Hi

[LovingLindsay1]

Hi, my name is Lindsay, I am a Type II diabetic and have been for several years. I have recently been put on insulin to supplement my other medications but I am finding my blood sugars are still very high is this normal, I’m only on day two of taking insulin? I am on long acting insulin and only need to inject eight units once a day at breakfast.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi, my name is Lindsay, I am a Type II diabetic and have been for several years. I have recently been put on insulin to supplement my other medications but I am finding my blood sugars are still very high is this normal, I’m only on day two of taking insulin? I am on long acting insulin and only need to inject eight units once a day at breakfast.

Hi Lindsay,

First off, let's check what you're eating. You mention you're on a lot of medication (it'd help people advise you better if you get a little more detailed on what you're on), but nothing on diet. Have you changed the way you eat at all? If you are low carbing, injecting and on a multitude of medication, it might be useful to check whether you're a misdiagnosed T1/LADA/Mody. If you're still eating a lot of carbs you might want to have a look at cutting some of those (careful though, you could hypo), but if you've been low carbing all this time and it's had no effect, and the meds are doing very little, request a C-Peptide and GAD test to check for other types of diabetes.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help a little. I'm not at home in insulin myself, well, our late cat was a T3c on Lantus, but that doesn't count. Other people'll be along soon who'll be able to advise you there. But again.... Give lots of details. What you eat and drink in a day, what meds your on, what insulin (as there's a bunch of different ones), you know.... Everything everyone else would consider boring is a treasure trove of info for the forum members here.

Good luck!
Jo

 

[LovingLindsay1]

I’m on hydrocortisone medication I’m on high blood pressure medication I’m on statins for cholesterol and I also take a tablet to help me with depression and I also take another tablet called desmopressin which is to stop me going to the toilet a lot and losing body fluids I’m on so many I can’t remember all the names. For lunch today I had chilli with brown rice, which was made with Quorn mints, and a dish of rice pudding with a bit of jam. And for breakfast I had a Weetabix with some dried pineapple in it as well. And we use Bob milk which is supposed to be skimmed milk that taste like semiskimmed.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I’m on hydrocortisone medication I’m on high blood pressure medication I’m on statins for cholesterol and I also take a tablet to help me with depression and I also take another tablet called desmopressin which is to stop me going to the toilet a lot and losing body fluids I’m on so many I can’t remember all the names. For lunch today I had chilli with brown rice, which was made with Quorn mints, and a dish of rice pudding with a bit of jam. And for breakfast I had a Weetabix with some dried pineapple in it as well. And we use Bob milk which is supposed to be skimmed milk that taste like semiskimmed.

Okay, so... The medication you're on, the hydrocortisone, the statins... Those can raise blood sugars. (Well, statins might, cortisone will.). So since you really do need the cortisone, you need to find other places where you can improve. And oh my, your diet.... You might as well be eating pounds of sugar with a spoon. That's good news though, means there's lots of room for improvement! The rice, weetabix, pinapple, and skimmed milk for instance are all carb heavy. And practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. First steps might be cutting all cereals, bread, rice, corn, pasta and potatoes. Fruits are very sugary, especially the dried kinds, but you'd be doing significantly better if you used a full fat greek yoghurt with berries. (Berries are basically the only "ok" fruit for a T2). And yes, full fat, because fats don't raise blood sugars at all. Usually when something's low fat or fat free they put carbs in to compensate for the loss of flavour. We don't get fat by eating fats... We get big because the glucose gets stored in fat cells. Basically, get some eggs with bacon into you and be amazed at your blood sugar levels. (be sure not to tank out with a hypo though, eh).

My husbands waiting for me to go grocery shopping so I'll have to leave it at this, but.... There's room for improvement. Things can be better than they are right now.
Jo

 

[LovingLindsay1]

Okay, so... The medication you're on, the hydrocortisone, the statins... Those can raise blood sugars. (Well, statins might, cortisone will.). So since you really do need the cortisone, you need to find other places where you can improve. And oh my, your diet.... You might as well be eating pounds of sugar with a spoon. That's good news though, means there's lots of room for improvement! The rice, weetabix, pinapple, and skimmed milk for instance are all carb heavy. And practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. First steps might be cutting all cereals, bread, rice, corn, pasta and potatoes. Fruits are very sugary, especially the dried kinds, but you'd be doing significantly better if you used a full fat greek yoghurt with berries. (Berries are basically the only "ok" fruit for a T2). And yes, full fat, because fats don't raise blood sugars at all. Usually when something's low fat or fat free they put carbs in to compensate for the loss of flavour. We don't get fat by eating fats... We get big because the glucose gets stored in fat cells. Basically, get some eggs with bacon into you and be amazed at your blood sugar levels. (be sure not to tank out with a hypo though, eh).

My husbands waiting for me to go grocery shopping so I'll have to leave it at this, but.... There's room for improvement. Things can be better than they are right now.
Jo

So what types of things could I have for breakfast? It’s very difficult because I am totally blind as well as being typed to so my family have to do a lot of cooking and preparing of meals for me.

 

[Lowcarb 2]

Hi, my name is Lindsay, I am a Type II diabetic and have been for several years. I have recently been put on insulin to supplement my other medications but I am finding my blood sugars are still very high is this normal, I’m only on day two of taking insulin? I am on long acting insulin and only need to inject eight units once a day at breakfast.

Hi I too started off like this 6 units then 8 and now 10 and recently added a fast reacting insulin too
i been told that my pancreas is still working but struggling to provide my body with sufficient amount of insulin, this has all happened since I was diagnosed 4yrs ago and I am still coming to terms with the the rapid decline, please be assured that tweaks here and there are necessary and eventually a c - peptic test which test to see how much your pancreas is working may be necessary it's all a long term thing it's something you have to learn to adjust to and I can assure you I am still afjysting

 

[JoKalsbeek]

So what types of things could I have for breakfast? It’s very difficult because I am totally blind as well as being typed to so my family have to do a lot of cooking and preparing of meals for me.

Ah, yes, that would complicate things. Well, for breakfast you could have full fat greek yoghurt with berries and maybe some nuts or coconut shavings. There's a thing called keto egg muffuns, where you basically toss eggs in a muffin tray with whatever you like (cubes of ham, bacon, sausage), and those can even be frozen and nuked at a later date. I usually go for some salmon or eggs in the morning, if I eat that is. (I often skip a meal but then my medication allows for that. I don't need to eat with what I take, and you might.). For lunch a salad, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, that sort of thing, but I realise that might be an issue to prepare beforehand. In the evening the same as usual, just no potatoes, rice, pasta etc... Just meats, fish, poultry and leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower... Just have more vegetables (preferably above ground ones), and more protein/fats. If you miss rice, cauliflower rice is a thing, and it's quite versatile. Until I recently went a bit more extreme with my diet due to other health issues, I always had the stuff in the freezer. Just chuck -or have some chuck- a few herbs in, some cheese and bacon to bulk it up.

The link I shared went to a piece called The Nutritional Thingy. You might want to share that with your relatives so they get the basics of low carb eating in a bit of a quick-start guide. Might help them too, as T2 is a genetic condition that can run in families.

Good luck,
Jo