A bit worried

If you need to go to the hospital you should go now - if you have the symptoms of DKA, which you should know due to your type one son - but if your symptoms are more suggestive of type two then avoiding carbohydrates might make you feel slightly better.
A lucky type two can, by avoiding starches and sugars control their blood sugar and attain normal numbers - sometimes not even requiring medication.
The hot weather could have exacerbated the problem, so drinking more, avoiding carbs - have salads, for instance, no bread, potato rice or pasta, to lower the stress on the system.

Tralala06 said:

Hi, and thanks in advance.
I have been feeling off recently with fatigue, frequent urination and feeling dizzy, my partner said to take a bg test on Thursday 24/7/19 and it came up as 17.8. Our son has type one which is why he asked me to do it. Since then I have been checking frequently and have never been below 13.2 with the highest being 22.8. I am hopefully seeing the doc on Monday and was hoping someone could give me advice and should I prepare for a hospital visit after the docs

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I am not surprised you are feeling grotty with high bgs so it is great that you are going to see the doctor on Monday.
You need a diagnosis (a HBA1c and tests of kidney, ,lipids and liver functions) of course but unless you start to feel substantially more ill (vomiting, extreme thirst indicating dka) you would not need to go to hospital. You are aware of diabetes type 1 which is why you did a blood test. Whether you are type 1 or 2 then continued testing will either be a total necessity or a very useful tool to check how you react to certain foods.
Best of luck with your appointment and I hope you will come back to get further support.

I was diagnosed this week. I was incredibly thirsty but for a day or two put it down to weather. Have you checked the other symptoms? I did, was shocked as i had loads. I used our email facility to contact GP on Monday.

I then had blood tests on Monday and was rung by the Dr on Tues as bg 15. Hbac1 came back as 101 which gives an average bg of 15. No one has mentioned hospital to me and after starting metformin and hugely reducing carbs, I have seen a huge drop in bg already.

Hopefully, you'll have a quick response and a quick answer as I have. Personally, I have found my GP to be amazing so I'd suggest starting there.

Tralala06 said:

Hi, and thanks in advance.
I have been feeling off recently with fatigue, frequent urination and feeling dizzy, my partner said to take a bg test on Thursday 24/7/19 and it came up as 17.8. Our son has type one which is why he asked me to do it. Since then I have been checking frequently and have never been below 13.2 with the highest being 22.8. I am hopefully seeing the doc on Monday and was hoping someone could give me advice and should I prepare for a hospital visit after the docs

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Until you know what's going on, just make sure you eat very few, if any, carbs... That should get your numbers down substantially, and hopefully enough so you don't feel as bad as you do now. Keep an eye on them, and if you feel sick, get yourself to the hospital. You know how severe DKA is, so... Not to be taken lightly. When in doubt, get help.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help you cut the carbs right down for the moment. Take care of yourself eh! And don't stiff-upper-lip it. If you need help, get it. Immediately.

As your son is type 1 I assume you have access to ketone testing at home? Have you checked them?

If not eating carbs brings the numbers down, you feel fine and there’s no ketones then I’d see the dr. If not then hospital.

Out of interest what made them sure it was type 2 not 1. The tests normally take a while. Although it is much more likely type 2 there is type 1 in your family so if at any time things really don’t seem right remember people can and are misdiagnosed and without further testing assumptions can have been wrong just occasionally.

That said here’s my usual intro info. Advice is different to type 1 (although some do use lower carb diets to maintain a smoother profile and lower insulin requirements-seek advice from people who know enough about type 1 -not me- if you think it would help your son)

Can I suggest you take a good look at LCHF ie low carb higher fat (then typically recommended not blocks of lard high!) methods of eating (keto is just a version of this). It helps many of us lose significant amounts of weight, if desired, keep our numbers down and for some even eliminate medications and achieve remission and reduce or improve complications. Try clicking these links for more detailed explanations that are well worth readings

Joke blog as posted above

And https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/ to show it really works and for motivation

and https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/ for food ideas

also https://www.dietdoctor.com/ for more food ideas and general info of carb content of foods. Lots of other websites for recipes out there too. Just use the term low carb or keto with whatever you fancy.

Also it’s very important to be able to check for yourself what’s happening so you can make the necessary adjustments day to day and meal by meal rather than wait 3, 6 or even 12 months and then have no idea what had what effect. Getting a blood glucose meter is the only way to do this (no matter what contradictory advice you may have heard - it’s usually budget based rather than anything more scientific). Please ask if you want any guidance on this.

IMPORTANT FOR ANYONE ON MEDS CONSIDERING LOWERING CARBS: if you lower your carbs then any glucose lowering meds may need to be adjusted accordingly to make sure you aren’t taking more than your new diet requires. It can cause a hypo if you have more gliclazide or insulin etc (this is not relevant for metformin on its own) than your new carb intake requires. Keep a close eye on your numbers and do this with your dr’s knowledge. Please don’t be put off by an ill informed out dated rubbishing of low carb diets or being told you should eat carbs to match meds, it should be the other way around.

Tralala06 said:

Hi all, and thanks again for your replys. I went to the hospital yesterday as I was feeling rough and yes I do have type 2, and have got see the doc tmw. Just wondering if you guys have any advice for newly diagnosed t2 for foods and what not to eat till I see the doc. Many thanks in advance.

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Glad you got checked out, better to know than to fly blind. I'm sorry you're joining our ranks, but confident you can get this thing licked.

As the link sometimes doesn't seem to work, here's the Nutritional Thingy: There’s a few things you should know.

1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so not just straight sugars, but starches too. Food doesn’t have to taste sweet to make your blood sugars skyrocket.

2. A meter helps you know what foods agree with you, and which don’t. Test before and 2 hours after the first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could handle. (It’s easy to remember, as you’re a T2: all 2’s, all over the place!)

3. In case you didn’t know already, this isn’t your fault. It’s genetics, medication, decades of bad dietary advice, and basically all manner of things, but nothing you can actually blame yourself for.

4. Diabetes T2 is a progressive condition, unless you (also) change your diet. So you have options. Diet-only, diet with medication, or medication only. But that last option will most likely mean more medication over the years. (And there is more than just metformin, so if it doesn’t agree with you, there’s lots of others to try). So even if going really low carb isn’t for you, you might consider moderately low carb an option, with meds to assist.

5. Are you overweight? 90% of T2’s are. Yeah, that means 10% are slim and always were. If you did gain weight, it was the precursor of this metabolic condition. We make loads of insulin, but become insensitive to it. So carbs we eat turn to glucose, and normally, insulin helps us burn that glucose for fuel. When it doesn’t, that glucose is stored in fat cells instead. When those fat stores are full, the glucose remains in our bloodstream, overflowing, into our eyes, tears, urine, saliva… And then we’re T2’s. So weight gain is a symptom, not a cause. This also means that “regular” dietary advice doesn’t work for us. The problem lies in our inability to process carbs. And most diets focus on lowering fats and upping carb intake. Which is the direct opposite of what a T2, or prediabetic, for that matter, needs.

6. There are 3 macro-nutrients. Fats, protein and carbohydrates. Those macro’s mean we get the micro-nutrients we need: that would be vitamins and minerals. So… If you ditch the carbs, you should up another macro-nutrient to compensate, to make sure you don’t get malnourished or vitamin deficient. Carbs make our blood sugars rise. Protein too, but nowhere near as bad as carbs do, so they’re alright in moderation. Fats however… Fats are as good as a glucose-flatline. Better yet, they’ll mitigate the effects of any carbs we do ingest, slowing down their uptake and thus the sugar-spike. Contrary to what we’ve been told for decades; fats are our friends.

7. Worried about cholesterol? On a low carb diet, your cholesterol may rise a little as you start to lose weight. That’s a good thing though. (Believe it or not). What was already there, stored in your body, is starting to head for the exit, and for that it’ll go into your bloodstream first. So when you have lost weight and it stabilises, so will your cholesterol. And it’ll probably be lower than what it was before you started out.

8. You’ll lose weight on a low carb diet. Weight loss will help with your insulin-resistance, and not only that… Going low carb might help with other issues as well, like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and depression.

9. Always ask for your test results. You don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.

10. Last, but certainly not least: If you are on medication that has hypoglycemia listed as a side-effect, like Gliclazide for instance, do NOT attempt a LCHF diet without a meter nor your doctors’ knowledge/assistance. You can drop blood glucose levels too far, too fast, if your dosage isn’t adjusted accordingly. This could mean a lower dose in stages or even stopping medication completely. Never do this without discussing it with your doctor first!


So what raises blood sugars? Aside from the obvious (sugar), starches raise blood glucose too. So bread, and anything made with grain/oats flour, rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, cereals (including all the “healthy choices”, like Weetabix and muesli), most beans and most fruits. So you’ll want to limit your intake, or scratch them altogether.

Which food items remain on the shopping list? Well, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies/leafy greens, eggs, cheese, heavy cream, full fat Greek yoghurt, full fat milk, extra dark chocolate (85% Lindt’s is great!), avocado, (whole) tomatoes, berries, olives, nuts, that sort of thing… Meal ideas? Have a couple:

Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonnaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.

Of course, there’s loads more on the web, for people more adventurous than I. (Which is pretty much everyone). Just google whatever you want to make and add “keto” to it, and you’ll get a low carb version. There’s a lot of recipes on the diabetes.co.uk website, as well as on www.dietdoctor.com where you’ll also find visual (carb content) guides and videos. And I can wholeheartedly endorse Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Diabetes Code. It’ll help you understand what’s going on in your body and how to tackle it, whilst not being a dry read. Not only that, but you’ll know what to ask your doctor, and you’ll understand the answers, which is, I believe, quite convenient.

Tralala06 said:

but I think the deciding factor must have been my weight and lack of exercise. I still have to see the gp but getting an app is like gold dust recently. But hopefully get one tmw. She did say it was very likely t2.

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Do make sure that they do check which type though and don't let them fob you off, your son has T1 therefore as @HSSS says it's in your family and therefore it is more likely (than someone without T1 in their family) that'll you'll have it as well.