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Advice Please

sunlover

sunlover

Active Member
Messages
27
Location
Scotland
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Feeling cold...which is hard as i live in Scotland!
Hi All

I was diagnosed as diabetic a week ago, I am being treated as Type 2 with Metformin 500mg twice daily, was advised that the docs are not sure if I am type 1 or type 2 but treated as 2 at the moment.

I just need a bit of advice - prior to diagnosis I would have what I thought were episodes of low sugar level, felt a bit light headed,sweaty, and just felt the urge to eat to get rid of this feeling, which when I ate would resolve these feelings.

Hhighest recorded sugar level this week is 30.2 mid afternoon, with a reading of 17 first thing in the morning. Today I had an episode of what I though was low sugar felt very week, light headed and irretable and when I did reading was 17.3 - how on earth can I feel like this with such a high sugar reading?

I am totally confused, when I have felt like this prior to being diabetic I always thought it was low sugar but its still high. Any advice for a newbie really appreciated. :?
 
Hi Sunlover (me too by the way) I had these same symptoms just before I was diagnosed. Just before lunch I was shakey and HAD to eat, craving all sorts of sweet carby things. I think its a symptom of poor blood glucose control. I think the answer is to make sure that what you eat when you have these feelings is something with high protein, so a slice of cheese or ham or some almonds.

Controlling your diabetes from now on is mostly about diet, if you can restrict your intake of starchy carbs, such as rice, pasta, potatoes and bread, (which your body quickly converts to sugar, then making you feel rubbish) I can promise you, you will slowly start to feel better.

Have a read around the forum, particularly the low carb forum and ask as many questions as you like, we have all been in your position!
 
Hi Fraddycat

thanks for the reply and advice - I thought I was going mad, it just dosent add up. I need to have a good look on this forum and take note and hopefully start to feel a bit better, its got to me the last few days and going to be a complete change of diet but hey if it makes me feel better I'm all for it.
 
I've been low carbing for 3 months now and I am normally at about 6.5 - 6.8 two hours after I eat, its taken a while to get used to the new foods I am eating but I feel like I am in the zone now. My fasting levels have slowly come down too although these have been slower than the day time readings.

Got my first blood test results back today since starting low carbing and am really pleased with the results.

It feels drastic at first but it gives you back control, and control is great!!
 
Hi Sunflower, and welcome to the forum. I can understand your doctors comcern because your readings are very high. Do you eat a lot of sugar and carbohydrates in your normal diet. Daisy should be along soon with loads of helpful information, which will get you started in your quest to reduce your blood sugars.
You are feeling like you are having low blood sugars because of the large drop in sugar levels ( from 30 to 17 ) your body will thinks its having a hypo.It's actually whats called a false hypo. As you bring you blood sugars under control, and stop the big swing in levels these symptoms will dissapear.
Perhaps you could give us an idea of a typical days food, a lot of members will be able to give you advice on ways of modifying your diet to lower your blood sugars. I think you will find that you are going to have to reduce your carbohydrate consumption.
The whole diet thing looks daunting at the start, but you quickly get used to it, and you will feel alot better.
Just a quick word of caution, if you do not see your blood sugar levels dropping within a few days I should make another visit to the doctor. It is very important to get the correct diagnosis, I hope you are not T1, but it is far better to get it confirmed either way without delay. Best of luck
 
sunlover said:
Hi All

I was diagnosed as diabetic a week ago, I am being treated as Type 2 with Metformin 500mg twice daily, was advised that the docs are not sure if I am type 1 or type 2 but treated as 2 at the moment.

I just need a bit of advice - prior to diagnosis I would have what I thought were episodes of low sugar level, felt a bit light headed,sweaty, and just felt the urge to eat to get rid of this feeling, which when I ate would resolve these feelings.

Hhighest recorded sugar level this week is 30.2 mid afternoon, with a reading of 17 first thing in the morning. Today I had an episode of what I though was low sugar felt very week, light headed and irretable and when I did reading was 17.3 - how on earth can I feel like this with such a high sugar reading?

I am totally confused, when I have felt like this prior to being diabetic I always thought it was low sugar but its still high. Any advice for a newbie really appreciated. :?
Click to expand...

Me too Sunlover ... I had exactly the same symptoms as you and always put it down to low blood sugar so would eat something sweet. Since joining this forum, testing myself and learning from those with experience, I've learned about the false hypos and learned not to give them more sugar.
 
Hi sunlover and welcome to the forum :)

I'm glad that you've had some answers to your questions. As for basic advice, here is the information we give to new members which should help you. Carry on asking questions as there is always someone here 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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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

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
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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 blood glucose 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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
sunlover said:
Hi All

I was diagnosed as diabetic a week ago, I am being treated as Type 2 with Metformin 500mg twice daily, was advised that the docs are not sure if I am type 1 or type 2 but treated as 2 at the moment.

I just need a bit of advice - prior to diagnosis I would have what I thought were episodes of low sugar level, felt a bit light headed,sweaty, and just felt the urge to eat to get rid of this feeling, which when I ate would resolve these feelings.

Hhighest recorded sugar level this week is 30.2 mid afternoon, with a reading of 17 first thing in the morning. Today I had an episode of what I though was low sugar felt very week, light headed and irretable and when I did reading was 17.3 - how on earth can I feel like this with such a high sugar reading?

I am totally confused, when I have felt like this prior to being diabetic I always thought it was low sugar but its still high. Any advice for a newbie really appreciated. :?
Click to expand...

You are absolutely experiencing a false hypo. The thing is, your body is so used to running on such high sugar levels it's protesting. By making you feel light headed etc it's your body saying "give me some sugar - NOW!" The best thing to do is ignore it, or have something like a piece of cheese, cheese is good as it's not sweet, but it's still food, and while your body jumps on the cheese it will ease the feeling from the false hypo. DON'T crack and give it sugar or anything carby, or it will be like a petulant child and keep playing the tricks it knows that work. As you get your BG down, the false hypo's will ease then vanish. It's all about re-training your body to work with much lower sugar levels. It can be done, and quickly and easily, just read the forum, and keep asking questions, that's how we all learned.

Take care - Jo.
 
Hey Sunlover!

Blood glucose in the 30s could be very dangerous if you are actually Type1. Please cut those carbs down to try to stop such huge highs. Seriously, if you get figures like that and think you might be Type 1, you should test for ketones - there is a very serious condition called ketoacidosis which can occur in Type 1s when they don't produce adequate insulin and their blood glucose is high. If you get that high again, please ring your doctor for advice - and drink plenty of water, it helps bring the levels down.

Have you had a GAD antibody test? Or a c-peptide test? These tests help to differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2. If not, go and ask your doctor for them. With levels in the 30s, you need to get something sorted out quickly. If you are Type 1 you need to know because Metformin alone will not be enough to control your levels.

Take care

Smidge
 
Hi All

thanks very much for the replies. My Diabetic Nurse dosent want to see me again for 6 weeks although has said any problems and I should call immediately, I did call when my levels was in the 30's and it was her day off, the surgery just advised it will take a couple of weeks to get the metformin in my system. I have just done a pre breakfast reading and it was 19.3.

With my diet I have been following low fat as advised by the surgery, is low carb more the way to go? When I initially had the blood tests they found ketones in my urine and the nurse asked if i had eaten, I hadnt had lunch and as had gone straight from work, it wasnt mentioned after that.

My daily diet would be linsead toast in the morning, soup or boiled egg lunchtime and chicken with salad or cous cous in the evening, also i may have crackers during the day and either pear or banana for snack. I take it this is prob full of carbs I was trying low fat as advised as my diet before this was horrendous I just ate what I wanted but I have always maintained my size (14) and comfortable with it. I am seriously thinking of low carb now but I would struggle in the morning to eat something large i.e eggs or mushrooms etc what else could i eat? I work from home and normally have my breakfast at my desk around 10 ish when the hunger kicks in, its normally toast.

I used to do low carb meal replacement many years ago and used to have a shake in the morning and their low carb soup at lunchtime and a healthy meal at night, would you recommend this to get my levels down? I can stomach something as ligh as a shake in the morning but otherwise dont have much of an appetite early morning.

Really appreciate all the advice

:clap:
 
Hi sunflower. you will find that most of us on the forum have found that low fat high carb as recommended by the nurse, is not the way to go. We are intolerent of carbohydrate , this is what Diabetes is all about.
your diet doesn't look to bad, but will be dependant on the size of your meal. Bread for many including me causes a large increase in blood sugars. It could be worth missing this out and having some cold meats and an egg for breakfast i.e no carbs and only protein and fat. Try it and see what effect it has on your bm's.
The cous cous could also be causing high blood sugars, and agian it would be worth trying not to have any carbs as your last meal again eggs cheese meat etc, and see if this help reduce your morning levels.
It would be worthwhile doing some calculations of the volume of carbs you are eating. At least it will give you a starting point to understand where to reduce.
Don't be worried about fat, The most important thing is to get your blood sugars under contol. Fat will only have benefits without any adverse effects.
I'd still recommend seeking further medical advice. You need to have the proper tests done to establish which type of diabetes you have, and it's not acceptable if they suspect T1 to delay having them done. Be a pest and insist they do them. You need to know,
All the best. You've made one of the biggest steps by joining the forum.
 
Thanks - this diet i have listed is only in the last week prior to that was basically anything I fancied. The surgery did 4 blood tests on the day and she basically said there is no hard and fast rule at this stage to say if I am type 1 or 2, what tests should I have just so I can go armed with the information.

I have just signed up to W8 low carb meal replacement for breakfast and lunch as I have no imagination for breakfast cooking and couldnt stomach a meal as such, I used this before and my weight and health improved along with bp and cholestrol etc so going to do this for a while just to give me the boost, the evening meals I am ok with will cut out the cous cous and maybe just have chicken or fish initially with salad/veg.

How much carbs should I be using on a daily basis and do I calculate if from the total carb or of which sugars, really havent a clue as you will gather. The other reason I am doing the meal replacement initially for breakfast lunch is so i can calculate more easily the carbs I am having then its just the evening meal I really have to work out. I might cut out the bananas as well as just read they are higher. Any info on amount of carbs really appreciated and thanks again.
 
Sunlover ... go here ... it has all you need to know about LCHF eating and even better it's a very visual website, very clear and concise and it doesn't waffle on.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

You don't need to worry about 'breakfast' ... don't eat until you feel hungry and you'll find over a couple of weeks you'll fall into a pattern of eating that suits YOU. If you want to have a low carb shake for breakfast that's fine too, so long as it really is low carb. What kind of shake is it and how many carbs per 100g is it?

As for amounts of carbs ... everyone varies ... some can eat 100g a day some can't tolerate that amount and I'm the latter type, so on a regular basis I don't eat bread, rice, pasta, pastry, cakes, biscuits, sweets - no OBVIOUS carbs. I do fall off the wagon about once a month and have a teeny weeny portion of fish and chips or a pork pie but that's it. I don't keep carbs in the house.

It sounds really strict but the trick is to UP your fat intake - not by eating cobs of fat but just by using butter, cream and full fat products instead of the low fat stuff. All I've done is swap low fat spread for butter and I eat meat with it's own fat, fish like salmon and mackerel or white fish cooked in a bit of butter, and I eat above the ground veggies and a bit of fruit, which contains the carbs we need. We DON'T need the processed carbs as I mentioned above.

Good Luck! :thumbup:
 
Hi, There are two tests to be asking for a GADs test for antibodies, and a C-Peptide, either one will help distinguish type one or two.
with regards to breakfast, you could try a whey protien shake, they are around 2.5g carb per drink if made with water, I add spinach, strawberries and blue berries and some ice cubes and blend into a smoothy.
In place of the pear or bannana try any fruit with berry on the end , such as strawberry, blueberry etc, most diabetics seem to be able to tolerate these in small amount.
As for carb content, this is unfortunately an individual thing, we all tolerate carbs to a greater or lessor extent, anything from 20g to 150g per day, its a matter of testing your bm's after each meal at one hr and two hrs to see the rise and fall in your bm's . after a short period you will know what effect a particular meal has and won't need to test, at that stage you will only be testing for a new meal or randomly to check.
At this stage it may be worth considering aiming for say 100g per day, this is the total carb ( the highest number) and aim to spread the carbs evenly over all your meals i.e the more carbs in a meal the larger the spike in blood sugars. Its surprising how quickly you become an expert at looking at food labels in the supermarket. In general the more processed a food the more carbs it will have.
Not sure about your meal plan, I've never seen the product. What is the carb content per meal. They could be high if they are following the NHS guidlines.
I'm sure there will also be plenty of other forum members along to offer help and advice.
Have a look around the forum and on the net, you will find loads of low carb ideas to suit every taste.

Hope this helps, keep asking away if you need more info
 
Hi

thanks all great advice. Ive checked the carb content which is 11.8 per satchet or 7 satch so having this for breakfast and lunch will give me scope for more later or to try and keep it in check. This is a scottish company and similar products to Lighterlife down south or cambridge diet, I used to work for Lighterlife so know all the nutritional quality etc and this is very similar with only a slightly higher carb rating o.2 per satchet.

Ive just had a look online at a banana carb rating and shocked how high it is so they getting put away for now, to be honest im not a great fruit fan and only like pear and bananas so pear it is, Im not keen on red fruits...........bit of a fussy mare!

Thanks for the advise on the whey shakes, they certainly seem lower than what I have ordered so will have a look for when these run out, ive just ordered typical but I do like them and they seem low enough compared to toast etc. Thanks again guys im going to speak to my diabetic nurse on Monday and ask if she has tested me for those 2 tests you mentioned, she may have but hasnt come back with the results yet, my head was all over the place that day. this is a great forum and people such as yourself are very welcoming. x
 
I tried Lighterlife and Celebrity Slim shakes and I had tummy problems with all of them and thought I must be lactose intolerant or something because my tummy would rumble and grumble and bloat (and worse ...) so I stopped using them. I then tried Biggest Loser and lost 2.5 stone quite quickly with that and it didn't affect my tum quite as much as the others but I was still very uncomfortable so gave up on it. I'm really not sure if that's due to lactose intolerance or the high carb content - all I know is that since I've been following LCHF my gastric probs have diminished beyond all measure! I did like the shakes, especially for breakfast, they were so quick and simple and I was never hungry, but couldn't cope with the tum issues.

I'd be interested to know what shakes you're using and whether you get any side effects?
 
Hi again Sunlover!

I am quite concerned about you. Your levels are very high and your average food doesn't look especially carby. You could give the toast, cous cous and banana a miss, but usually Type2s with levels like yours are eating rice, bread, pasta, potato, cereal etc in sizeable portions with every meal. When they stop, their BG improves dramatically. That doesn't seem to be the case with you. Looking at your levels and what you are eating and the fact you had ketones at diagnosis, I'd say you are Type 1 (or LADA to be precise).

The medics are really bad at diagnosing this. Many of us on here were misdiagnosed as Type 2. You really need a GAD antibody test and a c-peptide test. The former shows if you have GAD antibodies attacking your beta cells (indicating Type 1) and the latter shows how much insulin you are producing. Metformin is not a strong drug. It will only drop your levels by 1 or 2 m/mol as it makes your cells more sensitive to insulin. If you are not producing enough insulin, it doesn't matter how sensitive you are to it, you need more insulin. Metformin will not fix that.

You need to make a fuss. Doctors are happy to sit back and wait, but this is your health at stake, not theirs!

Take care

Smidge
 
Hi Smidge

thanks for this, I will get in touch on Monday with the Doctors and I'll take a note of what you have said. I have been following more low cal than low carb this week so it could explain why they are still high. I did get a shock when my readings went up to just over 30 and the weird thing is I could actually smell sugar from myself, that may sound daft but it was really strong. Im going to kick up a fuss on Monday you are right its my health i dont think the metformin has made an ounce of difference this week but I suppose its early days.

Grace the shakes I am starting is W8 its based in scotland only I think, but when I worked for lighterlife I was the same as you and had the stomach issues but it did ease off, the same with cambridge diet not sure why it happens but not good, my sis gets the same from slim fast....... the things we put ourself through eh!
 
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