My first thread! Greetings from Canada!

bchabfan

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hello folks,

Thank you for sharing your stories, I have had type 2 for the last 3 years and finally getting control of it, I am on a med called Synjardy. Doc wanted me to do insulin but I didnt want to just jump on the insulin train. I thought that would be a final ride. I have just started a hemp oil and some good multi vitamins which have been helping. I hope to improve enough to lower dose of meds and eventually go off of them completely.

What is everyone else on for meds?


Cheers and Seasons Greetings!
 

jjraak

Expert
Messages
7,445
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
finally diagnosed in october 2018. .just metformin and diet here.

Welcome to the best little forum, you really didn't want to join.:)
 
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Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,284
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I have just started a hemp oil and some good multi vitamins which have been helping. I hope to improve enough to lower dose of meds and eventually go off of them completely.
Hello, @bchabfan , and welcome to the forum! While hemp oil and vitamins may not do harm, they're probably of a much lesser impact on your blood glucose than your food. What do you usually eat? Do you use a glucose meter to see how different foods affect your bg?
And tagging @daisy1 for her very useful introduction :)
 

bchabfan

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hello, @bchabfan , and welcome to the forum! While hemp oil and vitamins may not do harm, they're probably of a much lesser impact on your blood glucose than your food. What do you usually eat? Do you use a glucose meter to see how different foods affect your bg?
And tagging @daisy1 for her very useful introduction :)


Thank you,

Yes I have more vegetables, and cut out white rice and pastas, well cut down a lot. Exercise is important also. The switch from metformin to synjardy and the oil helped, the vitamins i have just started taking but have more energy, so more exercising

good info, i like this forum
 

SaskiaKC

Expert
Messages
6,308
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
@bchabfan, your bear looks like the identical twin brother of a bear my sister had when we were little. It's a long time since I've seen a bear with arms like theirs.

Mine is about 15 years older than me as he belonged first to my cousin before coming to me when I was 2.

So I bear greetings! :)
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,939
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you,

Yes I have more vegetables, and cut out white rice and pastas, well cut down a lot. Exercise is important also. The switch from metformin to synjardy and the oil helped, the vitamins i have just started taking but have more energy, so more exercising

good info, i like this forum
Hi, and welcome!
There's so much more you can do, *if* you want, of course. (Cut potatoes, bread, cereal, fruit etc as well for instance; could mean ditching the meds entirely). But you sound like you're well on your way. Hope we get to be of use a bit. :)
Jo
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,939
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello folks,

Thank you for sharing your stories, I have had type 2 for the last 3 years and finally getting control of it, I am on a med called Synjardy. Doc wanted me to do insulin but I didnt want to just jump on the insulin train. I thought that would be a final ride. I have just started a hemp oil and some good multi vitamins which have been helping. I hope to improve enough to lower dose of meds and eventually go off of them completely.

What is everyone else on for meds?


Cheers and Seasons Greetings!
Oh, sorry, forgot to answer your question! I started out on metformin, then got switched to gliclazide after a few weeks. But I'd been so ill on metformin I'd desperately started reading books on how to tackle T2. Three months after diagnosis I could stop the gliclazide, going low carb/high fat. Oh, and I use CBD every now and again. Great stuff for rheumatism and insomnia too! Been in the non-diabetic range 2 years now. And I'd like to keep it that way.

Happy holidays to you too! Hope 2019 will be a great year for you.
Jo
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@bchabfan
Hello and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and useful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 

Pinkorchid

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,927
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you,

Yes I have more vegetables, and cut out white rice and pastas, well cut down a lot. Exercise is important also. The switch from metformin to synjardy and the oil helped, the vitamins i have just started taking but have more energy, so more exercising

good info, i like this forum
Hi and welcome sounds like you are doing well and good the oil and vitamins are working for you so well done
 

bchabfan

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Oh, sorry, forgot to answer your question! I started out on metformin, then got switched to gliclazide after a few weeks. But I'd been so ill on metformin I'd desperately started reading books on how to tackle T2. Three months after diagnosis I could stop the gliclazide, going low carb/high fat. Oh, and I use CBD every now and again. Great stuff for rheumatism and insomnia too! Been in the non-diabetic range 2 years now. And I'd like to keep it that way.

Happy holidays to you too! Hope 2019 will be a great year for you.
Jo


Thank you Jo!

Yes i have found better sleep also with the oil. Great to see its possible to get off meds, Metformin just made me ill.
 
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JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,939
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you Jo!

Yes i have found better sleep also with the oil. Great to see its possible to get off meds, Metformin just made me ill.

Well, I went Low Carb/High Fat at first, but when my weightloss stalled after a year of that, I went for Keto, also to improve my nom-alcoholic fatty liver disease. (Less than 20 grams of carbs a day; when you do that you go into ketosis, meaning you burn fat rather than carbs.). On LCHF I was in the non-diabetic range, but that got even better on keto. Probably 100 people have mentioned dietdoctor.com to you already, but it really is a good place to start. As are Dr. Jason Fung's books. So yeah, it's possible to get off of meds,for quite a few of us. Some can't, depending on how knackered their pancreas is, or whether they're willing to go as low in carbs as their body would prefer etc. My best friend always says he can't live without his rice and potatoes... Priorities, eh! ;)
 

Roulis

Well-Known Member
Messages
81
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Welcome budd! I was diagnosed end of October 2018. Caught mine fairly early, HBA1c at 50 at diagnosis. 5 weeks later went back to the quack for another test and got it down to 40. At present ,2 months after diagnosis, and assuming my meter (freestyle Lite) is accurate my weekly readings averages at 36. The quack has asked me not to go back for another test until May 2019. I can say with certainty that without the Good People in these forums I would have never been in the position I am now. In fact, if I was to follow the advise I was given by the quack, I would be going around in circles and more than likely down the meds way in the future.. You are in the best place here to get all the ammo/info/advise/support that you need to Nail it! All the very best wishes!! Theo
 
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