Prescribed Metformin but wondering I can do this on diet alone

[Droyston]

Back home again. Stopped for a McDonalds on the way and got two bacon double cheeseburgers from the saver menu, without the buns. I didn't think one would be enough, but it probably would have been.

2 hours later, I've just tested 4.4.

I've been weighing up what the worst offenders are for carbs. Somewhat ironically, the alcohol free beer that I drink during the week (I still like a beer with my evening meal, even if I'm not drinking alcohol) has about twice the carbs of Carling. I don't think I'll be ordering any more of those. I'll have to get used to tonic water without the gin, instead.

If I may, you are trying to take the medium path. Fast food is the worst possible stuff to eat.

Are you sure that you have the will power to change ?

 

[Nicole T]

If I may, you are trying to take the medium path. Fast food is the worst possible stuff to eat.

Are you sure that you have the will power to change ?

In my situation right now, fast food with low carbs is better than 'quality' food with lots of them. And really, what's wrong with the medium path if it keeps my glucose level down to either pre-diabetic or non-diabetic levels? I'm not on a health kick right now, I just don't want diabetes complications to lead to amputations, blindness or death.

As someone who travels for work, I'm going to have to make compromises when I'm staying in hotels or need meals en route. A few people here have already mentioned ways I can make McDonalds and similar work for me. Getting a reading of 4.4 after doing so confirms that they're right. It just so happens that my starting low carb has coincided with such a work trip. Trust me, I already have plans for healthier eating when I'm at home and have the luxury of buying the ingredients I want and having a kitchen to prepare meals in.

 

[mymuk]

Hello from Glasgow!

As you're up here, note that whisky (like spirits in general) has zero carbs - so acquire a sipping habit. It also does fabulous things in your mouth with cheese. Better than red wine does, in my opinion.

 

[Byebyetoast]

New to this too, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but what about nuts when you are travelling? I find they starve off the hunger.

 

[Goonergal]

In my situation right now, fast food with low carbs is better than 'quality' food with lots of them. And really, what's wrong with the medium path if it keeps my glucose level down to either pre-diabetic or non-diabetic levels? I'm not on a health kick right now, I just don't want diabetes complications to lead to amputations, blindness or death.

As someone who travels for work, I'm going to have to make compromises when I'm staying in hotels or need meals en route. A few people here have already mentioned ways I can make McDonalds and similar work for me. Getting a reading of 4.4 after doing so confirms that they're right. It just so happens that my starting low carb has coincided with such a work trip. Trust me, I already have plans for healthier eating when I'm at home and have the luxury of buying the ingredients I want and having a kitchen to prepare meals in.

Totally agree. Finding a way that works for your lifestyle and that you can sustain is absolutely the way to go.

 

[Nicole T]

Hello from Glasgow!

As you're up here, note that whisky (like spirits in general) has zero carbs - so acquire a sipping habit. It also does fabulous things in your mouth with cheese. Better than red wine does, in my opinion.

I drove past Glasgow yesterday .

A lot of the diet mixers are zero carbs, too. The nutritional label on the back of Morrisons Diet Indian Tonic Water is zero for everything, apart from a tiny trace of salt. I've been buying a lot of 'no added sugar' fizzy drinks lately (at least in part to quench the diabetes thirst, pre-diagnosis) and reading the labels on those, they're a bit of a mixed bag, carbs wise.

Historically, I'm not good with wine. Possibly something psychological about leaving an open container partly full means it turns into a mission to finish the bottle. I used to be better when I did booze cruises over to France and brought back boxes. Maybe I'll get one last chance to do that before the customs barriers go up at the end if the year. The boxes are a royal rip-off in this country. Especially since they craftily downsized most of them to 3 bottles rather than 4, seemingly without lowering the prices.

I tend to share a bottle of wine with company. If I open one on my own, I'll drink the whole thing. Beer has always worked better for keeping my alcohol intake down, but clearly it isn't good from a diabetes perspective. Though I think the biggest change is going to be cutting out bread. I'd generally have 2 slices of toast in the morning and a sandwich at lunchtime. That's around 120g of carbs right there. And I dread to think of the number of times I've bought a whole French stick and consumed it within 24 hours (it goes stale pretty quickly, otherwise.)

As an aside, my weight's been stuck on around 15 stone 10 to 15 stone 12 since I started weighing myself again in March. I've just woken up to 15 stone 6. I think I've been at over 15 stone at least 95% of the time since my teens, and peaked at 18 stone 7 a few years ago. I've been this basic body shape since I was 5 years old. (The story is that my mum went into hospital and I went to live with my grandparents. She dropped off a thin kid and got a fat one back.)

Thanks to everyone who's been positive and supportive. Having pondered it for a while, I'm not sure the "You're only half trying. You should question your commitment" negativity really belongs here.

 

[bulkbiker]

I'll have to get used to tonic water without the gin, instead.

Gin is probably ok.. most spirits are if you feel they are necessary. Guess Vodka would be best carb wise.

 

[bulkbiker]

Fast food is the worst possible stuff to eat.

Burgers without the buns and fries should be fine. Bacon and cheese is ok too.

 

[JenniferM55]

You mentioned salt.... salt's GOOD when you go very low (keto), potassium and magnesium is apparently needed. Conversely buy the low salt, it has higher potassium. Adding it in water makes a refreshing drink.

Without the above you might get leg cramps. If I'm wrong (I'm new to this too) I'm sure I will be corrected

 

[Nicole T]

I just figured out how to download my meter. I think these figures speak for themselves

* Meter arrived from Amazon, just before first test below *
19-07-2020 13:26 Glucose 6.1 mmol/L (low figure due to exercise)
19-07-2020 15:38 Glucose 11.3 mmol/L
20-07-2020 06:58 Glucose 9.0 mmol/L
20-07-2020 10:19 Glucose 12.5 mmol/L
* Low carb diet begins here. Though still allowing myself the occasional pint of cider or couple of pints of lager *
21-07-2020 06:38 Glucose 6.3 mmol/L
21-07-2020 20:16 Glucose 4.8 mmol/L (I remembered this as a 4.1 for some reason. My bad.)
22-07-2020 06:45 Glucose 6.4 mmol/L
22-07-2020 18:32 Glucose 4.4 mmol/L
22-07-2020 22:38 Glucose 7.3 mmol/L
23-07-2020 07:51 Glucose 7.5 mmol/L
23-07-2020 11:53 Glucose 6.9 mmol/L

Obviously the lower the better (while staying above 4) but I love that I'm consistently staying below the 8.5 worry level. Both of the 10+ figures were 2 hours after eating 2 slices of bread, so that's definitely public enemy no.1.

I don't think I'll be filling that Metformin prescription after all. I wonder what my levels were when they were bad enough to be causing excess urination.

 

[JenniferM55]

I had just 3 metformin tablets and have now learnt my lesson..... I'll be good, I really promise I'll be good, no more carb spikes!

 

[Andydragon]

I just figured out how to download my meter. I think these figures speak for themselves

* Meter arrived from Amazon, just before first test below *
19-07-2020 13:26 Glucose 6.1 mmol/L (low figure due to exercise)
19-07-2020 15:38 Glucose 11.3 mmol/L
20-07-2020 06:58 Glucose 9.0 mmol/L
20-07-2020 10:19 Glucose 12.5 mmol/L
* Low carb diet begins here. Though still allowing myself the occasional pint of cider or couple of pints of lager *
21-07-2020 06:38 Glucose 6.3 mmol/L
21-07-2020 20:16 Glucose 4.8 mmol/L (I remembered this as a 4.1 for some reason. My bad.)
22-07-2020 06:45 Glucose 6.4 mmol/L
22-07-2020 18:32 Glucose 4.4 mmol/L
22-07-2020 22:38 Glucose 7.3 mmol/L
23-07-2020 07:51 Glucose 7.5 mmol/L
23-07-2020 11:53 Glucose 6.9 mmol/L

Obviously the lower the better (while staying above 4) but I love that I'm consistently staying below the 8.5 worry level. Both of the 10+ figures were 2 hours after eating 2 slices of bread, so that's definitely public enemy no.1.

I don't think I'll be filling that Metformin prescription after all. I wonder what my levels were when they were bad enough to be causing excess urination.

Why have you set an 8.5 worry level, that seems quite high to me

 

[Nicole T]

Why have you set an 8.5 worry level, that seems quite high to me

Various sources, including this one: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
To be fair, 7.0 is the upper target pre-food, and I'm a little over that some mornings. Well below it in the evenings, though, and staying below 8.5 after food. If I keep on losing weight, these figures should only improve. A post earlier in this thread also says that it's over 8.5 that starts doing damage.

 

[Krystyna23040]

Various sources, including this one: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
To be fair, 7.0 is the upper target pre-food, and I'm a little over that some mornings. Well below it in the evenings, though, and staying below 8.5 after food. If I keep on losing weight, these figures should only improve. A post earlier in this thread also says that it's over 8.5 that starts doing damage.

As you are doing low carb and losing weight your numbers will definitely improve. You might find this happens quite quickly.
I found that the early morning numbers took the longest to improve because of dawn phenomenon.

 

[ziggy_w]

Various sources, including this one: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
To be fair, 7.0 is the upper target pre-food, and I'm a little over that some mornings. Well below it in the evenings, though, and staying below 8.5 after food. If I keep on losing weight, these figures should only improve. A post earlier in this thread also says that it's over 8.5 that starts doing damage.

You are really doing well. Be proud of your achievements.

 

[Brunneria]

Various sources, including this one: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
To be fair, 7.0 is the upper target pre-food, and I'm a little over that some mornings. Well below it in the evenings, though, and staying below 8.5 after food. If I keep on losing weight, these figures should only improve. A post earlier in this thread also says that it's over 8.5 that starts doing damage.

i agree with @ZiggyM

you've got this.
Things change and evolve, every day is a new lesson, and then gradually over time, things settle and then (goodness, I hate this phrase) you will reach a new normal.

 

[davd]

Hi Nicole T
I too am new to type 2 , just 11 weeks since been diagnosed with n HbA1c of 90 and my first few finger prick tests of 13mmol/l .
But after ignoring my diabetes nurse who followed NHS diet guidelines, and taking advice from the members of this forum , in 2 months I have lost 2 stones and my average BG finger tests are 5.5 to 6.5 and I am eating about 70gm of carbs a day more than when I first started to low Carb which was about 30 grams a day.
But I have just been reading about ex deputy labour leader Tom Watson who has lost 8 stone over 12 months by low carbing he went Keto 20gms a day so I might cut them a bit more.He has put his diabetes into remission.
I too drink too much so I stick to gin and slimline tonic triple measures (a bit worried if it will react with metformin) , if I fancy a beer I have a can of Coors light only about 5 carbs a can .

 

[Nicole T]

Just done my third test of the day (when I woke up, 2 hours after lunch and just under 2 hours after evening meal.) I thought I'd spike tonight because the Iceland chicken breast I've had in the freezer since Christmas turned out to be full of stuffing. I could have left the stuffing, but I thought I'd eat it to see what effect it had. I got my lowest reading of the day at 5.4, with the other two both being 5.8.

I'm not sure beer is that evil, carbs-wise, to be honest. I've worked out that a can of Carling is around 10.5g of carbs, which might be a big deal if you have 6 or 8 of them, but probably isn't so much if you have 2 or 3. It'd be over for keto, but if 'low carb' is less than 100, then I don't think it's an especially big deal. I have to remember that at one point, I was having 4 slices of white toast of a morning and then another 4 slices as a couple of sandwiches at lunchtime.

I am finding that I need fewer drinks to get nicely relaxed, and those 3 cans are enough to last me a couple of hours and have me ready for bed. I think the thirst of diabetes combined with the 'soaking up' effect of the carbs I was eating was a big part of the problem. Indeed, one of my worst habits was probably chasing some sort of balance between 'a bit too drunk - have some carbs' and 'not quite drunk enough - have some alcohol.'

 

[Em16]

Just done my third test of the day (when I woke up, 2 hours after lunch and just under 2 hours after evening meal.) I thought I'd spike tonight because the Iceland chicken breast I've had in the freezer since Christmas turned out to be full of stuffing. I could have left the stuffing, but I thought I'd eat it to see what effect it had. I got my lowest reading of the day at 5.4, with the other two both being 5.8.

I'm not sure beer is that evil, carbs-wise, to be honest. I've worked out that a can of Carling is around 10.5g of carbs, which might be a big deal if you have 6 or 8 of them, but probably isn't so much if you have 2 or 3. It'd be over for keto, but if 'low carb' is less than 100, then I don't think it's an especially big deal. I have to remember that at one point, I was having 4 slices of white toast of a morning and then another 4 slices as a couple of sandwiches at lunchtime.

I am finding that I need fewer drinks to get nicely relaxed, and those 3 cans are enough to last me a couple of hours and have me ready for bed. I think the thirst of diabetes combined with the 'soaking up' effect of the carbs I was eating was a big part of the problem. Indeed, one of my worst habits was probably chasing some sort of balance between 'a bit too drunk - have some carbs' and 'not quite drunk enough - have some alcohol.'

Hi, there are some low carb beers about. I was liking Michelob Ultra ....but think they've changed the recipe a bit and haven't like the last lot quite as much. Will have a nice time making my way through trying others now..... Good Luck - it's hard to do everything at once.

 

[Daphne917]

Just done my third test of the day (when I woke up, 2 hours after lunch and just under 2 hours after evening meal.) I thought I'd spike tonight because the Iceland chicken breast I've had in the freezer since Christmas turned out to be full of stuffing. I could have left the stuffing, but I thought I'd eat it to see what effect it had. I got my lowest reading of the day at 5.4, with the other two both being 5.8.

I'm not sure beer is that evil, carbs-wise, to be honest. I've worked out that a can of Carling is around 10.5g of carbs, which might be a big deal if you have 6 or 8 of them, but probably isn't so much if you have 2 or 3. It'd be over for keto, but if 'low carb' is less than 100, then I don't think it's an especially big deal. I have to remember that at one point, I was having 4 slices of white toast of a morning and then another 4 slices as a couple of sandwiches '

@Nicole T you’ve made a good start and will soon learn what is best for you. Low carb is classed as 130 or below but each person finds their own level. I am lucky in that I have managed to maintain a non diabetic Hba1c on an average of 130 carbs per day but others need to go much lower.