a cardiologist.

 

[niblue]

I got back last night from my first work conference since being diagnosed and it was less of an issue that I thought it'd be finding low-carb options to eat at the buffet type meals. I did find myself doing stuff like de-constructing sandwiches at lunch and then eating the fillings, but overall it wasn't bad - that was in a pretty nice hotel though. It was rather more difficult finding low-carb options to eat in the airport though, as while some of the shops had salads they were all pasta based ones so very high in carbs.

My morning blood results were a bit higher than normal but still not that bad, and hopefully drop back t the lower levels I've been seeing in the last few weeks.

In other news my BMI has now dropped under 26, so getting steadily closer to my target of being into the healthy range for the first time in probably 30 years.

 

[MrsA2]

It was rather more difficult finding low-carb options to eat in the airport though, as while some of the shops had salads they were all pasta based ones so very high in carbs.

Airports are the worst! I've given up even looking and just plan to fast.
If its very long haul I take cheese and olives, and nuts and pick what I can from the meals

 

[niblue]

I finally got around to calling the surgery and trying to arrange a follow-up appointment with the diabetes nurse, given the initial one was a waste of time with their systems down (so not the fault of the nurse - she just didn't have access to my notes or test results). Mainly I want to ensure that any follow-on care plan (including follow-up blood tests) post diagnosis was actually going to happen (as the only thing I've had in the 6 weeks since being diagnosed was a retinopathy appointment for the end of this month). Turns out the practice (which covers a significant part of Edinburgh) only has one diabetes nurse now, who only works 2 days - so the next appointment was about a month away (not that it matters as I can't do either of the two days they work). So instead I've booked an appointment with the doctor that covers diabetes although the first appointment available with him was early June.

 

[niblue]

I got back to my house yesterday to find a letter from the medical centre with appointments for a follow-up blood test early next month and a telephone review meeting with the diabetes nurse at the end of next month. So despite the zero information up front it does sound like I'm in the system!

I was a little surprised that the appointments had been scheduled without any discussion first on whether I could actually attend or not (and the telephone appointment is anytime in a 4 to 5 hours window on a workday - so not clear if I'll be able to answer when I get called) but I've had very limited contact with the NHS in the past so perhaps that is just they way it works.

 

[niblue]

I had my retinopathy appointment on Friday and in a weeks time I have my first follow-up blood test since being diagnosed. Fingers crossed for a rather more encouraging result that my initial 106! My fasted blood sugar tests in the morning are still a little erratic but mostly under 7.5 for the last couple of weeks (and sometimes down as low as 5.0). I've only had one test over 10 (a 10.5) in the last couple of weeks and that was straight after a 5K run so I'm not concerned about it as it was down to 6.4 a few hours later.

I'm still managing to lose weight and have now lost about 13kg since being diagnosed, with my BMI now down to exactly 25 - so hopefully should achieve my target of a healthy BMI soon. I'm doing a bit more cycling now and the occasional run, trying to claw back some of the cycling & running fitness I used to have.

 

[Lupf]

I got back last night from my first work conference since being diagnosed and it was less of an issue that I thought it'd be finding low-carb options to eat at the buffet type meals. I did find myself doing stuff like de-constructing sandwiches at lunch and then eating the fillings, but overall it wasn't bad - that was in a pretty nice hotel though. It was rather more difficult finding low-carb options to eat in the airport though, as while some of the shops had salads they were all pasta based ones so very high in carbs.

My morning blood results were a bit higher than normal but still not that bad, and hopefully drop back t the lower levels I've been seeing in the last few weeks.

In other news my BMI has now dropped under 26, so getting steadily closer to my target of being into the healthy range for the first time in probably 30 years.

I was also wondering what to do at airports or generally when travelling. My solution was to use travel days as fast days as I never liked airport food anyway, such as triangular sandwiches and junk food I now know where the water fountains are in airports.

For longer train rides, I buy salads. At conferences, I make sure that I get a substantial low carb breakfast, e.g. bacon and eggs, full fat (natural) yogurt. I've also found myself picking the non-carb stuff from buffet lunches or lunch boxes.

 

[niblue]

I'm still having more problems from my hip pain than I am from my diabetes so had an appointment with the doctor on Friday to discuss that, however all he really wanted to talk about what was diabetes. I've got a blood test this week (which is about 2.5 months since the first test when I had the 106 hb1ac result) and the doctor said that after we had the results of that he'd probably put up my metformin dose. I think he was somewhat surprised when I asked why, given my finger prick test results are way, way down (e.g. the last two morning readings have been 4.7 and 4.8) but as far as he's concerned there is only one data point so far and that's the 106 result. I told him I was hoping to get off the metformin but sounds like there wasn't any point in discussing it until we see the results of the this weeks test.

I think he now has me down as a troublemaker as he also wasn't pleased when I told him I was holding off taking the statins I'd been prescribed for the moment.

We also had a bit of a disagreement about the hip pain, as it really feels to me like it's coming from the hip joint but (without any examination) he seems to be convinced it's some kind of nerve pain and even prescribed amitriptyline for that (which I'm still decided if I want to take or not). At least he did refer me for an x-ray on my hip though.

In more positive news my weight has now dropped into the healthy BMI range, I managed another 5K run (slow, but not as slow as the previous one) last week and also a 20 mile mountain bike ride (the hip pain is mostly bothering me at night - it doesn't seem to a serious issue when exercising).

 

[0110]

I'm still having more problems from my hip pain than I am from my diabetes so had an appointment with the doctor on Friday to discuss that, however all he really wanted to talk about what was diabetes. I've got a blood test this week (which is about 2.5 months since the first test when I had the 106 hb1ac result) and the doctor said that after we had the results of that he'd probably put up my metformin dose. I think he was somewhat surprised when I asked why, given my finger prick test results are way, way down (e.g. the last two morning readings have been 4.7 and 4.8) but as far as he's concerned there is only one data point so far and that's the 106 result. I told him I was hoping to get off the metformin but sounds like there wasn't any point in discussing it until we see the results of the this weeks test.

I think he now has me down as a troublemaker as he also wasn't pleased when I told him I was holding off taking the statins I'd been prescribed for the moment.

We also had a bit of a disagreement about the hip pain, as it really feels to me like it's coming from the hip joint but (without any examination) he seems to be convinced it's some kind of nerve pain and even prescribed amitriptyline for that (which I'm still decided if I want to take or not). At least he did refer me for an x-ray on my hip though.

In more positive news my weight has now dropped into the healthy BMI range, I managed another 5K run (slow, but not as slow as the previous one) last week and also a 20 mile mountain bike ride (the hip pain is mostly bothering me at night - it doesn't seem to a serious issue when exercising).

Good luck with your Blood test I think you are going fully into remission. I remember me and you got diagnosed the same time I had a AC1 of 82 yours was higher. The sort of morning readings your getting now sound great for example in the 4s and it sounds like your excercising loads. My AC1 come back at 30 just by increasing my activitiy, no medication and a better diet. I think you will be fine and will prove the DR wrong. Please keep us updated when you have the result. If your test is below 40 will you stop the metaformin or will you continue? Also did you experience any side effects from this drug?

 

[ajbod]

Imagine how narked he'll feel when your next Hba1c comes in, way below the 106, most likely prediabetic or even non diabetic.
Some doctors hate it that, you do things that have a much better outcome than they can attain. The good ones are supportive. He sounds like the kind that just throw drugs at everything.

 

[niblue]

Good luck with your Blood test I think you are going fully into remission. I remember me and you got diagnosed the same time I had a AC1 of 82 yours was higher. The sort of morning readings your getting now sound great for example in the 4s and it sounds like your excercising loads. My AC1 come back at 30 just by increasing my activitiy, no medication and a better diet. I think you will be fine and will prove the DR wrong. Please keep us updated when you have the result. If your test is below 40 will you stop the metaformin or will you continue? Also did you experience any side effects from this drug?

Fingers crossed the results will be low enough that I'll be able to have a sensible discussion with the doctor or the diabetes nurse on what to do next!

If the result is low then I'll definitely want to discuss coming off metformin (and definitely not increasing my dosage!). I'm not having major issues with it but I do get some queasiness which I think is probably from it.

 

[niblue]

Imagine how narked he'll feel when your next Hba1c comes in, way below the 106, most likely prediabetic or even non diabetic.
Some doctors hate it that, you do things that have a much better outcome than they can attain. The good ones are supportive. He sounds like the kind that just throw drugs at everything.

I was quite surprised to get prescribed a painkiller for nerve pain without any physical examination or any real discussion of my symptoms.

I'd actually prefer the issue was nerve pain (as the alternative is probably arthritis in the hip) but as I'm managed get an x-ray scheduled for tomorrow I'm going to hold off on taking the painkillers until the results of that are available,

 

[0110]

Fingers crossed the results will be low enough that I'll be able to have a sensible discussion with the doctor or the diabetes nurse on what to do next!

If the result is low then I'll definitely want to discuss coming off metformin (and definitely not increasing my dosage!). I'm not having major issues with it but I do get some queasiness which I think is probably from it.

Do you take the metformin after a meal? I'm wondering if it makes a difference to the actual numbers.

 

[niblue]

Do you take the metformin after a meal? I'm wondering if it makes a difference to the actual numbers.

I usually take it around the same time as I eat, but not always. Doesn't seem to affect the blood sugar test results as far as I can tell, but it is supposed to help with the queasiness I think.

 

[0110]

I usually take it around the same time as I eat, but not always. Doesn't seem to affect the blood sugar test results as far as I can tell, but it is supposed to help with the queasiness I think.

So I get the occasional 4s in the morning fast, and pre-meals usually in the 5s. So if I was on metformin will these be lower? I was wondering how effective that drug is as its relatively safe and benign from what I am hearing. So if you continued on your exisiitng diet and excercise regime will your numbers go up drastically if you stopped this drug?