Keeping blood sugars UP?

[silverlaydee]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in May this year. I am managing my diabetes through diet and so far I have lost 7stones.
I was diagnosed with cellulitis in my leg on Tuesday and put on Augmentin 625mg three times a day and since then I have been struggling to keep my blood sugars above 3. I don't know what to eat to help keep my sugar levels up and I don't want to eat things that will make me put on weight so any ideas would be very welcome.

 

[lucylocket61]

what are you eating at the moment?

 

[silverlaydee]

Breakfast is branflakes or porridge.
Lunch usually something like a ham & salad sandwich (made with 2 slices of granary bread, no margarine or butter) a slim a soup and yoghurt
Dinner roast chicken breast, small portion of potatoes and mixed veg followed by another yoghurt or sugar free jelly.

 

[Fraddycat]

Well done so far with your weight loss!! That's incredible ... wow, 7 stones since May :clap: :clap: :clap:

You could try eating a bit more fruit, an apple or half a banana and see what effect that will have. But enjoy them you will probably find you have to give them up again when you come off the meds to keep you BGs down

 

[Mileana]

The advice from Fraddy is fine, but the best thing to do is to discuss with your doc that the dose of meds is bringing you down too low. He'll probably recommend lowering the dose. You BG needs to be on target, really, and every med dose is a guess until you see the reaction in the patient, so give him a ring and explain the situation so he has something to work with.

 

[lucylocket61]

an infection can make your blood sugars do all sort of weird things. I suggest telling your doctor.

well done on the weight loss, and sending hugs for the cellulitis. (well, not for the cellulitis, but I mean hugs for you)

 

[silverlaydee]

lucylocket61, Fraddycat, Mileana many thanks for your help and good wishes.
I'll definitely give the fruit a try and have a chat with my doctor.

 

[AMBrennan]

The advice from Fraddy is fine, but the best thing to do is to discuss with your doc that the dose of meds is bringing you down too low.

OP said that she's managing her diabetes with diet alone. Augmentin is a penicillin antibiotic to treat the infection. Obviously, you should not be experiencing hypos if you're managing diabetes with diet only, so I think you really need to talk to your GP about this - ideally, the human body should be able to maintain a safe BG levels regardless of diet.

 

[Patch]

penicillin antibiotic???

Think about this for a while... There are a LOT of people that believe that SOME people are mis-diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, when they are suffering from an unknown virus, or bacterial infection. Bacteria/infections/viruses can survive in the body potentially for a LIFETIME undetected.

Some viruses are known to cause high blood glucose (either by acting directly on the liver, or by affecting insulin sensitivity).

Your own body will adjust to this high BG, and increase insulin production. Weight gain ensues.

Now - you say you've lost 7 stone (fantastic work on that! :clap: ). I am completely speculating here - I expect I am very wrong - but MAYBE your pancreas is so used to dealing with the combination of the sugar from the food you eat, and the sugar that your own liver is producing (possibly because of a virus/bacteria acting on it...) that it is continuing to over produce insulin? Maybe your pancreas just doesn't know that you've lost so much weight? But, now that this mystery virus has cleared up (thanks maybe, to Augmentin 625mg three times a day) your pancreas is just doing to much work?

Interesting stuff.

 

[silverlaydee]

penicillin antibiotic???

Think about this for a while... There are a LOT of people that believe that SOME people are mis-diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, when they are suffering from an unknown virus, or bacterial infection. Bacteria/infections/viruses can survive in the body potentially for a LIFETIME undetected.

Some viruses are known to cause high blood glucose (either by acting directly on the liver, or by affecting insulin sensitivity).

Your own body will adjust to this high BG, and increase insulin production. Weight gain ensues.

Now - you say you've lost 7 stone (fantastic work on that! :clap: ). I am completely speculating here - I expect I am very wrong - but MAYBE your pancreas is so used to dealing with the combination of the sugar from the food you eat, and the sugar that your own liver is producing (possibly because of a virus/bacteria acting on it...) that it is continuing to over produce insulin? Maybe your pancreas just doesn't know that you've lost so much weight? But, now that this mystery virus has cleared up (thanks maybe, to Augmentin 625mg three times a day) your pancreas is just doing to much work?

Interesting stuff.

That is interesting Patch. It's another way of looking at things and that's never a bad thing.

My doctor diagnosed diabetes after a fasting blood test came back with a reading of 6.5. I then had the HbA1c test which also came back at 6.5 with the comment that I had excellent glycemic control. This test was done after 2 weeks of dieting but doesn't that test cover the previous 3 months? (I might be wrong there, it has been known before! lol) The fact is that it scared me a lot and made me change the way I eat, hence the weight loss and that can never be a bad thing. I just don't want to keep worrying about having a hypo if I don't have to...

 

[AMBrennan]

My doctor diagnosed diabetes after a fasting blood test came back with a reading of 6.5. I then had the HbA1c test which also came back at 6.5 with the comment that I had excellent glycemic control

Technically, you should have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. You need one (or two in the absence of classical symptoms) FBT > 7 mmol/l to diagnose diabetes.

 

[librarising]

My doctor diagnosed diabetes after a fasting blood test came back with a reading of 6.5. I then had the HbA1c test which also came back at 6.5 with the comment that I had excellent glycemic control

Technically, you should have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. You need one (or two in the absence of classical symptoms) FBT > 7 mmol/l to diagnose diabetes.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/Our ... diabetes_/
WHO Recommendation 2011 :

HbA1c can be used as a diagnostic test for diabetes providing that stringent quality assurance tests are in place and assays are standardised to criteria aligned to the international reference values, and there are no conditions present which preclude its accurate measurement.

An HbA1c of 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) is recommended as the cut point for diagnosing diabetes.

For old criteria :

previous WHO criteria:
Methods and criteria for diagnosing diabetes mellitus
1. Diabetes symptoms (ie polyuria, polydipsia and unexplained weight loss) plus

a random venous plasma glucose concentration > 11.1 mmol/l
or
a fasting plasma glucose concentration > 7.0 mmol/l (whole blood > 6.1mmol/l)
or
two hour plasma glucose concentration > 11.1 mmol/l two hours after 75g anhydrous glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
2. With no symptoms diagnosis should not be based on a single glucose determination but requires confirmatory plasma venous determination. At least one additional glucose test result on another day with a value in the diabetic range is essential, either fasting, from a random sample or from the two hour post glucose load. If the fasting or random values are not diagnostic the two hour value should be used

It reads to me that a single Hba1c of 6.5 can now be diagnostic ?

Geoff

 

[AMBrennan]

It reads to me that a single Hba1c of 6.5 can now be diagnostic ?

Yes. However, my point was that OP was diagnosed based on the fasting blood test; the HbA1c happened later.