Hello Sugarbabe, There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions and they are all different! even the the doctors and diabetic nurses differ in their opinions. I'm not going to add to that by giving you yet another one ...instead, I will just tell you my tale and you can draw from it what will, or not
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2009 and prescribed Metformin, twice a day directly after meals. I also attended a group Diabetic Education Session given by local diabetic nurses to help me understand what diabetes was and how to help myself control it. These being the main points: 1) how much sugar there was in different foods (which I did find a big eye opener...check out the potato !!! OMG) 2) The dramatic effect of exercise in controlling blood sugar levels 3) Finding a new diet that works for you.
At the start, I tested 5 times a day! first thing / after breakfast / after lunch / after dinner and last thing before bed. I put all the results into my own spreadsheet for a month...the results were all over the place, ranging from 5 to 12 but with no discernable pattern what so ever... confused.com!!! so I took these results to my GP and Diabetic Nurse, both of whom told me not to bother with testing as it was only the six monthly blood tests that showed how well I was controlling my sugar levels. So I stopped testing completely! Being divorced and living on my own, I began taking a really interest in cooking and selecting a healthy diet, not eating big meals, 'trying not to snack too much' (this for me is the hardest thing! lol), taking lots of exercise (even if its just walking every day) and not too much alcohol...I like a glass or two of Malbec
but restrict myself to 2 glasses and at weekends only.
When I returned to the doctor six months later, after all the usual blood tests I was told my control was excellent and it was almost as if I didn't have diabetes, as you can imagine, I was delighted. I was told to just keep doing my new health regime. A year passed and on returning to my doctor the results were just the same, so I asked if I could reduce my Metformin to see if that changed anything, the doctor agreed and to this day I still only take one 750mg tablet after my main meal every day.
I am 69 and expect to feel some aches and pains, poor sleeping and general tiredness, but in the main I feel in control of my diabetes. My blood pressure is normal, my BMI is good and I feel good for my age. personally I believe my control is a balance between a healthy diet, excercise, and the one Metformin per day. I still use my meter but for one reason only, If I have a bad day, as we all do from time to time, I want to know 'is it my blood sugar levels' or am I poorly for some other reason, that's the only time I use my meter now. "I listen to my body now. I am aware of the changes I feel from what and how much I eat" I don't try to completely cut out sugar completely, or some of the other bad things that I like...what I have done is to reduce them to a minimum so that I can still enjoy the taste but without eating too much...a perfect example is chocolate, I still enjoy 2/3 square now and then as a treat, but never eat say half a bar at a sitting as I used to
To finish up... for me, controlling my Diabetes is about the balance between Exercise - What I eat and How much I eat.
I look upon discovering that I have Diabetes as a blessing... because of the changes I have made to my life I now feel better than I ever did
I hope something in my experience helps you and anyone else who has recently learned that they have type 2 Diabetes. Change is within YOU
ColB