Getting worried

[diet betes]

I have suffered with Diabetes for about 10 years and have gradually had increases in medication over the years because of poor control.

I must admit that this has been largely due to my poor diet and lack of excercise.

In November of 2008 my HbA1c was 8.2 and I was told that i would need to go onto insulin injections.

I vowed to be a good boy and started to eat more sensibly and started walking a couple of miles 2/3 times per week.

By January of 2009 my HbA1c was down to 6.2 and I had lost 2 stones in weight.

Following this excellent result I foundered and by August I had increased a few pound and HbA1c was 7.6.

I vowed to return to the regime and be good again.

The only trouble is my body is not cooperating!!

HbA1c are now 8.6 but weight has dropped to 16st.6lbs.

I am being very carefull about what I eat but my BG readings don't drop much below 10 all day and can be as high as 17.

My Diabetic practitioner really isn't very helpfull, her solution to everything seems to be 'Insulin'.

I am extremely concerned about my continuously high BG level and wondered if you woulld be able to offer any explanation as to what is happening.

Chris.

1000mg Metformin 3 times daily & 160mg Gliclizide twice daily.

 

[sugarless sue]

Hi Chris, can you give us some idea of your average daily diet, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc so that we may be able to give you some advice.

 

[hanadr]

Chris
If we know what you eat, we can help more. Diabetes control is a multi-way balancing act, between food input, the formation of glucose in the liver( called endogenous glucose), how much food you burn off with exercise and medication.
Obviously you can control some of these and the extent to which you can do this will vary.
Hana

 

[diet betes]

Hello,

I do a detailed weekly diet & blood chart.

How can I send this Excell file to you?

Chris.

 

[cugila]

Hello,

I do a detailed weekly diet & blood chart.

How can I send this Excell file to you?

Chris.

What we need is just a typical daily food intake. We don't need all your diet and Bg readings for the week. Too much information. A chart would be too big and is more than is required initially. Can you just tell us what yesterdays food intake was ? Am/Pm. A list of your regular foods perhaps ?

 

[wallycorker]

Hi Chris,

Blood glucose levels of 10 to 17 are too high you really did ought to get those levels lower.

I'm a Type 2 on metformin diagnosed 9 years ago. You sound to be on almost the same pathway that I was on. Over the last twelve months, I've sorted out my situation by cutting down dramatically on the starchy carbohydrates - i.e. cereals, bread and potatoes mainly - but also, rice and pasta also. Doing that usually brings a quick and dramatic improvement in the blood glucose levels of Type 2s in particular.

In my opinion diet is the most important factor - more so than weight loss or exercise.

Take my advice and do your best to stay clear of having to inject insulin and all the additional problems that brings along.

Best wishes - John

 

[FordPrefect]

Before you are dumped onto insulin I think you really need to get a referal to a specialist called a diabetologist or endocrinologist(I'd suggest the same for anybody really). Its possible they may be able to recommend another course of action that doesnt involve you taking insulin. However I think what you really need to remember is that you do need to make some effort with your diet as there is only so long before there will be no other option but insulin.

 

[diet betes]

Hi,

Firstly let me thank everyone who have posted advice for me.

It is a real comfort to know there are people out there who are prepared to help.

It would have been good to post a full weeks chart as it includes every bit of info required however, here is a list of the foods I eat on a regular basis:-
Breakfast- Bacon sandwich, Eggs in all their formats,cereal, banana,baked beans, full English brekky.

Lunch Sandwich or wrap with packet sliced meats:-Corned beef, liver sausage, ham.Salad.

Dinner Chicken, lamb, pork, beef in all it's forms.Potato in all it's forms. Veg.

Snacks Fruit, salted peanuts, nuts in general, dried fruit, Weight Watchers Yoghurts.

Beverages Water, milky coffee, tea.

Alcohol(Very seldom) Cider.

Well I hope this all makes sense and that you are able to make some use of this.

Best wishes,

Chris.

 

[wallycorker]

Hi Chris,

If you are looking to improve your blood glucose levels then the foods there that I'd look to be reducing significantly in that diet are the cereals, bread and potatoes.

I don't know where cider would fit in because I never drink it.

Best wishes - John

 

[sugarless sue]

Hi,

Firstly let me thank everyone who have posted advice for me.

It is a real comfort to know there are people out there who are prepared to help.

It would have been good to post a full weeks chart as it includes every bit of info required however, here is a list of the foods I eat on a regular basis:-

Breakfast- Bacon sandwich, Eggs in all their formats,cereal, banana,baked beans, full English brekky.



Lunch Sandwich or wrap with packet sliced meats:-Corned beef, liver sausage, ham.Salad.

Processed meats can be high in carbs,better to buy 'real' sliced meats.

Dinner Chicken, lamb, pork, beef in all it's forms.Potato in all it's forms. Veg.

Snacks Fruit, salted peanuts, nuts in general, dried fruit, Weight Watchers Yoghurts.

Anything marked 'healthy' or weight watchers generally has more carbs than some of the more normal products,worth checking carb values on packaging when you are shopping.


Beverages Water, milky coffee, tea. ( in moderation as there are carbs in milk)

Alcohol(Very seldom) Cider. (In moderation OK.)

Well I hope this all makes sense and that you are able to make some use of this.

Best wishes,

Chris.

All the foods marked in red are high in carbs so the best advice is to test after eating these to see what impact they make on your blood sugars,test before eating,then test one hour then two hours after eating will show you the rise and fall of your blood sugar levels.
Get a carb counter book and then you can check out the foods that you like to eat and see the carb content.

 

[hanadr]

You can't do better than follow Sue's advice
Hana

 

[diet betes]

Thanks again for the advice.

Now that you have eliminated 50% of my food intake what do I use as a substitute for those foods??

What do I take to work to eat if I can't take a sandwich??

None of this helps the clinical depression from which I suffer and I am told that high stress level can also increase BG levels!!!

I just don't know where to go from here.

Chris.

 

[totsy]

hya chris,
if u get a collins gem carb counter booklet it will tell u carbs in everything, i stick to fresh foods, instead of say a ham sandwich i would have more ham with lots of salad and or beansprouts its a matter of eating lower carbs so look at labels and buy the book and you will soon learn, i used to have a yoghurt but instead now i have peaches or similar with fresh cream,
the diet i now have is more filling than before,
keep asking the questions and we will help as much as possible and remember u are not alone

 

[diet betes]

Hi totsy,

You say 'remember u are not alone'!!

Well you are the only one who replied to my last message.

Where is everyone else???

It seems to me that it is far too easy to say 'Don't do this' 'Don't do that' but far fewer people are able to offer constructive comment!!!

Any offers of a sensible answer to my query?

Chris.

 

[wiflib]

The constructive comments and sensible answers have already been given. There is also a huge amount of info on the forum to answer your questions.

What else do you want to know?

wiflib

 

[diet betes]

Not all of my questions have been answered at all!!!

Try these 2 for a start, from my earlier post:-


Now that you have eliminated 50% of my food intake what do I use as a substitute for those foods??

None of this helps the clinical depression from which I suffer and I am told that high stress level can also increase BG levels!!!

 

[wallycorker]

Hi Chris,

As other people have indicated, you do need to understand that other people can't do any of this for you. It really is entirely up to you what you eat and decide to do and that will determine how your diabetic situation is likely to develop. People can only give you the information as to what is more likely to cause you problems and what is likely to avoid the problems.

You say what can you take to work? Certainly, you can still take a sandwich if you want to - but, in my opinion, you would be better taking a salad with meat, fish or cheese - and/or fruit. You can take a big pile of that as far as I am concerned.

However, it would make sense to test and find out what foods do to your blood glucose levels after eating any particular food type.

It is my experience that you would soon stop feeling sorry for yourself once you saw what changing your diet would likely do to improve your blood glucose levels.

Best wishes - John

 

[diet betes]

SO NO HELP FROM YOU EITHER THEN.

YOUR NO BETTER THAN THE NHS.

 

[Synonym]

We are a group of your peers and do not purport to be anything else. :shock:

To get your head round all the implications of being diabetic you have to read and note the facts that are relevant to you of the situation you are in.

We are all unique and so it naturally follows that we do not all suffer from diabetes in the same way.

Individually we all need to work this out ourselves. :?

Some of us have other conditions that make this difficult to do but it still has to be done.

Getting angry does not help you and does not make it easier for others to help you so it can be said to be counter-productive.

You say ‘we’ are no better than the NHS which indicates that you have also told them that you want to have instructions spoon-fed to you step by step. In life this does not happen because, as you may be discovering, we are all different and one size does not fit all.

You are different and therefore special and need differing things to others. Your job is to work out the foods that help and the foods that hinder your condition. It is a rather serious game of detection that only you can do. The rest of us are all doing the same day by day. because the condition also changes as does the body.

None of us are your authority figures on whom you can work your temper with any effect whatsoever. There are thousands of folk on this forum who may never even have read your post and may never do so.

The rest of us can only answer the questions as we are able and as our own knowledge allows. Since we do not know you personally help can only be given to you on the information that you give. This is your job - so start your detection and start your experiments and let us know how you are doing and how it is working out for you.

 

[spinningwoman]

I'm NOT an expert, just someone who has had to change my and my husband's diet this way.

Honestly, although it seems like a big change, it is something that will seem normal after a couple of weeks. It is just getting a different set of habits.

Don't think "the rest of my life... aaargh!" Think 'I'll do this for two weeks and see what happens.' If it works, then if you are anything like me you'll feel so much better you'll know it's worth it. I only started out to keep my husband company, but almost immediately stopped feeling so tired, lost the fragile sensitive skin on the backs of my hands which had made cold weather a torture for years, and looking back I can see that I also haven't had recurrences of depression since then, either (though I was never on medication for that, so I have no idea if it would help you in that way.)

Sit down and plan the two weeks so that you aren't left realising at the last minute that you have no idea what to eat. Choose stuff you like already - start off with steak for dinner if you like it and can afford it! Don't worry if you repeat the same breakfasts and lunches at first; just get through a couple of weeks to see that it works and you can increase your repertoire gradually.

In my experience and that of my husband, as you have already spotted, breakfasts and packed lunches are are the trickiest bits to get your head round. Main meals are just a question of leaving out the potatoes rice pasta etc and eating extra veggies.

All the non-starchy bits of an English breakfast are fine - bacon, eggs, good sausages (the cheapest ones have a lot of cereal filler - look for at least 60% meat) mushrooms - either together or separately. If you can find a bread called 'Burgen bread' in Tesco or elsewhere, you may well find you are OK to have a slice of that with it, but you would need to test to find out.

Packed lunches can be the same stuff you would put in a sandwich but put in a plastic tub with salad. Mayonnaise or dressing are fine, but not the low-calorie sort as they usually contain a lot of starch and sugar. If you usually go into a shop to buy a sandwich, look at the deli counter instead of the lunches counter and Tesco for example sell packs of grilled chicken pieces for about £2. Unfortunately supermarket salads are nearly always mostly pasta which some people can cope with but many can't, but Budgen do an excellent egg salad with no pasta for £1.76 last time I bought it.

I also use low-carb protein shakes as a fast standby for both breakfasts when I'm in a hurry and for lunches when I'm out. They are surprisingly filling and keep me full. They are also good to drink before a meal out so that you are not too hungry to turn down the potatos etc. You can buy them ready made in cartons online at lowcarbmegastore or you can buy powder and soya milk to mix them yourself, which works out cheaper. (The soya milk flavour doesn't show in shakes for me, and is much lower in sugar if you get the unsweetened sort. I prefer to keep the real milk for tea and coffee where I can taste it.)

I have a couple of good books which I could recommend if you are interested. Don't be too rough on people not answering - this is a busy time of year and I for one am only checking the forum about every couple of days when a week or so back I was on it twice a day.