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Partner recently diagnosed with type 2... Any advice please...

@clairejayne

When my husband, James, was diagnosed almost a year ago, with blurry vision, tired, thirsty and sugar levels like your partner, I found a lot of hope and encouragement in other people's success stories, so here is ours. We went through a tears and tantrums and crockery throwing stage, confusion, wanting to end it all, blame all round, but then, a few weeks later, we both realised that we felt happier than we had for years. Thanks to lots of testing and a low carb diet, weight fell off both of us, sugar levels dropped to normal very quickly. We remain strangely happy and our marriage has had a new lease of life - best thing that has happened to us in many years.
Oh, and we don't like pasta, muesli and bread anymore! Funny old world.
So, sort out the new diet and the rest of life may well sort itself out!
Sally
 
l echo you have to test.

ln view of things boot the spud and the bread .....unless.....he has tested and is ok.

l have 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast and not hungry untill lunch.

l dont like tea but in my coffee l have 3teaspoon single cream lower carb than milk.

Butter is better boot the marge.

You are making assumptions lots of folks here eat lidl full fat yogurt think 4gram/100...l don' it spikes me
lots here eat cottage cheese...l dont l spike

Get the book carbs and cals full not pocket size brilliant help. l have the app as well but it is not as good as the book l dont think.

Get small digital scales to measure each portion

Look at 5grm/100 on carb content on food you buy as a guide.

Get a meter till you do everything is wasted..lots folks use the sdcodefree from amazon if self fuding.

Keep a food diary there is one on the main info pages of the site.
 
Sally and James..
Hi, we are trying to sort out the diet, the amount we are cutting out and down on from what we used to eat is huge. With little help and advice from the nurse/doctors I have been relying on advice from this site and other information on the net. Steven told the nurse last week that we were cutting out all carbs and she said you should not do that at all, so we have had just very little portions of potatoes and rice etc.. I am sure we will get there.


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Biggest tip will be ignore the nurse cut out all rice potatoes bread pasta and set a limit of other carbs. l started at 100 -120 a day at xmas l threw the lot out and went to around 30/day.

If you follow any nhs diet advice you will not get the numbers down as may be becoming obvious. He is the one who suffers by his following their "advice" not the nurse.

Once he is down and stable at a level he is happy at can look at retrying things and see what happens.

l have had one slice of rye bread since dx in november 1x portion of rice no pasta and 4 roast spuds and 5 chips nicked from hubs plate when eating out at 5 different points.

Would also look at no sugar or sugar free foods often the sugar free can cause problems...as with carbs and starch go cold turkey once stable then experiment.

For many of us berrys and single cream is perfect. l get frozen mixed berries not fresh works out cheaper
 
Partner has now been put on Metformin. He's been on them 2 days. He has had 2 low readings 14.3 and 10.5, but 2 high 27.5 and 17.6. Does any one knows how long these take to start working. He has been signed off work for another week until his levels come down. Been given very little information from the nurse again, but we are hoping with diet and these tablets that his levels will reduce in time.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Metformin is not a magic bullet it will generally not lower much it will help though lower numbers are down to diet. And l understand it takes 1month to 6 weeks for effects to arrive. Metformin is liver support.

What is he eating now food wise keep us appraised of diet esp with high numbers, if not got a food diary keep one :-)
 
clairejayne said:
Partner has now been put on Metformin. He's been on them 2 days. He has had 2 low readings 14.3 and 10.5, but 2 high 27.5 and 17.6. Does any one knows how long these take to start working. He has been signed off work for another week until his levels come down. Been given very little information from the nurse again, but we are hoping with diet and these tablets that his levels will reduce in time.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Hi,

It will take a few weeks for the tablets to kick in, but they are not a miracle cure. They help to a very limited extent, mostly as an appetite suppressant. The only way to reduce levels is by changing his diet. I'm afraid to say the "low levels" you quote are not low at all. They may be lower, but definitely not low. He needs to be out of double figures completely, preferably down to 8 after meals to begin with, and down to 6 before meals. Once that is achieved, he can aim even lower. It is hard work, but perfectly doable with the right diet and mind set. Good luck.
 
You need to remember it is very easy to get a high level, however it will take time to come down. Don't get disheartened - particularly in light of how long you/he has had to make any changes. You will also find that something that spikes one person doesn't spike another
 
I can only echo Anie's advice. Any changes you can make for the better are good. Take it at a pace that your hubby can manage without rebelling against all that needs to be done to reduce his blood sugars. If he perseveres then he will be helping to preserve his employment. He should have his feet checked for nerve damage and have a screening for retinopathy. Both are very important.

Take care both.

Doug
 
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