Help please - going wrong somewhere!

[MoggiMoo]

Hi all, my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 just two weeks ago (his first fasting blood test was 12.4) and he was given a testing kit and told to test 4 times a day. He was also given Gliclazide (1 tab twice a day) and some diet info.

He's reduced his sugar intake to about as low as possible without actually giving up eating but his levels are still really high - varying between around 9 in the morning to anything up to around 16 before bed. The nurse doubled his Gliclazide dosage last week and told him he'll almost certainly be on insulin soon (which sent him into a total panic, worrying about driving/possibility of losing his job).

At no point do we remember her saying anything about carbs, but from reading a few posts on here it seems he should be more worried about that than sugar?

Any advice re how much carbs/diet or anything else much appreciated as he's about ready to give up trying :-(


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[whompa73]

I am 3 weeks in and when diagnosed my bg's where where 14.5 up to and over 24.9 . I immediately went low carb usually under 10 grams and 1 day out of 3 upto 15 grams. My bg's now are between 6 & 9 ish usually between 6.8and 8.3. From what I have experienced its not so much the sugars (which I dont eat anymore) which are easy to cut out but its the carbs that are the real hidden danger and send my bg through the roof pls consider low carbing its changed my life . I'm not going fully into my storie here as it would be very long but I did wright it in a thread this morning if you what to look at it , it may answer some of your questions or inspire you to some good questions of your own .
Good luck.
James

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[Andy12345]

he's about ready to give up trying :-(

huh?

this is long term honey, theres an awful lot to learn, yes carbs basically turn to sugar once eaten, the down side to this is carbs are in a lot of stuff it takes a while but for now try to cut out bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, or at least try to eat wholegrain breads new potatoes brown rice and brown pasta and sugar of course, but this is just the start, have a look at "low GI" and portion sizes are also important, try to avoid being either too hungry or too full, especially at first blood testing can be erratic, but giving up isn't an option im afraid, things will be different but this isn't the end this is just a new chapter with your help you both can live long happy lives, perhaps longer and happier than before diabetes, please go ahead and read some posts here and try to digest it in your own time its all a bit overwhelming at first but all will become clearer and eventually easier, don't panic even if insulin is the way for him that isn't as bad as you may think, lots of folks take insulin and live normally (with some obvious changes)

hes lucky to have you and together you will get through this I promise

we have all been where you guys are at and are here to help if we can so please ask any questions you have

best of luck

Andy

 

[Fetchmeacoffee]

Hi Moggimoo , welcome to the forum.

I've been a type 1 for nearly 7 years now , and wish I'd known about carbs way before I was aware of them. Carbs are naughty and turn to sugar when they break down in the system. It might sound a little odd , but things like Pasta & Rice that are high in carbs can be just as dangerous , if not more than a small can on cola. Here's the weird bit , your husband should never consider giving up carbs , as he needs it in a balanced diet. When shopping you may be like me and notice the 1.1 or 2.3 % of your daily intake for sugars , I've learned to just ignore that now ,and measure things with per portion in grams of carbs.

Bread/Potatoes/Pasta/Pizza base rice etc are high , but things like chicken , fish , cheese are low in carbs , so it's finding a fine balance with keeping with some carbs , but trying low carbs too.

Have a look about for books with low carb foods , or even just use google , and see how it works out.

Good luck to you both

 

[whompa73]

Andy is a low carb and jelly guru hes well worth listening to.

Oo jelly that reminds me onrange and ironbrew is this evenings delight woooooooo yeaaaaaaaaaaaH JELLY

 

[carraway]

Hi

Does he have any weight to lose? Can he exercise? Both would help .

If you are interested in lower carbohydrate choices I can thoroughly recommend the book
'Carbs And Cals' by Chris Cheyette and Yello Balolia. It has photographs of portion sizes, which I thought sounded a bit like a novelty but is actually eye-opening. It then also gives, calories, carbohydrate, protein, fat, saturated fat and fibre in grams per portion.

.

 

[MoggiMoo]

Thanks guys, I think a big part of the problem is he's just turned 60 and until the last couple of years has never been sick in his life. He's been feeling 'off' for quite a long time, tired, thirsty, hungry, peeing a lot and suffering memory problems (his dad was Type2) but its taken me a long time to persuade him to go to the doctor (his first visit in six years!).

He's feeling so much better since cutting out the biscuits and sugar in his tea and taking the Gliclazide but he's getting so frustrated with his inability to bring down his levels already that I worry he's not even going to try sticking to a proper diet.

Guess I've got a LOT of research ahead of me...


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[MoggiMoo]

Hi Carraway, I'll look out for that book thanks. He's never been overweight, actually has lost a few stone in the last two years and is now around 12 st 10lb. Doesn't exercise as such but he does a fair amount of walking.

Funny thing is that apart from his love of biscuits he's never been much for sweet/sugary foods but now that he can't have them it seems to be all he wants!

Has anyone tried the Atkins diet snack bars? Came across them a few days ago and he loves the choc crisp ones - I'm confused by the labelling tho... 0.4g sugar, something like 9.5g carbs but it says 6.4g polyols so net carbs 2.1g! I'm lost lol


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[Daibell]

Hi. Yes, lowering the overall carbs down to, say, 150gm/day or less should help with the sugars. Is you husband overweight? If so I wonder why he wasn't prescribed Metformin as the first port of call drug; may be he is near normal weight and Glic can then help. You don't actually need any carbs at all in the diet (the Inuits manage quite well without) as the body uses Ketosis to burn fats without any carbs, but there is no problem in having sensibly controlled quantities. These should be low-GI where possible and not the starchy ones shown on the Eat-Well Plate. Using the meter will help guide you on what level works for your husband.

 

[kaya659]

I found a book by Jenny Ruhl,Blood Sugar 101,extremely helpful,not only did it explain type 2 diabetes it also explained how you could possibly control it with a low carb diet.

 

[scarlettohara]

Hi Moggimoo,

Your situation is almost the same as mine. My partner is 65 and recently got diagnosed Type 2. He has lost weight rapidly before that. He was put on Metformin 3 x daily. We was never given a meter, was never told I needed one until I read it on this forum. I've ordered one now from Amazon. Up until now he's kept great health, in fact the last time he went to the doctors was 1952. Like you I've been totally confused with the carb/sugar thing but with the help of people on this forum I feel alot better about our situation. He still feels down about what's happening to him. I've only realised in the last few days, thanks to the forum, that carbs plays a huge part in his diet. I'm slowly getting there. Good luck.

 

[spaceman]

first of all dont start worrying about your driving licence. im a type1 insulin dependant. and been given my driving licence back.cars only.

 

[MoggiMoo]

Hi Moggimoo,

Your situation is almost the same as mine. My partner is 65 and recently got diagnosed Type 2. He has lost weight rapidly before that. He was put on Metformin 3 x daily. We was never given a meter, was never told I needed one until I read it on this forum. I've ordered one now from Amazon. Up until now he's kept great health, in fact the last time he went to the doctors was 1952. Like you I've been totally confused with the carb/sugar thing but with the help of people on this forum I feel alot better about our situation. He still feels down about what's happening to him. I've only realised in the last few days, thanks to the forum, that carbs plays a huge part in his diet. I'm slowly getting there. Good luck.

Hi Scarlett,

I'm sure you've already found out, but this forum is amazing! I've found so much information and support in just a few days, it's really helped me to help him deal with things.

Hit a bit of a bad patch a few days ago when suddenly it was all my fault - apparently if I hadn't 'forced' him to go to the doctor he wouldn't know he was diabetic and somehow everything would be fine..

I've taken a couple of weeks off work to try to get him used to the new way of life but got everything crossed that he'll see the benefit of carrying on with it when I'm not standing over him with my metaphorical big stick!

Best of luck with things, let me know how you're getting on.

 

[steve23holmes]

Diet and exercise, I had been struggling with my blood sugar for a long time, trying lots of new foods to help me, but the weight just kept coming. I now exercise every day my eating habits have only changed slightly. Low carb diet and plenty of exercise, things will change, don't panic.

 

[carraway]

If you take a look at the book I mentioned a few days ago ( on Amazon you can see some sample pages by clicking Look Inside), perhaps the portion sizes and carbs will give him a bit of a nudge!

Cara

 

[MoggiMoo]

Hi Carraway, I've ordered the book (and the pocket guide!) from Amazon - hopefully it'll help keep him on the straight and narrow when I'm not there to slap him lol.

Our holiday to Vegas in a couple of weeks looks like being LOADS of fun.. He was really looking forward to a visit to the Cheesecake Factory! Think that's off the menu for now :-/


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[Andy12345]

there are some terrific low carb cheese cake recipes on the net I make it a lot, I know this is no good in vegas im just saying if you are a cheese cake fan there is no need to miss out on that

 

[Ria]

I recently spent 5 weeks in USA incl Las Vegas. Had hba1c test 2 weeks later. Was quite worried that holiday would have increased it,but I still managed to get it down from 51 to 42.
You will need to test to see what works. For me salads with dressing on the side so that I can choose how much to have works fine. I even had the occasional muffin or waffle for breakfast. Some restaurants do salad buffet instead of main meal. These often had lots of fruit as well so I had my pudding too.
I find that fruit and cream or fruit cream and merengue (Eton mess) do not affect me.
Many restaurants also offer sweet potato which for me is lots better than normal potatoes. Tap water is freely available in restaurants. I found that ,when ordering a soft drink they would give you a pint. To get smaller ones ask for kids size. It is also very normal to take doggy bag home. All our hotels/motels had a fridge and microwave so had remainder of dinner the next day.
Try to eat sensibly most of time, but it is quite alright to have the occasional sin especially when on holiday.
Have a great time.

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[charon]

I had the same issue when first diagnosed. Found that any bread sent the bg sky high. Two sandwiches sent me to 15.1 and a bit of a panic.
I spent a couple of weeks on a zero ish carb diet. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, meat/fish and greens (no potatoes) for dinner, salads for snack. And small meals - but I wanted to lose weight too.
I also had some exercise after every meal - just a walk would do but was very unfit.
That soon brought the bg down after a few days. Then testing before and a couple of hours after a meal I found there was very little variation in bg. Was usually under 5.0.
Probably not a diet you can stick to but a good start. I've relaxed a bit now but this is still my staple diet. Add a half a small baked potato occasionally.
Books and what other people do is all very well for ideas (but I think what I've suggested above should work for most as a start) but the important thing is to test to see what affect each food has on you. I don't think it's as easy as carbs get turned to sugar - just starting to eat affects the body and I suspect the taste and other things can affect the liver and pancreas so what is good for one might not be good for others.


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[justmeint]

I am T2 and diet controlled with low carb....
no rice
no potato
no pasta
no bread, cakes, biscuits made with ordinary grains

I eat lots of fats - the healthy ones like butter and coconut oil and all the fat on my fresh meats. I do NOT eat processed meats at all.
No breakfast cereals either.

I suggest reading this article regarding the Glycaemic Index Fraud http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/22168291.php
It really is not rocket science giving up carbs. I get all my body needs from leafy green vegetables', broccoli avocado, cabbage, the odd carrot, a small amount of other vegetables.... minimal fruit such as rhubarb and strawberries with fresh cream.

Breakfast should be substantial like two fried eggs (or an omelette) served with a bit of protein and some vegetable like asparagus.....

Lunch can be some cold meat like chick or turkey (not processed), cheese and maybe half of an apple with some nut butter

Dinner is your usual meat/fish (not battered) with three veggies.

You never need to go hungry with this lifestyle.

I find it pays to use a glucose meter after every meal (2 hrs) at first till you work out which foods send your sugars too high.....

Good Luck

Clare