Moving on to insulin

[akindrat18]

I'm going to be meeting the diabetes nurse tomorrow at 3:30pm and I don't know what to ask the nurse on what regime I should be on as their are many that I've seen and confused on which regime is right for me. My blood sugars are still high, even when I do a gym & swim workout for 5 days a week. I have been unable to afford test strips for the past week and test now only twice a day, but I feel fine in myself and my mood has been positive.

This is all getting to me pretty quickly and my counsellor has not been helpful as my next appointment is not until February 2, 2015, because apparently she has no more sessions left until next year and its made me more anxious than ever before.

 

[Yorksman]

I can understand that you are feeling down. I have had good control for 3 years now but I ended up in hospital with a heart problem, eating hospital food, not being able to exercise and having been on an antibiotic drip 3 times per day and some heart drug which can raise BG levels, I now find myself back in diabetic territory.

Getting back to the diet which gave me control didn't work so I have had to go back to very basic control and eat food with hardly any carbs. Within a couple of days I am seeing 4.8s, 5.2s etc rather than the 10.5s, 9.9s which I was seeing before. Fish is great and, if in tins, can be bought cheaply enough. Also, frozen fish is readily available. You can make great fish chowders, fish curries and so on. Bratwurst from Aldi or Lidl is carb free, just don't cover them with ketchup. I chop them up and fry them with mushrooms and onions and have them with eggs or, for a change, add some cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli and make it into some sort of curry tasting sausage.

Try staying away from all carbs for a few days and see what your BG levels are doing, if they are down at acceptable levels, and they should drop, you can start adding some low GI carbs like pearl barley. It makes for a very nice rissotto and works well with mushrooms and onions.

Exercise helps with your insulin sensitivity but you still have to be careful with your carb intake. Exercise alone won't do it. It starts with being careful with what you eat. Read all the labels on the simplest of things like pickles. I noticed that my favourite pickled onions had sugar in them so I now stick to pickled gerkhins as a crunchy snack.

 

[zand]

I thought you were going to have tests to see what type you are @akindrat18 ?

 

[akindrat18]

I'm down to almost 19 stone compared to last year when I was at my biggest at 25 stone 5 pounds, by exercising and eating & cooking for myself until June.

The gym workout has been doing me great as I've lost 26 pounds since July according to my lifestyle programme advisor. I don't get it why carbs should be cut out, I've been watching Jamie Oliver's super food show and some of the meals that he does look great and are low cal. I don't want to go on to insulin, but I can't see any other way and neither can my parents as they told me last night that from November their will be a tight budget on what they can buy in and expect to live mainly on toast.

I thought you were going to have tests to see what type you are @akindrat18 ?

I am and this appointment will be for blood tests and to start on a mixed insulin regime with metformin and gliclazide. I will no longer be taking invokana as the doctor has suggested that this is causing the thrush I'm having.

I forgot to mention that I am volunteering at diabetes UK north staffs (DUKNS) for 2 weeks supporting people their that use the service and get them involved in social and educational activities.


Mod edit to remove quotes.

 

[zand]

I know nothing about insulin @akindrat18 so I'm declaring myself out of your threads again.

Good luck for the future.

Mod edit to remove a quote which was previously deleted.

 

[noblehead]

@akindrat18, I hope your meeting with your nurse goes well this afternoon and you find a suitable insulin regime to bring your bg levels under control, if you do start on insulin you should ensure that you have a adequate supply of test strips which people on insulin are entitled to. Good luck.

Note: Some posts have been edited or removed in this thread due to their content, the OP is in need of support not criticism and personal attacks.

 

[Yorksman]

I'm down to almost 19 stone compared to last year when I was at my biggest at 25 stone 5 pounds, by exercising and eating & cooking for myself until June.

The gym workout has been doing me great as I've lost 26 pounds since July according to my lifestyle programme advisor. I don't get it why carbs should be cut out,

Congratulations on the impressive weight loss. Substantial as it is however, it may not be enough yet. If you want to read the science, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609491/ but all you really need to know with regard to this aspect is one quote "The extent of weight loss required to reverse type 2 diabetes is much greater than conventionally advised." It also cites that the "The Belfast diet study provides an example of moderate weight loss leading to reasonably controlled, yet persistent diabetes." and that "fasting blood glucose levels from 10.4 to 7.0 mmol/L but that this abnormal level presaged the all-too-familiar deterioration of control".

The problem is that you have to lose the fatty deposits that have built up in the liver and pancreas and there is no easy way of doing that. Losing fat from around the tummy does not necessarily mean that you lose it in the liver and pancreas.

You don't have to give up on carbs totally but you have to be careful with them. There are many biochemical stages between eating food and storing the excess as fat in your body and your liver and pancreas contain several of these. Your body needs glucose and if you cut out carbs, your body will produce its own by using these stores in a process called gluconeogenesis, literally the creation of new glucose.

Cutting out all carbs is not a permanent solution. I find that it gets unpleasant after a week or so but, for a few days, just to see how your BG levels go down, it is worth it. Then you can start to reintroduce carbs and, in my opinion, its best to start with low GI carbs, see how you get on and then work upto medium GI carbs.

You will no doubt have heard of the Newcastle Diet and the Newcastle team are still continuing work on this. Their most recent publication, 'Restoring normoglycaemia by use of a very low calorie diet in long and short-duration Type 2 diabetes.' concludes: 'In people with Type 2 diabetes of > 8 years' duration, a therapeutic trial of a very-low-calorie diet may be undertaken with a 50% chance of achieving non-diabetic fasting glucose levels off all antidiabetic therapies.'

The earlier studies were just for 4 years so 50% chance for those who have had it for over eight years should be a major confidence boost. The key is losing the fats that have built up in the organs. It is worth experimenting and seeing what carbs you can live with and what carbs will push your BG levels up.

 

[alive]

You don't have to give up on carbs totally but you have to be careful with them. There are many biochemical stages between eating food and storing the excess as fat in your body and your liver and pancreas contain several of these. Your body needs glucose and if you cut out carbs, your body will produce its own by using these stores in a process called gluconeogenesis, literally the creation of new glucose.

Cutting out all carbs is not a permanent solution. I find that it gets unpleasant after a week or so but, for a few days, just to see how your BG levels go down, it is worth it. Then you can start to reintroduce carbs and, in my opinion, its best to start with low GI carbs, see how you get on and then work upto medium GI carbs.

My sight suddenly blurred complete with other symptoms drove me to a doctor who (after blood tests) told me I had Type 2 diabetes. He gave me a very low carb diet sheet of a max of 1500 calories per day. My glucose level was 315 mg/dL (17.48 mmol/L) with high Colesterol and Triglicerides. Not good news. He also told me to watch the lecture by Prof Roy Taylor. I urge anyone to watch this lecture as it opened my eyes. https://campus.recap.ncl.ac.uk/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=c3bef819-e5f4-4a55-876f-0a23436988ed

16 weeks later after a new set of blood tests glucose 75 mg/dL (4.16 mmol/L) with Colesterol and Triglcerides in the middle of the acceptable range. My weight loss is 10 kg (22 pounds) and is still slowly dropping. If you really want to help yourself you must be prepared to make a life style change in regards to your diet. Is it easy, no. But the answer generally is in your own hands.

I place the reason for my T2 firmly as my own fault due to gluttony and inactivity after I retired. I am now 69 and have lived in Spain since I retired but have always had a very sweet tooth. If I can do it at my age, then anyone can do it. I have found that changing your diet is good to have a good variety of tasty food (herbs and spicies help) so that you do not get bored. My next job is to stablise my weight at this level and insure that it stays that way.

 

[Yorksman]

I have found that changing your diet is good to have a good variety of tasty food (herbs and spicies help) so that you do not get bored. My next job is to stablise my weight at this level and insure that it stays that way.

It is easier to buy the right foods and prepare healthy meals when you have time. I could only do so because I was semi retired and worked from home. Herbs and spices are a godsend and you can make prawns and tomatoes into a chinese, east asian, indian or mediterranean meal just by a couple of small changes.

Unfortunately, many people have to take the kids to pre school nursery, drive in heavy traffic to their place of work, grab a snatched lunch which they eat by their desk, drive back though traffic to pick up their kids from after school nursery and then arrive home at 6.30 or later tired with hungry kids. It is no surprise that they don't want to start preparing a meal which will take an hour or so and so they simply get a ready meal out of the freezer and stick it in the microwave.

 

[Administrator]

I'm down to almost 19 stone compared to last year when I was at my biggest at 25 stone 5 pounds, by exercising and eating & cooking for myself until June.

The gym workout has been doing me great as I've lost 26 pounds since July according to my lifestyle programme advisor. I don't get it why carbs should be cut out, I've been watching Jamie Oliver's super food show and some of the meals that he does look great and are low cal. I don't want to go on to insulin, but I can't see any other way and neither can my parents as they told me last night that from November their will be a tight budget on what they can buy in and expect to live mainly on toast.

I am and this appointment will be for blood tests and to start on a mixed insulin regime with metformin and gliclazide. I will no longer be taking invokana as the doctor has suggested that this is causing the thrush I'm having.

I forgot to mention that I am volunteering at diabetes UK north staffs (DUKNS) for 2 weeks supporting people their that use the service and get them involved in social and educational activities.

That's an epic weight loss - good work! What gym workout are you doing? It would be great to share that if you could.

 

[Daphne917]

@akindrat18 well done on your weight loss so far. As a type 2 diet only I know nothing about insulin etc however good luck with your appointment and here's hoping that they will finally get you on the correct medication.

 

[akindrat18]

That's an epic weight loss - good work! What gym workout are you doing? It would be great to share that if you could.

My workout at the gym includes: 10 minutes warm up on upright bike, 5 minutes on arm bike, 4000-5000 metres on the rowing machine (I love to row!), followed by a cool down with 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. Plus I do 3 sets of 15 reps of chest presses at 15kg and same again for lateral pulls, but at 30 kg. I also enter the main pool and swim for 45 minutes doing breaststroke up to the 1.5 metre end as I don't know how to properly swim yet. If I have chance too, I will use the health spa and alternate between jacuzzi, sauna and cold plunge pool.

@akindrat18, I hope your meeting with your nurse goes well this afternoon and you find a suitable insulin regime to bring your bg levels under control, if you do start on insulin you should ensure that you have a adequate supply of test strips which people on insulin are entitled to. Good luck.

Note: Some posts have been edited or removed in this thread due to their content, the OP is in need of support not criticism and personal attacks.

My meeting went surprisingly well, as instead of a mixed insulin regime, I am on basal/bolus regime taking 12 units of levemir at 10pm for the night and 8 units of novorapid before each meal. I've also been tested for ketones as my bs levels were Hi and mu ketones level were 0.1. I'm being taken off the invokana for insulin and been offered a blood ketone testing kit with some strips.

 

[tim2000s]

One would hope they are also giving you normal blood glucose test strips now you are using insulin.

 

[Jaylee]

My meeting went surprisingly well, as instead of a mixed insulin regime, I am on basal/bolus regime taking 12 units of levemir at 10pm for the night and 8 units of novorapid before each meal. I've also been tested for ketones as my bs levels were Hi and mu ketones level were 0.1. I'm being taken off the invokana for insulin and been offered a blood ketone testing kit with some strips.

If you are a driver?
Don't forget to notify DVLC & insurance of your insulin dependency!

 

[Administrator]

4000-5000 metres on the rowing machine (I love to row!)

Nice! How long does that take? Is it on one of the water-filled rowing machines or the air one?

cold plunge pool

I went in one once AND IT WAS SO COLD I never went back - some people love it, I think I prefer the sauna!

 

[Jaylee]

I will use the health spa and alternate between jacuzzi, sauna and cold plunge pool.
.

Keep a close eye on the blood sugar levels.
Insulin sensitivity can change drastically with extreme temperature changes... It's been known (well documented.) for insulin dependant BS to drop sharp with these activities..!!

Have fun. But be safe!