A Bar Meal... Oh dear!

[anna-banana81]

Firstly, don't be too hard on yourself, you were only diagnosed two weeks ago!!

If you feel you're getting no support from your GP, find out what help is available in your area. When I was diagnosed type 1 two years ago I got appointments with a dietitian, the local consultant at the hospital, several meetings with the nurse in the first couple months..... the list goes on lol At the time it felt like overload but it was helpful! Call your GP and ask what help is available there, you shouldn't have been kicked out with just a prescription, that's not fair and certainly isn't helpful when most of us have no idea what a low GI diet is before our diagnosis.

You may also find that there is a local support group for diabetics, here everyone can be open about what problems they are facing and also to have a laugh and remember that although its serious, it doesn't have to take over your life once you have settled into your new diet. Low GI diet being the best one for you long term. Remember treats are ok now and then, it doesn't mean you never touch sweets again, they just need to be in moderation and preferably on an active day where you will burn off the extra glucose (and fat!). Remember that exercise is great for lowering the blood glucose level!

The pub meal you mentioned is full of everything which should be considered a treat to everyone not just a diabetic. Chips have no nutritional value, the pudding is full of sugar , the ice cream again is full of sugar and well the coke..... learn to love diet coke!! I find that Pepsi max actually tastes a lot sweeter than diet coke but is sugar free, so can be a good alternative. All those items mentioned are also high in fat so better as a treat anyway. That said, why shouldn't you have a treat now and then? If you follow a low GI diet and have treats occasionally, one choc bar or portion of chips a week won't hurt, and a nice pub meal once a month as a reward for sticking to the diet also won't hurt. Everyone has times when their glucose level spikes, it's the frequency which is dangerous. A one off spike now and then will be ok, it's when it's high consistently that damage is done. Also, remember that pure fruit juice is now a treat not a regular drink.

Don't try and cope alone, make the most of what is on offer at your Dr's and keep in touch on here. There are so many friendly forums where people are supportive and lovely. If you have a bad day where you just eat all the naughty things, start the diet again tomorrow, it's not the end of the world!!

 

[Fencer]

Some interesting replies here, many thanks.
As I stated, I'm having to learn so many things about diabetes in such a short time and getting it wrong, especially about 'carbs'.
I've had little or no help up to now from the Dn who just told me to cut out the sugar completely in my tea/coffee drinks and that fresh cream cakes,etc should be considered an occasional treat and then she handed me a prescription for Metformin. ...'See you in two months'...
I had already mentioned to her that I'm reluctant to take tablets on a long-term basis, yet I wasn't given any advice about the right,or wrong 'carbs' to eat.
I bought myself a meter just over a week ago, intending to test about twice per week, however,it appears from reading many posts on here that testing several times per day would be the 'ideal'.
Although I always have had a 'good appetite' my weight is well under 10 stones...
So I'm sure that I don't need to (or want to) lose any weight at all. This would be a concern for me if I reduce the size of my meals.
Prior to being diagnosed 3 weeks ago,the quantity of 'carbs' intake on an average week never affected my weight, although I can now see that my Bg will be affected and I must learn to 'low carb' (somehow) if I'm to control my type 2 (hopefully) without medication.

Regards, Malc.

Wow... compared to the service that I received, that sounds very shoddy. I was given a 2 to 3 hour appointment with two consultants and specialist nurse, I was given my metre and test strips, loads of information and then followed up with phone calls every day or two.

 

[jassi]

I'm afraid I can't get my head around this 'occasional treat' business.

I'm currently controlling my diabetes by diet and have had to cut out all potato, white rice and and white flour products in order to have reasonable blood glucose levels.
6 months in, I don't feel the need for treats at all, as I'm satisfied with the diet I follow. I know I can't eat chips and other goodies. I find that hankering after certain foods just makes it worse, so don't even think about them.
Perhaps if one is on medication, then one can afford to be a bit more lax, but thankfully I'm not at that stage yet.

 

[Unbeliever]

An interesting discussion in many ways. First of all i demonstrates the difference in attitudes by the medical profession to Type is and type 2's. I can quite understand why Type 1s are treated as they are on diagnosis. I was diagnosed 4 years ago and apart from being given a test meter and strips in a short dsession wih a bored and not very well informed nurse as I was treated as detailed above. Because I was and always had been slim and had followed he GI diet for years the only dietary advice i was iven was to eat starchy carbs with every meal. I foun
d this absoluely necessary in fact ,in order to tolerate the standard metformin I was given.
I was interested o see once again that those not on medication seem o have what appears to me at least a strange idea about medication. in that they assume that it means that you can give yourself more leeway with your diet. Metformin is principally given as the first medication but mainly for the cardiovscular protection it offers. If this is sufficient to keep bg levels down then so much the better but it doesn't have a massive effect on Bg.
I have only recently seen a dietician because my eye specialist asked he diabetic dept at the same hospital to see me. Although I have put on weight since diagnosis I am still not overweigh and
was asked if i would like to see a dietitian. She said my diet was fine and didn't see what else i could do but pointed out that the medicaions did play a part in weight gain.
I understand from friends on insulin that it is possible to give yourself a litle leeway with insulin but not in my experience wih other medications i have taken.
In fact it is often the caase that the medications seem to contro you and not vice versa. Most have to be taken at the same ime or at regular intervals. This is, I imagine, a little llike having ype 1 and having o calculate your food intake for your medication.
I can understand people wanting the occasional treat. Even if you know it is bad for your body it can help your mental sate. I
I congratulate all those who can be strong minded all the time . It is maybe easier when you are not on medication. You have a great and immediate incentive- to stay off it. When you are firs given medication you can also have a reat incenive- to come offf it as soon as possible. It is great that some people can achieve this but others , cannot and hrough no fault of their own.
When someone has been diagnosed for years and is on medication for life -type ! or ype 2 they will have discovered from experience that following all the rules does not always work.
They have a lifeime disease. If / just occasionally they do something which is inadvisable in the main hen I find it very understandable. Perhaps hey wanted o feel "normal" for once.. In cases like that people often realise that they were really not missing much and get back on the sraight and narrow again. particularly when they see heir bg result.
I have macular oedema as a result of my blood sugar coming dropping overnigh fro when I was first prescribed amaryl. These hings happen.
Never think of those on medicaion as being he lucky ones who can "pig out " on occcasion without too much damage. The drugs ,although necessary introduce another complicaing facor in many ways. That is why I would always opt for the slow release metformin for example . At he moment I am trying s januvia which I am assured only works when needed. As i am still on the maximum dose of glimepirides I am having hypos . If all his doesn't work for me i shall be on insulin plus medication. This is in spite of almost no-carbing and a great deal of daily exercise.
I was forunate in that I never had a sweet tooth. Nowadays i am someimes tempted to eat things
should not and which I never wanted before diagniosis, I don't do it but i can understand the uge.
It is just frustration wih the condition.
Noone wants to discourage hose newly diagnosed or managing to keep off medicaion but people should always keep in mind hat some are unfortunate and whatever hey do does not prevent progression of the disease or the onset of complications.

 

[bowell]

jassi
I'm afraid I can't get my head around this 'occasional treat' business.

Get behind me Satan :twisted:

Give it a year and the halo may slip :lol:

 

[noblehead]

Malc,

Please don't beat yourself up about making mistakes when first diagnosed, we have all been there at some point and even after many years of living with diabetes we are all still learning and will continue to do so for the rest of our days.

Nigel

 

[oweri02]

Hi there, and I whole-heartedly understand many people's lack of understanding of CARBS.

Some of this may help those on diet alone, some of this may help those with insulin, some of it may be more useful for T1s, but here goes.

I attended an InSight (also known as DAFNE) course (put on by (Name removed) Hospital, in BUCKS), and I met with 5 other people, with varying lengths of diabetes diagnosis, some of whom had been T1 for 20-30 years, versus me of 5 or 6. We ALL learned LOADS, and I can really recommend that if you are offered the 3xhalf day, and 1xfull day "Insight" course, jump at the chance! Seriously, I learned so much more from this.

That said, they help identify how much insulin to use to counteract if your BG before a meal is over your target, and also how much insulin to use for each 10g of carbs. Each of the participants on the course had different values for these, and in fact, sometimes different values for the same person for each meal. e.g. For me, my correction dose (for a high BG value) was 1 unit of insulin for each mmol. So if my BG before a meal was 10, and my target was say 7, then I had to inject 3 units of insulin BEFORE thinking how much carbs I was eating.

Similarly for food, for each 10g of Carb, I would inject 2 units of insulin. So I hear you thinking "how to work out how many carbs"? Well buy an iphone There is an app available called "Carbs & Cals" and in there you choose a food, and it tells you the carbs - in the words of a merekat, "Simples".

Carbs & Cals is also available as a book, but that's a hassle to carry around with you - Amazon do it ISBN:978-0956443052 ~£8. The iPhone App, is about £3 if I remember correctly.

So for a slice of bread ~10-15g carb, x2 = 30g
Chips (depending upon size) approx 2g each. (estimate from the iPhone app), so normal plateful ~ 30g carb (15 chips)
Baked Beans in tomato sauce ~10g a spoon full? So 30g

The eggs are mostly protein, so "free" from a carb perspective, but then there's the fat... ok that's another thread :lol:

So based on my formula, that would be 30g+30g+30g = 90g, so presuming my BG was a perfect 7 before hand, I would be expecting to put 18 units of insulin in "just" for the meal. I repeat though, this was a formula for "me" that would be hugely over for others in the group I was in, and under for others. The formula is specific to you and how you react to whatever insulin you are using.

I hope this helps some.

Richard
Diagnosed 6 years ago, suspected T2, but change of diagnosis to T1 a year ago when tested again. I have been on insulin from first diagnosis and struggled to get things right (still do!), aiming to be on an insulin pump as soon as I possibly can.

Insight: http://www.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/Downl ... nsight.pdf

InSight
This is a carbohydrate counting course similar to the dose adjustment for normal eating course (DAFNE) for patients with type 1 diabetes. The course is run by specially trained diabetes specialist nurses and dietitians. The course teaches patients how to adjust their insulin depending on their blood sugar, food intake and exercise levels and enables them to better understand how their body reacts to these variables.