Hi all - I have read a lot of the posts on here - but I am having a problem getting my sugars down. I have always eaton a healthy diet, with very few carbs and very little 'sweet stuff', I have a normal BMI, and I am stuffing to know what to do next. I am desperate to put off medication forms long as I can, as I know this is the start of the slippery slope, and I am also keen to control sugars better so that I put off long term complications. A lot of advice seems to be about weight loss and I feel like I am the only person in this position at the beginning of my journey!
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40's, newly diagnosed and normal BMI.
- Thread starter Koala74
- Start Date
Ok..to start with 'normal BMI' , it does sound great but it doesn't tell the whole story. That reading can calculate 'normal' but you could have some hidden fat stored in your liver and pancreas that would have great effect for your body's ability to deal with whole big system hormonal messages> as well as blood sugar levels...and that is often where type 2 diabetes comes to play..it is not dependant of our weight/size.
As for 'healthy diet'...well there is many opinions of that too....and depending who's recommedations you are following...it might be that, what you consider being 'healthy, it
turns out not being suitable for your body...hence blood sugar rise.
Can you give us a example of what you would typically eat during day..breakkie,lunch, dinner etc.?
Getting you from out prediabetes zone could be down to very simple tweaks in your diet, something that you might not be aware about as there is so many conflicting diet advise out there...particularly from our health professionals!!
In mean while I alert @daisy1 for some intro info for newbies..
Oh...and welcome!..I hope we are able to provide you plenty of support and info for your journey ahead..
As for 'healthy diet'...well there is many opinions of that too....and depending who's recommedations you are following...it might be that, what you consider being 'healthy, it
turns out not being suitable for your body...hence blood sugar rise.
Can you give us a example of what you would typically eat during day..breakkie,lunch, dinner etc.?
Getting you from out prediabetes zone could be down to very simple tweaks in your diet, something that you might not be aware about as there is so many conflicting diet advise out there...particularly from our health professionals!!
In mean while I alert @daisy1 for some intro info for newbies..
Oh...and welcome!..I hope we are able to provide you plenty of support and info for your journey ahead..
Last edited by a moderator:
daisy1
Legend
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- 26,457
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
@Koala74
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this useful. Following the advice in here should help you to get your levels down. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this useful. Following the advice in here should help you to get your levels down. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Daibell
Master
Hi and welcome. If you are already low-carbing and have a normal BMI but not able to control your blood sugar, it's always possible that you are actually Late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2; particularly as you are only in your 40s. You almost certainly do need to start medication. It isn't a slippery slope. You might well be started on Metformin as most diabetics are (I was), but if you are a LADA Gliclazide or similar would be of more help. It's important that you get hold of a glucose meter and keep an eye on your blood sugar just in case it starts rising rapidly. BTW you are not alone in being a slim diabetic; I've never been overweight in my life and so have others who are often in the LADA category. If the pancreas is underperforming then the body starts burning fat as it can't burn many carbs and the end result is weight loss. Do ensure you have enough proteins and fats to balance the low-carbs.
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- I reversed my Type 2
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- Diet only
Koala - It would be really useful to know a little more about you, before I would consider making and meaningful comments.
Firstly, I note that your profile suggests you have pre-diabetes and I'll assume that to be correct,
When your pre-diabetes was diagnosed, what was the HbA1c score on which the diagnosis was based? That way we will know how close you are actually running to the threshold. Historical data suggests not everyone who is diagnosed pre-diabetic becomes diabetic, even if they do nothing to modify their diet, exercise or weight. Some people just seem to run in that area.
Secondly, you have a normal BMI, which is great, but again, it would be interesting to know where you are on that scale. The Normal range on the calculators I have looked at is quite a range from very slim to a few extra pounds, so, again, it would be helpful to know about that.
And finally, you state you are currently eating very few carbs, and very little sweet stuff. What does that actually mean? If you could give us a brief sketch of your daily menu (roughly), that would help us understand again where you are.
And finally, when you say you can't get your sugars down; what does that actually mean? Are you testing at home, or have you had more than one surgery test that indicated no real change?
I know I ask a lot of questions, but words like "normal, and phrases like "very few" can mean very different things to different people.
hartj2
Newbie
- Messages
- 3
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
Hello, I am also new on here.I am 30 bmi of 25.1 and was diagnosed with type 2 1st Feb. My blood results were 57 , ate reasonably healthy, like walking and have 2 kids to run after...had some more results today and I have got my bloods down to 48 by cutting out most choc and cut down a bit on carbs and 2 metformin a day..I'm really pleased as it depresses me most days that I can't stuff my face with chocolate.
I , like you, get told it's a fat persons disease but just cos it's not shown on the outsides we must be a secret fatty inside which is why our insulin isn't working. .. x
I , like you, get told it's a fat persons disease but just cos it's not shown on the outsides we must be a secret fatty inside which is why our insulin isn't working. .. x
